MFM Daily Devotional 17 August 2024 

TOPIC:  Take Away The Accursed Thing

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Proverbs 30; Proverbs 31; Revelation 11; Revelation 12

FIRE SCRIPTURE: Joshua 7: 1-26
7 But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel.

² And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.

³ And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few.

⁴ So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.

⁵ And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.

⁶ And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.

⁷ And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord God, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan!

⁸ O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!

⁹ For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name?

¹⁰ And the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?

¹¹ Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.

¹² Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.

¹³ Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.

¹⁴ In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the Lord taketh shall come according to the families thereof; and the family which the Lord shall take shall come by households; and the household which the Lord shall take shall come man by man.

¹⁵ And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel.

¹⁶ So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken:

¹⁷ And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken:

¹⁸ And he brought his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.

¹⁹ And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.

²⁰ And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:

²¹ When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.

²² So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.

²³ And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord.

²⁴ And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.

²⁵ And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.

²⁶ And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.

MEMORY VERSE
Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Hebrews 4:13

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES: An unborn generation can suffer the guilt of sins committed by their ancestors.

PRAISE AND WORSHIP: Take praise and worship songs as led by the Holy Spirit.

PROPHETIC WORD FOR TODAY: I decree that every pattern of suffering in your life, resulting from ancestral sins or errors, be broken and destroyed, in the name of Jesus.

MFM Daily Devotional 17 August 2024 MESSAGE

In the Fire Scripture of today, we read the story of a man called Achan from the tribe of Judah, of the chosen people of God, the Israelites. Joshua and his men went to war and strangely fell before their enemies and lost many men of valour. This loss made Joshua to make enquiry from the Lord in prayers, and behold it was a result of sin in the camp. There was an accursed thing in the camp of God’s children (Joshua 7:10-12).

Unknown to others, contrary to God’s instructions, Achan stole and secretly kept the Babylonian garment and other materials that seemed attractive to him. This was in utter disobedience to God’s instruction. It aroused God’s anger against the entire nation of Israel, not just the family of Achan. That was the reason they were defeated in war. The final punishment was that Achan and his entire family and possessions were destroyed in one day. They were all stoned to death, according to the word of the Lord (vs. 24-26).

READ MFM 70 Days Fasting And Prayer 16 August 2024 Day 70 Prayer Points

If Achan didn’t bring the accursed thing into the camp, there wouldn’t have been such a grave consequence. But like Eve, Achan fell to the seductive power of sin through the lust of the eyes. He saw and desired the things that were abomination to God. He took and hid them, forgetting that nothing is secret before the Lord. Men may not see but God sees and knows it all. What is it that you are hiding? You may appear a saint to your fellow brethren but definitely not to God. He sees beyond the physical. He knows who you truly are, even the devil knows.

God cannot be mocked! Before you grieve God, it is better to confess and repent of any strange thing in your possession or any secret sin, so that destruction would not come upon you suddenly. These accursed objects could also serve as open doors to demonic oppression and possession. Get rid of such things in and around your life.

Beloved, you must give it up! Else, your sin will find you out. It will make you repulsive before the throne of grace and keep mercy far away, as it happened to Achan. What destroyed Achan and Gehazi and their generation after them will not destroy you, in Jesus’ name.

MFM DAILY PRAYER POINTS 17 AUGUST 2024

MORNING:
1. Father, forgive me of every strange object in my possession, in the name of Jesus.
2. I give up anything that would bring eternal judgement upon my life, in the name of Jesus.
3. Fire of God, purge me of any spiritual filthiness, in the name of Jesus.

EVENING:
4. Whateverseems good to me but is an abomination unto God, I cast you out, in the name of Jesus.
5. Holy Ghost, help me to do a thorough spiritual sanitation of my life and family, in the name of Jesus.
6. O God, deliver me from hidden sins that want to destroy my life, in the name of Jesus.
7. Father, help me to live a victorious life, and let not sin and iniquity have dominion over me, in the name of Jesus.