“AND THE SERVANT OF THE LORD MUST NOT STRIVE”

MEMORY VERSE: And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. 2 Timothy 2:24-25

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Proverbs 26-27

2 Timothy 2:24 says, “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient.” According to Noah Webster’s dictionary, to strive means “To contend; to contest; to struggle in opposition to another; to be in contention or dispute; followed by against or with before the person or thing opposed; as, strive against temptation; strive for the truth.” The man of God must not strive. He must not be found throwing punches or threatening to break people’s head. He must not be found fighting, whether in public or in private. 2 Timothy 2:24 says, “And the servant of the Lord MUST not strive....” Take note of the word “must”. This does not mean he will not be offended; oh, he will be. The enemy may use people, especially those around him, to provoke him  but he must not fight. It is not befitting for a man of God to be throwing chairs or threatening to beat people up in traffic. Even when he is provoked, and he will surely be provoked, he MUST not strive. The NIV says, “And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful” (2 Timothy 2:24). According to Noah Webster’s dictionary, to be quarrelsome means “ Apt to quarrel; given to brawls and contention; inclined to petty fighting; easily irritated or provoked to contest; irascible; choleric; petulant.” The man of God must not be easily irritated. He must not be someone that people can easily push his buttons. He must not be someone that people will be settling quarrel for every time.

Why is God telling men of God not to strive? Because, He wants to personally discipline those who will strive with them. No wonder He says, “Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm” (Psalm 105:15). The Lord does not joke with His servants. If you don’t believe me read Acts 12:20-23. God killed a king because of one of His servants. One big man strove with a man of God some years back. This man was very rich; he had over 100 houses. One day he organised a big party and invited this man of God. The man of God was meant to attend the function but due to circumstances beyond his control he couldn't attend. This big man got angry and was offended. All he said, not in the presence of the man of God, was "when i see him (the man of God) he will explain himself to me". God heard and got angry with this big man. Not too long after that, he lost all his houses and was chased out of the country. You don’t even have to say something against a man of God in his presence before God will act on his behalf. This is why i want to warn those who are in the habit of provoking God’s servant to desist from doing so. If you have ever abused a man of God to his face and he didn’t say a word, you are in trouble. If i were you, i will go and apologise. When it comes to disciplining those who strive with His servants, their assistants are not exempted. You don’t believe me ask Aaron and Miriam (Numbers 12). Even their wives are not exempted. If you think i am talking gibberish read 2 Samuel 6:16, 20-23. All Michal did was abuse her husband, the Lord shut her womb.

NOTE: Psalm 130:4 says, “But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” There is forgiveness with God. You may have, out of anger, said something you should not say to a servant of God. Ask the Lord to forgive you. Also, go and apologize to them.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world

Perpetual servant

Thursday 23 August                          Bible in one year: Joel 1-3

Memorise: Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?Be not deceived : neither fornicators,nor idolaters,nor adulterers, nor effeminate,nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 1 Corinthians 6:9

Read: Exodus 21:2-6

It is love that can make a man to wait for fourteen years to get married to the lady of his choice like Jacob did for Rachel( Genesis 29:18-28). A lady once told me that nobody was asking for her hand in marriage. We prayed and few months  later, she had six suitors on line. Then she came to me to ask how she will know the one that is her husband. I asked her to tell them that they should wait for fourteen years, by that time she would be through with her PhD programme and would have worked for some years. Not one of them stayed after hearing that.If there is love, there is strength to wait. Love can be very costly. It can cost a man his freedom.From Exodus 21:2-6 we understand that any servant that is Hebrew is expected to serve for six years and on the seventh, he should be freed.If however he marries and because of love he refuses to go, he would receive a mark so that anybody who sees him will know that he is a slave forever. Occasionally , i hear some people give God conditions before complying with certain divine requests or instructions. This shows that they do not love God, or that they have forgotten they were supposed to be His servant forever.

True love gives you super human strength. When somebody is truly in love, he could survive any adversity for the sake of that love( Romans 8:35-37). Being more than conquerors is a height in love which many do not yet know. If you are truly in love with God,you will gladly die for Him like Stephen( Acts 7:54-60). Today , because many church leaders are afraid for their lives, they cannot go to certain countries or certain parts with their native land to preach Christ. Death is no big deal  but the big deal is what you go through before you die. In the days of communism , it was the torture that a Christian went through that gave him pleasure; today , the reverse is the case. A Christian was arrested and thrown into prison. He began to witness Christ to the inmates so they took him  and gave him the beating of his life until he was bleeding all over. By the time he was returned he asked those he was preaching to , “where did i stop before the interruption?” Loving God can be expensive. How cheap or otherwise is your love for God?

ACTION POINT: Take this confession: Lord Jesus, I confess and acknowledge you as my Lord. I am your servant. You own all i have. And I will worship you with all that You have me until you take me to glory.
Excerpts from Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye