PRUDENT OR SIMPLE?

MEMORY VERSE: A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished. Proverbs 27:12

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Daniel 1-6

READ: Judges 16: 6-21

Proverbs 27:12 says, “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.” The first thing you need to know about the prudent is that he is not blind. He has a pair of eyes and he sees with them. There was a nurse, some years back, whose daughter was 5 months pregnant and she didn’t know. The shocking thing was this girl lived with her. It was a man of God who brought her attention to the girl's protruding tummy and the change in her complexion. How can a nurse live with a 5 months pregnant girl and not know except that she has eyes but can’t see with them? Friend, can you see?

The prudent has foresight. He foresees things especially evil things. The moment something happens, he knows where it will end because he is alert. Samson had no foresight. Delilah made her evil intentions known from the first day she met him. She literally told him "Samson, i want to finish you". Judges 16:6 says, “And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.” Why did she want to know the secret of his great strength if not she intended on weakening him? On hearing this, i thought Samson would end the relationship but he didn't. He was so blinded by love, i guess, that he moved in with her. Delilah asked the secret of his great strength; at first he told her a lie, she tried it and failed. The same thing happened the second time and Samson still continued in the relationship. After two attempts on his life , a prudent man will run for his deal life but Samson remained. My beloved sister, can you foresee evil? A man once asked a lady (he was in a relationship with), “where are the weak points in your body”? Why will a man ask such a question if not that he intends on doing something with the information? Can you read between the lines? That single lady who is always asking you to come and pray with her when no one is around.... That single man who is always asking you to come and pass the night at his place.... I pray God will open your eyes in Jesus name.

The moment a prudent man foresees evil, he will hide himself from it. The moment a prudent sister hears a brother say he doesn't believe in sexual abstinence before marriage, she will withdraw from the brother. Such a sister knows that the ‘brother’ is yet to be saved even though he maybe a choir master. There are a lot of choir masters and head ushers who are not saved. All these are titles; they don’t represent a man’s heart. The moment a prudent brother hears a sister complaining of ‘mother –in-laws’ , he will retire back to the prayer room to make sure he has really heard from God. The moment a prudent man notices that he is often excited around a particular sister that is not his wife, he will run from her. The moment a prudent sister observes that any time she chats with a particular sister, she feels low in the spirit to the point of not being able to pray, she will withdraw from that sister or avoid long conversation with her.

PRAYER: Father, please open my eyes to see.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world

LEARN SIMPLE OBEDIENCE

              

MEMORY VERSE: Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.1 Samuel 15:3

                                          

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalms 66-70, Proverbs 14

The people of Israel practiced the law of retaliation, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, in Old Testament times. This law was in place to restrict compensation to the value of the loss. Although this law provided one or two advantages, its disadvantages outweigh its advantages. For instance, this old law leaves everyone blind and toothless. The law of retaliation shuts the door of God’s mercy on us. 2 Samuel 22:26 says: “With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright.” The law of retaliation shuts the door of divine forgiveness on us. Matthew 6:14 says: “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:” The law of retaliation also puts one in spiritual bondage. According to Matthew 18:21-35, the fellow who fails to forgive will be handed over to tormentors i.e. the devil and demons. To cancel out the law of retaliation, Jesus introduced the law of love. Love your neighbour as yourself. He also introduced forgiveness.

In Exodus 17:8, without being provoked in any way, shape or form, the Amalekites attacked the children of Israel and killed many of them – young, old, pregnant, nursing mothers, lame, weak, etc. As the law of retaliation demands, the Amalekites had to be paid back in their own coin. (Remember it was an eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth in those days). The Lord sent Saul, through Samuel, to destroy the Amalekites i.e. child killers, nursing mother killers, etc. 1 Samuel 15:3 says: “Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.” The instruction that Saul received was quite simple. It was unambiguous, easy to understand and simple. God told him, “go and destroy all.” When he got to Amalek, he kept Agag (the king of Amalek), the people with him kept the best of the sheep, oxen, fatlings, lambs and all that was good and destroyed the rest. When he returned to Israel, he received the shock of his life. 1 Samuel 15:23 says: “………..because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.” Anyone God rejects is doomed for life. When we say God has rejected a fellow, what we are saying is God has banished the fellow from His presence. In the presence of God is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11), outside of His presence is sadness. We run into problems when we disobey God. Doing God’s work does not exempt us from the rewards of disobedience. Majority of the problems we find ourselves in today has its root in our disobedience to God’s words. Some years back whilst sharing tracts from house to house, the Lord drew my attention to some groups of young boys who were walking towards me. The Lord told me to greet them nicely but I did not. Since I was older, I expected them to greet me first not the other way round. I walked past them, they did not say a word to me, and I did not say a word to them. I thought that was it. As I walked into a street, I saw these boys standing outside a property I wanted to drop some tracts into their letter box. As I opened the gate, I greeted them nicely and they started to swear at me. They even threatened to attack me. God foresaw this, that was why He instructed me to greet to them earlier. Thank God they did not attack me.

QUESTION: Friend, has God asked you to do something?  Has He told you to go and make up with a sister you are not in talking terms with? Has He told you to apologize to your wife? Has He was warned you to stop walking with some group of people? Repent today and do what He has asked you to do.

PRAYER POINTS: Father I repent today, please forgive me and give me a second chance to put things right.

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