OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2ND 2017- IS YOUR CONSCIENCE ALIVE?

Memorise: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. 1st Peter 3:16
Read: 2nd Samuel 12:7-14
7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
8 And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
11 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.
13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
Bible in one year: 2nd Chronicles 1-4, Ezekiel 34:11-24

1. A true representative of a good family will do everything possible to protect name of the family. For this reason, Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches and loving favour rather than silver and gold.”
2. If you are a worthy child of God, you will do all you can to honour God’s Name, and you will never bring it into disrepute.
3. Honouring God’s Name goes beyond lip service; God expects you to prove that you honour Him through your actions.
4. In 1st Samuel 17:1-51, David was angry that an uncircumcised Philistine could boldly insult the God of Israel, and yet nobody could do anything about it. He therefore took up the challenge of defending God’s Name. What have you done to defend or honour God’s Name?
5. In what way has your nation, state, community or even your workplace recognised the Lordship and greatness of God above all other gods because of your presence there? The patriarchs of old were not ashamed to stand for this same God, even at the cost of their lives (Hebrews 11:36-37). But how is it with you today? Are you even ashamed to publicly associate yourself with Jesus Christ, so that your peers and superiors will not look down on you?
6. If you truly hallow God’s Name, then under no circumstance would you defile that Name.
7. When someone looks at you and say, “How could you do this? And you call yourself a child of God!” Those words will go through you like a hot iron if your conscience is alive. If those words were spoken to you because you truly did err from the faith, you would feel pain in your heart, become miserable and feel ashamed of yourself. If indeed your conscience is alive, in such a moment, you would see yourself as a wretched sinner and immediately run to the cross of Calvary for mercy and forgiveness.
8. If your conscience is however dead, you may not feel a thing and just move on as if nothing ever happened.
9. Is your conscience still alive? Does it warn you before you do any evil? Does it prick you when you sin?
10. In 2nd Samuel 11, David and Bathsheba fell into the sin of adultery. By the time Nathan confronted David over this evil act, he felt horrible. He was broken and in pain. God told him that his actions had brought shame and disgrace to His Name (2nd Samuel 12:14). David genuinely repented, and God forgave him.
11. At what stage do you realise you have sinned, and what is your response to this realisation?

Sin has become a norm to many believers. They intentionally ignore the voice of the holyspirit calling their attention to a wrong act and attitude. They gradually allow their conscience die off because of lust, love of the world and temporary benefits. How sad! however, the good news is that there is always room in Christ for forgiveness for every sinner who will go to Him for salvation. If anyone falls in the category of those whose conscience is dead either knowingly or unknowingly, going back to our Saviour is the best thing to do. It is a great privilege to study the Open Heavens devotional daily. May God strengthen Pastor E.A Adeboye in Jesus name.

Prayer Point
Father, from now on, may I never bring shame to Your Name by my deeds.
HYMN
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
the emblem of suffering and shame;
and I love that old cross where the dearest and best
for a world of lost sinners was slain.
Refrain:
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
and exchange it some day for a crown.
O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
has a wondrous attraction for me;
for the dear Lamb of God left his glory above
to bear it to dark Calvary. Refrain
In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
a wondrous beauty I see,
for ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
to pardon and sanctify me. Refrain
To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
its shame and reproach gladly bear;
then he’ll call me some day to my home far away,
where his glory forever I’ll share. Refrain

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