OPEN HEAVEN [23 APRIL 2019] DEADLY GENEROSITY

Open Heaven 23 April 2019: [Tuesday] Daily Devotional By Pastor E.A Adeboye – Deadly Generosity

DEADLY GENEROSITY – Tuesday April 23^rd 2019

Memorise: My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger, Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of the mouth. Proverbs 6:1-2

Read: Genesis 43:1-10 (KJV)

1 And the famine was sore in the land.

² And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.

³ And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.

⁴ If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:

⁵ But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.

⁶ And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?

⁷ And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?

⁸ And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones.

⁹ I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:

¹⁰ For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time.

Bible in one year: Genesis 27-28, Jeremiah 23:16-32, Hymnal: Sing hymn 9

Message:-

A guarantor is someone who voluntarily becomes the legal surety of another person’s debt or responsibility. 

OPEN HEAVEN 23 APRIL 2019 DEADLY GENEROSITY 

He or she is a person who undertakes to ensure that an agreed future event takes place. A guarantor also come to the aid of someone else to meet a need at a cost which involves a great deal of personal risk. In Proverbs 17:18 and Proverbs 22:26, the Bible teaches against standing as surety for friends and acquaintances. These passages indicate that anyone who offers himself or herself as surety for debts is a foolish person without understanding. Following common occurrences around the world today, it is only advisable to stand as a guarantor for members of your immediate family. Based on God’s understanding of human nature, the Bible views the role of a guarantor as a form of deadly generosity. God knows that the guarantor will always be left in a vulnerable position and is bound to suffer loss in the long run. God did not take this position only because of His knowledge of human nature, but also because of Christ’s first hand experience as the ultimate guarantor of mankind’s salvation. Hebrews 4:15 says:

Open Heaven 23 April 2019: [Tuesday] Daily Devotional By Pastor E.A Adeboye – Deadly Generosity 

“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

Having suffered so much to obtain our salvation, Jesus knows that it will be difficult for any human being to survive the disappointments and pain that comes with being a surety.

The Old Testament records one incident relating to someone standing surety for another. In it, Judah stood as a guarantor for Benjamin, to save Jacob’s family from starvation (Genesis 43:9, Genesis 44:32). Similarly, Jesus is the only person in the New Testament who stands as a guarantor. Hebrews 7:22 says

Open Heaven 23 April 2019 Tuesday: Action Point 

“By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.”

Jesus is the mediator of the covenant between God and His people, and He is also its guarantor. God’s promises are all guaranteed in Jesus Christ (2^nd Corinthians 1:20). Knowing the consequences of standing as surety for anyone, Jesus willingly chose to stand for us because of the love He has for us. He paid the price of His life and today He sits in heaven as the One who guarantees the terms of the New Covenant that grants us access to the family of God. How generous He is! Jesus is still offering His extravagant generosity of all today, and it is an offer of love. Accept it today and your life will never be the same again!   

Action Point

Give God thanks for His extravagant generosity in making you a partaker of His new covenant.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional Lessons was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical Churches in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.