OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: MONDAY 15TH FEBRUARY 2021.
THEME: DON'T BE FOOLISH.
MEMORISE:
Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Matthew4:7
READ: Numbers 14:22- 30
22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:
24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.
25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) Tomorrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.
26 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
27 How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
28 Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:
29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me.
30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
MESSAGE:
Many years ago, I visited a zoo in Ibadan, Nigeria and I was told the story of a certain prophet who jumped into the lion's cage to prove that he had the same power as Daniel. The lions ate him up in spite of the huge cross he carried with him. One major difference between that man and Daniel is that the latter did not jump into the lions' den to tempt God; he was thrown into it for praying to God. God, however, didn't only save Daniel; He also prospered him and wiped out his accusers (Daniel 6:1-26).
Mark 16:18 says:
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Does this mean that you should deliberately drink poison? No. What God is saying in the passage above is that if someone tries to poison you, the poison will not harm you.
It is foolishness to tempt God. This is the trap the devil set before Jesus Christ in Matthew 4:5-7, when he told Him to jump off the pinnacle of the temple, reminding Him that the Bible says God's angels will not allow His foot to be dashed against a stone. Jesus escaped this trap by quoting Deuteronomy 6: 16: Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God...
Tempting God provokes His wrath and also limits what He wants to do in the life of His children.
“How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness and grieve him in the desert! Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.” Psalm 78:40- 41
As we see in our Bible reading today, the children of Israel tempted God in the wilderness with their unbelief, murmuring and Idolatry. This limited God's plans for their lives and prevent them from entering the Promised Land with the exception of Caleb and Joshua who had faith in Him. It is indeed foolishness to tempt God.
Are you tempting God?
PRAYER POINT:
Lord please forgive me for every time I have tempted You and help me never to do it again.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Leviticus 24-25
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 21: ROCK OF AGES, CLEFT FOR ME.
1. Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save from wrath and make me pure.
2. Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.
3. Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.
4. While I draw this fleeting breath,
When my eyes shall close in death,
When I rise to worlds unknown,
And behold Thee on Thy throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
Amen and Amen
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