BETHEL: HEAVEN’S GATE – Saturday December
10th 2016
Memorise: And Jacob called the name of the place
where God spake with him, Beth-el. Genesis 35:15
Read: Genesis
35:1-7 (KJV)
1 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to
Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto
thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.
2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that
were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and
change your garments:
3 And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make
there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was
with me in the way which I went.
4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which
were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob
hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
5 And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the
cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of
Jacob.
6 So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan,
that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him.
7 And he built there an altar, and called the place
Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of
his brother.
Bible in one year: Exodus 30:22-33:6, Psalms
119:49-64
MESSAGE
Bethel is the house of God, a place where God
dwelled with His people. Over time, the Bible redefined the true place of
worship to be the heart of man. Today therefore, Bethel could be said to
represent the house of God, the true place of worship, or the dwelling place of
God. The Samaritan woman by the well asked a million-dollar question from Jesus
about the location of the heavenly approved place of worship. Open Heavens
Saturday 10 December 2016:- Bethel: Heaven’s gate. Jesus answered by saying
that the time has come when the location is not of utmost importance to God
anymore. John 4:23 says:
“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father
seeketh such to worship him.”
The realization that man is the dwelling place
of God should be taken seriously by every Christian. Several passages in the
Bible confirm this truth. 1st Corinthians 6:19 says:
“What? Know ye not that your body is the temple
of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your
own?”
The freedom and liberty granted to Christians at
conversion does not translate to ownership and absolute authority over ourselves
as some erroneously think. Brethren, you are not your own, you belong to God
your creator, you owe your allegiance to Him and you will do well to live your
life with that consciousness. This will help you to be conscious of what you do
with your body. It will help you to avoid anything that could abuse the body
such as sexual immorality, indecent exposure, drug abuse, alcoholism, etc. it
will also help you to watch what you consume or take into your body such as
literature, audio and video contents. Realizing that your body is the temple of
God will also affect the type of company that you keep and where you go.
More importantly, 1st Corinthians
3:17 says:
“If any man defile the temple of God, him shall
God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”
Children of God should avoid doing anything that
can defile them. In addition to the things mentioned above, engaging in any
form of cosmetic reconstruction of the body in order to change or improve one’s
complexion, sexual orientation, or appearance, is a defilement of God’s temple.
[Open Heavens Devotional 2016]
Prayer Point
Prayer Point
Father,
please let Your fire wake me up to my responsibility in Christ.
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