THE CROSS: A SYMBOL OF DELIVERANCE FROM THE WORLD III

It is a demotion to try to be like the world. When Simon the sorcerer saw how people were receiving the Holy Spirit through laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money in order to get the power of the Holy Spirit. Apostle Peter, however, rebuked him, saying, “Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money” Acts 8:20.

The god of this world is mammon; the God we serve is different from the god of this world, you must therefore not bow to the god of this world. The Bible says, “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not” Prov. 1:10. Several times in ministry I have been enticed but God has always granted me the grace to say an emphatic NO! Some of such offers are so ridiculous but simply demonstrates the extent to which the Church has degenerated of the people of the world.

1 John 2:15-17, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” Love is very special. You don’t have the capacity to love God and still love the world at the same time. It is just not possible. The moment you love the world and the things of the world, the love of the Father will wax cold. Remember that God is a jealous God; he expects you to love him with passion – with all your heart, with all your might and with all your strength. It is all or nothing! If you pursue money, you will end up in hell. It is unfortunate that many people don’t understand this. What we have today is ecclesiastical hierarchy without value depicting signs of decadence.

If you look critically at the above scripture, you will discover that lust of the flesh, lust of the eye and pride of life were the original things that the devil used to tempt man in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3. Everyone goes through these temptations and if you are not careful, you may succumb. May you not succumb to satanic pressure in the mighty name of Jesus. Even Jesus went through it but he conquered with the word – ‘it is written’. If you don’t know what is written, how can you survive the snake attack in the garden of the heart?

Pray-

• Heavenly Father, I worship and adore you for you are good and your mercies endure forever, your faithfulness to all generations. Grant me the grace to be so desperately in love with you that the idea of substituting my love for you for anything else does not even remotely exist in Jesus name. Amen.

TO BE CONTINUED…….