READ: JOHN
15:12-18
A lot of
things take place the moment a sinner surrenders his life to the Lord Jesus.
One, he comes out of darkness and enters the glorious light of the gospel. Two,
he comes out of curses into blessings. Three, he quits the camp of the hopeless
to the camp of those who possess lively hope. However, these and other benefits
can be forfeited if the believer moves from Jerusalem to Jericho. When you are
living in Jerusalem, you are living with the King of kings who can meet all
your needs, according to Philippians 4:19. You cannot suffer poverty if your
God is the richest one on earth, especially if you are His favourite. If you
are sanctified and living with the King of kings, you will be free from danger
because another name for your Husband is SAFETY. Proverbs 21:31 says, “The
horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the LORD.”
In Isaiah 26:3, the Bible sums it up this way: “You will keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” Anyone
who is sanctified and relies on the Almighty God for everything will be kept in
perfect peace. Also, Isaiah 48:18 says, “Oh, that you had heeded My commandments!
Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the
waves of the sea.” God will give you peace like a river if you are
sanctified. Jesus Christ said in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, My peace
I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be
troubled, neither let it be afraid.” How can you be married to the
Prince of Peace and lack peace? However, there are many ways out of Jerusalem.
It is very easy to backslide. Let us now turn to Jericho. The first thing that
strikes you about Jericho is curses. In Joshua 6:2-6, Joshua placed a curse on
Jericho. The next thing you think about Jericho is defeat. After the victory
over the wall of Jericho, the next thing we hear in Joshua 7:2-6 is that the
children of Israel committed a crime and they were soundly defeated in the next
battle they faced. The next thing you think about Jericho is blind Bartimaeus
on Jericho road. What you meet in Jericho is a poor beggar. In Jericho you find
sickness, pain and disease. In Jericho you find poverty, but there is
prosperity in Jerusalem, the city of peace.
MEMORIZE:
JOHN 15:13 –Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for
his friends.
