EXPRESS IMAGE GLORY MINISTRIES
THE MESSAGE NOW
Vol. 2, No. 33 – Monday, 14th August, 2017
(1 Pet.5:8, Josh.7:1-26, 8:1-35 esp. 8:9-23)
UNPREPAREDNESS PAVES THE WAY FOR SURPRISE TO THRIVE AND FULFIL ITS MISSION
Surprise is a tactical skill often employed by the military in battles and even applied by legal juggernauts during legal tassles in the court room in order to outwit and equally pull down the unprepared enemy or opponent.
There are notes of both subtle and salient understandings in the above definition. Subtly, it is not worth so much expenditure of time and energy to notice the fact that surprise as a tactical skill when employed;it is never without a purpose.
Saliently, the instrumentality of surprise only thrives on the unprepared. No wonder, the Apostle Peter enjoined all Christians in 1 Pet.5:8 to: ‘be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour’.
The big question is: why the need for any preparedness when indeed there isn’t any sign of an imminent attack from the enemy?
First, it is an unpardonable misnomer and indeed a cataclysmic error to think that there is no imminent danger from the enemy.
Understand dearly beloved that the enemy of the human soul is constantly on the rampage. Understand this further from the import of the question put by God to satan in Job chapter 1 verse 7 and the response given to God by satan.
The second reason necessitating the need for preparedness is that if unpreparedness ever sets in and one is caught at unawares, then the enemy will employ the tool of pressure and tension to make one play the game his own way.
I listen with some surprise as Chelsea Football Club (FC) was being battered by common Burnley Football Club on Saturday, 12th August, 2017. Don’t forget that Chelsea FC are the current champions in the English Premier League (EPL).
How was it that they fell so easily? Chelsea FC was both unprepared, overconfident and of course had belittled their opponent. They were therefore taken by surprise. In fact, from about the middle of the first-half, Chelsea FC was playing according to the dictate of the opponent.
No wonder, the match ended in favour of the opponent. No wonder, at the end of the match, Chelsea FC had only 9 players on the field as against eleven.
The question is: how do you prepare against the enemy?
It is always by striving to:
REMAINING ON THE DEFENSIVE AT ALL TIMES MAKES YOU A PREY TO THE ENEMY NO MATTER HOW STRONG A CHRISTIAN YOU MAY BE.
IT IS THE WORST PATH OF SPIRITUAL FOLLY TO FOLLOW. HOWEVER, BEING ON THE OFFENSIVE AT MOST TIMES ACCOMPANIED BY DIVINE WISDOM IS THE SUREST FIRST-ATTACK THAT FETCHES CONSTANT VICTORY.
Altar call: Backslidden – living in sin – needing fresh recommitment (say):
Christ Jesus, You are the Anointed One of the Most High. I come to you today as I am. In your mercy, help me out of my situation. Heal my soul, my spirit, my body, my life and my destiny. I acknowledge you as the only true lover of my soul. Please, deliver me on every side and save me through and through. I promise from the depth of my soul to be yours from henceforth, in Jesus name. Help me now O God. Be my Lord, my Saviour and my all in all from this day. Thank you Lord (read Psalm 54 in closing and pray more).
Hymn 1: Christian Seek Not Yet Repose
Hymn 2: Onward Christian Soldiers
Pray now:
Pastor Mike
