Devotionals

 MEMORISE:

The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe . Proverbs 29:25

READ: 1 Samuel 15:18 -30

18 And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.

19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord?

20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.

22 And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord.

26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.

27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.

28 And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.

29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.\

30 Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God.

MESSAGE:

The element’ M’ in our equation for Resistance in the “Mathematics of Christ in You” (MCV) series that started on the 11th of January, stands for Men­ Pleasing. Some people just want to be known by all. The problem with this however is that you will begin to pay too much attention to what people think of you and you will be scared to offend them even when you are on the side of truth.

“And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.” 1 Samuel 1 5 :24

In the Scripture above, Saul disobeyed God because he wanted to maintain his popularity amongst men. Fame can create a major problem for you, and that is why I do not like it. You cannot live the life that you love to live; you cannot just stop by the road and buy roasted plantain when you feel like eating some. There are a lot of eyes on you. Left to me, if I could do the work of God without showing my face everywhere, I would gladly do it. I thank God I am not after fame, so when people criticize me on social media because of my Bible-based beliefs, I don’t pay attention. Some preachers can’t preach the truth anymore because they want to remain popular with the congregation. The fear of man brings a snare (Proverbs 2 9: 25). Beware!

Sometime ago, I went to minister in a Church for a three-day programme. I had preached on faith and other topics and many souls had been saved. I then told the Pastor that I would like to preach a sermon on restitution on the last day. He pleaded with me not to do so, tagging it ‘hard teaching’. He also added
that some of the people I had gathered would leave because of this. I told him I did not care about a big congregation headed for hell. What matters most is preparing these people to get to Heaven. I have always told my children that I am a holiness preacher and so I will teach holiness until I die. This will never change even if people decide to leave the Church because of the ‘hard teaching’. What I am after is ensuring that you make it to Heaven. You can call me old-fashioned; I don’t care. If we get to Heaven together, you will thank me over there for teaching you holiness.

Men-pleasers seek fame at the expense of pleasing God and this ultimately leads to destruction.

Don’t please people and displease God. Put Him first always (Matthew 6:33).

PRAYER POINT:

Ask God to take away every desire in you to be a men-pleaser.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 28-30

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 24: 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Please follow and like us:

20

MEMORISE:

I am the vine, ye are the b ranches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. John 15:5

READ: Judges16:20-21

20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.

21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.

MESSAGE:

The ‘S’ in our equation for Resistance in the “Mathematics of Christ in You” (MCY) stands for Self-Sufficiency (If you do not understand, kindly refer to the devotionals of January.11 and 12). Most times, what many people call self-sufficiency is purely reliance on their flesh rather than God. In Daniel 4 :2 8-37, we see how this attitude got Nebuchadnezzar into trouble. He said “Is this not Babylon that I built?” As a result, God sent him to eat grass in the forest for seven years to prove to him that all he had was from Him. By the time he came back, he acknowledged God as the Most High who rules in the affairs of men.

Today’s Bible reading tells the story of Samson. This man had defeated an entire army with the jawbone of an ass. He was really strong. Unfortunately, he did not realize that this strength was not from him but from God. I know this because if you look through the feats he had accomplished, you would see everything starting with “And the spirit of the lord came upon Him” Judges 14:6, Judges 14:19, Judges 15:14). One day, after God’s Spirit had left
him, he said “‘I will arise and go out as at other times before” Judges 16:20) but he was put to shame. It does not matter how gifted or skillful you are, without God, you are no different from the sand in the beach.

Many a time, when we listen to the testimonies of some people, we still see them glorifying ‘self’. They take the shine off God and put it on their efforts. In Philippians 3:3-7, Paul had been talking so much about himself until something warned him “Be careful”, and he quickly added in verse 7 “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.”Proverbs3 :5-6 says:

“Trust in the lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

You want God to live in you and operate through you? Then, you must not lean on your own understanding. You must get to the point where you can say that it is in Him that I live, move and have my being (Acts1 7:28).

We should always remember the words of Aposele Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:5:
“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;”

KEY POINT:
You are nothing without God.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 21-22

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 14: JESUS MY LORD, MY GOD, MY ALL

1 Jesus, my Lord, my God, my All,
How can I love thee as I ought?
And how revere this wondrous gift,
So far surpassing hope or thought?
Sweet Sacrament, we thee adore;
Oh, make us love thee more and more.
Oh, make us love thee more and more.

2 Had I but Mary’s sinless heart
To love thee with, my dearest King,
Oh, with what bursts of fervant praise
Thy goodness, Jesus, would I sing.
Sweet Sacrament, we thee adore;
Oh, make us love thee more and more.
Oh, make us love thee more and more.

3 Thy Body, Soul, and Godhead, all,
O mystery of love divine.
I cannot compass all I have,
For all thou hast and art are mine.
Sweet Sacrament, we thee adore;
Oh, make us love thee more and more.
Oh, make us love thee more and more.

Please follow and like us:

20

MEMORISE:

But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith , God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
James 4: 6

READ: Proverbs 16:18

18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

MESSAGE:

Today, we will be considering the element ‘P’ in the ” Mathematics of Christ in You” – MC:’ (If you do not understand, kindly refer to the devotional of January 11 ).The element ‘P’ in the equation for Resistance stands for Pride. Pride will resist the free flow of Christ in you. Today’s memory verse says God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. This means that it is only when pride disappears that the grace of Christ would begin to now flow fully in you.1 Peter 5:6 says:

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

Almost as soon as I got born again, I began to hear the voice of the Lord. It was a sweet experience. I was also the interpreter for the then General Superintendent, and so, out of respect for him, other pastors would not ask that I interpret for them. One day, I felt insulted when a Junior Pastor asked me to interpret for him. I said to myself “I am the interpreter for the big man, how can this Pastor ask me to interpret for him?” I reluctantly accepted because of the culture of discipline in The Redeemed Christian Church of God.

As I finished interpreting for him and was going to my car, God asked me “So you are now too big to interpret for my servant?” From that moment, He went silent. Believe me, it is a terrible experience to stop hearing from God. It didn’t take long for the devil to exploit this gap and torment me. I wept bitterly as I prayed “Father, forgive me, I will interpret for anyone”. At last, God forgave me, and I began to hear from Him again.

Many years later, after I had become the General Overseer and I travelled to the town of Iesha, Nigeria. On getting there, I decided to attend the Bible Study at a nearby RCCG Parish. I wanted to Just sit back and enjoy the service, but I was dragged up to the pulpit to teach. I insisted that since the fellow who was to teach had already opened his Bible, he should go ahead, and I would interpret. He said he was only a deacon and was quite low in rank to the General Overseer· When the discussion was becoming drawn, I said ‘I command you”. Since he had no choice, he taught, and I interpreted for him. As a worker I was too proud to interpret for a Pastor, but now as General Overseer I interpreted for a deacon. The measure of Christ I have in me has increased because I have destroyed pride in my life by His grace. Do you stiII harbor pride? It will hinder Christ from dwelling in your life. Pride must go; it has to die! Deal with it today and see how much Christ will begin to operate in you.

KEY POINT:
Remove every resistance to God’s will if you want Christ to dwell in you richly.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 17-20

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 2: AMAZING GRACE! HOW SWEET THE SOUND.

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. ’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

3. Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

4. The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.

5. 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.

6. The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.

7. 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’d first begun.

Please follow and like us:

20

MEMORISE:

To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Colossians 1:27

READ: Colossians 2:6 -14

6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

MESSAGE:

The “Mathematics of Christ In You” (MCY) refers to the measure of Christ in you and how much of His attributes you exhibit in your life. The law of electricity which describes how current flows in conductors is quite similar to it. One law that guides the flow of electricity says that the purer the conductor, the easier it is for the current to flow. In other words, the more the impurities in the conductor, the more the resistance to the flow of the current.

Thus, the amount of current flowing is determined by how large the resistance is. A high level of resistance is the result of a lot of impurities. In such a situation, the current cannot flow well. The Holy Spirit is the current in our spirit man. How well does He flow in you? For the Holy Spirit to flow freely, your life must be free of impurities, because the more impurities you harbor, the greater the resistance against the flow of the power of God.

In my journey with Christ, I have come up with “The Law of the Measurement of Christ in You”, where the measure of Christ in you is determined by the Presence of God in your life which can be limited by your resistance to His will.

RESISTANCE= P+S+ PG+ M+ L+B+ F+ RA.

The equation above is not exhaustive, but I will pause here because we cannot dwell too long on this topic today. In the next few days, I will be explaining the meaning of each parameter in the equation to you. The lesson here is that if you want God to move mightily in your life, you should have zero Resistance to His will. Then, there would be no limit to how much God can dwell and operate in you. I don’t know about you, but for me, I work every day to attain zero Resistance to His will in my life because I want God to dwell and operate in me without restriction. If the Resistance can be zero in you, you too would shake the world.

I pray for you that by the end of this series, your Resistance to the move of Christ in you would have become zero, in the mighty name of Jesus.

KEY POINT:
Remove every resistance to God’s will if you want Christ to dwell in you richly.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Deuteronomy 14 -16

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 11: I NEED THEE EVE’RY HOUR.

1. I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.
Refrain:
I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
Oh, bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.

2. I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their pow’r when Thou art nigh.

3. I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.

4. I need Thee every 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

Please follow and like us:

20

MEMORISE:

Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. Luke 18:5

READ: Luke 18:1-8

1And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:

3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.

4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;

5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.

6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.

7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?

8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

MESSAGE:

A few years ago, I told some Pastors that God answers all prayers. Some of them were shocked and I could see it on their faces. In The Redeemed Christian Church of God, when the Pastor in charge of a Parish cannot solve a problem, he escalates it to the Pastor in charge of the area. If the problem continues to defy all solution, it will continue to be passed up the chain of command until it reaches the General Overseer. Now, who does the General Overseer take the problem to? There is no one I can run to but Jesus Himself. I not only run to Him; I stay with Him in the place of prayer until the problem is solved. If you would pray persistently, soon your testimony would also be “God answers all prayers”. John 16:24 says:
“Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”

Some people unknowingly stop praying just before their breakthrough. Why do people stop? Perhaps they think they are disturbing God. Is it not God Himself who said we should ask that our joy may be full? ls it not Jesus Himself who told the story of the widow and the wicked judge in today’s Bible reading Why then should you stop praying when your prayer has not yet been answered? In my early years as a Minister, there were prayers I made for many years before I saw answers. I prayed for fifteen years so that I would be able to heal the sick by mere waving of the hand. I did not stop praying after a few years, I persisted and received my answer. What is that long-awaited desire of yours for which you have stopped praying? It is time to start praying again, that your joy may be full.

You may wonder why God can’t just answer you after praying once or twice. Well, He is sovereign. He will choose when to answer you. Also, some requests do not yield result with ‘two-minute’ prayers. You have to press in the spirit to be able to shift such things in the physical. Some other times, God may be using that situation to build your faith (1 Peter 1:7). Whatever the case, don’t get weary when you don’t receive answers immediately; keep praying.

God promised In Matthew 7:7-8 that when you ask you will receive, when you seek you shall find and when you knock, doors will be opened unto you.

Persist in prayer until He answers. He is a prayer answering God.

KEY POINT:
Don’t stop asking until your joy is full.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Deuteronomy 11-13

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

Please follow and like us:

20

THEME: MIND YOUR WORDS.

MEMORISE:

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither soy thou before the angel, that it was on error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands? Ecclesiastes 5:6

READ: Genesis 35:17-18

17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.

18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.

MESSAGE:

Sometimes, our emotions overwhelm us so much that we say things we don’t mean to in the heat of the moment. In today’s Bible reading, Rachel called her last child ‘a child of sorrow’ because of the intense pain she went through to deliver him. Thank God Jacob changed that name. You need to be very careful of what you say when you are sad, excited, angry or frustrated, because whatsoever you say may have permanent consequences. Esau sold his birthright to his brother when he was hungry. Be careful of the agreements you enter into when you are desperate, so that you don’t live to regret them. Samson was head over heels in love with Delilah and because of this, he divulged the secret of his power to her. You may not know it but the devil is
watching you. He is taking note of your moods and emotions. Once he notices that you always talk without restraint, he will set you up to say the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Judges11:30-31 says:
“And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”

In the passage above, the devil had seen the fear and doubt in Jephthah, so he suggested that Jephthah should promise God a sacrifice of anything he saw first upon his return without thinking, Jephthah made that promise. On getting home however, the devil arranged for his only daughter to be the one he saw first. If only he had thought deeply about the vow before saying it!

Don’t become a victim of your own words; think carefully before saying anything. If you find yourself at a family function and have the opportunity to speak to your relative, think carefully before you speak. Don’t assume all your family members are your friends; remember Joseph was sold by his blood brothers because of the dreams he shared with them (Genesis 37:5-28).
God will help you.

ACTION POINT:

Make it a habit to always think carefully before you talk.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Deuteronomy 5-7

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 11: I NEED THEE EVE’RY HOUR.

1. I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

o Refrain:
I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
Oh, bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.

2. I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their pow’r when Thou art nigh.

3. I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.

4. I need Thee every 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.

Please follow and like us:

20

MEMORISE:

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19

READ: Isaiah 60:1-3

1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

PRAYERS:

1. Father, please give me the grace to praise You like never before and fill my life with great testimonies this year.

2. Lord, give me fresh anointing and understanding. Please, renew my strength for greater exploits this year in Jesus name.

3. Father, please don’t let me struggle this year. Let Your favor distinguish me in the mighty name of Jesus.

4. Father, please let everything I lost in the past year be restored speedily in multiple folds.

5. Father, please help me to live a life of holiness. By Your mercy, please keep me far from sin.

6. Father, please give me the grace to obey all Your instructions this year, in the mighty name of Jesus.

7. Father, please give me the wisdom not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly. Help me to do Your will alone at all times.

8. Lord, lift me higher than all my enemies, silence the mouth of all mockers and remove every garment of shame from my life this year.

9. Father, this year, let my life overflow with Your help on every side in Jesus name.

10. Father, please give me a great passion for soul­winning. Let me win more souls for You than ever before.

11. Father, help me to apply my heart unto wisdom; so that I can live wisely in this year and beyond.

12. Ask God for a special thing you want Him to do for you this year.

THANKSGIVING:

Thank You Father, for keeping my family and me from all evil that happened in 2020. Thank You Jesus.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Deuteronomy 3-4

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 24: 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Please follow and like us:

20

MEMORISE:

For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither anything hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. Luke 8: 17

READ: Luke 12:1-3

1In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

2 For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.

3 Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.

MESSAGE:

Many years ago, a man who had a chronic illness was advised to see me for prayers. I prayed for him but nothing happened, so I asked God why that was so. God told me to ask, him about something he did at a particular stage of his life. When I did, the man was shocked, and he opened up on a secret he thought was well kept.

Several years before, he had committed a crime and was due to be convicted due to the testimonies of some witnesses. He knew this, so he hatched a plan. Since the witnesses were to come to court by boat, he arranged for their boat to capsize and they all drowned. He then made sure that alI the people he sent to wreck their boat were also killed. He was eventually acquitted of the initial crime and he lauded himself for covering his tracks excellently. It came as a shock to him seeing the incident spring up again. Obviously, he did not know of God’s word in Proverbs 11:21 which says:

“Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunsihed: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.”

He thought the crimes had been covered, but there he is suffering the repercussions. Everything you do today is a seed that will produce fruits in due time. It does not matter how much you try to bury it, one day, it will spring forth and everyone will see the harvest of your secrets.

Stop stealing, stop committing adultery/fornication, stop watching pornography and put an end to every ungodly habit in your life today. No matter how hard you try to hide these sinful acts they will be revealed someday· Indeed, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed.

In any case, the people you are pretending for don’t have the power to send you to Heaven or hell. Whatever they think of you does not affect your eternity.The One who will Judge you at the end of time knows even the thoughts of your heart, so stop pretending and start disciplining yourself to do the right
thing always.

I would rather expose my sins to men and make it to Heaven than look holy to men and end up in hell. Since I cannot hide my sins from God I would rather not commit sin at all. Make up your mind to stay away from sin today.

REFLECTION:

What will you gain if everyone thinks you are holy on earth and you end up in hell?

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Deuteronomy 1-2

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 7: HAVE YOU BEEN TO JESUS.

1. Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing pow’r
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb
Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb
o Refrain:
Are you washed in the blood,
In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb
Are your garments spotless Are they white as snow
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb

2. Are you walking daily by the Savior’s side
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb
Do you rest each moment in the Crucified
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb

3. When the Bridegroom cometh will your robes be white
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb
Will your soul be ready for the mansions bright,
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb

4. Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin,
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb;
There’s a fountain flowing for the soul unclean,
Oh, be washed in the blood of the Lamb!

Please follow and like us:

20

MEMORISE:

Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. Deuteronomy7:14

READ: Genesis 1:26-28

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

MESSAGE:

When the Lord asked Adam and Eve to be fruitful and to multiply in today’s Bible reading, He was not offering a piece of advice, rather He was issuing a command to be obeyed from generation to generation. Thus, we can conclude that failure to bear fruit is a direct transgression of this divine decree. I pray for you today: The Lord will cause you to experience all-round fruitfulness this year in Jesus name.

Beloved, not only is God interested in your spiritual fruitfulness, He is also interested in your physical and material fruitfulness. God desires that His children should live in divine prosperity. Jeremiah 17:7-8 says:

“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters…her leaf shall be green… neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”

If you have not given your life to Christ, before anything else, you need to first bear the fruit of repentance. This was the same thing Jesus told the Sadducees in Matthew 3:8. If however, you are already saved by grace, there are two categories of fruit you must bear this year. The first is the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance (Galatians 5:22-23). The second category is the fruit of souls. You must be a committed soul -winner.

It is already dangerous for anyone not to be fruitful, however it is a lot more dangerous for a child of God. This is because Jesus Christ says in John 15:2 that He will take away every branch in Him that does not bear fruit. I pray that you will not be taken away because of fruitlessness in the mighty name of Jesus.

One advantage of soul-winning is guaranteed answers to prayer (John 15:16).The reason the Lord has spared your life up till now is that He is hoping to see you bear fruit.

My prayer is that you will not disappoint God this year. As you bear fruit, He will answer all your prayers in the mighty name of Jesus.

ACTION POINT:

Father, please cause me to only bear fruits that are pleasing to You this year and beyond, in the mighty name of Jesus.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 13-16

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 25: THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING.

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

o 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:
Oh, 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.

Please follow and like us:

20

MEMORISE:
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19

READ: Ephesians 5:15-17

15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

MESSAGE:
A new year is a new dawn; it is a fresh opportunity to get things right. Every new year and on every birthday of mine, I consider how far I have come in the assignments God has given me and I have candid conversations with God as to things yet undone. Today I challenge you to also spend time reflecting
on how far you have come and see if you are really where God expects you to be at this time. If you are lagging behind, then you must take advantage of this new dawn to put everything in its proper place so you can fulfil God’s expectations for your life. Remove everything that has been holding you back and grab those things you know will help you move forward. Look back at the mistakes you made in the past
and learn from them; determine never to make them again.

Believe me, the fact that you made it to this year means God is giving you another opportunity to be closer to Him than ever before. This year can mark a new dawn for you spiritually. Decide today that this year, you will live for Him and Him alone. Decide that this year, you will not miss any day of the Open Heavens Devotional as it will help you commune with God daily. Determine that this year, you will spend and be spent for God. Make a commitment to
God that in this year you will please Him by preaching the gospel to every sinner you come across. Promise God that you will fast and won’t let your flesh
control you.
A new dawn also means the arrival of joy as we see in the Bible passage below:

“For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Psalm 30:5

The year 2020 may have been very challenging and tough for you. Perhaps you lost a loved one, perhaps the COVID-19 pandemic affected your means of livelihood and things just didn’t go as you had planned. I have good news for you: It’s a new dawn. You may have wept last year, but this year, you will experience joy. As long as you live holy and serve the Lord, this will be your season of joy.

KEY POINT:
Live for God this year and you will experience joy like never before.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 10-12

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

Please follow and like us:

20