Open Heaven For Today 2024 Monday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – What Is God`s Temple? 6
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TOPIC: What Is God`s Temple? 6
MEMORISE: But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." Psalm 22:3
READ: 2 Chronicles 5:13-14(KJV)
13 It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord;
14 So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Leviticus 5-7
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE
The temple of God is much more than all I have discussed in this series so far.
In fact, if I want to call God’s temple any particular name, I will probably call it the house of praise and power.
In our Bible reading for today, you will discover why David said:
I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
The temple is a house of praise. Psalm 22:3 says that God inhabits the praises of Israel, and we saw a manifestation of this in our Bible reading today.
The temple is also the house of thanksgiving because our Bible reading passage today also says that they were thanking God too and not just praising Him (2 Chronicles 5:13).
In fact, David says in Psalm 100:4 that you should enter God’s gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.
As praise and thanksgiving go on, His glory fills the temple powerfully. So, when you go into the temple, you are actually going into God’s glory.
That glory rubs off on you, and everywhere you go after that, you just begin to experience supernatural goodness and mercy.
God’s temple is also a house where goodness and mercy abound. In Psalm 23:6, the Bible says:
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
There is a song I love so much, and it goes thus:
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life (2x).
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, and I will feast at the table set for me.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life (2x).”
Beloved, I encourage you to sing this song prophetically, and if you do not know the song, you can just speak the words into your life.
You must, however, go beyond merely singing or speaking the words, you must live it.
Dwelling in the house of the Lord precedes feasting at the table set before you.
Whether the enemy likes it or not, when you are in the house of the Lord praising and thanking Him, a table will be set before you, and nothing can tamper with it!
Key Point
The benefits of being in God’s temple are far too great to be missed.
HYMN 18:– Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
1. Praise to the Lord,
the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is
thy health and salvation:
Join the great throng
psaltery,organ and song
sounding in glad adoration!
2. Praise to the Lord,
who over all he gloriously reigneth:
Borne as on eagle-wings, safely
his saints, He sustaineth.
Hast thou not seen
How all thou needest hath been
Granted in what He ordaineth?
3. Praise to the Lord,
who doth prosper thy way and defend thee;
Surely his goodness and mercy
shall ever attend thee;
Ponder anew, What the Almighty can do,
Who with His love doth befriend thee
5. Praise to the Lord!
Oh, let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath breath, join with
Abraham’s seed to adore Him!
Let the Amen, sum all our praises again;
Now as we worship before Him.
Open Heaven For Today 2024 Sunday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – What Is God`s Temple? 5
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TOPIC: What Is God`s Temple? 5
MEMORISE:"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16
READ: Hebrews 4:15-16(KJV)
15 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.
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Leviticus 1-4
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE
God’s temple is also a house of grace. Hebrews 4:16 calls the temple the throne of grace.
It is the place where you can go and obtain grace and mercy in times of need.
You may be in need of strength and grace to overcome a particular situation; the good news is that the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that God’s grace is sufficient for you, and His strength is made perfect in your weakness.
You receive this sufficient grace when you come into His temple.
People who go to the occult for power know that they have to keep visiting the shrine regularly to renew their powers.
The devil only tries to copy God’s methods; we who own the original must also always go to the temple of God to keep renewing our strength and receive fresh grace to surmount challenges that we may be faced with daily.
There are people who, when they have committed a sin, avoid going to church because they feel dirty – that is wrong.
At that point, they need the mercy of God and where they can get it is at His throne of grace. That is the time they need to be in church the most.
When you get to His throne of grace, go in humility.
Even if you are a worker, don’t try to keep up an appearance; tell God you have erred and that you are sincerely sorry. Tell Him to please have mercy on you.
Many people go to the temple and keep up appearances like the Pharisee in Luke 18:10-14, while some others go in like the Publican in the same passage.
This is why many people keep going to church and are yet filled with so much junk within them.
Even if you are the pastor of the church, when you are before the throne of grace and in need of mercy, don’t put up a false appearance of piety; go before God pleading for mercy.
The devil knows that you can always access mercy and grace in the presence of God, so he will do everything he can to discourage you from coming unto Him.
He used to have that privilege of being in God’s presence, but he lost it when iniquity was found in him (Ezekiel 28:14-16), and of course, he does not want you to enjoy what he has lost.
Beloved, don’t let anything keep you away from coming into God’s presence to access his mercy and grace.
Key Point
Go to the house of God in humility so you can receive grace and mercy from the throne of grace.
HYMN 2:– Amazing grace!
1 Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch; like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
2 Through many dangers, toils, and snares
I have already come
This grace that brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home
3 The Lord hath promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.
4 Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
and mortal life shall cease:
I shall possess, within the veil,
a life of joy and peace.
5 The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
the sun forbear to shine;
but God, who called me here below,
will be forever mine.
6 When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun.
Open Heaven For Today 2024 Saturday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – What Is God`s Temple? 4
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TOPIC: What Is God`s Temple? 4
MEMORISE:"And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it." 2 Kings 22:8
READ: 2 Kings 22:8-11(KJV)
8 And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
9 And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the Lord.
10 And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.
11 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Exodus 38-40
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE
God’s temple is also the house of knowledge; it is a house of education.
In Psalm 27:4, David made it clear:
One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
In the house of the Lord, you can behold the beauty of the Almighty God.
However, David went on to say that he not only wants to behold God’s beauty, but he also wants to be there to enquire of Him.
In other words, if you have any questions for God, bring them to His temple; come and ask Him in the temple.
When you come into His temple, you will receive revelations; He will begin to tell you certain things that you will not learn at home.
This is why you must always go to church with your writing materials.
It is a place to go and learn new things and get new perspectives.
There have been many times that I was confused about a matter, but while listening to the word of God, light will begin to shine on the matter, and I will receive revelations on how to resolve the situation.
This is why the psalmist said:
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
The house of God is a place where you go to hear the word of God, and in that word is great knowledge and wisdom that you cannot get anywhere else.
So, whether you need revelation for business, family issues, ministry, health or any other field of life, you will get it in the house of God.
Those who regularly go to a church where the undiluted word of God is taught don’t stay confused for long.
You may, however, then ask,
“How do I know if the word being taught in my church is genuine and undiluted?”
You will have to emulate the Berean Christians who always returned to their homes to search the Scriptures to verify what they had been taught in church (Acts 17:10-11).
As long as you remain in the environment where the undiluted and genuine word of God is preached, knowledge and wisdom will be available to you.
Action Point
Always attend church services with your writing materials, and be expectant to receive new knowledge and revelation from God
HYMN 3:– Ancient Words
1. Holy words long preserved
For our walk in this world
They resound with God’s own heart
Oh, let the ancient words impart
Chorus
Ancient words ever true
Changing me and changing you
We have come with open hearts
Oh, let the ancient words impart
2. Words of Life, words of Hope
Give us strength, help us cope
In this world, where e’er we roam
Ancient words will guide us home
3. Holy words of our Faith
Handed down to this age
Came to us through sacrifice
Oh heed the faithful words of Christ
4. Holy words long preserved
For our walk in this world
They resound with God’s own heart
Oh let the ancient words impart
Open Heaven For Today 2024 Friday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – What Is God`s Temple? 3
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TOPIC:What Is God`s Temple? 3
MEMORISE:"And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:" Deuteronomy 12:6
READ:Deuteronomy 12:5-6(KJV)
5 But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:
6 And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Exodus 35-37
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE
Beyond being the house of prayer and healing, God’s temple is also the house of sacrifice.
Anyone who wants to sacrifice anything has to take his sacrifice to a designated place.
In Yoruba land, where I come from, when they want to sacrifice to the devil, they take the sacrifice to the crossroad, and when they want to sacrifice to witches and wizards, they put it behind an Iroko tree.
For us who give sacrifices to the Most High God, He said in 2 Chronicles 7:12 that He has chosen His temple as the place where He will accept our sacrifices.
Furthermore, Deuteronomy 16:16 says that you should not come empty-handed when you are coming to the temple of God because He wants to accept your sacrifice.
A friend of mine used to say whenever he was taking offerings,
“If you have none, borrow from your neighbour so that when the basket is going round, God will see you putting something in.”
Then he would add,
“It will not be long before you too will lend to others.”
God takes giving a sacrifice in His temple so seriously that He always observes what people drop in the offering basket.
In Mark 12:41-44, Jesus watched the offerings that people gave and weighed which ones were sacrifices and which were not.
This tells you clearly that God is keen on accepting sacrifices in His temple.
Some people say that because they don’t trust their pastor, they will rather give to the poor than give in church.
First, I don’t understand why they have a pastor they believe to be a thief.
Secondly, it is good to give to the poor; Proverbs 19:17 says that when you give to the poor, you are indirectly giving to God.
However, you must never neglect giving your sacrifices in the house of God itself.
If somebody says he likes me and gives my children money whenever he sees them by the roadside, but he refuses to give when he sees that there is a need in my family, despite knowing the way to my house and having money to give, I will begin to suspect such a fellow.
It will be clear that he isn’t giving to my children because he likes me but for other reasons.
This might be because he just wants to be seen in public as a giver or that he wants to gain some undue influence over my children.
It’s the same when you claim to give to the poor in the name of God but never give in the house of God itself.
Key Point
Make it a point of duty to never go to the house of God empty-handed. It is a place of sacrifice.
HYMN 23:– Take My Life, and Let It Be
1 Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in endless praise,
let them flow in endless praise.
2 Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee,
swift and beautiful for thee.
3 Take my voice and let me sing
always, only, for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
filled with messages from thee,
filled with messages from thee.
4 Take my silver and my gold;
not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
every power as thou shalt choose,
every power as thou shalt choose.
5 Take my will and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne,
it shall be thy royal throne.
6 Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee,
ever, only, all for thee.
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