Open Heaven For Today 2024 Tuesday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – What Is Your Focus?
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TOPIC: What Is Your Focus?
MEMORISE: "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians 3:2
READ: Colossians 3:1-4 (KJV)
1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Nehemiah 8-10
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE
From my experience as a lecturer before going into full-time ministry, I know that in a class, not everyone’s focus is on understanding what is being taught.
Some students are focused on the teacher’s clothes, some on how he talks, others on impressing other students, and so on.
What is worthy of note is that those who focus on less important things lose a whole lot in the end.
This same thing plays out in God’s kingdom; many Christians do not focus on the right things.
All some Christians want from God is a new car, a new house, a promotion and so on.
I pity such Christians because they might get what they are focused on but lose out on the more important things they have ignored.
Jesus Christ said that you should seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all other things shall be added to you (Matthew 6:33).
In other words, if you just focus on making it to heaven by being righteous here on earth, cars, houses and other material things will automatically come your way.
I am a living testimony of what Jesus said in this verse of Scripture.
I set my focus on the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and now, I can’t count how many of these other things I have.
The best part is that I am also on my way to heaven.
Why focus on things that are temporary instead of things that are eternal? Focus on the eternal things, and the temporary things will follow.
Many people never reach the heights that God has ordained for them because somewhere along the line, they take their focus away from heaven and start pursuing material things.
Their prayers change from, “Lord, help me to love You more” to “Lord, give me this and that.”
You need to remember that when the roll is called up yonder, none of these things will matter anymore.
Ask anyone who has had a near-death experience, and they will tell you that material things, as flashy as they may seem, are not worth all the attention given to them.
From now on, make Paul’s admonition in 2 Corinthians 4:18 your lifestyle:
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Reflection
Search your heart; what really are you focused on?
HYMN 10: In Christ Alone
1 In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
2 In Christ alone, who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied –
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.
3 There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine –
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
4 No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand:
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.
Open Heaven For Today 2024 Tuesday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Love Your Enemies
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TOPIC: Love Your Enemies
MEMORISE: "But love your enemies, and do good and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil". Luke 6:35
READ: Proverbs 25:21-22(KJV)
21 If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
22 For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee.
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE
The most difficult instruction Jesus Christ gave to His disciples is probably what we have in today’s memory verse.
He wants us to love our enemies if we are to be genuine children of God. What are we to do about this seemingly difficult command?
Firstly, you should note that His commands are not grievous (1 John 5:3).
Also, when you consider the benefits of being a child of God, you will realise that what the Lord commands is just a little price to pay.
Amazed by these benefits, John the Apostle wrote in 1 John 3:1:
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:
The commandment of the Lord to love your enemies is not just a New Testament doctrine. God commands us to do so because He is love Himself
(1 John 4:7). He loved us even when we were in His enemy’s camp as sinners (Romans 5:8), and since He has commanded us to be perfect even as He is (Matthew 5:48), it means that we have to be like Him in all things (Ephesians 5:1), even in loving our enemies.
Why is it so important to God that you love your enemies?
One reason is that it practically reflects the true nature of your Father, showing Him to be different from what the devil portrays Him to be (Genesis 3:1-5).
When unbelievers experience such uncommon love from you, they are convinced beyond reasonable doubt that your God is good.
Many people testify that they gave their lives to Christ because of the benevolent acts of Christians.
Your perceived enemies today may be your best Christian brothers and sisters tomorrow if only you will heed the Lord’s instruction to love them.
Through your love, their wickedness will melt away. One of my relatives, who was an idol worshipper and was well known for his wickedness, decided to follow me to church when he experienced the goodness of the Lord flowing through me into his life.
When he was confronted by others as to why he abandoned his deity and foolishly followed me to serve the Lord, he confessed that he was left with no other option but to join me in serving Jesus Christ because of the love I had shown him.
He asked those questioning his decision, “Can’t you see how my life has been spiritually and materially transformed?”
Beloved, be good to your enemies and never repay them with evil.
Action Point
Love those that hate you
HYMN 20: Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus
1 Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
Ye soldiers of the cross;
Lift high His royal banner,
It must not suffer loss:
From vict’ry unto vict’ry
His army shall He lead,
Till every foe is vanquished
And Christ is Lord indeed.
2 Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
The trumpet call obey;
Forth to the mighty conflict
In this His glorious day.
Ye that are men, now serve Him
Against unnumbered foes;
Let courage rise with danger.
And strength to strength oppose.
3 Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
Stand in His strength alone;
The arm of flesh will fail you;
Ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the Gospel armor,
And, watching unto prayer,
Where duty calls, or danger,
Be never wanting there.
4 Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
The strife will not be long:
This day the noise of battle,
The next the victor’s song;
To him that overcometh
A crown of life shall be;
He, with the King of glory,
Shall reign eternally.
Open Heaven For Today 2024 Monday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – He That Hath Clean Hands
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TOPIC: He That Hath Clean Hands
MEMORISE: "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Psalms 66:18
READ: Psalms 24:3-6 (KJV)
3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Nehemiah 1-3
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE
It takes clean hands to ascend to the hill of the Most High God and receive from Him. Isaiah 59:1-2 says:
Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
When you ask God for something, and He does not give it to you, please check your life first before you start complaining. Are your hands clean? Are you living holy? The Bible says that if you are not living holy, you are at such a distance from God that He cannot even hear your prayers.
Because people who are living in sin are far away from Him, He will not hear them. God hates sin and cannot come close to sin at all. If you want anything from Him, stay away from sin.
Some people feel that they can force God to do things for them. Since they do not want to stop their sinful lifestyles and also know that God will not hear their prayers, they will seek an anointed man of God to pray for them. They believe that God will answer the prayers of the anointed man of God.
Several times, I have prayed for people for healings, deliverance, and breakthroughs without results. On several occasions, I have cried to God, “What is going on? This fellow is your child, why are you not answering my prayers?” A lot of times, God will say, “You don’t know the whole story.”
It doesn’t matter how anointed a man of God is, God cannot be compelled to listen to his prayers over sinners.
My Father in the Lord, Pa Josiah Akindayomi, used to say that it is what a father has that he will use to take care of his children. If God is your father, He will take care of you with His goodness. However, if your father is the devil, he will take care of you with the evil that surrounds him. If you want the blessings of God, ensure that you surrender your life to Him in totality and live holy.
The Bible says that without holiness, no one can see God (Hebrews 12:14), so if you truly want to abide in His presence and experience His abundant goodness, holiness must be your lifestyle.
Reflection
Are your hands clean?
HYMN 9: There Is A Fountain Fill'd With Blood
1 There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains:
Lose all their guilty stains,
Lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.
2 The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away:
Wash all my sins away,
Wash all my sins away;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.
3 Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransomed ones of God
Be saved, to sin no more:
Be saved, to sin no more,
Be saved, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed ones of God,
Be saved to sin no more.
4 E’er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die:
And shall be till I die,
And shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.
5 When this poor lisping, stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave,
Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I’ll sing Thy power to save:
I’ll sing Thy power to save,
I’ll sing Thy power to save;
Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I’ll sing Thy power to save.
Open Heaven For Today 2024 Sunday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Be A Doer
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TOPIC: Be A Doer
MEMORISE: "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves". James 1:22
READ: Matthew 7:24-27(KJV)
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ezra 8-10
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE
James 1:22-25 tells us that we must not be hearers only, but doers of the word of God.
It says that people who are not doers of the word are deceiving themselves and are qualified to be called fools.
According to our Bible reading for today, a fool is someone who hears the word and will not act on it. Such a person is like someone who is building a house on sand.
Some of the people God called fools according to Psalms 14:1 are those who say that there is no God.
If I were to ask many Christians if they believe there is God, they are likely to say ‘Sure’.
The question is, why then are they careless with His words? Those He calls fools are those who do not take His words seriously.
Those who don’t obey the word of God do not have the fear of God.
Proverbs 1:7 says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. If we all fear the Almighty God, we will not disobey His words. Those who disobey God are fools.
For some people, their ideology is, “I obey when I want, the way I want, and only the part of the word that is convenient for me.” Such people have lost the fear of God.
In Matthew 21:28-32, Jesus told the story of a father who said to his son, “Go and work on my farm.” The son replied, “I am not going.” He later repented and went.
How can your father give you an instruction, and you tell him to his face, “I am not going?”
If you were raised the way I was, some lashes will definitely follow such effrontery.
As for the second son, the father also gave him an instruction, and he said he will obey, but he did not obey.
Proverbs 25:19 says that such a son is like a broken tooth and a foot out of joint; someone who lets you down at a critical moment.
However, there was a third son that you may not easily notice in that passage; He was the one telling the story. Jesus Christ Himself was the Son who said, “I will go,” and went (Isaiah 6:8). In Matthew
26:39, this same Son said, ” …not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
Let your disposition to God’s word always be, “Not as I will, but as thou wilt.” My prayer is that you will always do the will of God, just like Jesus Christ.
Key Point
Obey the word of God promptly and completely at all times, whether it is convenient or not.
HYMN 30: When We Walk With The Lord
1. When we walk with the Lord,
In the light of His word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey!
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey.
2. But we never can prove
The delights of His love,
Until all on the altar we lay,
For the favour He shows
And the joy He bestows
Are for them who will trust and obey. [Refrain]
3. Then in fellowship sweet
We will sit at His feet,
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way,
What He says we will do,
Where He sends we will go,
Never fear, only trust and obey. [Refrain]
Open Heaven For Today 2024 Saturday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Banishing Fear
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TOPIC: Banishing Fear
MEMORISE: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee : be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness". Isaiah 41:10
READ: Matthew 10:26-31(KJV)
26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ezra 5-7
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
The above passage tells us clearly that the Holy Spirit which God gives to us is not a Spirit of fear.
This also implies that fear is not a feeling, but a spirit, and that spirit is not from God. As Christians, whenever we find a spirit that is not of God around us, we must banish such a spirit immediately.
Today, fear is banished in your life, in Jesus’ name.
The antidote to fear is faith. Ephesians 6:16 says:
“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”
When this Scripture was written, soldiers had to go to war with shields as it was essential for their survival against the attacks of the enemy.
Likewise, we are to quench the fiery darts of the enemy with the shield of faith.
What are these fiery darts? They are the imaginations through which the spirit of fear creeps into a man’s life. This is why 2 Corinthians 10:5 says:
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
The knowledge of Christ casts down fearful thoughts and imaginations. The more of God you know, and the more aware you are of His power and love for you, the less afraid you will be. You must subject every negative thought to the truth of God’s word. When the thoughts come, you should respond with the word of God that counters them. As you do this over and over again, you will overcome those fears.
You cannot know God without studying His word, hence, to truly banish fear from your life, you need to study God’s word consistently. The Bible says in Romans 10:17: … faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
The more of God’s word that you constantly listen to, the more your faith will grow. This will ensure that there is no room for fear in your heart. Study the word of God and meditate on it every day.
Memorise His word, especially the portions that speak specifically to the fears you have. As God’s word dwells richly in your heart, every form of fear will disappear.
Key Point
Studying and meditating on the word of God banishes fear.
HYMN 29: When peace, like a river, attendeth my way
1 When peace like a river attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
“It is well, it is well with my soul.”
Refrain (may be sung after final stanza only):
It is well with my soul;
it is well, it is well with my soul.
2 Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
let this blest assurance control:
that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
and has shed his own blood for my soul. Refrain
3 My sin oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
my sin, not in part, but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more;
praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul! Refrain
4 O Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
the trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend;
even so, it is well with my soul. Refrain
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