Dear child, you have been taught that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Whoever wants to be wise must first start by learning what it means to fear God, and deliberately walk in that fear, putting God first before every decision.
Today I’d like to show you more things about the fear of God. Let’s take a look at our focus verse for today!
To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. –Proverbs 8:13 (NIV)
This verse listed some things God wants us his children to take note of. The fear of God means to; hate evil, to hate pride and arrogance, to hate evil behaviours, and to hate perverse speech. Let’s pick these things one after the other, shall we?
1. The fear of God is to Hate Evil.
The word evil means being wicked, and harming people. The God we serve is a good God, his thought for everyone is to do us good. You can’t be a child of God and think of harming the people around you. The proof that you are a Christian is that you love your neighbour, and everyone around you just like Jesus commanded.
2. The fear of God is to Hate Pride and Arrogance.
Pride and Arrogance are similar words; it is the quality of having an excessively high opinion of oneself, having an exaggerated sense of one’s own importance or abilities. Humility and kindness are very important virtues for us as God’s children, you might be smarter or prettier than the people around you, but that doesn’t mean you are better than they are. Jesus lived a humble life on earth, that’s what every child of God should do too.
To be continued…
PRAYER: Father in the name of Jesus, I pray that I have the fear of God in Jesus name. Amen
ACTION PLAN: Decide to put in your best in all you do today
DECLARATION: I have the fear of God, I hate evil all the days of my life.
One of the things I want you to know is that God watches over us dutifully. Not only does God know our every step, there are angels that God has assigned to watch you every second, and their gaze doesn’t shift from us.
This is how you know that evil cannot come near you, because God watches over you all the time and there are angels at work for you as well little children.
Asides the fact that God keeps watch over our lives, what we do daily is also open to him; the time you wake up every day, when take your bath, God sees your breakfast time, when you get on a bus to go to school.
Let me make this more interesting. God sees you when you tell a lie. God sees you when you make faces at your teachers or tutors in school. God sees you when you gossip about someone to another person. He sees everything you do.
Let me show you what the bible says;
For a man’s ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths, the evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly. – Proverbs 5:21-23 (NIV)
So you see, God doesn’t just see everything you do, he also examines them. Do you know what it means to examine something?
To examine means to inspect or study thoroughly to determine the nature or condition of something.
To God your actions are well examined, showing if it be good or otherwise. This is why you have to be mindful and intentional about what you do, and don’t do.
PRAYER: Father in Jesus name, I receive grace to do the right thing all the time; Amen
ACTION PLAN: Choose to be deliberate about what you say
DECLARATION: I am a good child. I am wise and obedient.
Hello dear one, how are you today? I want to talk to you about pride as a character and what God thinks about it. You will learn how to detect pride.
What is Pride? Pride is a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from achievements, qualities, of possessions that do one credit, being consciousness of one’s own dignity; it’s the quality of having an excessively high opinion of oneself. It simply is feeling like you are better than everyone else and treating them less.
Now let’s look at what God’s word says.
In a few places in the bible, God expresses his displeasure in prideful people; it is not one of the attributes of God’s children.
Take a look at what the bible says about Pride and why we as God’s children should not get involved in it.
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” – James 4:6 (NKJV)
God resists prideful people; he doesn’t want them around him. He isn’t pleased with people who exhibit this character. But everyone who is humble, God gives grace.
Don’t you want the grace of God? If you do, then being proud isn’t an option for you.
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. – Proverbs 8:13 (KJV)
Being prideful is regarded as an evil thing. It’s an attribute of someone who doesn’t fear God. As a child of God you ought to fear God and so you can’t afford to have pride.
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. – Proverbs 11:2 (NIV)
Disgrace comes with having pride; it’s not God’s desire for his children to be disgraced. Pride is never the will of God for us as his children.
Don’t pay evil for evil. ‘Look! It’s Taye’. Dele pointed out to Femi as they walked home from school. ‘He’s alone. Now you can do whatever you want to him” Dele urged, his eyes gleaming with vengeance.
‘Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone’ (NIV)
Romans 12:7
Taye had stumbled into Femi on purpose earlier today at school during lunch break. Femi’s whole lunch had spilled over his white shirt. This earned him a huge reprimand from the teacher. And his mom was still going to do so too at home.
Dele was right, this was the perfect opportunity to pay Taye back. He remembered what he had learned from the devotional this morning. He remembered the verse in the Bible.
‘Be kind and compassionate to one another. Forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you’.
Ephesians 4:32
‘No, I won’t do anything to him’ he shrugged his shoulders.
‘Are you serious?’ asked a dumbfounded Dele. ‘He bullies you all the time’.
‘My mom read today in the devotional that Jesus said I don’t have to be mean to him also’. He gave Taye a wide smile and waved as they passed him.
‘Did you just smile and wave at him?’ Dele asked, his eyes huge as lemons.
‘Yeah, I did’, said a happy Femi. He felt good as he walked on. ‘I am going to pray for him instead’.
People will always hurt us no matter how good we are to them or others. Being obedient to Jesus is not to hurt people back when they hurt us.
Declaration: I learn to forgive. I will not pay evil with evil.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, I want to obey you by not hurting back anybody that has hurt me. In your mighty name, I pray. Amen.
In today’sdevotional, we’ll be looking at the topic “Some Lies every married couple should avoid”. Let’s delve right into it
1. As a wife, looks don’tmatter Most wives with these erroneous beliefs and attitudes have had themselves to blame later. Once you are married, all other women out there don’t become ugly and your husband doesn’t become blind. Yes, the husband should look once and move on. But wives too should help your husband by taking care of themselves.
Men are moved by sight. Be feminine. God is not against making your hair, using cologne, and make-up. Watch what you eat. If you are already gaining weight and your husband is beginning to complain, it’s time to reduce your food intake.
2. Marriage is a necessary evil. I’m in it for my children. People with bitter experiences would say this. But another man’s experience does not have to be your own experience, and you don’t have to believe it.
Even though one of the reasons for marriage is procreation, it is not solely for that. Marriage is far more than childbearing and rearing.
3. I can be untruthful and deceptive; it’s all part of the game. Marriage is not a game. It’s a covenant that requires absolute truthfulness. It is “naked and not ashamed.” Naked means no mask, no dress, nothing covering your nakedness. It means what any other person cannot see, your spouse will. That includes your thoughts, past, present, and every in between.
Unfortunately, the world is making nudity a public show. Scanty dresses and little respect for the body only in marriage. Little wonder, there is so much fornication and adultery.
4. I don’t have to tell my spouse everything Some married couples still believe there is wisdom in not telling their spouse everything. Well, maybe the wisdom of this world that is sensual. But the wisdom that is from above, God’s own wisdom, teaches us to be open and tell our spouses everything.
Don’t make any investment without telling your spouse. Don’t buy a house, land, or give out any money without the knowledge of your spouse.
5. There is no fun in marriage as it is boring and full of pressures. Marriage might come with its pressures. Life itself comes with pressures. For the believers, God has promised us a way of escape. He told us He has overcome the world with its pressures.
There is all that is needed for fun and excitement inside marriage. You have to discover how to get the fun out of it. It’s a lie of this age that you have to go outside of your marriage to catch fun. Don’t fall for it.
God bless your marriage.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I learn the truth from God’s word about marriage
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Lord, teach me your way
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness (Proverbs 8:17-18 KJV)
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Avoid all these erroneous beliefs about marriage
BIBLE READING FOR THE DAY 1 Chronicles 1 – 2
Rev. Sophia Okunowo
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