OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL: MONDAY, JANUARY 1ST 2018- THANK YOU FATHER!

Memorise: Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Psalm 103:2
Read: Psalm 150:1-6
1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.
Bible in one year: Genesis 1-2, Revelation 1

1. King Hezekiah declared a profound truth when he testified that only the living can praise the Lord (Isaiah 38:19).
2. Children of God, as living spirits, we have many reasons to be thankful for.
3. Whenever I consider the loving-kindness of God and His tender mercies, demonstrated through protection, providence, love, forgiveness, healing, good health and, above all else, salvation of the soul, I always come to the conclusion that indeed the Lord has been very gracious to His children. No wonder the Holy Spirit, in Psalm 150:2, succinctly instructed us to. “Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.”
4. This is so important that in Psalm 103:1-5, David counsels his own soul to bless the Lord in thanksgiving, admonishing himself not to forget anyone of God’s benefits. In other words, there is a tendency for us to forget all that the Lord has done for us. 
5. Nevertheless, we have no reason to be ungrateful to God, because His goodness forever flows to us. The prophet Jeremiah testifies of this truth in Lamentations 3:22-23, saying: “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”
6. Moreover, what is our joy as children of God? It is the assurance of a better tomorrow: the assurance of a better year ahead of us.
7. Only those who are saved by the grace that is in Christ Jesus have this assurance. Declaring this assurance, the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 3:10 says, “Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.”
8. Who is the righteous? The righteous is the one who has accepted Jesus Christ as his or her personal Lord and Saviour. The righteousness of Christ is bestowed upon such people because they believe and have appropriated the ransom paid on their behalf by the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world (John 1:29).
9. God is saying to you that you shall be grateful to Him for all He has done for you in the past, particularly in the just concluded year.
10. If you remain thankful, your tank of blessings shall be full as you go into the New Year.
11. However, not giving your life to the One who paid the supreme price for your salvation is the greatest form of ingratitude. Therefore, repent and give your life to Christ today!
12. He will be your Shepherd and you shall want nothing throughout the New Year and in the years to come. Hallelujah! (Happy New Year!!!)  

I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord : the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord , and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. Psalms 34:1‭-‬6 Have you forgotten any of God’s blessings? Count your blessings and give God the glory now! Testimony shall never cease from our mouths in Jesus name. We are grateful to God for blessing our generation with Pastor E.A Adeboye. He shall wax stronger in Jesus name.

Action Point
Thank God for all His goodness and mercies over your life in the past; give your life to Him afresh and renew your commitment to serve Him in holiness and perfect obedience in this New Year.
HYMN
1. Now thank we all our God
with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done,
In whom his world rejoices;
who from our mothers’ arms
has blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love,
and still is our today.
2. O may this bounteous God
through all our life be near us,
with ever joyful hearts
and blessed peace to cheer us,
to keep us in his grace,
and guide us when perplexed,
and free us from all ills
of this world in the next.
3. All praise and thanks to God
the Father now be given,
the Son and Spirit blest,
who reign in highest heaven
the one eternal God,
whom heaven and earth adore;
for thus it was, is now,
and shall be evermore.

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