Pride erodes good record.

Friday 31 August                                Bible in one year: Hosea 11-14

Memorise: A man’s pride shall bring him low;but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit. Proverbs 29:23

Read : Revelations 3:14-22

In today’s reading , the Lord wrote a letter to the church in Laodicea. Let us briefly look at their background. Laodicea was a strong financial centre in those days.It had rich inhabitants who thought since they had virtually all they needed,they did not need God. It was the heart of textile manufacturing ,providing specialised medical care for eyes and ears. The church in Laodicea was equally inhabited by wealthy members who thought they could do anything with money.Being wealthy they could afford the best of clothes and medical care.Their comfort and affluence made them  proud people.

If you look closely, the church in Laodicea was the only one out of seven that the Lord had nothing good to say about.Even as bad as sardis was,it still had some good people.Meanwhile,they saw themselves as the happening church,the rich and the affluent church.Laodicea was a church that had all its physical needs met.They could afford the most fantastic auditorium,equipped with the best and most expensive musical instruments.They could afford to publicise every program on air and do glamorous banners. Their church could be said to be what most of our churches today dream to be.On Sundays, if you saw a sister there, you would think there was  a fashion parade  or beauty pageant. It was a prosperous church with all members physically prospering.The latest cars were parked in their parking lots.What a church without a need!Meanwhile as they were celebrating their “immense success”, the Lord was lamenting their wretchedness. In His eyes, they were the exact opposite of who they thought they were.May you never see yourself through your eyes bu His eyes.One lesson here is that we need to steer clear of pride as it erodes all the good works.Anyone who is adorned with any pride blocks God’s view of his or her deeds,except the object of pride. If you fill up a two storey building with good works but you are proud,it is only your pride that would be seen. Nothing will be recorded for your good.The proud is in competition with God.Are you proud?

ACTION POINT: Search yourself for any elements of pride and immediately deal with them before they spoil your work.

Excerpts from open heavens by pastor E.A Adeboye.

Prove your love

Thursday 30 August                             Bible in one year : Hosea 8-10
Memorise : By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples ,if ye have love one to another . John 13:35
Read : John 13:34-35
It is very expensive to love God except you do not really have an understanding of this. In John 14:15 Jesus said
if ye love me ,keep my commandments
Ordinarily, there is no big deal in this except when you realise one of His commandments you must keep is to turn the other cheek to the one who slaps you. This is hard. It is hard to have the capacity and resources to carry out revenge but refrain from doing so because of your faith in Jesus Christ. When some Christians found themselves in such situations , they wept as when they saw a rat biting the tail of a cat but the cat could not do anything. Also, John 13:35says : we should love one another as Christ has loved us. This is a difficult task because among those we are told to love are unlovable people.How do you love a so-called brother or sister who is constantly doing everything to provoke you and cause your downfall?How do you love a so-called leader who is a traitor and who discriminates against you? How do you love a pastor who sits on your progress for several years and warns you not to tell his superiors? It is hard.Yet, you have to love them because of Heaven. You have to love and forgive them or else you have gotten to your final bu stop in your Christian race.
Additionally, Psalms 97:10 says if you love the Lord,you must hate evil.To most Christians , that appears like what they regularly do until they isolate some cases and find out that they are not truly keeping this commandment. Some Christian parents see their children dress improperly and dismiss it with a wave of a hand saying : "Don't mind her : she is being childish",yet they do nothing about it. What of wives who dress in seductive manners, virtually showing to the world that they are "available for sale",yet their husbands cannot caution them?Or what of the prayer point the Lord gave to all believers in Matthew 5:43-45? Do you  know that based on this command,we should be praying for all our enemies daily? Did i hear an Amen? Not for the enemies to fall down and die but for God to open their eyes to know the truth and become converted. How many people are keeping this commandment today?
PRAYER POINT:
Lord ,no matter how hard it is, for as along as You have commanded me to obey your Word, grant me grace to obey without complaining.
Excerpts from opens heavens by pastor E.A Adeboye

Maximise your glory

Wednesday 29 August                                    Bible in one year: Hosea 5-7

Memorize: There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon,and another glory of the stars : for one star differeth from another star in glory.1 Corinthians 15:41

Read: 1 Corinthians 15:40-41

God’s call is not for fun or frivolity. God has a definite purpose for calling you. It is important you acknowledge why He saved and called you because God does not just pour down His glory on people,He does so to assist you in fulfulling His call upon your life.As you respond and totally submit to that call, He will move you from one level of glory to another.According to 1 Corinthians 15:40-41, God has different glory moulds for the different things He created.The bodies of angels are different from  human bodies and both have different glories.Even among lights,there are different level of glory.Among believers in Christ,the story is not different.Believers radiate varying levels of glory due a number of reasons such as: the type of calling on that believer,the price paid to maximise that calling,the level of holiness or obedience the believer operates,prayerlife,Bible study life,worship,praise and thanksgiving life, the degree of pleasing God, etc. You can be a carrier of God’s higher levels of glory if only you are ready to pay the price.

God does not expect you to deviate from your calling as this will not only lead to failure but also make you unable to maximise God’s glory in your life.Moses was called primarily to lead the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage into their promised land.In doing this, the Lord sent him to Pharaoh to ask him to release God God’s people. This assignment was  both dangerous and tempting. It is possible for somebody like Moses who was brought from the bush and made to stand before the king to compromise because of the affluence associated with the palace.Many church leaders and Christian workers today who were given the opportunity to minister to the top brass of the society, have compromised the message or errand they were sent. They found it difficult to tell the truth because they wanted to remain in favour with those in authority. No wonder they cannot optimise God’s glory. If God sends you to the creme de la creme in the society ,you owe them the truth of God’s word. In wisdom deliver to them the Gospel message and where possible make an altar call. God wants you as His witness before panels  ,committees ,kings and the leaders of the society. Be a true witness!Don’t change your message!

KEY POINT: Jesus died for all classes of people ,if you have opportunity to reach any of these classes ,you are privileged; do it with all your might!

Excerpts from Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye

IDOLS FRUSTRATE EXPECTATIONS

Monday 27 August                         Bible in one year : Obadiah 1, John 1-4

Memorise: The hope of the righteous shall be gladness:but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.Proverbs 10:28

Read: Isaiah 44:10-18

Before you receive a prophetic declaration, check out the the fruit of the vessel-the prophet,pastor,or servant of God, whether the fellow is still in league with God. Some people say, “thus says the Lord, “but the Lord did not say anything to them. Some of them heard from themselves and spoke. Be careful of what you accept as being from God. In Jeremiah 28:1-4, Hananiah  a prophet prophesied that in two years God was going to set Israel free from the yoke of the King of Babylon, but it was all a lie! Imagine  the joy of the people when they heard that. But after two years, and the prophecy did not come to pass,all the expectations of the people failed.Instead of two years, they spent 70 years . In other words, the prophetic lies of prophets cannot change what God wants to do or alter its timing.Stick with genuine men of God and particularly the Word of God i.e. the Bible.

Apart from lies,expectations that are based on the support of an idol , another power or spirit will definitely be disappointed. Sincere Idol worshipers and cultist know that there are severe manipulations and falsehood regarding the predictions of their idols or deities.They also know that promises of fame, power and wealth made to them are actually in return for long life,health,the lives of their loved ones,etc.being taken from them. Satan does not offer any free gift but at the time of offer, he will make everything appear as if it’s free. The recipient of such offers would have been trapped before there is a realisation of what the devil would have in return ( Isaiah 40:19-20,24). The expectations of the wicked including idol worshipers shall fail (Proverbs 10:28). This involves confidence in local deities,charms,amulets,magic rings,love portions,anything and anyone you love to a point of taking the place of God in your hear. According to Psalms 92:7 and Isaiah 45:16, Idol worshippers with their hopes shall be dissapointed because they to share what God cannot with anyone - His glory. The prophets of Ball who contested with Elijah on Mount Carmel were disappointed and lost their lives (1 Kings 18:17-40). Are you using evil powers or contesting with a bona fide child of God? Your expectations shall fail and you may even lose your life. Repent today, and apologise to the child of God you are fighting before the Lord faces you.

ACTION POINT: Make this confession: Every idol taking God’s place in my hear, i tear you down and enthrone the Lord Jesus Christ at the centre of my life.

Excerpts from open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye.

Among the dead?

Saturday 26 August                     Bible in one year: Amos 7-9

Memorise: The man  that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead. Proverbs 21:16

Read: Ephesians 2:1-3

Knowing your spiritual standing is very important at any point in time. But one challenge is how to judge where you are,whether you are dead, sleeping, sitting, standing, running or flying.Who is a dead fellow? A dead man is one that has no feelings. If your conscience is hardened,you are spiritually dead. There are some pastors who are dead. No matter what they hear like: stop stealing,falsifying church records,committing adultery, etc they will say, Amen; but when they return to their parishes, they will continue with their evil deeds. This they do because they are dead spiritually . Ephesians 2:1-3 speaks of those who are dead in sins and trespasses.  The dead are those who sin and take pleasure in it. They enjoy living in sin which makes no different from unbelievers.

It is a sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom. Proverbs 10:23

The pastor who verbally runs down his senior pastor and sees nothing wrong with it is dead.It is a dead fellow who will witch-hunt other believers with the motive of replacing them.There is a growing congregation of dead people in the church today. If you want to stay alive, you must avoid them  like a plague.Avoid any group in your church that promotes rebellion, gossiping, backbiting,segregation and any other evil. The day God’s wrath will fall on them, if you are with them, you will not be excluded.

If you have no feeling for your brother or sister ,your conscience is dead. if you sin or do anything wrong and you do not feel anything,you are probably not only dead but buried in sin.If you oppress others,particularly your brethren that you were asked to do good to ,it is because your conscience is dead or seared with a hot iron. Jesus says let the dead bury their dead. if you are dead,it is people like yourself that will finally nail your spiritual coffin-that is they will ensure you never rise again spiritually. This means if you  are part of the congregation of the dead,in order not to be buried by them,run back to Jesus today. Cry out to God to change your heart. Ask for a heart of flesh and make all necessary restitution. Are you dead? The Lord says to you arise and He will heal your backsliding(Jeremiah 3:22)

PRAYER POINT:  Father in any way i have become insentitive to your pricks,cause me to arise today.

Excerpts from open heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye.

Rejecting Jubilee

Saturday 25 August                                    Bible in one year: Amos 4-6

Memorise: Our soul waiteth for the Lord:He is our help and shield. Psalms 33:20

Read: Psalms 33:13-22

What is Jubilee? Jubilee is a new beginning where the fellow who was once rich but lost his wealth gets it back;where the house that was filled with empty vessels begins to have those vessels filled (2 Kings 4:1-7). What makes jubilee beautiful is the fact that it is by divine decree. It is not as if the slave owner really wants the slave to go, but because God has decreed it, the slave must go. Nobody can stand in His way. God does not need to take permission or plead with your captors to release you on the day of your jubilee. Has God decreed your release? Then you must be freed! He decreed light and light came into existence ( Genesis 1:3). Psalms 33:8-9 says God should be feared because when He speaks, it is done. Your release is settled because God has said it.

Moreover, when you talk of the year of Jubilee, people generally think it must be every 50 years. But when i studied the Bible, I discovered that people experience Jubilee at different times.For example , the man at the pool of Bethesda was in captivity but got his Jubilee after 38 years (John 5:2-9). Also , for the man born blind recorded in John 9:1-7, his jubilee dawned and he regained his sight after 40 years. In Luke 13:10-17, the woman was bent got her jubilee after 18 years.According to Exodus 21:1-6, the year of Jubilee could come to some after 7 years because God is the One who controls times and seasons, and He is the One who will decide when He wants to intervene in a matter ( Daniel 2:20-21). Your age will not stop your Jubilee. Our God is the God of Jubilee and He loves to set the captives free although He will never violate  your will. In Exodus 21:1-6, when Jubilee is offered, captives are free to void it and remain as captives. In a town in Osun State (South West Nigeria), there was a very wealthy man who amasssed much wealth through evil means. One day, out of mercy , God wanted to save him so He sent a preacher to tell him about salvation. After listening for some time,he thanked the preacher and asked him to lead all his children to Christ , but as for him he had gone too far with the devil that he had chosen to end up with him. Even when he was told it was not too late for him, the man resisted. He turned down his jubilee. Will you accept or turn down your jubilee?

PRAYER POINT: Pray that God will open the eyes of all those who are rejecting jubilee to see things from God’s perspective and accept His salvation.

Excerpts from Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye.

Transition before Tribulation

Friday 24 August                              Bible in one year :Amos 1-3

Read:The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations,and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgement for punishments.2Peter 2:9

Read :2 Peter 2:4-9
There are three school of thoughts on the subject of the timing of the great tribulation.The first school of thought say born again christians  will be on the earth and will go through the Great Tribulation.The second say the believers will be on the earth for three and half years of the tribulation  period before being taken away ;while the third school of thought says believers will not be here when the tribulations begins. I strongly share the view of the third school of thought based on scriptural evidences of God’s past dealings with His people.

First, According to Revelations 3:10, if you keep His word, you will be out of the way of trouble i.e.Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7)starts. Similarly God does not destroy the righteous with the wicked except if the righteous had dumped righteousness for evil.That was the basis for the intercession of Abraham for the righteous in the Sodom and Gomorrah and God spared Lot and his family (Genesis 18:22-33). We learn from that account that one major reason God has not overthrown our cities today is because of the righteous living in them;after all the world is far more corrupt now than the days of Noah or Sodom and Gomorrah. Also, during the deluge,God spared Noah and his family before flooding the whole earth. Fear not! As you serve the Lord faithfully, He will take you away before He brings judgment up on where you are. However, the church in Philadelphia  was advised to hold fast what they have lest another fellow take their crown. Some years ago, in a communist enclave, 50 Christians were being tortured for their faith in Christ. Soldiers moved them to the lake of freezing water, stripped and put them there. At another spot was a huge bonfire so that if they denounced Jesus they could warm themselves and be set free.Unknown to them God had opened the eyes of one of the soldiers who saw each of the believers who endured been tortured to death,  receive a crown from an angel. As this continued, one of the christian who could no longer bear the pain started stepping out. Disappointed, his angel was about to take his crown back to Heaven when this soldier suddenly stripped himself and ran to replace the believer that he could take his crown. Hold fast to what you have or you will lose your crown and other rewards to others!

PRAYER POINT: Father, help to endure to the end so that no one will take my crown

Excerpts fro Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye.

Perpetual servant

Thursday 23 August                          Bible in one year: Joel 1-3

Memorise: Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?Be not deceived : neither fornicators,nor idolaters,nor adulterers, nor effeminate,nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 1 Corinthians 6:9

Read: Exodus 21:2-6

It is love that can make a man to wait for fourteen years to get married to the lady of his choice like Jacob did for Rachel( Genesis 29:18-28). A lady once told me that nobody was asking for her hand in marriage. We prayed and few months  later, she had six suitors on line. Then she came to me to ask how she will know the one that is her husband. I asked her to tell them that they should wait for fourteen years, by that time she would be through with her PhD programme and would have worked for some years. Not one of them stayed after hearing that.If there is love, there is strength to wait. Love can be very costly. It can cost a man his freedom.From Exodus 21:2-6 we understand that any servant that is Hebrew is expected to serve for six years and on the seventh, he should be freed.If however he marries and because of love he refuses to go, he would receive a mark so that anybody who sees him will know that he is a slave forever. Occasionally , i hear some people give God conditions before complying with certain divine requests or instructions. This shows that they do not love God, or that they have forgotten they were supposed to be His servant forever.

True love gives you super human strength. When somebody is truly in love, he could survive any adversity for the sake of that love( Romans 8:35-37). Being more than conquerors is a height in love which many do not yet know. If you are truly in love with God,you will gladly die for Him like Stephen( Acts 7:54-60). Today , because many church leaders are afraid for their lives, they cannot go to certain countries or certain parts with their native land to preach Christ. Death is no big deal  but the big deal is what you go through before you die. In the days of communism , it was the torture that a Christian went through that gave him pleasure; today , the reverse is the case. A Christian was arrested and thrown into prison. He began to witness Christ to the inmates so they took him  and gave him the beating of his life until he was bleeding all over. By the time he was returned he asked those he was preaching to , “where did i stop before the interruption?” Loving God can be expensive. How cheap or otherwise is your love for God?

ACTION POINT: Take this confession: Lord Jesus, I confess and acknowledge you as my Lord. I am your servant. You own all i have. And I will worship you with all that You have me until you take me to glory.
Excerpts from Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye

DROP THOSE EXCUSES

Wednesday 22 August                  Bible in one year : Acts 25-28

Memorise: Therefore thou are inexcusable, O man , whatsoever thou art that judgest : for wherein thou judgest another,thou condemnest thyself;for thou that judgest doest the same things. Romans 2:1

Read: Exodus:10-16

After his experience of the supernatural and God introducing Himself to  Moses, he was given specific assignment.He objected with reasons but they were not accepted.From this we learn that when God has decided to send you on an assignment, no excuse is good enough. You will notice that the more Moses excused himself from embarking on the assignment,the angrier God became (Exodus 4:13-14). Making excuses to avoid doing what God has assigned to you  will easily put you on the wrong side of God’s judgement. Excuses can move you from God’s right hand to His left,from favor to disfavor, from blessings to curses. Has the Lord giving you an assignment and you are piling up reasons for not obeying? You are toying with fire.After Moses saw “God’s red eyes”, he dumped his excuses. Drop those excuses and comply with your divine mandate.

When you look at the excuses people give for not ob
eying God, they can be classified as feelings of inadequacy,ignorance ,pride,fear, unbelief ,etc. For instances,Moses felt inadequate in himself to go before Pharaoh but God told him, “I will go with you” (Exodus 3:10-12). Whenever God gives you assignment, He does not leave you alone to do it. He is there with you to supply what you lack.So ideally,every assignment is a joint venture between God and the one assigned to do it. Do you feel inadequate? The One who is assigning you will back you up.If it bothers on ignorance that means there is something you don’t know that will be required of you in performing  that assignment.In Moses’s case, he did not know how to introduce God to the elders of Israel but God told him how to go about it.If only you ask the Lord, He will give you the knowledge you require or direct you to where to get it.Don’t say , “I can’t go because i am not educated” because the Greatest Teacher is ready to supply all you need to know if only you can ask Him, and sit at His feet to be taught.If you feel too big for the assignment,that is pride, and that can easily bring judgement on you. Nobody is bigger than the assignment God gives to him or her.How can a national elder or provincial pastor be sent to pastor a parish of 50 people? If that is what God is saying, run immediately to do it. The most unattractive assignment gets the biggest pay form God. If your refusal is out of fear and unbelief,examine the attributes and abilities of the One sending you. It will strengthen your faith.

KEY POINT: Many people struggle for Kingdom assignments that feed their ego while they run away from some other tasks.Neglected assignments such as sanitation and washing of toilets enjoy Heavens greater rewards.

Excerpts form Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye

Service from rivers

Tuesday 21 August                              Bible in one year: Isaiah 49-51

Memorise: I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water , and the dry land springs of water. Isaiah 41:18

Read : Exodus 14:21-31

When Elisha smote the waters of River Jordan and asked for the Lord God of his spiritual father, the river parted(2 Kings 2:14). What is that river before you today? It shall part in the name of Jesus. Interestingly, River Jordan is the only river that parted three times. It parted for Joshua,then for Elijah and now for Elisha. By reason of contact with these three men of God, River Jordan had experienced the anointing on these three men of God at different times.There are a few lessons to learn from this. Water we all know can conduct electricity. In the realm of the spirit, water is also a conductor. God has used water at different times to deliver a miracle to those who need them.For instance ,in 2Kings6:1-7,God made an axe head which felt into the river to float,contrary to the law of gravity and postulations of science.Similarly where there was no road,bridge or ship , God created  a highway for the children of Israel in the Red Sea but drowned all their enemies (Exodus 14:17-31). When the water in the land of Marah was bitter,God made it sweet- that is, a river became a river of wine. Jesus also had to walk on water to get to do the Father’s assignment . The water solidified under His feet.

God can deliver your blessings to you using a river as a channel.There is this story of man who got a bottle containing the will of a very wealthy woman where she wrote that whoever found that bottle will, should inherit all she had.The man found it in a river and his life was totally transformed. Every blessings that requires the service of the river before it can get to you , will receive  the support of the waters and be delivered to you this season in Jesus name.Do you know that some people lose their goods and blessings to the river through ship wreck? Those people,who took loans to ship goods by sea, would feel terrible to hear that the ship sand or that all their goods had to be thrown into the high sea in order to save those on board. Have you suffered such fate before? The Lord will restore all you lost.River Jordan serve a number of people. Rivers shall serve you. Seas shall deliver your blessings to you in Jesus name. Every sea that has swallow your blessings shall vomit it this season in Jesus name.

PRAYER POINT:The seas and rivers are God’s creation and are meant to serve us. Father, cause the seas and waters to cooperate with my helpers to deliver my blessings to me.

Excerpts from Pastor E.A Adeboye

Victim of lies

Monday 20 August                                   Bible in one year: 2 Kings 23-25

Memorise: Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto hananiah the prophet,Hear now,Hananiah; The Lord hath sent thee;but thou makest this people trust in a lie. Jeremiah 28:15

Read: Jeremiah 28:15-17

 Although some people love to believe in a lie,yet God's standard remains . If you enjoy being flattered, you are a lover of lies. Your self-deception will soon land you into trouble ( Proverbs 29:5). Beyond lying to on another, lying has assumed another frightening dimension. How? Lying is now a common feature in the house of God. In fact, lying has become a big money spinner in the house of God. Since people love to hear lies, they flock around those who will tell it to them. If instead of hearing the undiluted Word of God you prefer to run from one prophet to the other;you are a lover of lies and you may soon be a willing victim of deception. Lying in the name of the Lord is a grievous offence. Worse still is giving a pack of lies which you brand prophetic declarations from the Lord. We all know that genuine men of God are revered, so satanic agents and merchandising prophets are also seriously engaged in the business of deception in order to get reverence from people.

If you a lover of visions, beware or else you will become a victim of lies. Any prophetic declarations that has raised your hope, coming from merchandising prophets and pastors will surely disappoint you (Jeremiah 28:15). In some places, when a  lady wants a particular man as husband, all she needs do is "settle" the prophet or prophetess and later in the service  the leader will go into acrobatics. At some point, he will say, "thus says the Lord, Brother so and so , Sister so and so is your wife". Thereafter , the sister will pretend to refuse it or even feign tears asking :" How could God be so unfair to me? Why this particular brother?" Meanwhile , the men at the centre of it all does not know that he is an unwilling actor in a script written be the church leader and the lady. Those of you who go to your pastor to pray for you  and tell you who to marry, if care is not taken , you will become a victim of lies. You are simple lazy. No pastor or prophet should tell you who to marry. They are to pray along with you  , counsel and guide you using the Word of God. If you fail to pay the price to hear from God on that matter, you may be deceived. God can use your pastor or a genuine prophet of God to confirm what He had already told you. Many homes have been established on falsehood and that is why things are falling apart and the centre can no longer hold.

KEY POINT: Some pastors are seriously into match-making. They have taken over from the Holy Spirit. Match-Making remains God's prerogative and He has not delegated it to any any pastor.

Excerpts from Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye.

Arise

Sunday 19 August                              Bible in one year: 2 Kings 18-21

Memorise: Arise, Shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Isaiah 60:1

Isaiah 60:1 says Arise. Arise is a command. God is not begging,pleading or advising you to arise. This is an order coming form the Commander-in-chief of the heavenly hosts.The command to arise can mean different things to different people depending on their present spiritual location or situation. If you are already dead, arise could mean come back to life.That was the kind of order Jesus gave to Jairus’s dead child (Mark5:35-42).In any way you are spiritually dead, today hear your Master’s command, Arise! On the other hand, to the sleeping arise could mean wake up. When the Lord took Peter,James and John with Him to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane in Mark 14:40-42, they were sleeping because their eyes were heavy. So the Lord told them to wake up. Are you sleeping spiritually? In the name of Jesus , arise today!

If you were not dead or asleep but sitting , arise could mean stand up and begin to move. In John 14:30-31, the disciples were sitting as Jesus talked with them. If you are sitting, it means there is work to be done but you are yet to do them. Are you procrastinating over the souls you should win to the kingdom? Arise. Are there pending jobs for you to do? Arise! But if you already on your feet,what does arise mean? it could mean to jump into action. For instance, when Samuel came to the house of Jesse in 1 Samuel 16:11-13 , and could not find God’s choice there , he said nobody should sit down until David was brought from the backside of the desert. By his orders to arise; he was saying move into action now. Are you already on your feet in certain areas? God is saying put in more effort ,more life, and more time to get a better results. What if you are not just standing but already walking? To you , arise means start running like David did towards Goliath(1 Samuel17:48). But if you are already running, to arise means grab some wings and do some flying.A woman delivered a baby in Revelation 12:13-16 and was being chased by the dragon so she arose by getting wings and soaring high above its reach. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says you should move from glory to glory. Wherever you are , God is saying to you ,arise!

PRAYER POINT:  Father,wherever i am presently located, help me to arise and make a difference in your kingdom.

Excerpts from Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye

JUBILEE RELOCATES

Saturday 18 August                                              Bible in one year: 2 Kings 15-17
Memorise: so we say that they could no enter in because of unbelief. Hebrew 3:19
Read:11:39-45
God can restore your lost dreams and destiny when your Jubilee comes. Jubilee is also a time of relocation.The one in bondage is free to go back to his family,another location,a new position , etc. When the day of Jubilee came for Moses ,God moved him from the backside of the desert and placed him at the centre of history.He went from where nothing was happening to where history was being made.Are you where nothing is happening presently? The Lord will soon relocate you to where your contributions would be most valued. Another person who was relocated during Jubilee was Joseph. He was in prison for doing nothing wrong and seem to have forgotten by those he thought could help him. Yet, in Genesis 41:37-46 , when his day of jubilee dawned , God relocated him from prison to throne. Before you were born God had a place you will fit into like a jigsaw puzzle. That place is designed with you in mind. On the day of your Jubilee the Lord will move you form where you are into that position of His entire plan. He has promised that you shall be the head and the tail. That will be your portion this season in Jesus name. What of Lazarus? people ,including his sisters protested that the stench  from his body would drive everyone away. This meant , it was better Lazarus was left dead and buried. But because his day of Jubilee had dawned unknown to his sisters, the Lord relocated him from the grace and turned him into a celebrity. Have people, including your family members written you off? Have they said nothing good can come out of you? Have your teachers told you that you are so daft that you cannot graduate? Have you become a laughing stock to those around you?Have people been looking down on you  and treading on you all your life? Wait a minute! Something good is about to happen.All those people are about to receive the greatest shock of their lives. God is relocating you right to the top. You are moving to the other side of sorrow.

PRAYER POINT: Father , because my jubilee has come , cause me to walk upon my high places.

Excerpts from Open Heavens by Pastor E. A Adeboye

Dangerous desires

Friday 17 August                                Bible in on year : 2 Kings 11-14

Memorise: And he gave them their request ;but sent leanness into their soul. Psalms 106:15

Read: Numbers 11:31-35

Some believers are so much in a hurry that they cannot wait on God for anything. If God expects you to wait, then you have nothing else to do but wait. In fulfilling His promises, God expects you to wait on Him.The Christian race is a marathon where patience is a key component.God rewards the patient. He also rewards the impatient. When you are impatient with God concerning a blessing,by the time He gives you the blessing prematurely , it will either cause you shame for the rest of your life or may even kill you. Psalms 106:15 says God gave Israelite their requests but added leanness to their souls. Why? While in the wilderness, God gave them a mono-food product- manna but they soon got tired of it and began to lust for meat. At some point , in virtually all the families, after complaining so bitterly,they sat by the front door weeping because they did not have meat to eat. In a wilderness situation, you are under trial and therefore you are not the one to dictate what you will go through but God.In Matthew 4:1-11, our Lord Jesus Christ also went through a wilderness situation. In His case , He fasted throughout. But because the Isrealites wanted to dictate to God how they should undergo their trial, God gave them flesh. As they put it in their mouths , the Lord sent a plague which destroyed many of them.

Self-will is a destroyer. Many people have severely hurt themselves as a result of their personal desires. If you find it difficult to submit your tastes, desires and habits to God, you will continue to hurt yourself. Some sisters so pressed the Lord for a particular brother as a husband to the point that the same God who had said "No" eventually said "Yes". How such sisters would have rejoiced and bragged about their accomplishment , not knowing that they had just signed up for their own unhappiness. Sometimes when God gives you your heart desires contrary to His will, everything may appear right but your soul will be plagued with leanness. A lean soul is on its way to destruction. The voice of God is cut off from the fellow and he or she will walk about as one who does not know where he or she is going.Check your desires!

PRAYER POINT: Father, every request I make or desire i have ,that can bring your judgment up on me,please do not grant such request and take such desires away from my heart.
Excerpts from Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye

LOVE IS SACRIFICIAL

Thursday 16 August                          Bible in one year:2 Kings 7-10

Memorise: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish , but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Read: Genesis 29:18-28

When you are genuinely in love, making sacrifices for the one you love will be a thing of pleasure and not a burden. Jacob was in love with Rachel and asked what he must do to marry her. He told him to serve for seven years and he willingly did so. Because of his love, seven years were like seven days to him. When he was deceived,he yet agreed to serve another serve another seven years for his heartthrob (Genesis 29:18-28). No price is too much to pay for the one you love.If you truly love your wife,you will the pay the price of faithfulness in the midst of pressure to be unfaithful to her in your workplace or even in the ministry. Some husbands are yet to demonstrate their love for their wives by sacrificially giving to her like God gave us His one out of one (John 3:16). If your relationship with your wife is all about convenience - you do things for her only when it is convenient, but nothing for her when sacrifice is required, then you own your wife big time. Wives of such husbands should demand of their husbands the debt of sacrifice.

Sacrifice helps to gauge your love for God. We can say God loves us exceedingly because He was
prepared to part with His only begotten Son on the cross of Calvary.What have you given in return to Him? If you say you love Him, you will sacrifice for Him. You will be ready like Paul to spend and be spent for Him. Some ministers of God cannot take up certain kingdom assignments because they fear they will be totally exhausted.This shows they still want to reserve some energy or resources to themselves. What a mistake! It is when you are spent that you will need to be replenished. As long as you retain your strength or resources they will be no vacancy for God to fill. Stop holding back ! Empty yourself in to God and His kingdom. There is no better place of fulfillment or reward than this. Do it, not necessarily for the returns, although you cannot avoid it, but for love .Can you serve the Lord for 14 years without pay? Can you serve the Lord in the rural areas when you have been used to the comfort of life? Can you serve under an uneducated person when you are a Master's or Ph.D holder? Where is sacrifice in your love for the Lord?

ACTION POINT: There is a level of sacrifice God expects from us at every phase of our lives. Ask God for grace to make that sacrifice.

Excerpts from Open Heaven by Pastor E.A Adeboye

WORD COMPLIANCE

Wednesday 15 August                                    Bible in one year: 2 Kings 4-6

Memorise : To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because is no light in them. Isaiah 8:20

Read: Isaiah 8:16-20

After the wonderful sight that Moses experienced, the Personality behind the experience introduced Himself to Moses as the God of the Abram, Isaac and Jacob.
Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses his hid face: for he was afraid to look upon God. Exodus 3:6
This is the sovereign Lord, the covenant-keeping God who called Abraham from idolatry into holiness and charted a path of greatness for him. When He called Moses, He immediately began to talk about holiness (Exodus 3:5). It is amusing to hear people talk about their supernatural encounters which they claim is from God when they are anything but holy. A check here is that any divine encounter with God draws you closer to God and further from sin, else that encounter is not of God. A religion whose leader is uncertain of where he would end after death when asked by his followers, cannot be the same as the faith whose leaders says, “I am going back to Heaven to prepare you a place and will return for you someday, and you will be with me in Heaven throughout eternity” (John 14:3). The difference is clear!
When Paul saw supernatural light that outshone the sun, he fell down and became blind. Yet, the one behind the encounter  introduced Himself  to him  as Jesus , whom Saul was persecuting ( Acts 9:1-5). When you encounter the God I serve, He will not keep you in the dark or in suspense regarding who He is. In addition, if it is the Almighty God, after such a supernatural encounter , He will give you  a message to people or commission for you for specific assignment . Moses was given a message of deliverance to a people in bondage. Paul was given a message of salvation to the Gentiles. Peter also received a message of salvation for Jews. If you claim to have had a supernatural encounter with God, what is your message from God? What is the commission the Lord gave to you? Does it totally agree with the written Word of God – the Bible or does it contradict the Bible in certain areas? If it is from God, the message and commission must be in total agreement with the scripture. If it contradicts the Bible in any way ,it is not from God. It means the light of God is not in it. If you claim to have had an encounter with God and your message compromises God’s word, waters it down or makes people to violate it , the that message is from the pit of hell.
KEY POINT: The Bible is God’s unchangeable standard. Any prophecy , revelation , dream or ‘divine’ commission that negates it , is from Satan not God.
Excerpts from Open Heavens by Pastor E . A  Adeboye.

WATCH OVER YOUR HEAD

 

Tuesday 14 August                                              Bible in one year: 2 Kings 1-3

Memorise: Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience in all things willing to live honestly. Hebrews 13:18

Read: 1 Timothy 2:1-4

In 2 Kings 2:14, Elisha smote the River Jordan and asked for the God of Elijah. This is indicative of the fact that even thought his master had left the scene, his master’s God was still around since He does not change. On the other hand, the same call was another way of saying: “thou God of my Daddy, I need  you now”. For you to call on the God of your spiritual father, it is expected that your spiritual father must have been a man with a link to God. If there is no evidence of a working relationship between God and the man of God, be very careful. Be wary of who you call you father in the Lord because whatever happens to the father will likely happen to the son. Be mindful of who ordains you or lays hands on your head, including your hairdresser or barber. Some chant incantations while handling hair of customers. Some of such who became converted have testified of the evil they do with people’s hair.

The head of a human being is a very important part of the body. Never toy with it! The governments of the world recognize its importance hence they ask you to take passport photograph as a sure mark of identification, since they know that through a surgical transplant, you could change your heart, liver, kidney, etc…, but not your head. This is also why you need to intercede for your head-your husband, father, or pastor because if it is well with the head, it will be well with other parts of the body. But if the head is taken off, other parts of the body will be paralysed. If you pray for your head, you are indirectly praying for yourself. Pray for your leader and it will be well with you. In addition, by his outcry, Elisha was asking God to show Himself now. Although Psalms 46:1 says God is a present help, yet sometimes you may need to cry out to provoke His intervention. This is why I always ask people when they want their miracle. It could be now or later, they are free to decide. By his cry, Elisha also meant that, since he was to do the work of his ministry on the other side of Jordan, what was the essence of the double portion anointing if he could not go over the Jordan. When do you need your miracle? Tell God now.

KEY POINT: A wise wife intercedes for her husband daily but a foolish woman leaves her husband at the mercy of enemies and circumstances.

Excerpts from Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye

Expecting from lies?

Monday 12 August                                       Bible in one year : Joshua 22-24

Memorise: Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth , and a foot out of joint. Proverbs 25:19


Read: Proverbs 25:14-19

Beauty is a blessing but it easily attracts pride which invariably turns into a curse.Before Lucifer who was created perfect in beauty could fall , his beauty deceived him (Ezekiel 28:11-17). Are you beautiful or handsome? Never use your qualities as basis for your expectations because they will surely fail you. Humble yourself before God. He gave you what you so subordinate your physical look under His control and follow the direction  He leads you, so that your beauty can work in your favor. If you are beautiful or handsome,you have no right to reject , speak against , laugh at or discriminate against those who are not as physically endowed as you because they did not create themselves nor did you. Every beautiful trait God has given to you will not undo you  in Jesus name.
Apart from basing expectations on physical qualities, another reason for failure of expectations is when they are based on lies .Jeremiah 7: says ,

Behold ,Ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

If the person who is making a promise to you has no track record of honouring his word,you are just wasting your time. The liar has no sincere intention of making good his or her promise and may even lack the wherewithal to do so.Unfortunately , some people love lies. If you like lies, you will keep hearing lies.Some leaders do not want to hear the true state of affairs concerning those under them  thence they end up hearing lies. If you love lies, you will have bad advises. Some people cannot stand the truth so they go to places of worship where they will be told they can marry three wives, where the resident pastor is also a polygamist. Romans 1:25-26 says if you hate the truth, you will be sold into lies.Some sisters love lies of men. They love to hear a man who says he has what he has not, or he can do what he cannot. They love the men who flatter them and tell them sweet stories and make empty promises. Sometimes , these ladies know the man is lying but they continue with them because they love the fantasies. The expectations of such ladies shall be dashed. Have you put your mind on the promise of someone who lies has made ? Immediately take off your mind from it and put it on the Lord who never lies. On the other hand, if you observe people are very untruthful with you, check yourself and see if you have not been lying often yourself.

KEY POINT: The intergrity of the person whose words your expectations are built on will determine if your expectations are met or not

Daily Devotional from Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye.

God has a sense of humor

Wow! How can one make such a statement?

Friends, God is not a comedian and He does not tell jokes- that’s more like it , but what do you mean by God has a sense of humour then?

Well, might I implore you to suspend your judgments and opinions on my topic just for a second? Will you? Cheers!

Couple of years back, the children of Israel were going to war with a town called Jericho. The ONE WHO HAS NEVER LOST A BATTLE picked interest in the war and advised Joshua to march around Jericho for six days with priests playing trumpet and on the seventh day repeat the exercise seven times and shout; awesome. What! You mean they were asked to march around a city they wanted to attack, playing trumpets? Common, I thought if you going to war you need to be tactical which means plan on strategies to attack. Strategies that include hiding and attacking when they least expect not match around the city playing trumpets, trumpets of all instrument not even a flute.
Ok, doing this once is understandable at least the enemies will have this impression that these guys don’t really mean any harm-look at them entertaining us, but doing that for six days and on the seventh day repeat  the  exercise seven times and shout? Guess what! They did just that and what happened? The walls of Jericho collapsed. I bet the next time someone says praise the Lord; your HALLELUJAH will be the loudest. Hallelujah collapses the walls of your problem.

Not too long ago, Elijah was advised by the GREAT PROVIDER to go a widow in Zarephath and stay there during famine. Really, who goes to a widow’s house to stay during famine? A widow normally is not very rich; no man to provide and cater for her not to talk of during famine. Let me ask you a question, someone who is struggling on a normal day will pray for recession in it? Capital no.
Anyway Elijah obeyed. When he got to Zarephath he saw the widow gathering sticks to prepare the last meal for herself and her son. Elijah did not know how to go about it because as a man of God you pray for people every time and you understand what it is to be a widow not to talk of coming to stay with one during famine. After he exchanged greetings with her, he requested for a jug of water put it in mind that it has not rained in months. The widow said ok, she turned around to go and fetch him a jug of water. Elijah said in a low voice “can you add small bread please”. I believe if you were in his shoes, you will not tell a widow during famine to fetch you jug of water with bread with a big grin on your face. Will you utter such words with the great enthusiasm? She turned around pretending not to be angry and said the sticks over there are more my last meal. Actually when you came in I was preparing to go and make my last meal for myself and my son
and die, so do you still want the water or not? Ok she didn’t ask if he still wanted the water but asking will not be rude because as a man on God, he should know better- you know I have enough problems as a widow and you are asking me to prepare my last meal for you. To cut the long story short she complied with the man of God and the GREAT PROVIDER multiplied the bread. I hope you are not planning to stop paying your tithe because of recession or half your offerings the next time you go to church.

Recently, a blind man encountered JESUS CHRIST .He was expecting a miracle from him but the next thing he heard was someone spitting on the ground and making mud. I bet, the thought on the blind man’s mind was did I just hear someone spit? I know it can be Jesus, why will he spit on the ground .Wait a minute, is he actually rubbing mud on my eyes? It must be a dream.
Come to think of it , mud don’t have healing properties, even our eyes are built to shut when a foreign object is coming to too close may be spec of sand or something. Spitting on the ground and making mud of it and rubbing it on a blind man’s eyes, you mean Jesus actually rub mud on a blind man’s eye? He must have a great sense of humour. Well guess what, the man got his sight back!!!

We can go on and on, is it Elijah and prophet of Baals? After flooding the altar with water called for fire from heaven to burn the sacrifice or Elisha who threw a stick in a river expecting the axe head that mistakenly fell into water to automatically float .A stick to float an axe head made of iron?

Friends whatever God has asked you to do, just do it because He means every word. It might sound funny, ridiculous, foolish or counter productive .Please just do it and you will reap the reward of obedience. Remember Isaiah 1:19 , If you are willing and obedient , ye shall eat the good of the land.

If you have not giving your life to Christ, it’s not too late. He will forgive all your sins, did I hear ALL? Yes all.

Pray this prayer from your heart today!

Dear Jesus, I believe that You died for me and rose again on the third day. I confess I am a sinner. I need your love and forgiveness. Come into my heart. Forgive my sins.I receive Your eternal life . Confirm You love me by giving me peace ,joy and supernatural love for others. Amen .

Once you do so join a living church.

NB. Stories are excerpts from the bible (John 9:1-6 ,1 kings 17:7-12,Joshua 6:1-20,1 kings 18:16-40,2 kings 6;1-6)

Shalom

POWER WITHOUT CONTROL

Sunday12 August                                               Bible in one year : Joshua 19-21

Memorise: out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be . James 3:10

James 3:5-12

Elijah was one Bible character that experienced victory all the way. In 2 Kings 1:19-15 , some sets of soldiers came to arrest him but soon realised that they were the ones being arrested. Those who surrendered , he spared but those who refused to surrender, he roasted alive.He was so full of power. Power is good but very dangerous. It is commonly said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.If you have power , you need lots of restraint less it turns your victory into defeat. With the power of God, you can easily secure victory but you need humility and the fruit of the Spirit to sustain that victory. A minister of God who uses his or her tongue unadvisedly will soon erode the gains of victory earlier obtained. What is the use of power without control? One reason God had not increase His anointing on some of His children or answered some who are petitioning Him for higher levels of anointing is because they cannot handle it , that is to say, they cannot control it.

If you are the type that easily curses your children or wards ,if God anoints you , you will not know when you will place a curse on them and it will stick. Pastors who curse members or workers are fast eroding their victories. If you have common sense, you will know that it is wrong to curse anyone who volunteers his or her service to God just because the fellow made a mistake . There are better ways of correcting the fellow but not through a curse. If you are fond of cursing those you should be protecting ,something is wrong with you; you should rather be blessing them. In addition, if God’s power in your life makes you proud, or to feel that you are better than your neighbour , you will lose your victory. One attribute God cannot stand is pride.God fights the proud because they compare themselves with Him, so He will want to prove a point that they nothing without Him. Are you proud of your achievements,You may soon lose them. To keep your victory permanent , handle with them lots of humility, thanksgiving and giving all credits to God alone. God hates the proud: are you proud? Repent today!

ACTION POINT: If you pray for power, pray doubly for the grace to control it.

Excerpts from Open Heavens Daily Devotional by Pastor E.A Adeboye

ARE YOU CONTROLLABLE

Friday 11 August                                        Bible in one year: Joshua 16-18

Memorise: My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. Psalms 31:15

Read:  Genesis 8:1-2

Our God is a God of structure and order. He expects you to understand and heed the signs He sends to you. When He “shows you red”, know it is time to stop. When He “shows you yellow”, you have to be prepared and when He “shows you green”, then it is time to go. God is in charge of your life and He wants to control it. Control can referred to restricted flow. In Genesis 8:1-2, we see God controlling the rain. We all know that rain is good but too much of it is bad. In recent times we have seen the devastating effect of floods. If you have ever been a victim of flooding, whenever the rain is heavy and persistent, you will become too scared. Flooding occurs as a result of too much rain. The rain of God’s blessing that can adversely affect you shall not come in Jesus name. According to 1 Kings 17:1, there is something you can do to open heavens and there is something else you can do to shut heavens. Strive to always keep your heavens opened.

God controls the rain and He also controls blessings. In the parable of the talents recorded in Matthew 25:14-15, each servant was given talent according to their individual ability. God will not give you the blessings you cannot control. One reason God has not given some major breakthroughs to some is because He knows they will not give Him their first –fruits and tithes if the blessing is too big. By refusing to comply with God’s directives, many are cheating themselves. Will you want a life without control? As God blesses you, ask for the grace to keep the blessings in their rightful place and your heart in the Lord. God wants to be able to control you and your blessings. But what is His experience? For many of His children, the wealth the Lord has put in their hands has given them boldness or voice to speak to Him as they like without reverence. When God says give so much out of what He has given them, they will begin to argue with Him. David was not like that. He was fully yielded to God when he said my times are in Your hands (Psalm31:15), can you say the same?

PRAYER POINT: Everything in me that is resisting divine control, Father uproot it now.

Open Heavens by Pastor E A Adeboye

HARVEST: ANY PRIOR SEED?

Friday 10 August                                      Bible in one year : Joshua 13-15
Memorise: Be no deceived: God is not mocked: for whatever a man soweth , that shall he also reap . Galatians 6:7
Read: Isaiah 45:11-13
One of the promises of the Lord made to the church in Philadelphia was that He would keep them from the hours of temptation that would come upon the world.
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation,which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.Revelations 3:10
The lesson here is that whatever you do to God has way of coming back to you.If you draw near to Him,He will draw near to you (James 4:8). If you obey all He commands faithfully , He will not only cause the work of His hands to obey you, but will also ask you to command Him and He will give life to your decrees (Isaiah 45:11). Some people issue decrees based on Isaiah 45:11 and Job 22:28 but are surprised when they are ignored. If you decrees are not honoured, it shows that there is something missing. You cannot reap where did not sow. If you have not sown total obedience to His commands, your own decrees will be ignored. Obedience is reciprocal . The way you treat the Lord and the things of His Kingdom clearly shows God how He should treat you. Since the church in Philadephia kept His word, He too promised to keep them. The Lord will keep you from every evil, but ensure you keep His commands.
In the same vein, you can sow seeds of patience and get a harvest from it. How patient are you towards God? Some people while in church, continuously check their wrist watches as if that is what will deliver their needed miracle to them. They are so impatient with God. They are too much in a hurry when they are praying to know God’s will in marriage. If they have not received the answer by the third or sixth months, they will walk out on God and go ahead to choose for themselves. “Who does He think He is anyway?” They would say in their hearts. It is how you deal with God that He will deal with you. King Saul  was very impatient with God. How can a man of God not keep to time? So he went ahead and did what he was not supposed to do . Some delays are designed by God to test you. If you are impatient, you will fail the test. No wonder God soon ran out of patience with him! However David was patient with God and when he messed up , God had no choice but to be patient with him.
ACTION POINT: Carefully write out how you want God to treat and respond to you. Go ahead and do so to Him.
Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye

LOVE IS UNQUENCHABLE

Thursday 9 August Bible in one year: Joshua 10-12

Memorise: Many waters cannot quench love; neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all substance of his house for love, it would utterly contemned. Song of Solomon 8:7

Read: Songs of Solomon 8:6-7

Although it is difficult to effectively define love, it is clear that love involves very powerful emotions. Solomon was a beneficiary of God’s love and he writes that love is equal to death in terms of strength (Song of Solomon 8:6). Most people fear death but very few fear love, yet they are equal in strength. Death and Love have a sense of finality associated with them. Those who really know what love is are always afraid of falling in love because once you really love someone; it does not matter what the fellow does, your love for that individual never dies. Song of Solomon 8:7 says
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Many waters cannot quench love; neither can the floods drown it: If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.

Floods of adversity and difficulty cannot quench love. If you say you love and later say you do not love your spouse again because there is no money at home for food, or because of negative pressures form in-laws, that love is quenchable.

In Romans 8:35-39, Paul says nothing and nobody can stop the love of God from flowing to us. Love is unstoppable and unquenchable. It is difficult to offend someone who really loves you because love forgives all sins, wrongs and offences (Proverbs 10:12). Are you finding it difficult to forgive your spouse for falling into fornication? If you love that spouse you will receive the grace to forgive. There is no harm that is done to you that you cannot forgive if you love somebody. However, taking it for granted that your spouse will always forgive your sins is a dangerous thing because God Himself may take up the assignment of judging you. What happens when the one you love disappoints you? The three Hebrew boys before king Nebuchadnezzar stated that even if their God disappoints in delivering them, that will still love Him ( Daniel 3:16-18)? Many Christians will be offended when God does not grant their request; this shows their level of love for Him. When you are genuinely in love, it will be a thing of pleasure to make sacrifices for the one you love. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were ready to die in the fire out of their love for God. Do you love God to the extent of dying for Him, just like He loved you and died for you?

PRAYER POINT: Father, just as you have loved me to the point of giving Your Son Jesus Christ to die for me, help me to love You without holding back anything.

Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye.

IS THIS OF GOD?

Wednesday 8 August                                        Bible in one year: Joshua 7-9

Memorise: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus  Christ is come in the flesh is not of God:and that is that spirit of antichrist , whereof ye have heard that it should come;and even now already is it in the world. 1 John 4:3

Read: 1 John 4:1-3

Moses had a supernatural experience in witnessing a bush that was on fire but was not consumed. As good as such an experience may look, it is important to know the person behind the experience.Some people erroneously believe that because they have a supernatural encounter during childhood or at some point in their lives, that they automatically become the child of God or His messenger. Nothing can be further form the truth! If all Moses saw was the supernatural sight,without encountering the personality behind the sight, he would have been no relevance. There are many religious leaders in the world,who have had some supernatural encounter but the question is :Who is behind their encounter? Some of them think it is God and say so, but their fruits are opposite that of Christ. A religion that is based on salvation by works cannot be the same with a faith that is based on salvation through grace. A religion where Jesus Christ is denied His place as the son of God cannot be of the same source with a faith where Jesus Christ is God the Son.Most religion of the world will claim their supernatural experience  came from God but 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 says the devil transforms himself into an angel of light whenever he wants to deceive people.

Even today , the devil is still behind quite a number of supernatural experiences . Some people see certain apparitions of Mary and believe it is Mary the mother of Jesus that they are seeing. 1 John 4:1 says
Beloved , believed not every spirit , but try the spirits whether they are of God: because may false prophets are gone out into the world.
Don’t just believe every assertion , test the spirit behind it! In many churches today, while the leaders openly call on the name of Jesus, they secretly call on the devil,who is the behind magical operations and deceptions taking place.If you are a true believer in Christ, if you see another believer in Christ,you will have a witness. Any experience of follow up of any supernatural experience that is contrary to the written Word of God makes that experience not of God. God cannot violate His words. Be wise ! Prayerfully test the spirits.

KEY POINT: If Satan brings fire in the sky, that does not change him from being Satan. And if God is silent on an issue that does not make him any less of who He is.

Same Standard

Tuesday 7 August                                                                Bible in one year :Joshua 4-6

Memorise : For i am the Lord , i change not;therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.Malachi 3:6

Read: Malachi 3:6-7

Immediately Elisha smote River Jordan , he asked for the God of Elijah.Though his spiritual father and mentor was gone,he knew the God of his father was still around.

And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him,and smote the waters, and he said , Where is the God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted and hither and thither: and Elisha went over . 2 Kings 2:14

There is a thin line between reverencing men of God and Idolatry. When your spiritual father dies, it is either you look for him expecting him to come back from grave to attend to your needs or you look out for his God. If you look for him, you will fall into error of Idolatry where many have fallen,but if you look for his God then you are on the right track. Who are you looking for:the dead or living God? Why do you think that after Moses died God buried on the mountain all by Himself? Nobody knew his grave. Why ? It was so that many Israelites will not start looking up to a corpse as their God and forget about the living God.Leaders must be very careful never to point the flock to themselves but to Jesus their Owner.

When a bona fide man of God passes on , remember that the God of that man remains.Our God is eternal,immortal and invisible (1 Timothy 1:17). Even when you cannot see Him, He is there. Elijah may be gone but God is still there. Malachi 3:6 says He does not change with time or with the fleeting customs of men. This is why i tell people that God is the most conservative Person in the universe. The dress(light) He has been wearing since the beginning of creation is still what He is wearing today. It is what is not good enough that is constantly changed, but if it is perfect there is no need for change.God does not bend His rule to suit anyone.Once He has spoken, it is a settled case. Many of us still believe that God needs to learn from modern man so as to adjust His standards. For instance,some people think that stress,traffic jams and modern challenges of urban cities are good enough reason for not meeting up with God’s expectations. Sorry to disappoint you, the word of God is settled in heaven and His foundations stands sure. Simply ask for grace to comply

PRAYER POINT: Ask God for grace to keep to His standards.

Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye

Trusting in your looks

Monday 6 August                                                Bible in one year: Joshua 1-3

Memorise : Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain : but a woman that feareth the Lord , she shall be praised .Proverbs 31:30

Read: Ezekiel 16:14-15

The expectations of believers sometimes fail because they are based on the wrong foundation. Expectations that are presumptuous would most likely fail. So also would expectations based on physical qualities such as an individual’s good looks, stature or charm. If you expectation for a husband or a good home is based on your beauty, it may be dashed. There are many ladies who are not beautiful but they are married to good husbands and there are many pretty ladies who earlier thought marriage would be the easiest thing for them; in fact, they become so choosy that today that have aged, but are without husbands. If you think beauty or handsomeness will give you a good home, you should have a rethink. Take a man like Absalom. As a man he was described as being beautiful. His kind of beauty was the type that would make any pretty lady green with envy. Apart from Lucifer, Absalom was another personality described as being perfect in beauty. Most ladies would fight to have him as a husband. But at the end they would have regretted that decision.

Imaging what he did? He murdered his half-brother who raped his sister, he spearheaded a rebellion against his father and toppled him, he openly slept with his father’s concubines and he planned to kill his father but for God’s intervention. At the end he died prematurely .His wife became a widow too. His three sons and daughter became fatherless. They lived the evil tag of being the children of a rebel who died shamefully (2Samuel14:25-27). If you think you are too beautiful or to handsome to marry the fellow God has chosen for you as a life partner, make no mistake, you will end up marrying the Absaloms and Jezebels of this world. Some men are equally languishing in regret in the confines of their homes because instead of going to the Match Maker and creator, they failed to pray effectively. They believed   their physical attractiveness would pull sisters to them, and they would find a good wife from among them. Any partner you get from God is the best you can ever have, no matter how imperfect the fellow is. Go to the Lord today!

PRAYER POINT: Father, in any way I have trusted in my looks and physique, have mercy on me. From today, I put all my trust in you.

Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye

Quality and timing of seed

Sunday 5 August                                     Bible in one year:Proverbs 4-7

Memorise: They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Psalm 126:5

One foundational truth about giving is that the way seed is sown will determine the type of harvest it will bring.The costliest seed opens the greatest doors.Do not sow anyhow but let your sowing be a deliberate effort,targeted at a definite result.This should guide you in sowing your seed : Before  you sow, determine the type of harvest you want,prayerfully consider the seed that can trigger that harvest,then go ahead and sow. If you want small harvest ,sow small but if you want some  big harvest,sow big. If you want an enduring harvest, sow regularly and continuously towards it . If you want a precious harvest or a harvest of high value, sow valuable and precious seeds. If you want harvest that people have received before , sow the seed that people have given before, but if you want a harvest that nobody has received before,then sow the seed nobody has given before. If you want God’s treasury to be open to you 24/7, open your treasury to God 24/7. If you want God’s all, give your all. The harvest you get is largely depended on you.

The timing of an offering is also very important.Some seeds you will be required to give may still be relevant after six months or a year.But there are some seeds you will be required to sow at an opportune time. If you fail to sow the seed at such  a time, even if you later do so, you would have missed heavenly promo or jackpot attached to it.God is the Father of all born again Christians. It is His duty to take care of us and He has promised to do so.Supposing a particular brother is in dire need of money and the fellow is holding onto God;in response , the Lord looks around and He finds you; He tells you to go immediately to meet the brother’s needs but you refused, feigning you do not know if it is God speaking to you. That need may not have been met because of your hardness of heart, and the brother will be discourage because God would have been painted as an unfaithful God by your inaction.But if you immediately responded and tell the fellow God sent you to him, he will be very glad and God will reward you for your obedience.

KEY POINT: if every believer will obey God promptly, credibility issues that are raised concerning God or His word will be drastically reduced.

Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye

Heeding traffic lights?

Saturday 4 August                               Bible in one year : Deuteronomy 29-31

Memorise: The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord;and He delighteth in his way. Psalm 37:23
Read: Matthew 2:19-23

The things we see in the empirical world ought to give us a better understanding of our God. This truth is expressed in Romans 1:20

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,being understood by the things that are made,even His eternal power and Godhead; so they are without excuse:

We can learn some truths about God by studying traffic lights.This creation of man consist of colours Red,Yellow and Green, the combination of these colours is used in exercising control. We find the combination of these colours also present in rainbow and when white light is dispersed by a prism .We have been looking at the essence of God from the context of these colours as our God is described as lights in 1 John 1:5, Psalm 37:23 says
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord : he delighteth in his way.

When God loves a man, He will control his movement the same way traffic lights control the movements of vehicles and pedestrians.Take for example Elijah in 1 Kings 17:1-6, God told Elijah, “go to the brooks” and he went . Later, He told him, “Go to the widow of Zaraphath” and he did.Wherever God sent him, he was ready to go and his needs were ever met. Similarly, Isaac was another very obedient servant.If you do a study of him,you will find out that through his life,there was no where God was angry with him.This is because he lived in obedience.A famine came upon the land and Isaac wanted to leave but God asked him to stay and he obeyed (Genesis 26:1-4).In the same vein, the Lord instructed Joseph to run to Egypt with the child Jesus and he obeyed (Matthew 2:13-23).

Control covers every aspect of life. Sometimes the red light will come on and God will say stop or wait. Many people do not want to see this as they walk with God but it is only for their own good.When you continue to move when God says stop, you will get into trouble.At other times , God may show you yellow sign, meaning that a particular blessings you are asking for will soon be released, so get ready. If you are not ready at that time you may miss it.Then there are times God will show you green light to go on. It could concerning who to marry, where to further your education,etc. Once you get the green light , go ahead. When you pray to God , He uses these colours to speak to you.Have you been sensitive to these colours? Or do you jump the gun? The one who sees red but gives himself green will have tales of disappointment to share.

KEY POINT:if you faithfully obey spiritual traffic signs,your progress will be rapid, you will remain in God’s will and you will be spared unnecessary headaches.

Open Heavens by Pastor E. A Adeboye

maximise your spiritual nationality

Friday 3 August                                  Bible in one year : Proverbs 29-31

Memorise: and they also, if they abide not not still in unbelief,shall be gaffed in :for God is able to graft them in again. Romans 11:23

Read: Romans 11:15-24

All the fantastic promises God made to the nation of Israel were transferred to the new Israel of God birthed by the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 2:28-29 reveals that a displacement of natural Jews has occurred in the spirit;hence we spiritual Jews, right now have a central place in God's heart and occupy a major place in God's agenda for the last days. From this switch, we learn that nobody is indispensable and no nation or people are indispensable.Whatever the Lord has assigned to you,for which the grace to do it as being released, accept it and handle with all humility, thankfulness ,faithfulness, and dedication because if otherwise handled,you can be replaced.God has no plan to replace anyone who is faithfully occupying the position given to him or her; rather he wants to add more responsibility to the fellow.You shall not be replaced in Jesus name.If you are doing something in a wrong way and you are being corrected, but you think you know better, and so you refuse to change course, you are calling for the hammer. When it falls, blame nobody but yourself.

Another lesson here is that God is never moved by outward appearance or empty promises but by action and performance. If you want to move God, perform .Put an end to empty promises or boasts!He is not also not moved by outward shows but by the content of the heart.If you are a spiritual Jew- a Jew by the reason of your new birth experience in Christ Jesus , you qualify to claim all the promises God made to Abraham. So what happens to the nation of Israel? To be relevant, they have to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and become part of His body - the Church. Such people will be spiritual Jews as well as Jews in the flesh. However, Paul by the Spirit warns spiritual Jews not to show pride or any form of boasting because the same God who broke off the natural branches (nation of Israel) and grafted us into the olive tree, is able to brake us off too. What will determine whether you will remain or not are your works of faith , obedience, service and humility. Eventually , after the rapture of the church,God will resume His plan for the nation of Israel. Maximise your spiritual nationality while you have the opportunity.

ACTION POINT: List out 20 covenants blessings of a spiritual Jew. How many of these have you benefited from? Ask God to manifest pending promises in your life.

Love

Thursday 2 August                             Bible in one year: Proverbs 25-28

Memorise: let brotherly love continue . Hebrews 13:1

Read: 2 Samuel 1:25-26

Your reason for seeking God will determine whether you love Him or lust after His works.Ask any Christian in God’s service ,”Why are you committed to God’s work?” The reply most likely will be , “Because of Heaven, crowns and other rewards i will receive”. Although rewards has its place in service, this only goes to show us that many of us are in God’s service because of what we can get from it, not  because we love God. If you fall under this category, you should reorder your priorities and make your love for God the reason for all Kingdom exploits.There is a brother stands out in this area. It was said of him that when he died, he was taken to Heaven. He was given a befitting welcome in Heaven. Afterwords , they took him to his mansion and rewards but he told the angels that he was not there for the crown and mansion, but that he just wanted to see the Lord. What love! May you love the Lord to the point that everything else-be it on earth and in Heaven will be secondary.

The word “love” is used casually at most times and this ought not to be so. It is pretty difficult to define love because love is a person. It is declared in 1 John 4:8 what God is love. To accurately define love, you must be able to define God correctly. After several years of walking with God ,Paul said: ” I still don’t know Him. I want to know Him” (Philippians 3:10). The word “love” is applied to different things and there are different kinds of love. For instance , Isaac asked for the food his soul loves in Genesis 27:1-4. Different people love different things;some may love vegetable soup while another may love sleep, play ,dance, etc. Some love are detrimental example of this is the love of sleep which leads to poverty ( Proverbs 20:13). There is a kind of love that patriotic citizens have for their country hence Psalms 122:6 says if you love Jerusalem, you will prosper. Another kind of love exist between a man and his wife, this can be seen in Genesis 29:18 where Jacob is said to love Rachel. Looking at the relationship between David and Jonathan, we are introduced to brotherly love which 2 Samuel 1:26 says is stronger than erotic love. Hebrews 13:1 says we should continue in brother love.Is the love you show to your fellow brethren as strong as the one you show to your spouse ? Ask for God’s grace to love members of God’s Kingdom with brotherly love. How do you love today ?

KEY POINT :Greater love has no man than this , that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Open Heavens by Pastor E.A Adeboye

change

CHANGE

Wednesday 1 August                 Read the bible in one year : Proverbs 22-24

Memorise: And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed; but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail . Hebrew 1:12

The only constant thing in life is change. God’s covenant moved from the Old testament to the New.That was a profound change that shaped the whole world. When Jesus came, the Old Testament was in force. He introduced the New Testament during His ministry on earth , giving men a glimpse of the change to come and reorienting their understanding. After His death,burial and resurrection , the New Testament in His blood was established. Those who fail to go with the change end up blaming themselves. They will be cut off from so many benefits. For instance, during the days of the early church, when Paul travelled to Ephesus , he met some disciples who were baptised by John the Baptist. Based on what they knew, they were still expecting the Messiah who John had come to usher in . Unknown to these, the Messiah had come, affected their world and gone. One would wonder where these disciples were when great multitudes thronged the meeting organised by the Lord.  However , they were receptive to change based on the new information they heard, so they were baptised again as commanded by the Lord, and they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

We need to recognise that God is at the centre of several changes all over the world because He rules the affairs of men.Daniel 2:21 says He changes times and seasons to suit His purposes.But while He effects change, He does not change.He is the same ( Hebrews 1:10-22). He introduces changes so as to make room for a difference. When a piece of cloth is dyed and turns grey, it is said that it has changed colour.Change can also mean replacement, for instance when you change the tyres of your car. Change give room for variety, yet not all changes are desirable. When you change from good to bad, that is a negative change and undesirable. Equally bad is moving from success to failure. God expects positive change from you. Change from being a bench warmer in church to an active worker or minister. There are certain areas in your life that require change. Some things need to be dropped. You would also need to acquire healthy habits and behavioural patterns.Change now!

KEY POINT:  Life is all about change. If you do not adapt to change , you might be rendered irrelevant.

Open Heavens by Pastor E. A Adeboye