Your Refreshing Daily Devotional

Cain had the unenviable record of committing the first murder in the Bible. It is interesting that he did not arrive at the point of killing his brother just at once. It began when he found that God paid no respect to his offering but praised that of Abel. That was when anger, and perhaps jealousy, set in. God knew that if Cain did not watch it, he was set on a slippery path and warned him accordingly. Had he listened, he would not have committed that heinous crime. That brings us to our key thought today. Sin is hardly what happens at the spur of the moment. There is what we the Bible calls the motions of sin. Whenever sin occurs, it is because a process has been followed. It is when the process is followed and the cycle completed that actual sin takes place.

Whenever sin occurs, it is because a process has been followed. It is when the process is followed and the cycle completed that actual sin takes place…Prayer is a potent force to push back temptation. Counsel from a mature believer will also serve you in good stead.

Our text explains this better. It is particularly instructive that James used conception to show how sin is formed and birthed. A baby is not born at once. It is a long process, beginning from conception. That is followed by gestation, and months later the baby is born. The seed of every sin is a thought or an idea. The Bible calls this lust or desire. When nothing is done to counter that seed, it would eventually become sin. It is possible to abort the motions of sin. The moment sinful desires are rising within, you can do several things to abort them. Prayer is a potent force to push back temptation. Counsel from a mature believer will also serve you in good stead.

Our church held this year’s end time summit in the last weekend of June. Of the many things stressed by our guest speaker, Pastor Oje Ohiwerei, was that we cannot afford to base our relationship with God on second-hand information. My mind immediately raced to a story in Acts Chapter 19. It is about the sons of Sceva. They must have given considerable attention to Paul’s ministry and what he had accomplished using the name of Jesus. They commanded devils out of someone “by the Jesus whom Paul preaches” (vs 13). The outcome was not pleasant to these men, as the man energised by the evil spirit pounced on them and tore their clothes. Even though these men had a priest as their father, that was not enough to save them. They were operating on second-hand information – “Jesus whom Paul preaches”.

Direct encounter with God is the starting point of walking in authority…Believers who traffic with the ways and systems of the world inadvertently bring themselves under the control of the devil. It is futile, if not dangerous, for such people to attempt subduing the devil.

The story of the sons of Sceva shows that not everyone can exercise spiritual authority to good effect. Direct encounter with God is the starting point of walking in authority. As a rule, one has to be born again to enjoy this privilege. Beyond that, one has to be sufficiently consecrated in order not to become a victim of spiritual battles. In our text, admonition is given of the importance of not loving the world. The world simply refers to the maxims and principles that the unbelievers employ to conduct their affairs in life. Believers who traffic with the ways and systems of the world inadvertently bring themselves under the control of the devil. It is futile, if not dangerous, for such people to attempt subduing the devil.

Timing is everything in our walk with God. In our previous meditation, we made reference to a man who parted ways with God because of what he considered as an unanswered prayer. What most people did not realise is that some prayers are actually time sensitive. In other words, there are prayers that will never be answered if they are made before their time. The whole of Daniel chapter 9 was devoted to prayer; and that was because Daniel discovered that the time set by God for the captivity of His people to end had come. If he had that prayer five or more years earlier, it would have seemed as if God does not answer prayer.

Timing is everything in our walk with God…God’s word is a lamp and a light. Giving attention to it helps us to connect with divine timing.

It is not only in the context of prayers that timing is essential. Reward for faithful service also follows this pattern. Hear what Paul said to the Galatians: “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Galatians 6:9 NKJV. The hope of having reward is in our tenacity to labour until “due season”. It is only God who knows when the season is due, at what point He will demonstrate His faithfulness and reward whatever we have done for the sake of the kingdom. Daniel’s understanding of God’s timing came when he gave attention to reading the prophecy of Jeremiah. God’s word is a lamp and a light. Giving attention to it helps us to connect with divine timing.

A long time ago, a man whose philosophy of life was socialism was reported to have parted ways with God because of a prayer request that did not happen the way he expected. It is the height of absurdity to lose faith in God on account of one unanswered prayer. We don’t give up on medicine or hospital because of some casualties. The world of aviation has also recorded some accidents but people have not given up on flying. When accidents occur, the experts wade in to find causes of such disaster and look for ways to avoid future occurrences; but they don’t throw up their hands in defeat and frustration. The same should apply in our dealings with God. There are times things happen that defy both logic and expectations.

Never judge God through isolated events. Remain steadfast in trusting Him, and He will come through for you.

The opening verses in the book of Job proved his religious piety. He hated evil and made sacrifices often. Those sacrifices would pass for our concept of prayer today. One could argue that Job did not deserve the series of disheartening news that came his way. He encountered losses ranging from business to children and then his health. The big lesson is that none of those losses affected his perspective of God. He kept the image of a good God all through the trying period. As our text says, He did not sin or charge God foolishly. He did not question the reality of God either. This shows the level of confidence Job had in his God. It was only a matter of time before God turned his captivity around; his latter end was more glorious than the beginning. Never judge God through isolated events. Remain steadfast in trusting Him, and He will come through for you.

While we were in Lusaka, Zambia in June this year, I received a call from a dear brother who told me that he just got healed. His healing was not from any physical ailment but from a distraught soul and emotional battering. He had been discouraged to a point of abandoning his mission. He lost direction and found everything distasteful after he took a major blow in life. I rejoiced that he found his momentum again. Here is the point: Everybody is prone to discouragement at one time or another. The men and women that we revere today as greatly accomplished are those who succeeded to wrestle their way out of discouragement.

Here is the point: Everybody is prone to discouragement at one time or another…When you feel discouraged, trust God to send you a word in season.

There are several ways discouragement finds its way into people’s lives. One of these is unpleasant report. The spies brought a negative report about the Promised Land; and this led to a lack of interest to press forward. “Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.” (Deuteronomy 1:28 KJV). We find another expressway through which discouragement holds people bound when there are delays in realising expectations. Consequently, Proverbs 13:12 says that hope deferred makes the heart sick. David, in our text, had yet another reason to be discouraged. His camp had just lost their families as well as their possessions. The people he had led and groomed passed a vote of no confidence in him and even thought of killing him. David’s recovery came through a word of the Lord. When you feel discouraged, trust God to send you a word in season.

People’s propensity to relocate from famine spots to greener pasture elsewhere is a global pattern, and the practice is as old as Bible days. We recall that it was on account of famine that the family of Elimelech moved from Bethlehem-Judah to Moab. It is a manifestation of the survival instinct in man. However, the Bible recognises another type of famine apart from scarcity of food. This is what is noted in our text as the famine of the word of God. Whereas famine of food and water is a terrible thing, the famine of the word is worse in comparison. As we shall demonstrate shortly, if there is no famine of the word, we can navigate successfully through any austere season.

…if there is no famine of the word, we can navigate successfully through any austere season… Connecting with the word of God will invariably lead to the place of abundance amid scarcity. One of the greatest prayers we can make is to ask God not to afflict us with the famine of the word.

As noted earlier, the famine of bread is not a new thing. Abraham experienced famine; so did Isaac and Jacob. They all survived the famine because of access to the word of God. Another example is that of Elijah. Shortly after he proclaimed to Ahab that there would be no rain in the land, the word of the Lord instructed him to go to Cherith. In that seclusion, the ravens brought him food morning and evening while he drank from the brook. When the brook dried up, the word of the Lord came to him again to go to Zarepath. In his new location, a widow sustained him all through the time of famine. Job 5:22 states that we can laugh at famine. How is that possible? Connecting with the word of God will invariably lead to the place of abundance amid scarcity. One of the greatest prayers we can make is to ask God not to afflict us with the famine of the word.