OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE DATE: Thursday April 9.....

TOPIC: THE WISE & THE FOOLISH

Memorise:

Abstain from all appearance of evil.

1 Thessalonians 5:22

Read: Judges 16:15-21

15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when

thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three

times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.

16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her

words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;

17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not

come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God

from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go

from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.

18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she

sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up

this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of

the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their

hand.

19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a

man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head;

and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he

awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times

before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was

departed from him.

21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought

him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he

did grind in the prison house.

Message

Imagine you are driving on an unfamiliar road, and you see a sign

that reads "narrow bridge ahead". As soon as you see this sign,

you have gained the knowledge that there is a narrow bridge in

front of you. What you choose to do with this knowledge will

determine whether you are wise or foolish. If you are wise, you

will slow down immediately. If you ignore the sign and increase

your speed, you are foolish. This illustrates the state of many

lives. Wisdom is the correct application of knowledge. When you

begin to apply knowledge correctly, you will reach your goal.

Fools always end badly even if they start well. The wise builds,

while the foolish pulls down (Proverbs 14:1). All the things that

happened to the generation of Israelites that did not make it to the

Promised Land were written for us as examples and for our

admonition, so that we will know what to do and what not to do at

every given time. We are to learn from these examples and be

prepared.

There are many kinds of false prophets today, even among those

who call themselves Pentecostals. Despite their shallowness and

heretical teachings, their churches are prospering numerically and

financially. If you are not careful, the tendency is there to think

"Since they are prospering so much; God must be behind them!"

Such a mindset can lead to weariness and ultimately spiritual

slumber. A sleeping man is at the mercy of his enemies, as was

the case with Saul (1 Samuel 26:7-8). A sleeping man can also lose

things that are very precious. Samson lost his hair while he was

asleep, and by the time he woke up, all his power had left him

(Judges 16:19-20). Samson dozed off many times before he slept.

He did not act against the appearance of evil. He did not act when

Delilah kept pestering him. She asked him for his weak point and

Samson was so careless not to realise that her request wasn't a

joke. He kept on dozing until he finally slept off on her laps. There

the enemy overcame him and plucked out his eyes. It is true that

his hair grew again, but his eyes were never restored. The foolish

person is careless, while the wise one is careful. The fool will want

to sin and ask for forgiveness, but he who is wise will abstain

from sin and everything that has the appearance of evil. You never

know where your next test will come from. Once you lay your

hand on the plough, you cannot afford to look back (Luke 9:62).

Do not relax when you have not finished the race. Make up your

mind to pray, study the word of God and fast more than others.

Meditate day and night on the word of God. Be extra careful. With

total surrender to God, He will carry you and make sure that

against all odds, you reach your goal.

Prayer point:

Father, have mercy upon me and help me to act with wisdom at all

times.

AUTHOR: PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE inspired by THE HOLYSPIRIT