Monthly Archives: May 2023

OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL WEDNESDAY MAY 17TH 2023 GOD WANTS YOU TO REST

 

MEMORISE: And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. Mark 6:31

READ: Numbers 8:23 -26

23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

24 This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation:

25 And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, and shall serve no more:

26 But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge.

MESSAGE

Rest is very important to God. He rested on the seventh day after completing the work of creation and also blessed the day specially (Genesis 2:1-3). God went on to design various categories of rest periods for man. In Exodus 35:2, God ordained a weekly Sabbath of rest that was observed on the seventh day in Old Testament. In Leviticus 25:4-5, God also ordained a seventh year Sabbath of rest when the land will not be cultivated, the people and animals will also take their rest from farming activities for a whole year. Surprisingly, Exodus 31: 14 says, “Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people”. Rest is so important to God that He places a heavy penalty on defaulters.

Despite the observance of these holidays, the Nation’s of Israel continued to be more prosperous than their neighbours that did not have the tradition of taking any rest. This is due to the word of God in Psalm 127:1: “Except the Lord build the house they labour in vain that build it: Except the Lord keep,the city, the watchman wake the but in vain”. Therefore, working around-the -clock everyday will not make you richer or more productive.

Jesus Christ showed us the importance of taking good rest in Mark 6:3, when He told the disciples after their first missionary tour. “Come ye apart and rest for a while.” David almost died in battle because he failed to rest. His commanders later said. “Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel” (2 Samuel 21:15-17). Many people even ministers of God, are dying from stress-induced health challenges due to lack of adequate rest.

Brethren, rest is divinely ordained, refreshing and rewarding. I personally ensure l incorporate rest in my itinerary no matter how tight my schedule may be, indeed, you’ll even be more productive after resting adequately. Beloved. Just as God wants you to be diligent, He also wants you to rest adequately.

PRAYER POINT

Father, please help me to always take adequate rest from my labor, in Jesus name.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Chronicles 35-36

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE

HYMN 17: PRAISE MY SOUL THE KING OF HEAVEN

1 Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;
to his feet your tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
evermore his praises sing.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Praise the everlasting King!

2 Praise him for his grace and favor
to his people in distress.
Praise him, still the same as ever,
slow to chide, and swift to bless.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Glorious in his faithfulness!

3 Fatherlike he tends and spares us;
well our feeble frame he knows.
In his hand he gently bears us,
rescues us from all our foes.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Widely yet his mercy flows!

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OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL MONDAY MAY 15TH 2023 FREEDOM FROM FINANCIAL CAPTIVITY

 

MEMORISE: Deuteronomy 28:12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

READ: 2 Kings 4:1 -7

1 Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.

2 And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.

3 Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.

4 And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.

5 So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.

6 And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.

7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.

MESSAGE

There are people who are bound financially. In Haggai 1:6, the Bible tells us that it is possible to earn wages into a bag of holes. In other words, the fellow makes money, but the money keeps on disappearing. There are people who, on sitting to calculate their income, wonder where the money went. I know what this is like because before l met the Lord Jesus Christ, I was in this exact position. There are forces that can make sure that what you are earning is not producing the result it’s supposed to, but that will end today in Jesus’ name.

According to Revelation 3:7, Jesus Christ is the One who has the key of David and what He opens, no man can shut; what He shuts, no man can open. Today, He will shut the door against those taking away money and open the door of blessings for you in Jesus’ name.

Being in debt is being in captivity but my God can wipe any amount of debt off in less than twenty-four hours (Priverbs 22:7). One of my sons came to a Partners’ meeting and l prayed that the next time l would be seeing him, every debt he was owing would be paid off. He said “Amen”, but found it hard to believe it would happen. Some days later, the Chairman of the bank he is owed called him and asked, “How are you going to,pay this your debt?” My son replied, “Sir, even if l’m paying you one million naira for every day that l have lived on earth, l cannot finish paying and you know it”. He was over 50 years old. Not long after, the bank wrote off his debt. If you are in any form of debt right now, l decree that it will be cleared within the next twenty – four hours, in Jesus’ name.

Sometimes, it is not just one fellow who is in financial captivity, but the entire family. Had it not been for God in the Adeboye family, maybe we would have been one of the poorest households in my village today. My parents could not afford to sponsor my education, but the Almighty God somehow got me educated up to the Ph.D level, then continued to raise me higher and higher. Today, by the special grace of God, the Adeboye family is blessing to my entire village. If your family is poor, God will lift you all out of poverty too, in Jesus’ name.

PRAYER POINT

Father, help my fami,y clear every debt and bless us so abundantly that we would be blessings to many others, in Jesus name.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Chronicles 29-31

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE

HYMN 26: THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSINGS

1 There shall be showers of blessing:
This is the promise of love;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
Sent from the Savior above.

Refrain
Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need;
Mercy-drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead.

2 There shall be showers of blessing—
Precious reviving again;
Over the hills and the valleys,
Sound of abundance of rain.

3 There shall be showers of blessing;
Send them upon us, O Lord!
Grant to us now a refreshing;
Come, and now honor Thy Word.

4 There shall be showers of blessing;
O that today they might fall,
Now as to God we’re confessing,
Now as on Jesus we call!

5 There shall be showers of blessing,
If we but trust and obey;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
If we let God have His way.

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OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL SATURDAY MAY 13TH 2023 FREEDOM FROM PHYSICAL CAPTIVITY

 

MEMORISE: But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

READ: Luke 13:11 -17

11 And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.

12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.

13 And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

14 And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.

15 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?

16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?

17 And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.

MESSAGE

In Luke 11:21-22, the Bible says that when a strong man keeps his goods, they remain safe, but when a person stronger than he comes, the latter will overpower him. Jesus Christ is the stronger One. He is stronger than the strongest.

Our Bible reading for today tells a story of a woman who had been battling an ailment for 18 years. No matter how hard she tried, she could not stand upright because her problem wasn’t physical but spiritual. It was reported that she had the spirit of infirmity. When He rebuked the spirit, in an instant, for the first time in 18 years, she stood uprught.

There are many diseases that the best of doctors cannot handle. This is because the source of most of them is spiritual and even the best machines cannot detect the presence of a demon. When you cannot locate the source of the problem, finding the solution becomes difficult. When you hear that there is a strange sickness that cannot be diagnosed or cures, then you know immediately that it is a spiritual problem. If you are being troubled by any spirit of infirmity, you will be set free today, in Jesus’ name.

There is another kind of physical captivity that can come from birth. Some people are born with diseases that cannot be cured but only managed. When someone is born with asthma or sickle cell disease for example, the doctors only have medication to manage it. However, l know that the One who created everyone can create new body parts for those who need them. In Mark 19:43-52, Bartimaeus- a blind man,met Jesus one day and got new eyes. I am believing God for you that, whichever body part needs a replacement in your body will indeed be replaced, in Jesus’ name.

There was this very wealthy woman who vomited whatever she ate. She went to doctors around the world but nothing they tried worked. As she arrived for a programme in the RCCG, she heard me say, “Let somebody shout halleluyah “. She opened her mouth to shout halleluyah and a worm jumped out. From that moment on, she was whole. God can heal you of sickness that the doctors are helpless about, if you can touch Him with your praise today.

PRAYER POINT

Father, please uproot every thingYou have not planted in me , in Jesus name.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Chronicles 21-24

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE

HYMN 25: THE GREAT PHYSICIAN NOW IS HERE

1 The Great Physician now is near,
The sympathizing Jesus;
He speaks the drooping heart to cheer,
Oh, hear the voice of Jesus!

Sweetest note in seraph song;
Sweetest name on mortal tongue;
Sweetest carol ever sung:
Jesus, blessed Jesus!

2 Your many sins are all forgiv’n,
Oh, hear the voice of Jesus;
The veil ’twixt you and God is riven,
Redemption wrought by Jesus.

3 All glory to the dying Lamb!
I now believe in Jesus;
I love the blessed Savior’s name,
I love the name of Jesus.

4 His name dispels my guilt and fear,
No other name but Jesus;
Oh, how my soul delights to hear
The precious name of Jesus!

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OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL FRIDAY MAY 12Th 2023 DIVINE HELP III

 

MEMORISE: But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26

READ: 2 Chronicles 20:1-25

1 It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

2 Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.

3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

4 And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.

5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,

6 And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

7 Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?

8 And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,

9 If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.

10 And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;

11 Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.

12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.

13 And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

14 Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;

15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

16 To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.

17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.

19 And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.

20 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.

21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.

22 And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

24 And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.

25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.

MESSAGE

God can help you even when the odds against you are overwhelming. When He decides to, He will show the odds that He is still the All-Sufficient God. In Isaiah 43:13, the Almighty God says no one can hinder Him when He decides to work. In other words, it doesn’t matter how many forces are at war against you; when God decides to help, nothing can stop Him.

In Daniel 3, when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were to be thrown into the fiery furnace, the furnace was heated seven times more, yet the only people who died were the soldiers who threw the boys inside. The people thrown right into the furnace came out alive. In Judges 15:11-15, the Bible says that Samson’s relatives handed him over to the external enemies, but by the end of the day, a thousand of these enemies were dead while the rest fled. It doesn’t matter how many enemies you are dealing with; God will help you deal with them all, in Jesus’ name.

My God is the One who makes a way where there is no way, so when it looks like there is no way out, God can still make a way. One day while l was abroad, l was told that one of my spiritual sons was in the hospital, suffering from an advanced case of cancer. Humanly speaking, his case was completely hopeless. I went to visit him at the hospital on a Saturday and prayed for him. By the following Wednesday, my son was discharged completely whole. The beauty of that story is that every other person who had been in the ward when l prayed for him was also discharged.

There was also the case of a lady that had been told by doctors that she had a 99.9% chance of dying from a particular disease. I couldn’t go to the hospital at that time, so l prayed on a handkerchief instead and sent it to her. God used the remaining 0.01% that the doctor left out to save her life. She wrote a book titled, “Rescued from the Jaws of Death”, testifying of her divine healing. I don’t know how hopeless your case seems to be; everyone may have even given up on you, but l decree that God will make a way for you today, in Jesus’ name.

PRAYER POINT

Father, nothing is impossible with You. Please, come to my rescue today, in Jesus name.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Chronicles 17-20

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE

HYMN 5: BLESSED ASSURANCE

1 Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine;
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.

2 Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

3 Perfect submission, all is at rest,
in my Savior am happy and blest;
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

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OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL… TUESDAY MAY 9TH 2023 HE CAN CHANGE HIS MIND

 

MEMORISE: And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. Acts 13:22

READ: Deuteronomy 8:11 -20

11 Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:

12 Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;

13 And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;

14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;

16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.

18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.

20 As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.

MESSAGE

When God promotes you, you must never forget that your loyalty must be to Him and only Him. (1 Samuel 15:15-24) records that when Saul became king, he forgot the One who put him there. God sent him on a mission; he failed, and his reason was, “I feared the people”. Don’t try to lower the standard of God because you want to be popular.

Don’t forget that God is sovereign; He can do and undo. He can change His mind. Each time we read 1 Samuel 2, we love to quote verse 8 and ignore verse 7 which says that the Lord makes rich and makes poor, He can take a beggar from the dunghill and promote him until he is sitting with princes. In (1 Samuel 2:30), He said to Eli, “I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed”. He can promote and He can demote.

Never forget that God always has a substitute ready. You can never hold God to ransom. If He promotes you and you think that without you, He cannot do anything, He would just bring in the substitute. For over a decade, King Saul was still on the throne, but David had already being chosen and anointed king. Saul was merely carrying the title but David was the approved king. Right in the house of Eli, little Samuel was already rising – the one who would take over was already there, in waiting.

My prayer is that God will promote you, but don’t forget that when He does, you must put Him first and obey Him completely. You must help others and never use your position to oppress people. Proverbs 22:22-23 says God Himself will plead the case of those who oppress others. Let your promotion birth promotion for many other people too.

Perhaps you are the one resisting God’s promotion by indulging in one sin or the other. The Bible says if you humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, He will lift you. Surrender all to Him and let Him begin to lift you.

PRAYER POINT

Father, as You promote me, I promise to always do Your will, in Jesus’ name.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Chronicles 5-7

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE

HYMN 8: I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR

1 I need Thee ev’ry hour,
Most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine
Can peace afford.

Refrain:
I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;
Ev’ry hour I need Thee;
Oh, bless me now, my Saviour,
I come to Thee.

2 I need Thee ev’ry hour,
Stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their pow’r
When Thou art nigh.

3 I need Thee ev’ry hour,
In joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide,
Or life is vain.

4 I need Thee ev’ry hour,
Teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises
In me fulfill.

5. I need Thee every hour
Most Holy One;
Oh, make me Thine indeed,
Thou blessed Son!

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OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL SUNDAY MAY 7TH 2023 SHOWING OFF IN CHURCH

MEMORISE: And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. Acts 4:32

READ: 1 Corinthians 11:18 -22

18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.

19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.

21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.

22 What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

MESSAGE

One habit that seems to have crept into the Church recently, is that of showing off to other Church members. There are people who go to Church majorly to show off their new clothes or some other material possession. This is completely outside God’s plan for the Body of Christ. God’s original plan for the Church is for everyone to be united and have everything in common. The Bible says in Acts 2:46-47:

And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

The reason the Church is not growing as fast as it should is that there is no singleness of heart. When people prefer to outshine one another in showing off their material possessions than actually caring about each other and the gospel, the Church cannot grow. The reason we have not won the whole world to Christ is that the Church is not united.

The Holy Spirit does not move in the midst of divided people. When the Holy Spirit descended in the Upper Room, the people were in one accord (Acts 2:1). Until Christians love each other and are in one accord, the Church cannot experience the move of the Holy Spirit as it should.

Many Church leaders wonder why the Holy Spirit is not moving as much as they expect, not knowing that the problem is in the divisions within the Church. Some pastors give special attention to the rich in the Church. Apostle James said in James 2:1-5 that you should not give the rich preferential treatment against those that are not so rich, or else you would become a judge with evil thoughts. It doesn’t matter how rich they are, they should not be praised for showing off in the Church, but rather, rebuked.

Believers should dress well and can own luxurious items. However, it is wrong to flaunt material possessions with the intent to oppress others. The Church must unite and cease to be a place where people compete to outshine one another over material possessions.

REFLECTION

When you go to Church, do you show off your material possessions? If yes, stop it henceforth.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Chronicles 27-29

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE

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 he shall lead
till ev’ry 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,
each piece put on with 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.

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OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL FRIDAY MAY 5TH 2023 PRAYERS FOR ELDERS

 

MEMORISE: And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you. Isaiah 46:4

READ: 1 Peter 5:1 -4

1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:

2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

3 Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.

4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

PRAYERS:

1. Father, thank You for our elders. Thank You Lord, for giving them long life and good health.

2. Father, please forgive all the sins our elders may have committed in the past so that they can have peace in their old age.

3. Father, please give our elders wisdom and understanding to counsel the younger ones correctly.

4. Please Lord, if there is any elder who has not surrendered his or her life to You, please let them encounter You so that they can make it to heaven.

5. Father, please comfort any elder who is lonely. Please Lord bring people around them who will show them love and care.

6. Father, please give our elders good health. Don’t let the diseases that are common to old people come upon the elders around us, Lord.

7. Father, don’t let the godly efforts of our elders go to waste. Let their children carry on their legacy successfully.

8. Father, we ask for unity between elders and youths. Whatever may

have caused disunity between elders and youths in families, Churches or communities is destroyed now, in Jesus’ name.

9. Father, please answer the prayers of our elders by fire, in Jesus’ name. James 5:14 says we should go to the elders for prayers when we are sick. As they pray for us Lord, please let their prayers be answered speedily, in Jesus’ name.

10. Father, let our elders leave a good inheritance for us. Let only blessings flow from them to the younger ones, in Jesus’ name.

11. Father, please bless every child who desires to care for his or her parents but does not have the means, in Jesus’ name.

12. Your personal prayer points for the elders in your family, Church and community.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Chronicles 20-23

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE

HYMN 22: SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER

1 Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
that calls me from a world of care,
and bids me at my Father’s throne
make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
my soul has often found relief,
and oft escaped the tempter’s snare
by thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

2 Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
the joys I feel, the bliss I share
of those whose anxious spirits burn
with strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
where God my Savior shows his face,
and gladly take my station there,
and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

3 Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
thy wings shall my petition bear
to him whose truth and faithfulness
engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since he bids me seek his face,
believe his word, and trust his grace,
I’ll cast on him my every care,
and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

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OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL THURSDAY MAY 4TH 2023 THE MEAL THAT GIVES LIFE

 

MEMORISE: For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. John 6:33

READ: John 6:48 -58

48 I am that bread of life.

49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.

51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

MESSAGE

Basically the reason we eat is so that we can have strength, good health and life. When l was younger, we had a slogan that said, “We eat to live, we don’t live to eat”. The regular meals we eat however, have some limitations. One of the limitations is that there is no one food that has all the nutrients in it, so no ordinary meal can give you all-round vitality. There is however one meal that gives life in abundance. It is the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. Until you eat this meal, you have no life in you (John 6:53).

In Joshua 14:6-14, one of the people who ate the Passover meal, Caleb, said at the age of 85, “l am still as strong today as l was 45 years ago”. When you eat the Holy Communion, your strength is renewed; weakness becomes a stranger to your body. Some years ago. I went to hold a programme in a foreign country, and during one of my prayer walks in the morning, l started feeling faint. I couldn’t walk much further and had to go back to my lodge. Later on, l recalled that we would be eating the Holy Communion that evening so that gave me hope. In the evening after eating the Communion, my strength came back to me. In Psalm 105:37, the Bible speaks about the children of Israel who ate the Passover meal: there was no feeble one amongst them. They all had robust health. Sickness will become a stranger to you when you eat this special meal. In John 6:54, the Lord Jesus Christ said concerning the Holy Communion:

Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

We eat to live, have strength and be healthy, but the Holy Communion goes far beyond those three basic things. It acts as a medicine – not an ordinary kind of medicine, but one that defies death. Exodus 12:13 says death will pass over you when it sees the blood. This is the blood of Jesus which is represented by the wine in the Holy Communion. I am believing God for you that when next you eat the Holy Communion, death will stay away from your home, in Jesus’ name.

KEY POINT

The Holy communion is the most important meal anyone can eat.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Chronicles 17-19

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE

HYMN 9: IMMORTAL, INVISIBLE GOD ONLY WISE

1 Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.

2 Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;
thy justice like mountains high soaring above
thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.

3 To all life thou givest, to both great and small;
in all life thou livest, the true life of all;
we blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
and wither and perish but naught changeth thee.

4 Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;
all praise we would render, O help us to see
’tis only the splendor of light hideth thee.
Worship and Rejoice

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OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL DATE: TUESDAY MAY 2ND 2023 THEME: CRITERIA FOR PROMOTION

 

MEMORISE: Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: Jeremiah 9:23

READ: 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

MESSAGE

I have come to discover from my walk with God that He usually promotes the most unlikely people. Our Bible reading for today tells us that the people who qualify for God’s promotion are usually those considered foolish, weak, little and unimportant. These are the kind of people God usually lifts up because He does not want anyone to take His glory. He does not want anyone thinking it was their achievements that made God choose them for promotion.

God chose Saul as the first king of Israel, even though the young man considered himself unworthy (1 Samuel 9:21).

When Saul disobeyed and God wanted to promote someone else to his position, He sent Samuel to anoint one of Jesse’s sons. When Samuel asked Jesse to bring all his sons, David was not summoned because he was considered the least important among his sons. Jesse obviously thought there was absolutely no way David could be chosen as king, but that was exactly the fellow that God chose. God does not choose those who think they are wise. He chooses the foolish. The moment you think you are the best man for the job, God actually sees you as the worst. You cannot succeed at any divine assignment by your own power and might but only by His Spirit (Zechariah 4:6).

Anytime l travel and have the opportunity to speak with ministers in any nation, they always have one thing that they want me to address and that is lack of unity amongst them. I often explain to them that the challenge is not that they do not want to be united, rather,it is a question of who will be the leader once they are united? I often go further to say, “If you realise that God usually chooses the foolish one to be the head, you won’t want to be that fellow, because being the head makes it obvious to everyone that you must be the most foolish of them all”.

Beloved, if you realise that God will only choose the weak, the base, then you won’t struggle for positions. Keep doing exploits from whatever position you find yourself and rely completely on God as your source of help and direction. In due course, He will promote you far beyond your expectations.

KEY POINT

Dont lobby for any position , dedicate yourself to doing the will of God and He will promote you at the right time.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Chronicles 10-12

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 ceaseless praise,
Let them flow in ceaseless 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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