Discontinuation of Open Heavens Devotional post on this blog

This is to inform all readers that from today, 24th September, 2012, Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye will not be available again on this blog till further notice. Please, bear with us. Thank you for your cooperation.GOD bless,

IS GRACE ACCESSIBLE?

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Sunday 23 September

Memorise: And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you. 2 Corinthians 9:14

Read: Ephesians 2:5-9

Besides mercy, God is unlimited in grace. Ephesians2:8 says:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.

For anyone to be saved, two elements - grace and faith must be combined or else that effort of asking for forgiveness and mercy as a sinner will be fruitless. No matter how much faith a sinner has when he or she comes to God for salvation, if grace is not released on the part of God, there can be no forgiveness. This tells us that God must play His part as we play ours. In hell, sinners in their bill ions are crying out for mercy and forgiveness. Many of them have faith that they can be forgiven - in fact, the faith some of them are expressing can be termed great faith, even beyond the faith we express; yet, with all their faith and intensive, repeated, agonising prayer for forgiveness and pardon, because grace is absent, forgiveness is not released. Now that grace is available, utilise it fast for a time will come when men and women will not be able to access this grace that comes only through Jesus Christ (John 1:1 7).

God's grace is abundant (Romans 5:17). This grace is not only abundant but can be exceeding in the life of some people (2 Corinthians9:14). Grace is one way God makes up for our short comings. Grace covers our human frailties. Through grace, God uses our very limited strength and resources to do the impossible. This He does by adding His own strength and resources to ours. With grace, your lack, imitations, and defects are fully covered. When you have exceeding grace, it means God's provision far exceeds your need. Grace is in action at those times the Holy Spirit helps us to pray in accordance with God's will when we do not know how to pray (Romans 8:26-27). When you have prayed, fasted and tried without measuring up to standard, then it is time to fall back on His grace. Grace can be accessed at varying measures. To some people grace may be unavailable, to some only a little, while some will have abundance and for some others, grace will outstrip their needs. What level of grace do you have access to? If you want to Access extreme levels of grace, do not frustrate God's grace upon you, do not waste it and do not become a silo of grace, but rather, be a channel of grace. Always use 8race for the purpose it is given to you. Be gracious to others. Be generous. Live a holy life.

KEY POINT

God's grace is available for you at the time of your need, go boldly to Him using the finished work of Calvary as a cover.

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Open Heavens Daily Devotional
Written by: Pastor E.A. Adeboye

INDEBTED?

Saturday September 22, 2012

Memorize: The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous showeth mercy, and giveth. Psalms 37:21

Read: Hebrews 12:1-2

One way of identifying the righteous is by their attitude towards repaying what they borrowed. As stated in the memory verse, it is a wicked person that borrows and refuses to pay. Many Christians are guilty of this. Did you borrow some books or materials from the library, your office, church or an individual but have no intention of returning them? Or have you converted the properties of others kept in your care into your own? Then you are not righteous but wicked. Some people are assisted with a loan to start a business but when it is time to repay, they will start to either give excuses or deliberately avoid their creditors. Some will even wickedly refuse to take their calls or even change their SIM cards. Yet some of these people are pastors, ministers and workers in God’s vineyard. Are you not wicked? The unbelievers who have not known God are far better than such people. Do you know that debt is a weight? This is why we are commanded not to be indebted to anyone (Romans 13:8).

Debt is a weight. Anyone who intends to participate in a race and expects to win but is carrying a bag of rice will be kidding himself or herself. Do you know that if you are indebted to others, it will affect the way you run the Christian race?

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Hebrews 12:1

If you want your Christian race to be smooth, or to respond to the efforts you put in, make every effort to clear up all your debts. You cannot be a perpetual debtor and you open your mouth and say, I am a Christian. You will be portraying the kingdom of God in very bad light. Did Jesus owe anyone? When He was to die, who came to accuse Him of owing anything? Also at the latter part of Samuel’s ministry, when he re-presented Saul as king to the Israelites, he was able to beat his chest that he owes no man anything (1 Samuel 12:3). Do you know the debts you owe with intention of not paying back will not allow you to be raptured or to make it to Heaven? Debts can have far reaching consequences. As much as you can, try and live within your means. Do not overstretch yourself financially as this can cause you to go into debt. Do not expose yourself to too many risks that your assets cannot cover. Do not allow the prospects of gain from an investment blind your eyes to its associated risk. Live a life of contentment and it shall be well with you.

ACTION POINT:
Map out a strategy on how you will gradually repay all your debts. If there is a debt you cannot afford to pay back, pray, then go and ask for forgiveness or reduction of the debt.

LUKEWARMNESS

Friday 21 September 2012

Memorize: He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. Luke 11:23

Read: Matthew 12:29-31

One major problem of the church in Laodicea was their lukewarmness.

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. Revelation 3:15

On the thermometer of God, He expects you to read cold or hot but not in-between. Usually, people do not like lukewarm water. If you are given lukewarm water to quench your thirst, your stomach might get filled up but your thirst will not be quenched, this is annoying. Whereas, if you took a few glasses of cold water, the thirst will be quenched even if your stomach is not filled. Lukewarmness brings about a lot of waste. If you are lukewarm in your attitude to God and the things of His kingdom, you will be a great waste to God’s kingdom. You may not be able to quench the thirst of the King of kings! Lukewarm water is not capable of brewing some herbal teas that require hot water. After soaking such tea in lukewarm water, very little will be received of what the tea has the potential of releasing. The tea will at best be termed coloured water. Any lover of tea will not be pleased with such tea. In the same way, when you are lukewarm, God may never be able to get you to tap into your hidden resources and develop them to His glory. At the end, the lukewarm worker will earn God’s rebuke and anger.

Every lukewarm person has elements of laziness. In the Kingdom of God, there is no middle place: it is either you are for Him or you are against Him. You cannot afford to be neutral. If you are not walking the narrow path to Heaven, you are on the broad way to hell. You will recognise the fellow who is lukewarm by his or her lack of zeal. Anybody that will achieve for God must be zealous. Jesus was consumed by zeal for kingdom assignments. Do you show zeal when it comes to paying tithes, giving offering, winning souls or obeying God in general? A zealous person is in a hurry to please God. Zeal brings speed. Zeal comes with positive expectations. Zeal has genuine interest in what is being done. Lukewarm Christians do not care about the time they come to church hence many of them are incurable latecomers. Lukewarm Christians cannot spend eternity with Christ.

KEY POINT:
If you can sit, eat, or chat with an unbeliever and not be bothered that he or she is going to hell, you are lukewarm.

AND JORDAN PARTED

Thursday 20 September 2012

Memorise: And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; 1 Thessalonians 4:11

Read: 2 Kings 7:3-11

When Elisha cried in desperation and smote the waters, the scripture says the river parted for him like it did for his spiritual father (2 Kings 2:14). This tells us that whatever happens to the father can happen to the son as long as the latter satisfies the conditions. For instance, Jesus walked on water and Peter did the same when he acted in faith but his colleagues could not do so because they failed to dare. One of the most exciting passages in the Bible is John 14:12. Here Jesus says:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

From the day I read this passage, I believed with every fibre of my being that before I die, I will do every work that He did. I also believe that whatsoever the Lord has done for me, He will repeat in the lives of my children. Are you ready to do what Jesus did and even greater works? Are you ready to pay the price?

Also, when the Jordan parted, Elisha went over it. An English proverb says, He that aims at nothing will always hit it. Anything done without purpose is a wasted effort. You must be certain about what you want from God and not just fight one who punches the air. Let your punches be directed at specific targets so that when you hit them, you will be sure you have them. When God opens a door to you, walk right through it (Revelation 3:7-8). Some people stood in front of their open doors for so long until they were shut. If you don’t enter in, you don’t get anything out of the open doors. Elisha did not begin to celebrate that Jordan parted for him, he simply went through it; he used the opportunity to change his location. What have you done with your open doors? The way you handle the opportunity God gives to you is very important to God. The four lepers got an opportunity and they maximised it. Not only did they become celebrities and national heroes, they never begged for the rest of their lives. If you know how to use opportunities to glorify God, more will continue to trail your path. Do something about your open doors today!

ACTION POINT:
Examine yourself and your surroundings to identify opportunities God has given to you which you have not taken advantage of. Do something about such today.

SCHOOL OF OBEDIENCE

Wednesday, September 19, 2012


Memorize: If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. Job 36:11

Read: Exodus 4:2-4

In Exodus 3:10-14, after God asked Moses to go and deliver a message to Pharaoh, Moses objected giving excuses. He argued about his unworthiness for the assignment and said he did not have enough information about God's identity. It is good to have sufficient knowledge about God but waiting until you know everything about God or the assignment may just be a wait in futility.

God's revelation comes to us in phases and stages. You may not know everything about an assignment before you start. Even Jesus left the disciples without disclosing some information to them because they were not mature enough to handle them. However, for Moses to go on this assignment, knowing God as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was enough, as God's dealing with them at this point was hinged on these three patriarchs. Today, that knowledge is quite inadequate.

If you know Jesus Christ as the Savior, Healer, Sanctifier, Deliverer, Protector, Provider, and the only begotten Son, you have more than enough message to reach your world. As a young convert, do not wait until you know the whole Bible before you start to preach to others.
Simply sharing your testimonies can open the door of salvation to your listeners. Moreover, where divine mandate is concerned, no argument will be accepted by God for human disobedience. If God did not accept the excuses of Moses, neither will He accept yours.

Immediately after dismissing those arguments, Moses began his training on implicit obedience. He was asked to drop his rod without prior knowledge of what the result will be. Moses did so without questioning and it became a snake. Moses enrolled in God's school of obedience and had to become like a child, meek and ever ready to learn. God told him to pick the snake by its tail even though as an adult one should have expected him to know that. You will notice that Moses later had to turn a rod into serpent.

This tells us that God's training is in preparation for your assignment and therefore not in vain. At the end, all Moses had to do in ministry was simply to hear from God and obey no matter what anybody had to say. Have you enrolled in God's school of obedience? Have you learnt to be meek and to comply with God's instructions always?

KEY POINT: In any Kingdom assignment, two things are paramount: hearing from God and obeying Him. Your success in life and ministry lies in your ability to do these two things.

SUPREMACY OF GOD’S FINGER

Tuesday 18 September 2012

Memorize: For thou has girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me. Psalm 18:39

Read: Exodus 8:18-19

The finger of God can write upon tablets of stone, upon a man and in his heart. Besides these, another significance of the finger of God is that it speaks of the enemy’s limitations vis-à-vis God’s supremacy. In Exodus 8:16-19, Moses went to deliver God’s request to Pharaoh to release the children of God. As a sign of being sent by God, he turned his rod into a snake. In defiance, Pharaoh summoned his sorcerers, wise men and magician who used their magical powers to do the same (Exodus 7:8-12). After he turned water into blood they repeated the same (Exodus 7:14-22). When he brought frogs from the river upon the land, the magicians did something similar (Exodus 8:1-7). For every plague that the magicians were able to repeat, the heart of Pharaoh was hardened the more. Then came the next plague: Moses was asked to strike the ground with his rod. He did so and the sand suddenly began to move – all turned into lice! The magicians tried but could not repeat this miracle and they concluded it was the finger of God.

Until your enemies see the finger of God, they might be deceived into thinking that what your God can do, theirs also can do. Today, in many places, fake prophets and their likes are trying to copy the miracles that God is doing. Satan never performs miracles only magic. There is a difference between the two: Miracles are supernatural occurrences that take place by the finger of God while magic are supernatural occurrences that are empowered by spirits other than the Holy Spirit. Many claims of healing through the powers of darkness are false. Those occurrences are normally pre-arranged in many instances. If you want the original, ask for the finger of God. Also, the presence of the finger of God tells the enemy, you have reached your limits and you can go no further! It tells the enemy in very clear terms that God is at work and what He can do, no other spirit, force or power can do the same. This season, all those who are contending with you will see the finger of God and bow to your God. They will disappear after that encounter. Ask for God’s finger in your life and circumstance.

PRAYER POINT:
Father, by Your finger, let every battle against my life be silenced permanently.

NOT A CLOWN

Monday, September 17, 2012

Memorize: For with God nothing shall be impossible. Luke 1:37


Read: Luke 1:26-37

Promises determine expectations. For instance, if a father makes a promise of a toy car to his child while leaving for work, the hope and expectation of that child will be based on that promise. You can be sure the child will announce it to his friends at school that day. In addition, promises also define the scope of expectations. A particular child can expect one toy while another child might expect three based on the promise made to them by their respective fathers. In the same vein, we base our expectations of God upon the promises He has given to us. Unlike earthly parents who are limited in resources with which to fulfill their promises, our God is not.

One striking thing about God is that because of His infinite ability, He is able to make incredible promises, yet He is both willing and able to perform them. Human minds find it difficult to believe God, but if only they can appreciate the personality of God, they will not doubt His ability to do those things that sound impossible. By comparison, it is like a man who owns the ocean, would it be difficult for him to give you a drop of water? I don’t think so. So are all the things that seem impossible with us to our God; it’s like giving you a drop of water from an ocean! Mary is an example of someone that experienced this. God promised that she was going to conceive without copulation and that the result of that uncommon pregnancy was going to save the world. How impossible these sounded! But Mary had enough faith to believe these promises. Naturally, she was just waiting for the day her marriage to Joseph would be consummated and she will have children. But now, her expectations moved from the natural to the supernatural realm of faith. She was not just expecting a baby by sight but expecting the Saviour of the world by faith, without any input from a man. If she ever shared her expectations with friends or relations, they would have asked her to see psychiatrist. Yet God fulfilled His promises to Mary. Has God made you any mind-blowing promise that made you laugh in unbelief? You had better start believing Him today. As incredible as His promises may appear, God is not a clown. He means what He says and so He says only what He means. He will fulfill His promises to you based on your faith. No faith, no fulfillment. Believe Him today!

ACTION POINT:
Identify those seemingly impossible or humanly difficult promises the Lord has given you and profusely thank Him for them. They shall come to pass.

 

FAVOURABLE MISTAKES

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Memorize: And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land. Jeremiah 42:12

Read: 1 Samuel 9:1-10, 17

When you go by the road side, you may meet a beggar asking for alms. He did not work for you at any time and you probably already have plans for the money on you, yet mercy compels you to suspend your needs and give something to meet his need. Mercy makes an individual to get what he or she did not deserve just like the beggar.

May mercy work in your favor from today in Jesus name. In 1956, while living with my uncle, we had our fair share of poverty. He was poor but I was poorer. We mutually shared whatever we had. One day, we were very hungry and there was no food in sight. Then all of a sudden a young girl approached us and said her sister asked her to give us the food she was carrying - pounded yam with vegetable soup and chicken.

My uncle told her he did not know her sister and asked if she was sure we were the right people the food was meant for. She replied in the affirmative, so we received the gift and my uncle told her he will be expecting more gifts from her sister like this one she brought.

Immediately the girl left, we pounced on the food. As soon as we were done eating the food, the girl resurfaced and said it was all a mistake that the food was not for us. Who will give a hungry lion a goat and expect to get it back? The mercy of God can corner what was meant for somebody else for the recipient of His mercy.

This season, the mercy of God will bring you blessings and opportunities including the ones not initially meant for you. Some people can go to a place for a particular thing or go there by “mistake”, not knowing that the mercy of God had propelled their legs to that place, right there an opportunity to change their lives will meet them.

One of such beneficiaries of this kind of mercy was Saul. He went out in search of the missing asses of his father and there mercy met him and connected him with a chain of events that culminated in him becoming a king. By an unplanned move or deed, mercy will connect you to your destiny. Mercy turns mistakes into appointments.

PRAYER POINT: When mercy is involved, there are no mistakes! Father, let Your mercy compel mistakes to work in my favor.

NO MORE COMPROMISE

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Memorize: My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. Proverbs 1:10

Read: Daniel 3:12-18

Besides loving righteousness and hating evil, the righteous are identified by their zero tolerance for compromise. During hard and trying times, while some Christians use the situation as excuses for compromising their faith, the righteous happily use such times as opportunities to stand up for Jesus.

Job 17:9 says: The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. The righteous will prefer to lose his or her job than compromise the faith. In Daniel 3, the three Hebrew children stood tall for Jesus. When their colleagues bowed to the golden image out of fear, they told the king, “O king, we respect you but we choose the fire to bowing down to a lifeless image”.

God watches with keen interest whenever His children are asked to compromise. Your ability to say “No” to compromise is what gives you a standing before God. Some believers have no standing before God because they will compromise their faith for just anything.

Such people are yet to know what it is to be a Christian. A compromising Christian is like cloud without rain, or candle without a flame. The fellow has lost his worth. Standing for Jesus adds value to your faith and gives you respect before God, demons and men. You can resolve not to compromise again in the same areas you once disappointed God. Resolve to have some respect before God from today. When that lady comes again, tell her “No more!” When that brother comes calling and wants you to sin for just the last time, tell him, “No more!” Those who compromise are afraid of the wrong thing.

They fear what they should not be afraid of and what they should fear, i.e. God, they do not. Also, they are too lazy to exercise their faith. Your boss threatens that if you do not dance to his evil music you will be sacked and you are panicking? No way! Not anymore! Tell him you cannot sin against God because you are in love with God. God can remove any boss at any time. You can only be sacked from there if God allows it. Stand up for Jesus today! No more compromise.

KEY POINT: A woman who easily agrees to sleep with a man loses her value and would be treated like a whore. The woman who insists on sex only in marriage will be highly priced by God and men.

DIVINE INTRODUCTION

Friday, September 14, 2012 Memorize: For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 2 Corinthians 1:20 Read: 2 Corinthians 1:19-20 When the Lord wrote to the church in Laodicea, He introduced Himself to them as the Amen, the Faithful Witness and the Beginning of the Creation of God (Revelation 3:14). You will notice that He introduced Himself using different titles and abilities  from church to church. Every church is peculiar and known to its Owner. Every church deserved the type of introduction they got. The way the Lord will introduce Himself to you might be quite different from how He will introduce Himself to another brother, depending on your works, relationship with Him and your needs. If the Lord were to introduce Himself to you today, what titles will He use? Also, the way He introduces Himself speaks of His  next line of action as well as His expected response from you to prevent that action if it is negative, or to provoke the action if it is  positive. Have you trulyresponded to His introductions? The Lord called Himself Amen which means so let it be. In those days, Amen was used as a signature. Amen is God's signature on all His promises. For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 2 Corinthians 1:20 This means if only you have Jesus Christ as the signature to your requests, all the promises of God will be fulfilled  in your life. No wonder Jesus says in John 16:2324 that anything you ask the Father through Hisname will be granted. Any prayer you make without using the Name of Jesus, will not be taken to Heaven, let alone receive an answer. In addition, the Lord called Himselfthe Faithful Witness. Some people speculate on how Heaven will be like, but Jesus clearly tells us of what He knows, what He has seen and felt in Heaven. He is no stranger to the Heavenly realm because Colossians 1:15-17 says it was through Him the heaven and the earth was created. So anything He tells you about Heaven is just as it is, being the Faithful Witness. Lastly, He also called Himself the Beginning of the Creation of God. Creation started with Him (John 1:1-3). If you want to create things to affect your world, link up with the Beginning of the Creation of God and He will give you the inspiration, the push and the wisdom to do them. Being the beginning of all things, you can get fresh supply of body parts to replace any defective ones. ACTION POINT: Ask the Lord to introduce Himself to you by His titles in Revelation 3:14.

DESPERATION IS ALLOWED Thursday, September 13, 2012 Memorize: And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be  given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock,  and it shall be opened unto you. Luke 11:9 Read: Luke 11:5-10 When Elisha cried to God in 2 Kings 2:14, River Jordan parted for him as soon as he smote the waters. You must  realize his cry was out of distress. He was desperate.  The Psalmist says in Psalms 120:1: In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me. God attends to distress  calls and He answers the desperate. Elisha's outburst was out of desperation and he had every  reason to be desperate. Since he left his home, he never  went back. Even if he returned home, he could never return  to his farming profession because he had earlier killed  all his oxen and destroyed his farming tools. He had burnt the bridges and there was no looking back.  Besides, he was at the bank of River Jordan where he had no ship or boat. There was no bridge across the river and  he did not know how to swim. Boy! He couldn't have been  more desperate! When a man is desperate, he easily  gets God's attention. Check out erstwhile blind Bartimaeus or the paralytic  who was lowered through the roof to meet Jesus. In both cases, the Lord had to suspend what He was doing in  order to attend to them. How desperate are you?  Several millions and even billions of people pray  to God daily. One criteria the angels use in selecting who gets  attended to now, who can wait a little and who would  have to wait much longer is the level of their  desperation.  Many fail to receive attention today because their  prayers are too sophisticated and couched in Queen's  English, satisfying all laws of Grammar. At the end,  their focus is more on grafting the prayer than on God. A desperate man does not care whether his grammar is  correct or not as long as he is conversing with God.  A woman in labor does not remember whether she has a  Ph.D. or she is a bank manager. All she cares about  is to be delivered of her baby safe and sound. How desperate are you in getting your desired answer?  Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life  (John 14:6). If you can call on Him and show Him you  are making a distress call, He will make a way for you.  This season, the Lord will create a way for you to go  through.  You are coming out of that fix! Call on Him now, call  out in desperation and He will answer you. KEY POINT: According to Matthew 11:12, there are certain  spiritual blessings that may never be obtained except  through spiritual violence. How desperate are you?