Open Heaven 13 February 2018

CARELESS WARRIORS? – Tuesday February 13^th 2018

Memorise: Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. Mark 13:33

Read: 1^st Samuel 30:1-6 (KJV)

1 And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;

² And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.

³ So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.

⁴ Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

⁵ And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

⁶ And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

Bible in one year: Leviticus 4-5, Romans 16, Hymnal: Sing hymn 14

Message

I have watched with pity and dismay as many children of God, particularly ministers of God, carelessly fight spiritual battles at the expense of their own lives and family. If you desire to be triumphant in every area of life, you need to pay close attention to what the Lord Jesus Christ told His disciples in today’s memory verse. You need to apply caution and be strategic in all that you do. To see the big picture of the challenges confronting you, you need to watch. To get direction and strength from heaven to help you confront these challenges, you need to pray. In today’s Bible text, we have the story of a careless group of warriors: David and his mighty men of valour. While they went about fighting for survival as mercenaries, they left their own camp unprotected. Before they returned from their raid, their own camp had been raided and burnt, and their wives and children were taken away as captives by the enemy. open heavens 12 February 2018. When they discovered what the enemy had done, these men of war were so distressed that they wept like babies. They didn’t just weep, they wept until they had no more strength to weep. In their grief, they even revolted against their leader, David, and spoke of stoning him to death. However, faced with his volatile situation, David did something worthy of emulation: he encouraged himself in the Lord (1^st Samuel 30:6).

There are a good number of lessons we can learn from this story; first of which is that you fight the Lord’s battles, even the Lord of Hosts expects to watch your back. Our God does not expect you to be presumptuous. The words of our Lord Jesus Christ concerning counting the cost before building a tower or fighting a foe are pointers to strategic planning in spiritual warfare (Luke 14:28-32). Secondly, there should be division of labour in spiritual warfare. We should not all be at the war front at the same time. All bases must be covered. The early church realised this truth on time, and so the apostles gave themselves to the ministry of the word and prayer while they appointed others to look after the administration of corporate social responsibilities (Acts 6:1-7). Thirdly, persons in leadership positions should always be proactive. David’s proactive move to seek God’s face was what saved the day. He inquired of the Lord on how to go about recovering all that they had lost (1^st Samuel 30:7-8). At the end of the day, what they should have done in the first place was what they later did. They learnt that they should always organise themselves into bands with different roles. When they pursed to recover all, not all of them pursued after the raiders, but when they shared the spoils of war, those who waited behind to look after their stuff. The principle did not go down well with some of David’s men who did not understand it (1^st Samuel 30:21-24). Indeed, God’s ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8)!

Key Point

Watch and pray as you engage in spiritual warfare.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional Lessons was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical Church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.

hymn 14

ONWARD CHRISTIAN

SOLDIERS

Onward Christian soldiers!

Marching as to war,

With the cross of Jesus

Going on before.

Christ, the royal Master,

Leads against the foe;

Forward into battle,

See, His banners go!

Chorus:

Onward, Christian soldiers!

Marching as to war,

With the cross of Jesus,

Going on before.

At the name of Jesus

Satan’s host doth flee;

On then, Christian soldiers,

On to victory!

Hell’s foundations quiver

At the shout of praise:

Brothers, lift your voices,

Loud your Anthems raise!

Like a mighty army   

Moves the Church of God:

Brothers, we are treading

Where the saints have trod;

We are not divided,

All one Body we-

One in faith and Spirit

One eternally.

Crowns and thrones may perish

Kingdoms rise and wane;

But the Church of Jesus

Constant will remain.

Gates of hell can never

‘Gainst the Church prevail;

We have Christ’s own promise,

Which can never fail.

Onward, then, ye people!

Join our happy throng;

Blend with ours your voices

In the triumph song.

Glory, laud and honor

Unto Christ, the King;

This through countless ages

Men and angels sing.