20/09/2015 - RECIPE TO BE DELIVERED FROM THE ENEMY

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Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, if you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines. 1 Samuel 7.3

The people of God wailed because of the oppression of the Philistines. They had defeated Israel and had taken away the Ark of the Covenant to their territory. However, the Lord sent terrible plagues to afflict them. When the Ark came back to the Promised Land, in response to the cry of the Israelites, the prophet Samuel oriented them what they should do to get rid of that suffering. This same admonishment serves for us today.

The first orientation is to convert to the Lord with all of your heart. Now, God does not accept a “half-hearted” conversion, when a person becomes religious but opens spaces for actions that are condemned by the Word. The reality is that if God does not occupy our interior, He will occupy nothing, for He does not share His place with the devil or with our own personal projects.

Putting away foreign gods is another recommendation from the Lord. Thus, still today, many of God’s servants do not understand why their prayers are not attended. For example, those who are dominated by greed are led by the “god” of this sin. The same happens with those who are possessed by lust, carnality, dishonesty, and other personality “failures”. Now, behind these sins, there are entities that must be expelled.

The Ashtoreths – mystical sculptures – should be banned from God’s people. This means that we cannot pray or worship like the lost ones do, using materials that are considered “holy” and for your protection. We must only use what the Word of God allows us, and at the same time, we can only give to the Lord what He has given us first. What comes from man or demons cannot be part of our faith. If it happens so, we will be despised.

The Israelites should prepare their hearts for the Lord. Due to the fact that Rehoboam, David’s grandson, did not act in such a way, he did not manage to preserve the kingdom of Israel. This has also been the main reason of the fall of many saved ones. Know that this preparation means a willingness to seek and accept the orientations that are revealed in the Word.

The objective of the Israelites was to simply obey the Almighty. If your purpose in the Gospel is only to enjoy the blessings, you will never have the abundant life that was promised by Jesus. Now those who strive to serve the Most High will see that they will be in a much better condition than if they fought to seek their own desires.

If they positioned themselves, the children of Israel would be delivered from the hands of the Philistines. This promise was made by He who has love and zeal for His own people. The aim of our faith must be to be delivered from the lordship and influence of the enemy. Then, we will see that the Gospel is in fact the Perfect Law of Freedom. Following the Lord’s instructions, we will never be defeated by Satan.

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares