NO ROOM FOR THE DEVIL.

Abstain from all appearance of evil.
1THESSALONIANS 5 : 22.
READ : PSALMS 15 : 1 - 5 :
1 Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall
dwell in thy holy hill?
2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh
righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.
3 He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth
evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against
his neighbour.
4 In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he
honoureth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth
to his own hurt, and changeth not.
5 He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor
taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth
these things shall never be moved.
MESSAGE :
‘Looking unto Jesus’ are three very important words
of salvation, encouragement and direction for daily
Christian living. Nicodemus, in his search for the true
God and eternal life, approached Jesus for possible
understanding. The Lord Jesus made the new birth
very plain by using an Old Testament illustration of
the fiery serpents of brass put on a pole for the
Israelites to look upon as recorded in the book of
Numbers 21 : 8 - 9.
The fall of Adam and Eve, and the temptation of
Jesus Christ, exposes humanity to two important
realities among many others. First of all, the devil is
out to destroy all human beings without exception.
Secondly, the devil cannot do a perfect Job at
destroying a person without the consensual
agreement of that individual. Consequently, the devil
seeks the permission of an individual to have the
access required to destroy his life. That is why the
Bible in Ephesians 4 : 27, admonishes us not to give
way to the devil.
Moreover, the devil does not make this request
directly; neither does he require a clear answer from
anyone. The language of the devil is always implied
and shrouded in ambiguity, such that no one is ever
fully aware of the implications of any transaction
with the devil until reality dawns on them. For these
reasons, children of God should be mindful of their
responses to any proposal by the devil because
ordinary interest is usually taken as consent or
approval by the devil. Men and women who showed
interest in various proposals of the devil in the past
were soon captured and enslaved to the point of being
addicted to such harmful practices like alcoholism,
gambling, illicit sex, hard drugs, prostitution, etc. For
these reasons, the Bible outlines several ways in
which believers should respond to the devil. Evil is to
be avoided at all cost as indicated in Psalms 1 : 1 :
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel
of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor
sitteth in the seat of the scornful”
And in Proverbs 4 : 14 :
“Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in
the way of evil men.”
And 1 Thessalonians 5 : 22 says :
“Abstain from all appearance of evil.”
Evil is to be hated with passion and resisted with
everything we have in line with proverbs 1 : 10 :
“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.”
And James 4 : 7,
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the
devil, and he will flee from you.”
Above all, children of God should pray every day in
response to evil, Matthew 6 : 13 says,
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil”
I pray that you will not be a victim of evil in Jesus’
name.
PRAYER POINT : Father, please keep evil far away
from me and my entire family in Jesus' name.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: JEREMIAH 10 - 12 AND
PSALMS 46.