OPEN HEAVENS 7 SEPTEMBER 2023 THURSDAY: THE WORKS OF GRACE 2

Open Heaven For Today 2023 Thursday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – The Works Of Grace 2

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Open heavens

TOPIC: The Works Of Grace 2

MEMORISE: “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.” – Ezekiel 36:25 (KJV)

READ: Isaiah 1:18 (KJV)

18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ezekiel 41-43

Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE

We identified the first work of grace to be God’s call to man for salvation. Once a person heeds this call and surrenders all to God, He moves on to the next work of grace – salvation.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. – 1 John 1:7

Salvation is the point at which God blots out all your sins of the past and gives you a clean slate to start with. Many people find it hard to believe that God can cleanse their sins completely, but that is the exact truth. It doesn’t matter how badly you have sinned, Jesus can make you a new creature in Him. That is why the salvation experience is referred to as being ‘born again’. The devil has no grounds to accuse you of any past sin.

When you become saved, the first thing you will notice is that you experience peace like a river. This is because sin is a weight on your heart. Matthew 11:28-30 says after Jesus draws you and you come to Him, if you decide to take His yoke on yourself, He will take your burden and then you will have rest. The burden He takes from you is the burden of sin. Once that burden is lifted, your soul will be at peace. This peace is difficult to describe but when you experience it, you will know. If you have never experienced it before, then you need Jesus to save you and cleanse you from all sins. If you don’t have that peace anymore, you need to run back to your Saviour and rededicate your life to Him.

The second thing that marks the salvation experience is joy – the joy of the Lord. It will be impossible to hide this type of joy. The Monday after I gave my life to Christ, when I got to work, my Head of Department could practically see that I was radiating with joy. He asked if I had attended a party during the weekend. I told him I hadn’t attended any party, but I got the invitation to a wedding where I am the bride and Jesus is the groom. Once your sins are cleansed, your soul begins to rejoice. Anyone who backslides always notices that the joy they used to feel is gone. That is why David said in Psalm 51:12 that God should restore unto him the joy of his salvation.

PRAYER POINT

Father, please wash me clean with Your blood.

HYMN 2 – Amazing Grace

1 Amazing grace! How sweet the sound!

That saved a wretch like me!

I was once lost, but now am found;

Was blind, but now I see.

2 Through many dangers, toils and snares,

I have already come;

‘Tis grace that brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

3 The Lord has promised good to me,

His Word my hope secures;

He will my Shield and Portion be,

As long as life endures.

4 Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

And mortal life shall cease,

I shall possess, within the veil,

A life of joy and peace.

5 The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,

The sun forbear to shine;

But God, who called me here below,

Will be forever mine.

6 When we’ve been there ten thousand years,

Bright shining as the sun,

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise,

Than when we’d first begun.

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

OHVENG: Until you are born again, God ever abiding presence will never be with you. You must be born again to enjoy continuous victory. Please say the displayed prayer below in faith:

Lord Jesus, come into my life. I accept You as my Lord and Personal Saviour. I believe in my heart You died and rose from the dead to save me. Thank You Lord for saving me, in Jesus’ name Amen.

If you just prayed the prayer of salvation online please send your testimonies and prayer request to info@rccg.org, +234-1-8447340, +234-0-7098213112.

Open Heaven For Today 2023 Wednesday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – The Works Of Grace 1

Click HERE for Previous Open Heaven Devotional

TOPIC: The Works Of Grace 1

MEMORISE: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” – Isaiah 1:18 (KJV)

READ: Ezekiel 36:24-27 (KJV)

24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ezekiel 39-40

Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE

The Christian race is a marathon, not a sprint. Some of us thought that Jesus would come within a few years after we got born again. Although He hasn’t come yet, believe me honestly, His coming is far nearer than it was then; He will soon be here. Since this race is a marathon, then it means that in addition to strength, you would also need endurance if you want to run the race successfully. Endurance comes by the special grace of God which He makes available to keep you standing until the end. These are the works of grace.

When I became born again, we were taught that there were three works of grace that God makes available to Christians – Salvation, Sanctification and the Holy Ghost Baptism. I decided to check further and discovered that there are at least 7 steps in this process. From our Bible reading, you will discover that the first thing God says He will do even before Salvation is to gather His own together (John 6:44). You cannot be saved unless God draws you first.

When I came to The Redeemed Christian Church of God, it was because I had a problem my education could not solve and God used that problem to draw me to Himself. When somebody is talking about their salvation experience and they say, “I found the Lord”, they are only speaking from their limited knowledge. God was never missing; it is He who found you (John 15:16). This is why, if you are truly saved now, you should always thank God for the salvation of your soul.

It is however, possible that God could be drawing a man, yet the man refuses to come to Him. The end of such people is always disastrous. There was a popular chief God sent me to preach salvation to and every time I visited, he would say, “Not yet”. One day, he had a stroke that rendered him unconscious; I was called to pray for him and within one hour, he was restored to perfect health as if nothing at all had gone wrong. This time I told him, “I feel God is giving you a last chance; will you give your life to Christ now?” Again, he said, “Not yet”. The next time I heard about him, he was dead. If God is drawing you to Himself and you keep refusing, you are telling Him clearly that you prefer hell to heaven. You had better surrender to Him now for your own good.

REFLECTION:

Check yourself: have you been ignoring the call of God to live holy?