DCLM Daily Manna 30 October 2021 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Enemies Of God
TOPIC: Enemies Of God
TEXT: James 4:1-17
1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
KEY VERSE: “Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” – (James 4:4b)
MESSAGE:
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.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Jeremiah 25-27
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
