Open Heaven For Today 2023 – Open Heavens 29 June

Open Heaven For Today 2023 Thursday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Entering God’s Presence 2

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TOPIC: Entering God’s Presence 2

MEMORISE: “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.” – Psalm 50:23 (KJV)

READ: Psalm 118:19-21 (KJV)

19 Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord:

20 This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter.

21 I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalm 141-150

Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE:

Yesterday we identified righteousness as a precondition to access God’s presence. Once a person has clean hands and a pure heart, he or she would be able to access God’s presence with thanksgiving and praises as stated in Psalm 100:4:

Enter into his gates with thanksgivings, and into his court with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

If you try to get into His presence with complaints or even requests, the gate will not be opened to you. Only those who approach Him with thanksgiving are attended to. However, your thanksgiving will get you into His gates, but your praises will get you into His courts. Being in His courts is definitely a step higher than just getting into the gates. The keepers of the gates always check for how well you can praise God before they admit you in. If they see that you are not one who is willing to praise God, they will lock you out. David seemed to be talking to the keepers of the gate when he said in Psalm 118:19, “Open to me the gates of righteousness: l will go into them, and l will praise the LORD.”

It is as though God had instructed them thus: “If anyone comes here with complaints or requests without thanksgiving or praise, don’t open this gate for the fellow”. That is why when Jesus was teaching us to pray in Luke 11:1-4, He said we are to start with, “Our Father who hath in heaven, hallowed be thy name”. If you start your prayers that way, you are guaranteed access to the presence of God, where you can then present your requests.

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. – John 4:23

Since the Father seeks true worshippers, it means that whenever you worship Him, you draw down His presence to wherever you are. Psalm 22:3 says that He inhabits the praises of His children. You won’t have to struggle to get into His presence again if you will just fill your heart with thanksgiving and praise.

ACTION POINT:

Spend at least one hour just praising God today.

HYMN 16: Praise Him Praise Him, Our Blessed Redeemer

1 Praise him, praise him! Jesus, our blessed redeemer!

Sing, O earth, his wonderful love proclaim!

Hail him, hail him! Highest archangels in glory!

Strength and honor give to his holy name!

Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard his children.

In his arms he carries them all day long.

Refrain:

Praise him! Praise him! tell of his excellent greatness.

Praise him! Praise him! ever in joyful song.

2 Praise him, praise him! Jesus, our blessed redeemer!

For our sins, he suffered, and bled, and died.

He our rock, our hope of eternal salvation,

hail him, hail him! Jesus, the crucified.

Sound his praises, Jesus who bore our sorrows,

love unbounded, wonderful, deep, and strong.

3 Praise him, praise him! Jesus, our blessed redeemer!

Heav’nly portals loud with hosannas ring!

Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever!

Crown him, crown him! prophet, and priest, and king!

Christ is coming, over the world victorious.

Pow’r and glory unto the Lord belong.

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 – Entering God’s Presence 1

Click HERE for Previous Open Heaven Devotional

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

Open Heaven For Today 2023 Tuesday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – What/Who Do You Worship?

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 h is 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