OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL FRIDAY 20TH APRIL 2018

THEME:  NO FOOD FOR LAZY MAN.

MEMORISE:

And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; 1 Thessalonians 4:11

READ: 1 Thessalonians 4:3-12

3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;

5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:

6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.

7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.

9 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.

10 And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;

11 qAnd that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;

12 That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.

MESSAGE:
A lazy man is described in Proverbs 10:4 as someone who works with a slack hand. He or she is also described as slothful in Proverbs 12:24. The Holy Spirit warns us against slothfulness in Romans 12:11:

 “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;”

Some people are fervent in spirit but slothful in business whereas some others are diligent in business but not fervent in spirit. These are lopsided Christian lifestyles which are not profitable. In today’s memory verse, we are warned against being lazy.

Laziness results in some people becoming poor that they become fraudsters to make ends meet. Defrauding others is a terrible sin that calls for God’s vengeance. (1 Thessalonians 4:6).

Lazy Christians take advantage of the generosity of the Christian brotherhood to defraud other diligent Christians. Such lazy ones do not want to work with their hands. Instead, they go from house to house and from church to church to defraud the brethren under several pretexts.

Interestingly, this is not a new development I the Body of Christ. Under the guise of awaiting the second coming of Lord, laziness was so rampant in the church at Thessalonica, so much so that some believers abandoned their trade and businesses to loaf around. For this reason, Apostle Paul, after hi initial epistle, further wrote to this same Church in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 saying:

“ For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.”

Today, job scarcity makes it difficult for us to know who is actually lazy among the brethren who loaf around other brethren. In actual fact, it is not the lack of jobs that makes people unemployed; rather it is pride and the unrealistic dreams of white collar jobs. Some would not do any other job than what they were trained to do in school.

These group of Christians should learn from people like Apostle Paul, who in spite of his degree in law engaged in  tent making to make ends meet (Acts 18:3), Philippians 3:5). Some people are misguided into thinking that doing manual labor would drain their anointing; this is a lie of the devil.

The Lord promised to bless the work of our hands, not our idleness (Deuteronomy 28:12). The story was told of how God directed a young but brilliant Christian to stat clearing human waste in a modern way ad he became a millionaire through it. If you are naturally lazy, you need supernatural healing, because laziness is a disease that can kill the body and through the soul into hell. Therefore, detest it with everything in you.

ACTION POINT:

Create a job if no one offers you one; you are a child of God with the ability to create things.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  Judges 10-11; 2 Timothy 3-4

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 4: TRUST AND OBEY.

1. When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

2. Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.

3. Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.

4. But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

5. Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet,
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.