Daily Manna 30 October
KEY VERSE: James 4:4b “Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
TEXT: James 4:1-17
4 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Read yesterday’s Daily Manna here
Loyalty is seen in identifying with the principles and practices of the person one pledges his loyalty. It is considered an act of treachery and betrayal to make friends with the sworn and bitter enemy of one’s master. Our passage deals with various issues ranging from lusts, wrong motives in prayer, love for the world, the need for humility and to shun pride, the evil of judging one another and the foolishness of boasting about the future, which only God knows. The “world” as Watchman Nee said, is “an ordered system which is governed from behind the scene by a ruler – Satan.” It so enraptures its victims that they are not aware of the great danger before them.
They are oblivious of the fact that they are heading towards hell fire. Having failed to weaken the Church through persecution, Satan decided to bring in the world into it. This subtle and deadly system has been embraced by many Christians unconsciously. Worldliness is made manifest in the craze for fashion, show-off, festivities, exotic hair-dos, Satan-inspired music, lack of moderation, “unisex” wears, etc. It is so alluring, enticing, seemingly unharmful and yet so evil.
Many professing Christians do not even know or believe they are already enemies of God by their attachment to the world. To make matters worse, many “great” men of God especially prosperity preachers, never tell people that worldliness leads to hell fire. Many young persons are trying to outdo unbelievers in this Satan-inspired race. What then is the solution? Concerned believers must not stop to sound the alarm backed up with fervent prayers that these precious souls will not be lost. If you are a worldly minded person, make sure you repent today to remove the tag “enemy of God” from yourself.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Worldliness numbs to the point of eternal damnation.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Jeremiah 25-27
Thank you for studying today’s Daily Manna – Enemies of God – by Pastor Enoch A.
Don’t forget to Follow Elanhub on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Daily Manna 30 October 2021
