ACTS 16: 16 & 17: Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”
To God be the glory for another opportunity to be a blessing unto you. The Lord Almighty deserves all the praise and honour for the gift of life that He has bestowed unto us all. I am convinced that we are not preserved for the fun of it but that we may give Him joy and fulfill His mandate of been a salt of the earth and light of the world (Mat. 5: 13 – 16). This means that by preserving our lives, God’s plan for us is that we would be a living testimony for Him. My prayer is that none of us would lose our saltiness in Jesus name.
In this series we would be looking at the theme “Motive”. Beloved, it is important that in all we do (good or perceived wrong deeds) that our motive aligns with God’s will. One of the few things that are incontrovertible is that God sees our thought. He knows our motive. We cannot deceive Him. Even when it is possible for us to show red to the world as white, we cannot deceive God about what our motive is at any point in time. While it is possible to deceive even the elect, the saints and His Prophets, no one can deceive Jehovah Almighty. That is why when the Apostles were about to fill the vacant Judas position their prayer was, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen” (Acts 1:24). It is only the Lord that knows everyone’s heart.
The Lord says in Jer.17:10 that “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve” (NIV). In this statement we see God confirming that He is interested in the heart of men. Searching the mind and examining the mind simply refers to the motive which is not seen by humans but can only be known by the Almighty. Beloved, just as it is possible for your right motive to be misconstrued for good, it is also possible for your wrong motive to be misconstrued for right by men. Many atimes, this is mostly the case with men; but not with God.
In our text for this series, we see the young lady advertising and testifying about Apostle Paul and Silas. If you look at the lady, she was saying what is true but with a wrong motive. Any casual observer would have been impressed about the fact that she was advertising them and by implication making their job of reaching the people easier. But, by the discerning of the Holy Spirit, Apostle Paul was able to see the motive behind what the young lady was saying and the means by which she got her revelation.
Straight from here, we are reminded that there are two sources of getting revelations: through the Holy Spirit of God and through divination by demonic powers. If you will recollect, when Peter gave a very good revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 16: 16 & 17) as “the Messiah, the Son of the living God”,Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven” (NIV). This is an example of when a revelation is from God. Of course, there are other similar examples in the bible. But, just as shown in our text and in the account of King Saul’s consultation of the Witch of Endor in I Sam. 28: 7 – 15, it is also possible to have a revelation from the devil.
The question is what is the motive for such revelation? So, I ask you dear reader, what is your motive for serving God?
May your motive always be right with God all the time in Jesus name.
Shalom
Dr. Yinka Okude
Pastor-in-Charge
RCCG Jesus Sanctuary, Northampton
HYMN: Immortal, invisible. God only wise
