Memorise: What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31
Read: 1st Kings 18:21-39(KJV)
21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
22 Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
23 Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under:
24 And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.
25 And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.
26 And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.
27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.
28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.
29 And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.
30 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down.
31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:
32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.
33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.
34 And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.
35 And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.
36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.
37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LordGod, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
38 Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God.
Bible in one year: Hebrews 5-8, Jeremiah 10:17-11:8, Hymn: Sing hymn 10
Message:-
By the standard of the world, the majority vote opinion is the acceptable way of measuring the correctness or wrongness of an idea or way of life.
for example, at a point in history, some societies saw homosexuality and other sexual immoralities as aberrations, but with the majority of their population now in support of such lifestyles, these acts are now being celebrated, so much so that even some who ought to be God’s mouthpiece in these societies are afraid of criticizing them, in order not to lose their appeal before the world. How sad! Irrespective of the prevailing opinion in such societies, God’s position remains steadfast forever, and it is clearly stated in the words of 1st Corinthians 6:9:
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, not idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind”
The doctrine of the world says the minority may have their say but the majority will have their way. Thank God that we are not of the world, and so we are not bound by their ideology or way of life (John 17:14-16). We are citizens of a kingdom, and our God is our King (Ephesians 2:19)
As citizen of heaven, let us not be terrified into surrendering to the world’s beliefs. Do not let their militant way of enforcing their agenda move you. Don’t be like Aaron who conceded to the evil idea of making a god of gold for the Israelite's because that was the popular opinion of the majority (Exodus 32:1-6). Remember the words of Exodus 23:2a which says to you:
“Thou shall not follow a multitude to do evil;”
Also, don’t forget the words of your heavenly Father, saying in Proverbs 1:10:
“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.”
You need to understand that one with God is majority (Romans 8:31). Always stand for the truth, even in the face of a hostile majority, with the full understanding that with God, you are in the majority. 1st John 4:4 declares that you have overcome the world because the presence of God in you makes you greater than the world. I therefore encourage you to soar on the victory won for us by Jesus Christ to confidently stand for the truth and speak out against all forms of sin and unrighteousness (John 16:33). Let the whole world know that one with God is majority and resist the lie which says that because you are outnumbered, you have to join the world to perpetrate evil, especially those identified as being socially acceptable or politically correct.
Action Point: Pray for Christians in societies which are hostile to the message of the gospel, that God will uphold them to stand strong for Him in the face of hostility against their faith.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional Lessons was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical Churches in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.
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