Open heavens
Open Heaven For Today 2023 Wednesday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – For His Glory
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TOPIC: For His Glory
MEMORISE: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” – 1 Corinthians 10:31 (KJV)
READ: James 4:1-10 (KJV)
1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Isaiah 64-66
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE:
Whenever you ask God for anything, make sure that it is something that will bring glory to His name. Don’t ask for things that would serve just you, but that would also be useful to Him. If you want to win an election, you should tell Him how you would use your position to glorify His name. That is the kind of prayer that gets His attention.
God can decide to ignore you if you choose to bombard Him with requests. However, if you come to Him telling Him how you plan to advance His kingdom here on earth with the miracle you are asking for, He will pay attention to You. Hannah understood this principle, so she prayed thus:
And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. – 1 Samuel 1:11
God granted her request by giving her a son who grew to become a great prophet and then gave her five more children.
Seek to glorify God first and you will see Him giving you more than you asked for. He knew your needs before you came to Him (Matthew 6:8); so give Him an offer He cannot refuse and you will see Him supplying your needs in abundance.
You may say, “God loves me and I believe He will give me whatever I want”. No doubt, He loves you, but He has a purpose for everything He does. You may have thought that God drowned Pharaoh in the Red Sea just because He loves the Israelites, but Romans 9:17 says:
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
The real reason God destroyed Pharaoh was to declare His glory and majesty throughout the earth. God’s agenda is always superior to ours; if you align your agenda with His, then you will get what you want.
KEY POINT:
Align your agenda with God’s purpose and you will never lack again.
HYMN 7: I Am Thine O Lord
1 I am Thine, O Lord
I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee.
Refrain:
Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.
2 Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord
By the power of grace divine
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.
3 Oh, the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God
I commune as friend with friend!
4 There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with 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 Tuesday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Brighter Days Are Ahead
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TOPIC: Brighter Days Are Ahead
MEMORISE: “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” – Proverbs 4:18 (KJV)
READ: 1 Samuel 2:7-9 (KJV)
7 The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.
8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he hath set the world upon them.
9 He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Isaiah 60-63
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE:
It doesn’t matter how low you are now, there is still hope for a great future. I have seen God lift people from the miry clay and take them to the mountain top. Believe it or not, He will do the same for you, in Jesus’ name.
My story is proof of this; I walked barefoot for the first eighteen years of my life. I can never forget my final year in grammar school. Prize-Giving day was coming up and I was supposed to take home many prizes. Those of us in our final year were to wear white trousers and shoes but I had no trousers – white, black or red. As for shoes, I had never owned one. I started lamenting, “God, you know I have no trousers; why did You allow me to win these prizes?” One day, a boy in the hostel asked me to help him choose which of his six trousers he should wear for the ceremony. I helped him choose one and then said, “Ermm, you know I don’t even have one to wear”. “Pick one,” he offered. Although the trouser was so big that I nearly had to pull the waistband up to my chest, I didn’t care; trousers were trousers.
Now, the next problem was shoes. It was then I remembered that I had a poor uncle somewhere who had some shoes. The pair he gave me was old, with soles made from old lorry tires. I had to practice walking in them because I had never worn shoes before in my life. However, when the Prize-Giving day finally came, I had trousers and shoes to wear to the occasion.
Even if your current situation is worse than what I have just described, I assure you that the Lord who lifted me up can do the same for you. Greater days are coming, if you trust God and lay all in His hands. I must say that God did not raise me just because He felt like doing so; He did it to show forth His own glory. He said when your light shines before men, it is so that they can glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).
If you dedicate your life to glorifying Him and are never shy to give Him glory for whatever you achieve, He will raise you, even higher than you can ever imagine.
Greater days are ahead of you, in Jesus’ name.
KEY POINT:
Anyone who is willing to glorify God with his or her life will experience divine lifting.
HYMN 14: O What A Wonderful, Wonderful Day
1 O what a wonderful, wonderful day,
Day I will never forget;
After I’d wandered in darkness away,
Jesus my Saviour I met.
O what a tender, compassionate friend
He met the need of my heart;
Shadows dispelling, with joy I am telling,
He made all the darkness depart!
Refrain:
Heaven came down and glory fill my soul,
When at the cross my Saviour made me whole;
My sins were washed away
And my night was tuned to day
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul!
2 Born of the Spirit with life from above
Into God’s family divine,
Justified fully thru Calvary’s love,
O what a standing is mine!
And the transaction so quickly was made
When as a sinner I came,
Took of the offer of grace He did proffer
He saved me, O praise His dear name!
3 Now I’ve a hope that will surely endure
After the passing of time;
I have a future in heaven for sure,
There in those mansions sublime.
And it’s because of that wonderful day
When at the cross I believed;
Riches eternal and blessings supernal
From His precious hand I received.
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 – Overcoming Lusts And Temptations
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TOPIC: Overcoming Lusts And Temptations
MEMORISE: “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:22 (KJV)
READ: 1 Corinthians 10:13 (KJV)
13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Isaiah 57-59
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE:
What is leading you in life? Is it your flesh or the Spirit of God? Whenever you allow the flesh to give you direction, it will always end in regret, but when you allow the Holy Spirit to lead you in all things, you can be sure that all will be welI. The first step to overcoming lusts and temptations is submission to God, which supplies the power you need to resist the devil, and he will flee from you according to James 4:7. Moreover, the good news is that the faithfulness of God will not allow His children to be tempted above their ability, without making a way of escape for them.
In our Bible reading today, we saw that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear and He will always make a way of escape for us. That is so reassuring. It is for this reason that James 1:2-4, and James 1:12, admonishes us to count it as joy and a blessing, when we are going through diverse temptations. This is because God uses it to perfect the patience of His children, and also as promotion exams for them to receive the crown of life.
In spite of the assurance above however, if for example, your eyes are always glued to seductive images on the television, the internet, and your surroundings, you are merely feeding the lust in your flesh and such will lead you to hell. Don’t fall into it. If you still tolerate ungodly desires to dwell and grow in your heart, heavenly thoughts, divine visions and inspirations cannot find expression in you.
All believers are required to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. Your body is the temple of God, not a showpiece for people. If you choose to dress in a way to stir lust from the opposite sex, you can no longer claim to be a child of God, but an instrument in the hand of the devil. Whoever you honour with your appearance, determines who you truly serve. God has provided us with everything we need to overcome lusts and temptations through Jesus Christ, all we need is to follow His example. Hebrews 4:15 says Jesus our High Priest was in all points tempted, but He scaled over them all without a sin. He has given us the power to resist the devil and to live above lusts and temptations. Hallelujah!
PRAYER POINT:
Father, please empower me to overcome lust and temptations, in Jesus’ name.
HYMN 23: Take My Life, And Let It Be
1 Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord to Thee;
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in endless praise,
Let them flow in endless praise.
2 Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love;
Take my feet, and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee,
Swift and beautiful for Thee.
3 Take my voice and let me sing
Always, only, for my King;
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee,
Filled with messages from Thee.
4 Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose,
Every power as Thou shalt choose.
5 Take my will and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine:
Take my heart, it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne,
It shall be Thy royal throne.
6 Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store;
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee,
Ever, only, all for 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
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