Open Heaven For Today 2023 – Open Heavens 23 May

 Open Heaven For Today 2023 Tuesday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Fear God

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TOPIC: Fear God

MEMORISE: “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.” – Proverbs 14:27 (KJV)

READ: Proverbs 2:1-5 (KJV)

1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;

2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;

3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;

4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;

5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Nehemiah 8-10

Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE:

Every truly wise person knows that the Maker of heaven and earth should be feared. This is why proverbs 9:10 says:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

There is no greater foolishness than disregard for God. How can you fear people who are limited in power and authority, then have no fear for the One who can do as He pleases, who is answerable to no one (Daniel 4:35)?

If you can fear those who can kill your body, how much more the One who can destroy both your body and soul in hell (Matthew 10:28)? God should never be toyed with. I know there are people who tell you that you are not to fear God, but to just reverence Him. I don’t know if they read that from their Bible, but my own Bible does not say the reverence of God is the beginning of wisdom, but rather, the fear of the Lord.

I don’t play carelessly with fire. No matter how cold I get, I don’t put my hand in it because I fear it. Our God is the Consuming Fire (Hebrews 12:29). You should therefore not only reverence Him, but fear Him also. Even a mad dog recognises fire when it sees it and does not play carelessly with it.

If you don’t fear God, you are capable of doing any evil. The interesting thing is that, whether you fear fire or not, if you touch it, it will burn you. If, as a result of the fact that you have no fear of God you continue to commit sin, it is only a matter of time before the repercussions would start coming.

A person may enjoy the pleasures of sin here on earth, and may even be popular for being such a great sinner, but a time is coming when the person will leave this world and then face the judgement of God which will lead to eternal damnation for such a person.

Beloved, it is better to fear God, live holy and receive eternal life than to disregard Him here on earth and spend eternity burning in the lake of fire. Choose wisely.

KEY POINT:

Fear God so much that you will stay away from anything that can offend Him.

HYMN 18: Praise To The Lord, The Almighty, The King Of Creation

1 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation;

O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation;

Join the great throng,

Psaltery, organ, and song,

Sounding in glad adoration.

2 Praise to the Lord, over all things he gloriously reigneth:

Borne as on eagle-wings, safely his saints he sustaineth.

Hast thou not seen,

How all thou needest hath been,

Granted in what he ordaineth?

3 Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy way and defend thee;

Surely his goodness and mercy shall ever attend thee;

Ponder anew,

What the Almighty can do,

Who with his love doth befriend thee.

4 Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him!

All that hath breath join with Abraham’s seed to adore Him!

Let the Amen

Sum all our praises again,

Now as we worship before Him.

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 Monday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Check Your Friends

Click HERE for Previous Open Heaven Devotional

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