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Proverbs 22:3 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on,
and are punished...
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A good name is rather to
be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold...The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the
maker of them all.A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the
simple pass on, and are punished.By humility and the fear of the Lord are
riches, and honour, and life.Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth
keep his soul shall be far from them.Proverbs 22:1-5
When you are popular and celebrated on
account of your position or service in the kingdom of God, beware and avoid
every temptation to use what you have received against the will of God. If you
are not careful, you may fall into a trap and become another example, like the
250 princes who were destroyed in Numbers 16. That shall not be your portion in
Jesus’ Name! However, you need to know that if you are in a position of power
or you are very famous and highly respected by people, you will be a target of
manipulators. If you are not extremely careful, you will fall into traps you
never thought could ensnare you. After Korah, Dathan and Abiram orchestrated an
evil plan and they wanted the children of Israel to buy into it, who did they
contact? They deliberately chose the most popular 250 princes in the assembly
of God’s people and carefully sold the idea to them (Numbers
16:2). Once that was done, convincing the people under these princes was
a walk in the park.
Believe it or not, just as these princes were
tempted, you too will be tempted. People who have goods and services for sale
will come to you because they want to reach yourmembers or those under your
sphere of influence. Some of these may be beneficial to your people and some may
not. Some people may even ask you to come and support a cause that is contrary
to scriptures. Be very careful! Be watchful and prayerful. When they come to
make such proposals, place them side-by-side with the word. Any proposition
that violates the word of God must be rejected without fear or favour. Those
borderline issues which are not out-rightly wrong or sinful should be presented
to God, asking for His direction. Never allow yourself to be used by
manipulators! If you lead the people under you astray, not only will their
blood be upon your head, you may lose your integrity, position, power and
honour. Also, carefully watch out for sycophants who will sing your praise so
high that you will not know when they begin to lead you astray. Sycophants are “loyal”
to you for very wrong reasons – reasons they may never tell you. They will
always want you to see what they do, because they do their service to impress
the leader and not God. Ask God to weed off from you anyone who appears close
to you but want to mislead you.
Action
Point
Pray that God will weed off sycophants and those with a wrong motive hanging around leaders in the Body of Christ, your family, place of work and the government.
Bible in one year: Leviticus 13:45-14:32; 1st
Corinthians 9:8-23
Reference: Open Heavens Devotional with Pastor E.A. Adeboye
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