[Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Who are the people around you?

Read: Exodus 32

Meditation verse:

“Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the  mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come,  make us gods that shall go before us…” (Exodus 32:1).

The people you surround yourself with can either help or derail you from your  destiny. It is often said that if you want to know how far a person will go in life,  check out the people they surround themselves with. The people around you  affect your life because they counsel you, speak into your life and make ties with  you in business or some other area of life. The bible is replete with examples of  individuals who deviated from God’s purpose for their lives because they  listened to counsel from people.  

In 1 Samuel 15, King Saul defeated the Amalekites, but spared the king and took  the best of the spoils, even though God had instructed him to destroy  everything. When the prophet, Samuel confronted him, he said “they have  brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep  and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly  destroyed.” As a result of his disobedience, God rejected him as king and tore  the kingdom from his hands. Samson lost his sight and anointing because he  listened to Delilah (Judges 16). In today’s reading, Joshua listened to the  people’s demand to make a golden image for them to worship.  

Proverbs 11:14 states that “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the  multitude of counselors there is safety.” However, you must weigh the counsel  from others against God’s counsel or His word. If it is in line, then follow it, but  if it contradicts God’s word or His purpose for your life, you should reject it.  When Jesus told His disciples about His sufferings, death, and resurrection, one  of His closest disciples, Peter, took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying,  “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” (Mathew 16:22). But  Jesus turned and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me,  for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Mathew  16:23). Bottomline; be careful of the people around you as well as their counsel.

IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Pst (Mrs) Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

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