OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL

SUNDAY, 17TH JANUARY, 2021.

THEME: MCY: LUST (II).

MEMORY VERSE:

“Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committed fornication sinneth against his awn body.” 1 Corinthians 6:18

BIBLE READING: Judges 16:4-20 (KJV)

[4]Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

[5]And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”

[6]So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you.”

[7]And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”

[8]So the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, and she bound him with them.

[9]Now men were lying in wait, staying with her in the room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he broke the bowstrings as a strand of yarn breaks when it touches fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.

[10]Then Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Now, please tell me what you may be bound with.”

[11]So he said to her, “If they bind me securely with new ropes that have never been used, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”

[12]Therefore Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And men were lying in wait, staying in the room. But he broke them off his arms like a thread.

[13]Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me what you may be bound with.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom”—

[14]So she wove it tightly with the batten of the loom, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep, and pulled out the batten and the web from the loom.

[15]Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies. ”

[16]And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death,

[17]that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”

[18]When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.” So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand.

[19]Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him.

[20]And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

MESSAGE:

A hungry and thirsty fellow is one who is desperate for food and water. Have you ever seen someone who has been stranded on a desert for a whole month? If he sees water anywhere, he would do anything, and I mean anything, to drink it. The same applies to a person who has been deprived of food for many days.

In the same vein, God expects us to hunger and thirst for righteousness.

He expects us to desperately pursue righteousness, Jesus gave a parable in Matthew 13:44-46 that the kingdom of God is like a man who found treasure in a field and went to sell all that he had so he could buy that field and own the treasure.

Psalm 63:1 says: “…My soul thirsts for you, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.” You should be willing to give up anything just to remain righteous.

The reverse is the case these days; people are very quick to sacrifice their righteousness in order to gain some pleasures of this world. Don’t deceive yourself with contemporary Christianity.

If you are not desperately hungry to live a holy life, you become easy meat for the devil. You need to be desperate enough to cut off your right hand if that hand is going to cause you to sin (Matthew 5:30).

In other words, if social media is the means through which immoral thoughts get into your mind, then you must be ready to delete those social media apps from your phone. If you are lusting after your secretary, then you must be ready to let go of such a person. If being a staff in that organisation causes you to stain your garment of holiness, then resign!

Only the violent can take the kingdom of God and they must take it by force. Don’t be afraid to be asked why you pursue this Jesus so much.

Fear of what people may say will make many lose their righteousness and consequently, the kingdom of God. You must hunger and thirst for righteousness at all times.

KEY POINT:

Flee every appearance of the lust of the flesh!

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 34-36

HYMN 29: WHAT CAN WASH AWAY MY SIN?

1. What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus;

What can make me whole again?