Monthly Archives: April 2023

April 4, 2023 In Devotionals No Comments

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL WEDNESDAY 5TH APRIL 2023 THE GREATEST ENEMY OF MAN

 

MEMORISE:
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
1 Corinthians 9:27

READ: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

9:26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

MESSAGE

Your biggest enemy is not the devil, neither is it your mother-in-law, witches nor wizards. As a child of God, you know very well that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). The Bible made it clear that you are more than conquerors through Him that loved you (Romans8:37).

Your number one enemy is yourself. The one who is truly victorious is the one who has conquered himself. When you live according to the dictates of your flesh, you give it permission to destroy you and it is good at doing that.

“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.”
Proverbs 16:32

Samson took down an entire city single-handedly but could not conquer himself. He was so powerful that cities feared him, but in the lap of a woman, he was the weakest of men. Even a little child knows better than to touch a piece of hot iron that had burned him or her before. In Samson’s case however, he told Delilah a lie about the source of his power and awoke to find that she had used the information against him, yet he did not stay away from her. He told her another lie and she tried to exploit it and failed again, yet he did not stay away. To make matters worse, he told her the truth at last and ended up grinding corn for the same enemies that used to fear him (Judges 16:6-21). You may say Samson was a fool, but what about you? Have you been staying away from those sins that easily beset you?

When a child of God is really fervent, the devil starts searching out his weakness. The moment he finds it, he will try to use it as a weapon for that child of God to destroy himself or herself. That is why you must destroy that weakness before the devil uses it against you. Proverbs 25:28 says, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls”. Control yourself so that you would be victorious against the attacks of the devil.

REFLECTION:
Have you conquered yourself?

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
2 Samuel 14-16

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

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 pow’r as Thou shalt choose,
Every pow’r 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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April 2, 2023 In Devotionals No Comments

OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL MONDAY APRIL 3RD 2023 DON’T FIGHT GOD

 

MEMORISE: Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? Isaiah 45:9

READ: Isaiah 45:9 -10

9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

10 Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?

MESSAGE

Sequel to the discussion we started yesterday, the side you take determines who you fight against. If you take the side of God, you would be fighting against the devil and his demons. If you disobey the Lord, then you have chosen the side of the devil and would thus be fighting against God. Believe me honestly, you don’t want to fight God. He is too big for you to take sides against and survive.

God has His way of dealing with people who take sides with the devil through disobedience to Him. One way is to withdraw His support from such a fellow like He did in Joshua 7:1-12 when Joshua failed because he had accommodated sin in his camp. Another way is to completely forsake the fellow like He did Samson in Judges 16:18-31. There are many people experiencing either of these today but they don’t realize that it is God fighting them so they keep fighting without realizing that the One they are battling against cannot be defeated.

There was a lawyer who once told me that tithing was just a means for pastors to collect people’s hard-earned money. I tried to explain to him that tithing was a commandment from God, but he refused to listen, so l said to him: “May l ask God to prove by Himself through you if tithing is His will or not?” He replied, “Pray the prayer” so l did. This brilliant lawyer lost all the three cases he handled immediately after this incident. This tarnished his reputation, and he lost some business. This man also owned a bakery and suddenly, during a festive period when most bakeries record higher demand and sales, all his bakers decided to resign from their jobs. He offered double their salaries, but they all insisted that they were leaving. Hard as he tried, he couldn’t get new bakers. After he realized that this must be God fighting him, he came to me and said, “l agree now that tithing is God’s will, please pray for me”. We prayed a simple prayer; he appealed the three case she had lost and won all of them. His bakers also returned to work with him, and everything became good again.

Beloved, disobeying God amounts to fighting Him and woe unto him that fight his Maker (Isaiah 45:9).

KEY POINT

When you disobey God, you’re taking sides with the devil to fight Him.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2Samuel 8-11

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE

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.

CHORUS
Trust and obey!
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey.

2. Not a shadow can rise,
Not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt nor a fear,
Not a sigh nor a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.

3. Not a burden we bear,
Not a sorrow we share
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief nor a loss,
Not a frown nor a cross,
But is blest if we trust and obey

4. 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.

5. 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.

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