OPEN HEAVEN DEVOTIONAL 2017

Wednesday April 19, 2017

BACKSLIDER-IN-HEART I

Memorise : The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself. - Proverbs 14:14

Read: Judges 14:1 -3

14:1 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.

14:2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.

14:3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.


MESSAGE :

Backsliding is not an event but a gradual process that occurs over a period of time until it gets to a noticeable stage. At that stage, people will begin to say an individual has backslidden, but what they fail to realise is that it did not start at that point. Backsliding begins in the heart. When a believer becomes filled with his or her own ways, that believer has begun to backslide. That person would always be right in his or her own sight, and others would be wrong. Such a person would no longer take advice from anybody, becoming a loner.

ln today's Bible reading, we see the case of Samson, an anointed Nazirite to the Lord, who began to backslide right from his heart. The way today's Bible reading begins is significant: "And Samson went down...". When a person begins to go down, may the Lord have mercy on him or her. As he went down, he saw an abomination that enticed him: a Philistine woman. He came to his father and mother to tell them of his intention to marry the Philistine woman. His parents counselled him against this abominable desire, but regardless of their warning, Samson said "Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well."

When a child of God begins to nurse the idea of getting engaged to an unbeliever, no doubt, he or she has started backsliding in the heart. An unbeliever should not be an attractive option for a genuine child of God. A female child of God should flnd it repugnant for a smoker or drunkard to become her husband;
after all, such a person will get intimate with her after wedlock with smoky lips or a mouth saturated with alcohol.

A Christian brother should also see it as degrading to be married to a lady operating under the influence of the spirit of Jezebel — knowing full well how Jezebel destroyed her husband (Ephesians 2:2, 1 Kings 21 :25). You are influenced by the environment you live in and the people you are intimate with. An unbelieving woman or man will act as a weight around your neck, dragging you down to the pit of hell. The different abominable things going on in the world are enough to deter a genuine child of God from marrying a person who is not under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Such a person is not restrained from doing whatever the devil suggests to his or her heart and does not share the same standard of the word of God as a moral compass for life.

Today, we hear of wives sleeping with drivers andtheses domestic staff, and we also hear of husbands sleeping with housemaids and their wife's sisters -things that are abominable in the sight of God. Do you know that an unbeliever might not flnd these things abominable? lt is a terrible thing to be associated with an "uncircumcised Philistine" in these end times. Beware of backsliding!

PRAYER POINT :
Father, completely destroy the works of the devil in my life and in Your Church.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR :
Numbers 7;
Jeremiah 16:1-13


HYMN 16: GOD GIVE US CHRISTIAN HOMES!

God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the Bible is loved and taught,
Homes where the Master's will is sought,
Homes crowned with beauty Your love has wrought;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!

God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the father is true and strong,
Homes that are free from the blight of wrong,
Homes that are joyous with love and song;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!

God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the mother, in caring quest,
Strives to show others Your way is best,
Homes where the Lord is an honored guest;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!

God give us Christian homes!
Homes where the children are led to know
Christ in His beauty who loves them so,
Homes where the altar fires burn and glow;
God give us Christian homes;
God give us Christian homes!