DO YOU DESPISE THE RICHES OF HIS GOODNESS
"OR DO YOU DESPISE THE RICHES OF HIS GOODNESS, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?"
Romans 2:4 (NKJV)
Comment: The riches of God's goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, should not be despised. The goodness of God leads to repentance, one should not be recalcitrant, or be indifference to whatever He is saying and trying to correct in your life (James 1:4). Whatever you condemn others of doing; you also would be judged on it and would not be exonerated (Romans 2:1-3,21-23).
What a lot of believers concentrated on is not their problem at all. There is this what many believers call warfare prayers; warring with the devil—the forces of darkness in the air, on the land, and in the Sea (Ephesians 6:12). Those spirit beings operating in the air are real but that should not be the focus of an average believer (Ephesians 2:2). The main and primary focus of a believer is about living in line with God's Word; not fulfilling the desires of the flesh (Ephesians 2:3; Galatians 5:24).
If a believer's foundation was not built on the Word of God, If it was built on fighting the spiritual warfare—fighting the devil; his angels, demons and his human representatives on earth—It would eventually amount to dissipation of energy (1 Corinthians 9:26).
A lot of believers or so-called believers who are fighting these unseen forces and human agents of the devil have a lot of works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) in their lives that can easily make them a prey for the devil or demons they claimed they are warring with or against (Acts 19:13-16).
The primary assignment of a believer is to deal with the works of the flesh in his or her life and endeavour to live in line with the principles found in the Bible (Ephesians 4:21-32; Colossians 3:5-10).
Sometimes ago:
I was in a school complex where some churches were holding their meetings, the pastor who was with me was trying to call my attention to a particular church. All the people there were holding canes, the pastor was telling me that they wanted to beat the devil. The moment their leader or pastor called a prayer point, they all started flogging the wall or the floor, having the conviction that they were beating the devil.
The devil is not a physical being that could be flogged with physical cane. A good number of the people in such a gathering would not want to hear the truth, the Word of God taught from the Bible, because they love deception (2 Timothy 4:3,4).
The primary enemy that a believer should strive to deal with is the flesh; not the devil or demons or the human agents of the dark kingdom (Romans 8:5-8; Colossians 3:5-10).
If you succeeded in dealing with your flesh and brings it under subjection and you live your daily life in line with the principles found in the Bible; dealing with the devil, demons, and the people or humans who are devil's agents or instruments can easily be dealt with.
When you live right and you have good communion with God, your prayers would be effective and effectual; It would easily be answered:
a. You would have authority in the realm of the spirit and your words would be weighty.
b. Both the demons and the human agents of the devil would have nothing, any incriminating thing through which they could access your life (John 14:30).
What gives the devil an access in a believer's life is Sin. When the works of the flesh are found in you; you are weak and light in weight in the realm of the spirit. Your striving as a believer should be mainly how to please God; live in line with His Word, and obedience to instructions given to you as an individual believer (1 Peter 1:14-17).
Living in line with the Word of God (James 1:22,25) and obeying the specific instructions given to you by God about your life, ministry, or whatever you are doing (Hebrews 8:5); are the two most vital things that a believer should not compromise.
When these two areas are settled, you can easily deal with the devil, demons, and the humans or people who work for the devil—the sorcerers, witches, voodoo priests, and occultists, and many in that group that may be in the neighborhood where you live. In fact, God would be the One fighting your battles that you would not even know that some of them are trying their powers over your life.
Where the key is; If your relationship and communion with God is intact, you would be a formidable believer who cannot easily be swept aside or be prevailed over by the forces of darkness.
Why am I sharing this, since It seems It does not correlate with the topic or the text of this teaching? I am sharing this because some believers cannot see the importance or relevance of living right; a holy life or living in line with the principles found in the Bible.
They usually say those things are basics, let us deal with the real issues. The truth is, practicing those basic biblical principles are the things that would give you all you need in life as a believer. If those basics are not there, you would be living your Christian life at the mercy of the devil and at times be an object of manipulation in the hands of false ministers who paraded themselves as ministers of God (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).
Peace.