NOT MINGLING WITH EVIL
”They did not destroy the nations, Concerning whom the LORD commanded them: But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols: Which were a snare unto them.“
There is a cliché saying in our time that you are the average of the 5 people you hang around the most. This saying is not wrong, because knowingly or unknowingly there is a transference of language, slangs, thoughts, shared interests and those that watch outwardly can identify the similarities.
So it is in the realm of the spirit, if you want to grow in your prayer life yet surround yourself with prayerless people, you deceive yourself. If you want to learn a skill and refuse guidance from those that went ahead, that is deception.
In our theme scripture, the psalmist gives us a story of how the children of Israel did not overtly desert their God, but their mingling with godless people caused them to turn against their God by imitation, friendship, speech, craft, cultures and traditions. By doing so, they found themselves trapped into their cultures and worship of idol gods.
Many Christian’s easily get deceived in the same manner, thinking that they are the ones that change people’s hearts yet only God can. Some marry the heathen, some connect and hang around the heathen without having any revelation or instruction from their secret place. As a result, they don’t know how to approach them with intent to strictly bear fruit without compromising themselves for such power does not come by might but by the spirit, and in the end darkness overpowers what little shadow of light they thought they had.
Child of God, unless you are a man/ woman of consistent prayer, established in a Bible believing church, having great accountability and good teaching, and growing steadily in love, it is best to sit and grow in those before taking on any responsibility to evangelize.
Paul encourages us not to speak of things not wrought in us (), James reiterates the same that many shouldn’t desire to be teachers because they are held to a higher standard () and above all Jesus, who spent many hours pouring into His disciples before he could send them out with the Holy Ghost.
Preparation is never a step that can be burnt in the things of God.
Prayer: Father I thank you for this truth. I am submitted to the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the leadership of those you have set ahead of me for my sake. It is not by power or might that the works of your kingdom are done in and through us but by your spirit. Search my heart, expose and uproot anything or anyone that would stand in the way of my growth, in Jesus’name.
CI.
