Open Heaven For Today 2024 Thursday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Take A Break
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TOPIC: Take A Break
MEMORISE: He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. Psalm 23:2
READ: Genesis 2:2-3 (KJV)
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Luke 9-10
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE
God rested on the seventh day of the creation week to set an example for us. He said in Exodus 23:10-11 that even the land should be cultivated for six years and then be made to rest in the seventh year.
We all need to take a break every now and then so that we can be refreshed enough to be effective at what He has called us to do.
Many people break down because they hardly take breaks. Some people have been working for years without taking any vacation.
What they don’t understand is that taking time to rest will help them to be more effective when they resume their work.
In 1 Kings19:1-8, Elijah had just called fire down from heaven and brought revival to the land. Then, he heard that Jezebel wanted to kill him and ran for his life.
By the time he gotto the juniper tree, he was tired, and in that state, he asked God to kill him. God knew that he really didn’t want to die; he just needed to take a break.
He made him fall asleep and sent an angel to feed him twice. After resting and eating well, he was strengthened to continue for the next 40 days.
Sometimes, the reason you feel frustrated is that you have not taken a break in a while. Just try sleeping and eating only for one day, and you will see the difference.
Taking a break is not expensive. If you don’t have money to travel or check into a hotel, you can go to a family member’s house or any quiet place where you know that no one will disturb you, and just rest there.
You need to rest weekly and yearly also, especially after a strenuous period of work, as Elijah did in 1 Kings 18.
No matter how anointed you are, as long as you are still in the flesh, you need to take a break once in a while.
The only reason I have been able to host the Holy Ghost Service every month for almost 40 years is that I take breaks when necessary.
After every major programme that lasts for at least one week, I take a break and get some good rest.
Don’t wait for a doctor to put you on bed rest because by then, it will be more expensive, and you will have no choice but to rest for a longer time than you want to.
Key Point
God did not create your body to work non-stop. Take a break every now and then.
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
Open Heaven For Today 2024 Wednesday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Focus
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TOPIC: Focus
MEMORISE: Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Proverbs 4:25
READ: Colossians 3:1-3 (KJV)
3 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.
READ: Hebrews 12:1-2 (KJV)
12 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,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE
In 2 Kings 2:10, Elijah was basically telling Elisha,
“Son, you have asked a hard thing that I can’t give you, but God can give you. Just don’t be distracted, stay focused.”
Hebrews 12:1-2 says that you should lay aside every weight and look unto Jesus. Be focused.
The devil will try to put many weights on you to distract you, but you must stay focused. People may criticise you, lie against you, and say negative things about you, but you must remain focused.
Some years ago, people were criticising me almost everywhere. l ignored all of them and remained focused on what God called me to do.
By God’s grace, I am still marching on, but no one knows where some of the people that were criticising me are now.
The weights that the devil will try to use to sway your focus will not only be from people that dislike you; some of them will be from people that love you.
Their praises, for example, can be a weight that you must set aside so that you do not lose focus.
A man once offended a great king and should have been beheaded. However, the king decided to give him a test. The king told him to carry water in a spoon and walk for some metres.
If he spilt a single drop of water, he was to be beheaded. The king asked some people to stand on his left-hand side and criticise him; they were to rain abuses on him and keep booing him.
On his right-hand side, the king asked some other people to stand and keep praising and hailing the man until he got to the finish line. The man started walking, and the people on both sides did what they were told to do with all their strength.
At last, the man got to the finish line without spilling any water. The king asked him,
“Which of these people helped you succeed?” He responded, “None of them. I was carrying my life in my hands, and so I did not listen to either of them.”
Beloved, you are carrying your life in your hands; don’t let anyone make you lose your focus.
Action Point
Set aside every weight that the devil is using to distract you and focus on achieving God’s purpose for your life.
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
‘Til 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, 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 – You Have To Wrestle
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TOPIC: You Have To Wrestle
MEMORISE: And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. Genesis 32:28
READ: Genesis 32:24-29 (KJV)
24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Luke 5-6
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE
There is a powerful lesson in 2 Kings 2:1-15 that I will like you to pay attention to. Elijah gave Elisha a condition to meet in order to get the double portion in spite of the fact that he had been serving Elijah for so long.
If Elisha had not met that single condition, he would have gotten nothing from his father at his departure.
Many people think that getting blessed by a powerful man of God is enough to make them great. Yes, the blessing is powerful, but if a person does not wrestle out his or her greatness, such a fellow will remain on the same level.
Your father may have settled some things on your behalf, but you still have your own individual wrestling to de if you want to access those things.
In Genesis 27:26-30, Isaac blessed Jacob with an irreversible blessing. For sure, Jacob was going to be great, however, he had to wrestle to get the change of name that set him up for the benefits of the blessings he had received (Genesis 32:1-30).
Many rich people’s children think that because their parents are rich, they can never be poor. History is full of examples of people whose parents were very rich but who ended up poor.
If you don’t wrestle out your own greatness, you will eventually lose whatever inheritance is laid down for you.
Some pastors’ children think that their parents’ anointing makes them immune to the devil and assures them of making heaven.
However, Ezekiel 18:20 says that the soul that sinneth shall die. If you are a sinner, your father’s righteousness or anointing cannot cover you.
You must meet God for yourself and build a relationship with Him if you want to enjoy the benefits of what your father carries.
Without Pa Josiah Akindayomi, you might not know Adeboye today. I have always thanked God that when I got born again, it was in RCCG.
God brought me to a covenant church, and I rode on that covenant to become who l am today. However, even though the covenant is there, if I did not wrestle it out, I would never have succeeded.
I had to fast, pray, keep vigils, and work very hard. I made sacrifices, and I am still doing so today because I know that the covenant will go to waste if I don’t wrestle things out by myself.
Beloved, if you want to experience the blessings that God has arranged to help you succeed, get ready to wrestle them out yourself.
Key Point
Don’t relax because you have a unique advantage; wrestle to make use of that advantage.
HYMN 15: Pass Me Not O Gentle Saviour
1 Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
Hear my humble cry,
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.
Refrain:
Savior, Savior,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.
2 Let me at a throne of mercy
Find a sweet relief;
Kneeling there in deep contrition,
Help my unbelief. [Refrain]
3 Trusting only in Thy merit,
Would I seek Thy face;
Heal my wounded, broken spirit,
Save me by Thy grace. [Refrain]
4 Thou the Spring of all my comfort,
More than life to me,
Whom have I on earth beside Thee?
Whom in heav’n but Thee? [Refrain]
Open Heaven For Today 2024 Sunday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – The Challenges Of Success II
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TOPIC: The Challenges Of Success II
MEMORISE: The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends. Proverbs 14:20
READ: Proverbs 19:4-7 (KJV)
4 Wealth maketh many friends; but the poor is separated from his neighbour.
5 A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.
6 Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.
7 All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him.
Open Heaven For Today 20 October 2024 MESSAGE:
Yesterday, I started sharing about the challenges of success, and I focused on pride.
Today, I will look at another major challenge of success, which is the fact that everybody wants to be friends with the successful.
When you are successful, you will have many people around you, and it will be difficult to tell those that have good intentions apart from those that do not.
The mere fact that you are at the top will attract many ‘friends’ to you. This is why you must be careful to put your trust in God and not man.
Some people will do everything to work their way into your heart just because of what they want to get from you.
You will need the gift of discernment of spirits to know those that are genuine and those that are not.
In 2 Samuel 13:4-5, Jonadab advised Prince Amnon like he really cared about him. Amnon went ahead and did as he advised.
When the repercussion of that evil counsel came, Jonadab did not rise up to defend his friend; he was the one who went to announce Amnon’s death to David (2 Samuel 13:32-33).
He told the king,
“Let the king cheer up, for Amnon only is dead.”
If Amnon had been wise, he would have seen earlier that Jonadab was not a real friend.
Real friends will not always say ‘yes’ to your desires. Sometimes, they will say ‘no’ because they care about you.
When you have people who never tell you the hard truth and who will keep supporting you, even when you are clearly going the wrong way, run from such people.
The higher you go, the more careful you have to become in choosing the kind of people you allow into your life.
If you are trying not to be lonely as you go higher, and you keep many friends, you will end up having many with negative intentions around you.
You should have fewer friends as you go higher, not because you don’t like being friendly, but because you will discover that most people care more about what you can give them than who you are to them.
As a result, your circle of friends should become really small as you advance in life.
For example, I had more friends when I was not yet General Overseer than I have now.
Beloved, I pray that God will give you the grace to discern between those that are really your friends and those that are wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Key Point
Father, please give me the gift of discernment of spirits so that I can know who my real friends are and those that are not.
HYMN 27: What A Friend We Have In Jesus
1 What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer!
2 Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer!
Can we find a friend so faithful
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer!
3 Are we weak and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge–
take it to the Lord in prayer!
Do your friends despise, forsake you?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In his arms he’ll take and shield you;
you will find a solace there.
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