Open heavens
Open Heaven For Today 2023 Tuesday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – He Can Change His Mind
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TOPIC: He Can Change His Mind
MEMORISE: “And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.” – Acts 13:22 (KJV)
READ: Deuteronomy 8:11-20 (KJV)
11 Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:
12 Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
13 And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
18 But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
20 As the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Chronicles 5-7
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE:
When God promotes you, you must never forget that your loyalty must be to Him and only Him. 1 Samuel 15:15-24 records that when Saul became king, he forgot the One who put him there. God sent him on a mission; he failed, and his reason was, “I feared the people”. Don’t try to lower the standard of God because you want to be popular.
Don’t forget that God is sovereign; He can do and undo. He can change His mind. Each time we read 1 Samuel 2, we love to quote verse 8 and ignore verse 7 which says that the Lord makes rich and He makes poor, He can take a beggar from the dunghill and promote him until he is sitting with princes. In 1 Samuel 2:30, He said to Eli, “I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed”. He can promote and He can demote.
Never forget that God always has a substitute ready. You can never hold God to ransom. If He promotes you and you think that without you, He cannot do anything, He would just bring in the substitute. For over a decade, King Saul was still on the throne, but David had already being chosen and anointed king. Saul was merely carrying the title but David was the approved king. Right in the house of Eli, little Samuel was already rising – the one who would take over was already there, in waiting.
My prayer is that God will promote you, but don’t forget that when He does, you must put Him first and obey Him completely. You must help others and never use your position to oppress people. Proverbs 22:22-23 says God Himself will plead the case of those who oppress others. Let your promotion birth promotion for many other people too.
Perhaps you are the one resisting God’s promotion by indulging in one sin or the other. The Bible says if you humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, He will Iift you. Surrender all to Him and let Him begin to lift you.
PRAYER POINT:
Father, as You promote me, I promise to always do Your will, in Jesus’ name.
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!
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 – Why God Promotes
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TOPIC: Why God Promotes
MEMORISE: “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” – Mark 10:45 (KJV)
READ: Matthew 20:20-28 (KJV)
20 Then came to him the mother of Zebedees children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.
21 And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
22 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.
24 And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren.
25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Chronicles 1-4
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE:
God never does anything without a purpose. He promotes people primarily to fulfill His purpose. God promotes men so that they can use their promotion to serve and bless others. A tree does not consume its own fruit; it produces fruit for others to benefit from. You don’t become fruitful just for your own self, but rather, so that you can be of service to others.
According to Exodus 2:11-15, Moses was a fugitive. He was running away from Pharaoh because he had just committed murder, but by the time we get to Exodus 7:1, God said, “See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh…”. God promoted Moses so that he could deliver the nation of Israel. This is why, in Exodus 14:21-28, God could use Moses to clear a way through the Red Sea for the whole nation. 1 Samuel 16:11-13 tells us that when God wanted to appoint a king in his family, He chose the only one that nobody considered relevant – David. By the time He had promoted David, one of the reasons for his promotion came up in the next chapter – God used him to deliver a nation from a terrorist (1 Samuel 17:1-51).
When God promotes a man, it is so that he can help others fulfil their destiny. You can help others become who God wants them to be. This is why I don’t say a word when people criticize us for planting so many Churches, because a lot of people would never have discovered their purpose if they were not sent out. The purpose of God promoting you is to help others become what He planned for them. I pray that you will remember to help others fulfil their destinies when God promotes you.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 22:30 that God sought just one man who would stand between Him and the people so that He would not destroy their nation, but found none. Maybe God is waiting to promote you. If you are willing to help others, God will find you worthy of promotion.
KEY POINT:
A heart of service will attract divine promotion.
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 – Showing Off In Church?
Click HERE for Previous Open Heaven Devotional
TOPIC: Showing Off In Church?
MEMORISE: “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.” – Acts 4:32 (KJV)
READ: 1 Corinthians 11:18-22 (KJV)
18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.
19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.
21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.
22 What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? what shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Chronicles 27-29
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE:
One habit that seems to have crept into the Church recently, is that of showing off to other Church members. There are people who go to Church majorly to show off their new clothes or some other material possession. This is completely outside God’s plan for the Body of Christ. God’s original plan for the Church is for everyone to be united and have everything in common. The Bible says in Acts 2:46-47:
And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
The reason the Church is not growing as fast as it should is that there is no singleness of heart. When people prefer to outshine one another in showing off their material possessions than actually caring about each other and the gospel, the Church cannot grow. The reason we have not won the whole world to Christ is that the Church is not united.
The Holy Spirit does not move in the midst of divided people. When the Holy Spirit descended in the Upper Room, the people were in one accord (Acts 2:1). Until Christians love each other and are in one accord, the Church cannot experience the move of the Holy Spirit as it should.
Many Church leaders wonder why the Holy Spirit is not moving as much as they expect, not knowing that the problem is in the divisions within the Church. Some pastors give special attention to the rich in the Church. Apostle James said in James 2:1-5 that you should not give the rich preferential treatment against those that are not so rich, or else you would become a judge with evil thoughts. It doesn’t matter how rich they are, they should not be praised for showing off in the Church, but rather, rebuked.
Believers should dress well and can own luxurious items. However, it is wrong to flaunt material possessions with the intent to oppress others. The Church must unite and cease to be a place where people compete to outshine one another over material possessions.
REFLECTION:
When you go to Church, do you show off your material possessions? If yes, stop it henceforth.
HYMN 20: Stand Up! Stand Up For Jesus
1 Stand up! stand up for Jesus,
Ye soldiers of the Cross!
Lift high His royal banner;
It must not suffer loss.
From vict’ry unto vict’ry
His army shall He lead,
Till ev’ry foe is vanquished,
And Christ is Lord indeed.
2 Stand up! stand up for Jesus,
The trumpet call obey;
Forth to the mighty conflict,
In this His glorious day;
Ye that are men now serve Him
Against unnumbered foes;
Let courage rise with danger,
And strength to strength oppose.
3 Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
Stand in His strength alone;
The arm of flesh will fail you,
Ye dare not trust your own:
Put on the gospel armor,
Each piece put on with prayer;
Where duty calls or danger,
Be never wanting there.
4 Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
The strife will not be long;
This day the noise of battle,
The next the victor’s song;
To him that overcometh,
A crown of life shall be;
He with the King of glory
Shall reign eternally.
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