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