Open Heaven For Today 2023 Monday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Check Your Friends
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TOPIC: Check Your Friends
MEMORISE: “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” – Proverbs 13:20 (KJV)
READ: Proverbs 1:10-19 (KJV)
10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Nehemiah 4-7
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE:
You should do a thorough check on your friends to see if they are headed for heaven. There are some people who should clearly be avoided, while others may look good on the outside but deep inside, are not who they pretend to be. You need to stay away from such friends.
There are some character flaws you should look out for and ensure you do not keep people who have such as friends. For example, if your friend’s temper runs hot, stay away from him or her, so you don’t learn his or her ways and ensnare your soul (Proverbs 22:24-25).
Many years ago, I was working as a teacher and befriended a colleague who was from the same part of the country as I. I however, didn’t know much about him. One day on our way to Ibadan for a teachers’ programme, we got off the lorry in Ile-Ife, where we would board another to Ibadan. This friend of mine then said he wanted to say hello to a chief nearby and asked me to come along. I did, after all, we were friends. We got there, he knocked on a door and was asked a strange question from inside, “Is it a fish or a crab?” My friend answered and said, “One fish and one crab”. We were let in, but as we left, I began to wonder what this strange statement meant. When we arrived in Ibadan, he said he wanted to visit another fellow. I followed him, he knocked at the door and was asked, “Who is that, a goat or a sheep?” My friend answered, “One goat, one sheep”. By now, I was seriously troubled. I got home and asked the elders what the statements meant. They said, knowingly, “Ah, where did you hear that?”
That was the end of my friendship with that fellow. Up to today, I don’t understand what those statements really meant, but I didn’t have to be told that they were occultic and dangerous. Check your friends, be watchful and careful. The Bible says evil communication corrupts good manners (1 Corinthians 15:33). The Romans used to say, “As bad apples spoil good ones, so do bad friends spoil good boys”. Before today is out, do a thorough check on all your friends. If there are some that are not living a holy life, preach the word of God to them and if they refuse to change, please separate yourself from such persons immediately.
KEY POINT:
Your friends are an indication of the influences that determine who you will become. Make and retain only godly friends.
HYMN 30: When We Walk With The Lord
1 When we walk with the Lord,
In the light of His word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey!
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey.
2 But we never can prove
The delights of His love,
Until all on the altar we lay,
For the favour He shows,
And the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.
3 Then in fellowship sweet
We will sit at His feet,
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way,
What He says we will do,
Where He sends we will go,
Never fear, only trust and obey.
Open Heavens 2023 Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC. Open Heaven for Today 2023
Open Heaven For Today 2023 Sunday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Sexual Immorality Is Forbidden II
Click HERE for Previous Open Heaven Devotional
TOPIC: Sexual Immorality Is Forbidden II
MEMORISE: “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.” – Hebrews 13:4 (KJV)
READ: Proverbs 7:22-27 (KJV)
22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
23 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
24 Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.
25 Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.
26 For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.
27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Nehemiah 1-3
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE:
These days, genuine Christians and even ministers of the Gospel are being caught in various types of sin, including sexual immorality which Joseph refused to indulge in, despite the fact that the opportunity presented itself on what seemed to be a platter of gold. Genesis 39:8-9 records Joseph’s response to the offer:
But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; there is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
It was wisdom, brought about by the fear of God, that kept Joseph away from committing sexual immorality with his master’s wife. No wonder the Bible says the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). How I wish all children of God would embrace the fear of God so that they can begin to live above temptation and sin. It is wisdom to run away from sin because the Bible says in Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death…” and this refers to eternal death. Beloved, sexual immorality is forbidden; seek godly wisdom to avoid this deadly sin.
In the last hour before the arrest of Jesus Christ, He had a foreknowledge of what was about to happen to Him and thus had a private meeting with His disciples at Gethsemane, where He gave them the antidote to temptation and sin. Matthew 26:41 says, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak…”. In this passage, Jesus named watchfulness and prayer as the antidote to temptation and sin.
We are therefore called to be alert to dangers in the Christian journey such as sexual immorality, false teachings, worldliness, love of money, inordinate ambition, sinful pleasure, and other forms of temptation and sin. The Bible says the end is near so we should be sober and watch unto prayer (1 Peter 4:7). Sexual Immorality is forbidden; watch and pray over the type of content you and your family consume. Be mindful of your physical and social interactions, and constantly fill your heart with the word of God so you do not sin against Him (Psalm 119:11).
PRAYER POINT:
Father, please don’t let me become a victim or captive to sexual immorality, in Jesus’ name.
HYMN 8: I Need Thee Every Hour
1 I need Thee every hour,
Most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine
Can peace afford.
Refrain:
I need Thee, Oh, I need Thee;
Ev’ry hour I need Thee!
Oh, bless me now, my Saviour,
I come to Thee!
2 I need Thee every hour,
Stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their power
When Thou art nigh.
3 I need Thee every hour,
In joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide
Or life is vain.
4 I need Thee every hour,
Teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises
In me fulfill.
5 I need Thee every hour,
Most Holy one;
Oh, make me Thine indeed,
Thou blessed Son!
Also Read: RCCG Sunday School Teacher Manual 21 May 2023: Child Abuse
Open Heavens 2023 Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC. Open Heaven for Today 2023
Open Heaven For Today 2023 Saturday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Sexual Immorality Is Forbidden I
Click HERE for Previous Open Heaven Devotional
TOPIC: Sexual Immorality Is Forbidden I
MEMORISE: “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.” – 1 Corinthians 6:18 (KJV)
READ: Proverbs 5:15-23 (KJV)
15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee.
18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.
22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ezra 8-10
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE:
The phrase ‘sexual immorality’ covers all improper sexual conducts and practices like fornication, adultery, masturbation, prostitution, p0rnography, incest, homosexuality, rape, child sexual abuse, bestiality and so on.
There is a special relationship between these sins and the human eye as revealed in 2 Peter 2:14. The eye or face is sometimes used interchangeably in the Bible and both are very important for effective communication. This is why the Bible speaks of having eyes full of adultery.
Adultery and fornication are sexual practices that are considered immoral and abominable according to the word of God. Having eyes full of sexual immorality means communicating sexual attraction or immoral interest with the eyes or face. In extreme cases, it could also mean that a person’s mind is always filled with sensual or erotic desire especially towards persons other than their spouses.
The fact however, remains that the allure of a promiscuous person is centred in the eyes or face, as revealed by Proverbs 6:25 that says, “…neither let her take thee with her eyelids”, and Isaiah 3:16 that talks about walking around with stretched necks and promiscuous eyes. For this reason, painting the face and eyelids was regarded as a means of amplifying beauty and sexual attraction; thus promiscuous people have used it as a means of seduction since Bible days (like Jezebel in 2 Kings 9:30)). Meanwhile, our Lord Jesus Christ equates looking at a member of the opposite sex lustfully with adultery (Matthew 5:28). This means that those who deliberately makeup and dress to amplify their sexual attraction are in actual fact causing others to commit adultery on a daily basis.
Since Christians must be careful not to cause others to stumble, according to Romans 14:13 and 1 Corinthians 8:9, we all must ensure that we are modest in our dressing (1 Timothy 2:9-10) and conduct so we do not become a stumbling block in the path of others. This is the established will of God.
PRAYER POINT:
Father, please don’t let me ever be entangled in the web of sexual immorality, in Jesus’ name.
HYMN 28: What Can Wash Away My Stain?
1 What can wash away my stain?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Refrain:
Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow!
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
2 For my pardon this I see;
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing this my plea:
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
3 Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus:
Naught of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
4 This is all my hope and peace:
Nothing but the blood of Jesus:
This is all my righteousness
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
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