Open Heaven For Today 2023 Thursday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – The Internal Enemy

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TOPIC: The Internal Enemy

MEMORISE: “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” – Proverbs 16:32 (KJV)

READ: Judges 14:1-3 (KJV)

1 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.

2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.

3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Esther 1-5

Open Heaven 25 May 2023 MESSAGE:

It is true that we wrestle with many external enemies described as principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12). Many people however, fight against themselves thereby constituting an internal enemy to themselves.

For example, there are many people who believe they are free to do anything they wish with their body; they therefore would not deny themselves anything their heart desires. This mindset often leads to sinful practices like indecent dressing, drunkenness, sexual immorality, gluttony, lasciviousness, idolatry, anger, selfishness, drug addiction and the likes. Such practices often produce results that are detrimental to the body, sometimes generating life-threatening repercussions. These sinful practices should therefore be correctly identified as internal enemies of all human beings. (1 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.

This is an important statement with a very serious implication. The Almighty God, our Creator, wants us to know that He created us as His own dwelling place. He went on to say that if anyone defiles the temple of God, he or she shall be destroyed. This is probably the source of the increase in strange ailments and reduction in life expectancy across the world. Those who defile or abuse their bodies with alcohol, hard drugs, sexual immorality, unhygienic food and unhealthy exposure to dangerous substances often become sick and end up dying prematurely. Many incidents of youths all over the world dying from drug addiction, mental illness, hypertension, suicide, liver-related problems and so on are traceable to these internal enemies. Mark 7:23 tells us that all these evil things come from within and defile the man (the temple of God), while Galatians 5:21 says without exception that everyone who practices such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

PRAYER POINT:

Father, please help me not to be an enemy to myself, in Jesus’ name.

HYMN 19: Rock Of Ages, Cleft For Me

1 Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee;

Let the water and the blood,

From Thy wounded side which flowed,

Be of sin the double cure;

Save from wrath and make me pure.

2 Not the labors of my hands,

Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;

Could my zeal no respite know,

Could my tears for ever flow,

All for sin could not atone,

Thou must save and Thou alone.

3 Nothing in my hand I bring,

Simply to Thy cross I cling

Naked, come to Thee for dress,

Helpless, look to Thee for grace,

Foul, I to the fountain fly;

Wash me, Saviour, or I die.

4 While I draw this fleeting breath,

When mine eyes shall close in death,

When I soar to worlds unknown,

See Thee on Thy judgement throne,

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee.

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 Wednesday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Submit To God

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TOPIC: Submit To God

MEMORISE: “Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” – John 4:34 (KJV)

READ: Matthew 8:5-9 (KJV)

5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,

6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.

8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.

9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Nehemiah 11-13

Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE:

Submission is different from cooperation. Cooperation is when you work together with someone to achieve a mutually desired goal. Submission on the other hand, is when you want something totally different from what the other fellow wants, but because you have to submit, you do what he or she asks you to.

One who submits to God is that fellow who will do whatever God says – whether it is logical or not, convenient or not. Those who put their own wishes aside and just say, “If this is what God says, that is what I will do”. Once the devil knows you are that submissive to God, when you begin to resist him, he will flee. James 4:7 says:

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

The devil knows those who are 100% submissive to God. Those who will do whatever God says even if they have to die doing it. On the other hand, he knows those who are submissive to their bellies or their sexual drive; those who are lovers of the world and those who are in it. It is only when your submission to God is complete that you can have the authority to revenge any disobedience (2 Corinthians 10:6).

If you want to resist the devil so that he will flee from you, then you have to be completely submissive to God. Who you submit to determines how much authority you have. The commissioner of works submits to the governor of his state; he does not have as much authority as the minister of works who submits to the president. In Matthew 8:9, the Centurion said, “For l am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it’.

When you are truly submissive to God, then He gives you some of His authority so that once you speak, the devil trembles and flees. Some of those troubles the devil is causing in your life can be stopped once you submit to God.

KEY POINT:

Put aside your own desires and submit completely to God’s will.