Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye
MEMORIZE: “Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a
woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised” (Pro. 31:30)
READ: John 10:11-16
Christ ‘for’ you talks about the kind of relationship you
have with Him that makes Him want to defend you. Christ ‘with’ you talks of the
kind of relationship that makes Him ever present with you. For every child of
God, you need both of them. May Christ be for and with you this season in Jesus
name.
Another relationship with the Lord can be inferred from
Christ ‘before’ you. This speaks of divine guidance. Psalm 23:1-6 paints a
beautiful picture of Christ before you. When the Lord is before you, He takes a
lead. He steps and you follow. With Christ before you, it becomes difficult for
you to miss the path of righteousness or to make any mistake. Romans 8:14 says
the ability to receive divine direction marks you out as a child of God, not
according to your title or position in the ecclesiastical hierarchy. If Christ
is not stepping ahead of you, then you have nowhere to go. Taking steps ahead
of God means courting serious trouble. If you find it difficult to receive and
follow the leading of the Lord in your day to day activities, your claim to
being a child of God needs to be re-examined.
Speaking of spiritual direction, there is need to be
extremely careful. Many who claimed to have been led of God eventually
discovered that they were led by something else. “Favour is deceitful, and
beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised” (Proverbs
31:30). Some people are led by materialism. The moment you give them a gift a
couple of times, they will begin to think you are the one they have been
waiting for. There are some brothers who are stingy but because they want to
get a particular sister, they will shower them with expensive gifts. She will
discover how ‘benevolent’ he is after the wedding! If you are guided by
materialism, you will miss the mark. On the other hand, some others are
misguided by beauty. Men who married their wives because she was very beautiful
may later realize that they have married a witch. Realizing the mistake hardly
helps their plight because they are already stuck. Some ladies were attracted
by the wealth of their husbands only to later realize he is impotent, a chronic
womanizer or a drunkard. If you are wise, Christ must be before you. He must be
given a free hand in the decisions of your life. What is leading you?
KEY POINT:
When guided by materialism, beauty or wealth, you operate
under a blindfold. But when guided by the Lord, you see clearly.
Bible in One year: 1 Chron. 10-13
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