OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17TH 2017-ACCEPTABLE SERVICE

Memorise: Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. James 1:27
Read: Romans 12:1-2 (KJV)
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Bible in one year: John 18:19, Isaiah 40:6-23

1. In these end times, the Lord is looking for those who are ready to consecrate themselves to His use.
2. If you are ready to partner with God in His service, you can be sure that your reward will not only be great on earth but also in heaven.
3. However, for you to be a vessel unto honour in the service of the Lord, you must be ready to admit your insignificance before Him (Isaiah 40:17). You must also be ready to follow the Lord all the way, cheerfully and heartily.
4. You should see it as a great honour for God to count you worthy of being called into the service of His kingdom.
5. Furthermore, God is holy, and so, for you to be a vessel in His service, you must also be holy in thought, character and conduct.
6. Those who want to continue in sin and also live a hypocritical lifestyle cannot be blessed in God’s service. You must surrender your life to Christ genuinely. This is a prerequisite in offering acceptable service to the Lord. Any defiled or polluted person cannot behold the glory of God’s holiness.
7. In the scriptures, those who offered acceptable service, such as Enoch, Daniel, Elijah and Job, made up their minds that they would not allow anything to pollute their lives.
8. Note however that you cannot all by yourself keep yourself from the vanities of this world; neither can you live a holy life through your morality.
9. You can only live a holy and acceptable life by yielding to the grace of God. God’s grace enables us to offer acceptable service before Him. Expounding on this grace, Titus 2:11-12 says, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world”
10. Although there are several winds of false doctrine blowing across the world today, the Lord expects us to continue in the pure and undiluted word of God (2nd Peter 3:16-18). This is the anchor that keeps us from being tossed about (Hebrews 6:18-19).
11. This undefiled word of God will help us keep that which is committed into our hands as we offer our service to God in these last days. We must be watchful so that our works will not be adjudged as imperfect before the throne of God. In the Body of Christ today, many people serve God amiss. They are working, but not asking themselves if their labour follows the due order of heaven (1st Chronicles 15:13).
12. If you fail to assess the methods you are using to achieve the mandate of the Commission, you will be shocked at the judgement seat of Christ (2nd Corinthians 5:10, 1st Corinthians 3:13-15).
13. What are the motives behind what you do in Church? What attitude do you display when your pastor is not there to watch over you? How are you utilizing the resources entrusted to your care?

It is the grace of God that helps our imperfection to become perfect. Atimes we act thinking we are on the right track doing the right thing but at that point in time we are acting amiss. Let’s take the story of uzzah as an example here. He thought his act was right but in the eyes of God it was irrelevant. 2 Samuel 6:1-7 “David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—thirty thousand. He and all his men went to Baalaha in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name,b the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark. They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it,c and Ahio was walking in front of it. David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets,d harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals. When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God” Let us take into account the reason or motive behind our service to God and ask God for grace to serve Him in an acceptable way. We thank God for Pastor E.A Adeboye for blessing us and inspiring us in today’s devotional. God bless him in strength and greater ability in Jesus’ name.

Action Point
Access your service in God’s Kingdom. Does it follow God’s pattern?
HYMN
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 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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