CAC LIVING WATER DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR NOVEMBER 6, 2021 : TOPIC – IS GOD IN YOUR RESPECTED ARK?
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CHRIST APOSTOLIC CHURCH
THE LIVING WATER {July ~ Dec., 2021}
DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
Saturday, November 6, 2021
-International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict
TOPIC: IS GOD IN YOUR RESPECTED ARK?
Read 1 Samuel 4:4-11
MEMORISE: Also the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died (1 Samuel 4:11)
EXPOSITION
The Israelites had sinned, and God had given enemies upper hand against them. Disaster always greets sin. In the course of trying to fight the God-orchestrated battle against God Himself, they thought of introducing the Ark they thought represented God’s presence, and God Himself, but they missed it.
Did the staff of Elisha work in the hand of Gehazi? No! (2 Kgs. 4:29ff). Why? Sin! Conversely, did the mantle of Elijah work in the hands of Elisha to part River Jordan into two? Yes! (2 Kgs. 2:12-15). The same Spirit of righteousness worked in both of them.
We have to be careful the way we cherish and promote those spiritual paraphernalia around us today – sanctified waters, holy rivers, mountains, memorial sites, ‘powerful’ clothes, fasting, etc. Can all these replace our “relationship” with God? The Israelites also thought that because the Ark of Covenant carried Yahweh’s presence, it must work, regardless of their spiritual conditions. They missed it!
A living instrument won’t work in the hands of a dead man. The most potent AK-47 is rendered ineffective in the hands of a dead soldier as today is the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict. The unconfessed, unsettled sin of Israel, most especially, the very sons of Eli, had rendered the Ark an ordinary wood void of God’s presence and power. The presence of God doesn’t abide where unresolved sins have field day (Psa. 66:18; Isa. 59:1,2; Jn. 9:31).
It doesn’t matter how anointed or gifted you think you are, if you are in sin, God isn’t with you. Better repent before ending up like Samson (Jdg. 16:19-21). Israel realised too late that God wasn’t in the empty ark they carried to the warfront. Check your attitude to sin! Do you know that some people carry the Bible (some even put it on their cars’/buses’ dashboards, obviously for protection) but it isn’t working for them because of the condition of their hearts?
PRAYER POINTS
1. Lord, help me to be sincere with myself and You as regards my true spiritual condition.
2. Holy Spirit, help me to make amends wherever needed, so that I don’t continue to cause myself avoidable pains because of disobedience.
3. Lord, help churches to be more concerned with Your presence than the programmes and ordinances we flaunt amidst ourselves.
EXTRA READING FOR TODAY: Jeremiah 27:21 – 30:12, Titus 3:2 – 3:15; Philemon 1:1 – 1:7