Open Heaven For Today 28 JUNE 2023 Wednesday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Entering God’s Presence 1
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OPEN HEAVEN 28 JUNE 2023 WEDNESDAY
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TOPIC: Entering God’s Presence 1
MEMORISE: “Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.” – Isaiah 26:2 (KJV)
READ: Psalm 24:3-6 (KJV)
3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalm 134-140
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE:
The Bible tells us in Psalm 100:4 that the entrance into God’s presence has a gate. When you see a gate in a place, you know it is there so as to restrict access. Whatever is inside the place must be so valuable that they don’t want any unauthorised person to have access to it. There are many treasures in the presence of God and not just anybody can enjoy them. One of such treasures is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11) and liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17). Anyone who has entered the presence of God will tell you that it is a place that you don’t want to ever come out from. In 2 Corinthians 5:8, Apostle Paul said, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”
The first criterion for accessing God’s presence is holiness. God cannot stand sin. If you have any form of sin in your life, the gate into His presence will be shut against you. Psalm 24:3-4 says:
“3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.”.
Only those with clean hands and a pure heart can be allowed to ascend into the presence of the Lord. If your hands have been soiled with sin, forget about it. If your heart is not pure, if you habour impure thoughts in that heart, the gate into God’s presence will be shut against you.
“Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD: This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter”. – Psalm 118:19
The gates into the presence of God are called the gates of righteousness; if you are not righteous, you cannot go through. The One whose presence you want to enter is a holy God; you must be holy before you can get in there. Joseph had to shave and change his clothes before appearing before Pharaoh (Genesis 41:14); how much more when you want to enter the presence of the King of kings.
KEY POINT:
To enter the presence of God, you must be holy.
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.
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
Click HERE for Previous Open Heaven Devotional
TOPIC: What/Who Do You Worship?
MEMORISE: “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?” – Ezekiel 14:3 (KJV)
READ: Exodus 20:3-5 (KJV)
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalm 120-133
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE:
When you ask people who or what they worship they are most likely to tell you ‘God’, but then’ many people are worshipping other things or persons apart from God. Some people worship their spouses, children, money, some their bellies, some their image on social media and, believe it or not, some worship their means of transportation. When I was in the grammar school, we had a teacher who had a bicycle that he loved so much. Whenever he got to a place that was muddy, he would get down from the bicycle and carry it across. He preferred for his feet to get dirty than his bicycle. He worshipped his bicycle.
Many come to God in prayers and get nothing from Him because He can see in their heart that there is an idol there. He knows that they only worship Him with their mouths, that their hearts are far from Him (Matthew 15:8). Since He is not their God, then He ignores them. If at all the Lord answers, He does so according to the idols in their hearts.
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols. – Ezekiel 14:4
In Numbers 22:19-35, Balaam valued the treasures that the king promised him more than the instruction of God. After God had told him not to heed the king’s call, he still went back to God when the servants came back to ask if he should go, so God answered him according to the idol in his heart, telling him to go. On his way, there was an angel waiting to kill him. Had it not been for the eyes of his donkey that were opened to see the angel, he would have been dead as a result of the idol of greed in his heart.
Our God is a jealous God. He said in Exodus 34:14, “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God”.
The moment you regard anyone or anything above God, He will leave you alone and believe me honestly, the worst thing that can ever happen to a person is for God to leave him or her.
REFLECTION:
Do a thorough check on your heart and be honest with yourself. If there is something you regard higher than God, ask Him for mercy today.
HYMN 17: Praise My Soul, The King Of Heaven
1 Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven,
To His feet your tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Evermore His praises sing.
Alleluia! alleluia!
Praise the everlasting King!
2 Praise Him for His grace and favour
To His people in distress.
Praise Him, still the same as ever,
Slow to chide and swift to bless.
Alleluia! alleluia!
Glorious in His faithfulness!
3 Father-like He tends and spares us,
Well our feeble frame He knows,
In His hand he gently bears us,
Rescues us from all our foes:
Alleluia! alleluia!
Widely yet His mercy flows!
4 Angels, help us to adore Him!
You behold Him face to face.
Sun and moon, bow down before Him,
Dwellers all in time and space,
Alleluia! alleluia!
Praise with us the God of grace!
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 – You Are Nothing Without God
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TOPIC: You Are Nothing Without God
MEMORISE: “He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.” – Psalm 103:10 (KJV)
READ: Luke 7:36-47 (KJV)
36 And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat.
37 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
39 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
40 And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
41 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
42 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
43 Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalm 119
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE:
In 1 Kings 3:4, Solomon decided to give God a really special offering. He sacrificed 1,000 cattle. The priests must have been very surprised, but then Solomon considered the circumstances behind his birth and felt unworthy to be king. Ordinarily, Solomon should have been hated by all, but there he was, the one chosen to be king. He knew he did not deserve what he had received from God so he spared nothing when it came to thanking Him.
Many a time, you don’t thank God enough because you think you deserve all that He has given you, but if you look closely, you would see that you are wrong. The day God pointed out to me that because I am not a child from the first wife of my father, I ought not to be used by Him according to the law, but that His mercy had found me usable, I became more humble in my thanksgiving. Isaiah 64:6 says:
But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
If you think your blessings are a result of your hard work, you should go and see some people who are working far harder than you, yet are not rich. If you think your success thus far is based on how smart you are, you need to go to the asylum and see many brilliant people who have lost their minds. The fact that you can even wake up in the morning is enough reason to give thanks to God. Psalm 3:5 says, “I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.”
If you think deeply, you will see that you don’t deserve any of the things that God has given to you. You will see that it is in Him that you live and move and even have your being (Acts 17:28). You will see that without Him, You can do nothing (John 15:5). I don’t know about you, but as for me, I know that I would have been long gone if it wasn’t for Him. I know that everything I am is as a result of His tender mercies towards me, so I will praise Him with all my heart. I will never hold back anything in giving Him thanks.
ACTION POINT:
Spend at least one hour just thanking God for all that you are and have today.
HYMN 6: I Am So Glad That Our Father In Heaven
1 I am so glad that our Father in heaven
Tell of His love in the book He has given;
Wonderful things in the Bible I see;
This is the dearest, that Jesus loves me.
Refrain:
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me,
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves even me.
2 Jesus loves me and I know I love Him;
Love brought Him down my lost soul to redeem;
Yes, it was love made Him die on the tree:
Oh, I am certain that Jesus love me.
3 In this assurance I find sweetest rest,
Trusting in Jesus I know I am blessed;
Satan, dismayed from my soul doth now flee,
When I just tell him that Jesus loves me.
4 Oh, if there’s only one song I can sing,
When in His beauty I see the great King,
This shall my song in eternity be,
“Oh, what a wonder that Jesus loves me!”
5 If one should ask of me, how can I tell?
Glory to Jesus, I know very well!
God’s Holy Spirit with mine doth agree,
Constantly witnessing Jesus loves me.
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