Bible Reading: Amos 1, 2, 3, Revelation 6.
Memory Verse: “Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself:” Amos 2:14 (KJV)
The Israelites had just done the impossible as they destroyed the impenetrable wall of Jericho and conquered Jericho in Joshua 6. Then they went to face a very small country, Ai which was adjudged to require just two or three thousand soldiers of Israel to conquer. However in Joshua 7:4-5, the Israelites were defeated and about thirty-six Israel men were killed by the Ai men! This was unthinkable and got the leader of the Israelites distraught! But he knew the way to go; he went to God in prayer asking why a small Ai disgraced them and God told him, the Israelites had an accursed thing in their midst. When they took care of the sin, they easily defeated the country of Ai.
The issue is no matter how brave, intelligent, powerful you are when sin comes into your life as a Christian, you loose that colour. In Amos 2, God said for three transgressions of Moab and for four, they will be punished. Thus for your transgression, your strength will be diminished! This is why Amos 2:14 (KJV) says, “Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself:” What makes you thick is lost when you commit sin. And things that you used to do with ease become so difficult to achieve. It is therefore imperative that you need to check your life regularly to ensure you are on God’s side and you are not harboring any accursed thing. Also if you observe that what you used to do easily before is now taking such a longer time or almost becoming impossible, you need to check your life for any sin. Similarly if you find out that you get irritable so quickly unlike before, you need to check your life. It could be that your relationship with God is getting weaker and you need to recharge your spiritual battery by studying the word of God more, and fellowshipping more with God.
If on the other hand you find out any sin in your life, then you need to repent of the sin and go back to God asking him for mercy and take the decision not to go back to such sins any more. However, it is easy to take a decision not to go back to such sins anymore but often difficult to truly implement it. To avoid this challenge, you need to examine your life to find out the root cause of the sin and address it. Finally remember that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you and so call on Holy Spirit to help you.
Prayer point:
Father, whatever will cause you to diminish your grace upon my life, prevent me from doing it in Jesus name.
Bro. Biodun Oyapero