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Showing posts from August, 2011

COMMUNION MAKES GOD TO ARISE Thursday 1 September

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “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” (Isaiah 60:2). READ: Exodus 12:35-36 P eople eat for various reasons depending on what such a meal is intended to achieve in the eater. Some people eat in order to gather much energy to handle their enormous work. Some eat while embarking on a long trip, especially when they are not sure of getting decent food on the way. At other times, people eat because food is available or just for fun. However, on special occasions, people eat to celebrate. The Passover meal that the Israelites took on the eve of their departure from Egypt was to mark the moment that God would arise in their behalf. When God was about to rise against their bondage, He asked the Israelites to eat the Passover meal. A meal can be the symbol of your deliverance from captivity. This tells us that God’s...

FLOURISH, YOU WILL Wednesday 31 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.” (Psalm 72:7). READ: Psalm 72:6-7 A step above the class of the wealthy is the level of the flourishing. An example of a Bible character who operated on that level was Solomon. In 2 Chronicles 1:15-16, it is on record that in the days of king Solomon, silver and gold were like common stones. He insisted that only gold must be brought into his treasure house. What a mass of financial and material abundance he commanded! It is those on the level of the flourishing that can lend to nations. When their home country or other countries find it difficult to balance their budget, they would seek out the assistance of the flourishing. The Lord will give you such a financial and material elevation so that you will begin to lend to nations. Sometime ago, a very wealthy friend of mine invited me to hold a Bible study in his house. He inv...

LISTEN TO YOUR CHILDREN Tuesday 30 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “The meek will he guide in judgement: and the meek will he teach his way.” (Ps. 25:9). READ: Matthew 21:12-16 C hildren are great assets in God’s hands. Never belittle them or underestimate what God can do through them. When parents are very busy or confused on what to do concerning a given situation, God may prefer to speak to them through their children. May God speak to you through your spiritual and biological children. Before my wife and I got saved, we had three children and they were all delivered by caesarean section. Then we decided we would have no more children because our doctor had said my wife could not have children by normal delivery because of certain complications in her body. But after our conversion, Jesus became our family doctor. One day, while reading Luke 1:37, it struck me that what the doctor said was impossible was possible through Jesus. So I decided we should have another child without involv...

WILLING TO SHINE? Monday 29 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:” (Isaiah 1:19). READ: Isaiah 1:19-20 I n Isaiah 60:1, God commands you to arise and shine. In my day, several people who feared God have distinguished themselves in one aspect or another. Some have shined in the healing anointing, some in faith and some in wisdom. If they can shine, you too can shine. However, for you to shine, you have to address some questions. First, are you willing to shine? The reason many believers are not shining in their little corners is they have no desire to shine. Whether they shine or not makes no difference to them. You may never shine if you do not want to. According to Isaiah 1:19, it takes a combination of willingness and obedience for you to shine. At the time of creation, God made man a free moral agent to choose what he wants. God could have made us zombies or robots that would obey His every orders, but He did not becau...

PRAYER SUSTAINS HOPE Sunday 28 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.” (Lamentations 3:26). READ: Acts 3:1-11 O ne thing we learn from John 17:10 is never to give up on our prayers. At the time the Lord prayed for the apostles, they were yet to be stabilized. Not long after the prayer, Peter, who had earlier pledged his undying support to the Lord, denied Him. The rest forsook Him. In spite of these developments that made Christ’s prayer appear ineffective, the Lord never gave up on them. If you consider their lives and ministries in later years, you would be amazed at their successes. Take for instance, Peter. He who had earlier chickened out before a maid, later boldly declared Jesus before the religious Jews of his day. After the descent of the Holy Spirit, one sermon he gave delivered 3000 souls to God’s Kingdom. God was glorified! On another day, another sermon from him brought 5000 converts into God...

PURPOSE: THE BONE OF LIFE Saturday 27 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings and the children of Israel:” (Acts 9:15) READ: Acts 9:10-16 Y ou are in the world but you are not of the world. Ask yourself: Why am I here? Why was I born white or black? Why was I born into this family? Why did God give me all the opportunities I have enjoyed? Why did I go through all the challenges I have encountered? All these relate to purpose. God has a purpose for creating you. God has a reason for creating each of all the billions of people on planet earth today, although not many would ever live to know their purpose. Take Paul, the diminutive creature, who achieved giant strides, for instance: Why did God create him? After the Lord encountered Paul on his way to Damascus, he became blind. For the first time in his life, he began to pray right. In response to his prayers, The Lord sent a dis...

JUMPING THE GUN? Friday 26 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” (James 1:4). READ: Exodus 2:11-15 T here is an appropriate time to be favoured. Very early in life, Moses knew that he was born to be some kind of deliverer, although the exact nature of deliverance was not clear to him. When God has a special plan for your life, He will cause you to know it one way or another. Sometimes, it may be through strong convictions or compassions He puts in you. This is why you do not always need a prophet to tell you the mind of God. After waiting for his fortieth birthday, Moses felt the time had come to commence his deliverance ministry. At this time, he was very certain God wanted to use him as a deliverer. However, though he was ready, God was not. His timing was different from God’s. By the time he stepped into ministry ahead of God, he got into trouble, which kept him in exile for 40 years at th...

HE’LL BE WAITING Thursday 25 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” (Isa. 59:19). READ: Isaiah 59:17-19 B efore God came to Samson’s rescue, his captors first rejoiced over him. Such scenarios make people think that God is a late comer. No, He is not! Psalm 46:1 says He is a present help. That means, when you need Him, He will be there. God responds more to our needs and not necessarily our wants. Most of our wants are misplaced, selfish, fleshly, and may even be detrimental. When a young school leaver cries to God for an SUV, do you want God to yield to his request? But when a SUV becomes a need, God will oblige the requester. Until now, many believers are asking to receive today what God will give them in 10 years time. Remember that just as you have set a particular time to achieve certa...

THE RICH AND THE WEALTHY Wednesday 24 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.” (Ps. 66:12). READ: Genesis 26:12-14 I n the spectrum of wealth, you have the poor, survivors and the comfortable. As unpleasant as these categories may sound, the bulk of the people fall within these classes. If you are in any of these, the Lord will take you up to far better levels this year. A step above the level of comfort is the category of the rich. In Genesis 24:34-35, when Abraham’s servant was speaking of his master, he said God has blessed him to the point of being rich in silver, gold, cattle, etc. Who are the rich? Let me define this by sharing this testimony. I have a friend and we normally travel abroad together. When we go shopping, while I am looking for items “reduced to clear” or discounted items, he would push his cart towards anything that appealed to him. One day, af...

HONOURABLE YOUNG VESSELS Tuesday 23 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12) READ: 1 Samuel 3:1-5 I n addition to appreciating and going after what is good, parents should teach their children and wards to respect God’s anointed vessels. In Psalm 105:14-15, God warned that nobody should touch or harm His anointed. That warning is not limited to adults but also applies to children and teens. God does not take kindly to any act that insults, belittles or ridicules God’s anointed. In 2 Kings 2:23-24, some children thought it fun to mock God’s servant and call him names. God’s judgement fell on them immediately. Two she-bears came from nowhere and tore all 42 of them to shreds. Even today, some children, particularly teenagers, call men of God names. In a particular Gospel church, it was discovered that the teens gave most adult members nick-names. ...

GOD’S COVENANT IS DEEPER Monday 22 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abraham, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.” (Gen. 17:1). READ: Genesis 17:1-8 “G od is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Num. 23:19). God is eternally faithful to those He cut covenants with. Once made, it becomes virtually impossible to break. A covenant is beyond mere promises but progresses through levels of promises. At those levels, the subject matter and the one who God has promised something go through a trial stage. Depending on the individual and the issue at stake, that trial period can take some years. When the relationship between that individual and God has blossomed significantly, and he has passed some tests, God will then proceed to cut a covenant with him. Take ...

PRAYER: WHAT CONTENT? Sunday 21 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;” (Col. 1:9). READ: Colossians 1:9-11 I n John 17:10, the Lord spoke prophetically when He said that He was glorified in His disciples. He could not have been glorified in Peter when he thrice denied Him during His trial. He could not also have been glorified in His apostles when after His death and burial, every man returned to their tents and former businesses. He was also not glorified in them when they could not declare Jesus out of fear of being prosecuted by the Jews. Does that mean that the prayer of Jesus for the leaders He raised was unanswered? No! This simply reveals the nature of prayer in the life of the one being prayed for; prayer goes into the future of those being prayed for to prepare the way for them. When you pray...

SURPRISE IN LITTLE PACKS Saturday 20 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “That no flesh should glory in his presence.” (1 Cor. 1:29). READ: 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 G od hates discrimination among His people. Treat everybody equally and never be carried away by people’s outward appearance. Those who easily favour the rich above the poor will most likely miss Christ when He visits them. The Lord may come as a poor fellow and because they are looking out for the rich, they will maltreat Him. They will by their body language and condescending attitude say, ‘This church is not for poor people like you. As you sit down, do so at the edge of your seat. Do not stain our expensive chairs’. May you not miss His visitation! It is commonly said that big surprises come in small packages. Never look down on that brother or sister that appears less fortunate. God has no useless child. Every child of God is useful, but it is just that some do not yet know their place of usefulness. The one you look down upon tod...

ENGAGE YOUR ALLY Friday 19 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.” (Isaiah 41:13). READ: 1 Samuel; 17:45-51 I t is a dangerous thing to tolerate your mockers or internal enemies! When the children of Israel were about to enter Canaan after several years of wandering, the Lord gave them some warnings. He told them to drive out the inhabitants of the land that would be allocated to them according to the size of each tribe. Numbers 33:55 says, “But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell”. If you do not exercise authority over your weakness today, they may eventually take you as their victim. They will bring an individual into severe torture and sorrow. The enemies you spare will become a source of u...

TERMINATING THE ENEMY’S TRIUMPH Thursday 18 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.” (Ps. 89:22). READ: Micah 7:5-8 “A nd when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands” (Judges 15:14). After Samson’s relations delivered him bound to his external enemies, the latter began to celebrate his capture. It is wrong for anyone to rejoice over me when I am still alive. Those who are rejoicing over you when you are still alive are rejoicing in ignorance. Their rejoicing is premature and shall soon meet with disappointment. Micah 7:8 says, “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me”. Are your enemies rejoicing over your fall? They shall be disappointed shortly. You cannot bury th...

TRULY BLESSED? Wednesday 17 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.” (Ps. 35:27). READ: Luke 5:1-7 T here are different categories of blessings, depending on their sizes and how enduring they can be. Some blessings are barely enough for the recipient, while some are so much that it would take the assistance of neighbours to carry them. There are also boat-sinking blessings like the one Peter experienced in today’s reading. May you experience a boat-sinking catch of God’s blessings this season in Jesus name. Taking a look at the spectrum of wealth, there are several possibilities. At the lowest rung is the category of the poor. These have needs and wants just like everyone else but can barely afford to meet them. They may not have what to eat or what to wear. They may also not have shelter over their heads, an...

APPRECIATE THE GOOD Tuesday 16 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.” (Rom. 12:9). READ: 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 I n raising your children in God’s way, you must teach them to seek after Him. As long as they seek Him, they shall never know lack. In addition, teach your children to appreciate good things from a tender age. There is a spiritual law known as the law of transformation. It simply says that whatever you admire is what you will likely become. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord”. If you like something, you will devote more of your time to it, and after a while, it will begin to influence you. What are your likes and dislikes? If you like the wrong things, you will end up doing them. Elisha appreciated God’s grace on Elijah to the point of havin...

THE COVENANT KEEPER Monday 15 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.” (Ps. 89:34). READ: Jeremiah 33:20-21 W hen Exodus 2:24 says God remembered something, this does not mean that He forgets. He does not forget His own. He cannot forget you. It simply means your time is yet to come, and all you have to do is wait on Him in faith, expectation and thanksgiving. Are you waiting patiently on the Lord? He will remember you this season. In addition, the word ‘remember’ can mean ‘visit’. For instance, while 1 Samuel 1:19 says God remembered Hannah, Genesis 21:1 says God visited Sarah. So, when God remembers somebody, it simply means God has decided to visit the fellow. You are Heaven’s candidate for God’s visitation this season! Moreover, what exactly did God remember? He remembered His covenant. He is a covenant keeping God. It is impossible for Him to violate His covenant. He takes this so seriously that the penalt...

GLORY VESSELS Sunday 14 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.” (John 17:10). READ: John 17:9-10 A look into the prayers the Lord said to the Father on behalf of the apostles, recorded in John 17, shows that for leaders to be effective in ministry, specific prayers should be made for them. Realizing the potency of such prayers for leaders, Paul solicited prayers from the church. “Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly” (Hebrews 13:18). If the 11 apostles and Paul needed prayers to fulfill God’s call upon their lives, your leaders need your prayers to succeed. When you pray for your leaders, it simply means you love yourself and you are wise. It is foolishness to ignore your leaders. Some people complain so much about the misdemeanours of their leaders to the point of not praying for them at all. If only they knew the harm being done to themselves. Your leader...

IN HIS IMAGE? Saturday 13 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again” (John 3:7). READ: John 3:1-7 Apart from knowing that you are not an animal, and not just a mere object of an impersonal God, another fact that you must know as part of who you are is that you are not just a human being. How you see yourself is crucial in determining quite a lot of things that have bearing on your past, present and future. Equally crucial is how others see you, but the latter is not as important as the former. Most important of all is how God sees you. If people see you as an animal, you can decide to exhibit the traits of one e.g. a dog who sleeps around and returns to its vomit. How do you see yourself? Every human being has been created in God’s image but not every human being reflects that image. This brings us to two kinds of human beings, namely: human-human and spirit-human. The first category has the potential of being in God’s image but ne...

FORCE COMPLEMENTS RESISTANCE Friday 12 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” (1 Peter 5:9) READ: 1 Peter 5:6-9 T o recover your lost crown or retain it permanently, you must not tolerate your mockers. You must also attack everything mocking God in your life. According to James 4:7, as you submit to God, you must resist the devil. If you submit to God but fail to resist the devil, he can still turn you into headquarters of sorrow. This is where many find themselves today. They say, ‘I am living a holy life. I pay my tithes and obey His instructions. Why is it that the symbols of the liar are still evident in my life?’ Such people look towards God as being responsible. No! He is not! It is your duty to submit to God and to resist the devil. Don’t ever think that you can scare the devil by merely submitting to God. And don’t think he will leave you alone because of that. In f...

VICTORY OVER ENEMIES Thursday 11 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.” (Ps. 18:48). READ: Judges 15:9-15 I n today’s reading, after Samson’s relatives were threatened by the Philistines, out of fear, they bound and delivered him to their enemies. He could not harm his relatives but sheepishly had to submit to their evil plot. After he was delivered to the enemies, the Philistines rejoiced and celebrated the capture. God heard and saw the rejoicing of the enemies and He arose by His Spirit and things took a different turn. From this passage, it is obvious that the toughest enemy to deal with is the enemy within. Internal enemies include your flesh, personal desires, habits, character flaws and your relatives. Samson was incapacitated when his folks were handing him over to the external enemies. Often times, the external enemies cannot make inroads exce...

GOD’S ABSENCE BRINGS SHAME Wednesday 10 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “…The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you, but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.” (2 Chron. 15:2). READ: Judges 16: 20-21 G od’s presence is the source of joy and pleasure (Psalm 16:11). Wherever God is, problems that have defied solution would take their bow. When some men brought their paralyzed friends to Jesus in Mark 2:1-12, they met a crowd that was impenetrable and uncaring. When nobody thought it necessary to pave way for them to meet with the Lord Jesus Christ, they too result not to give up on their mission. They believed that if they could convey him into His presence, the problem would be over. So they hit the roof and got their miracle! Similarly, where God is, years of waiting are terminated. That was the experience of Abraham and Sarah who had waited for the fruit of the womb for 25 years. Then one day God paid them a visit and ended barrenness in their l...

INSTRUCTIONS AND CHILD TRAINING Tuesday 9 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.” (Prov. 4:22). READ: Proverbs 4:20-22 P arenting is one major challenge facing many today. Some people bring children into this world but hardly learn how to be good parents or guardians to them. There are quite a lot of things to learn about raising children. By divine arrangement, every parent is supposed to be a teacher, trainer, instructor, guide or coach to their children. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it”. The instructions a child is brought up with, help to determine the quality of life that child would have in later years. What are you teaching your children? Whether your children will love and serve God or not, depends to a large extent on what you have taught them. Proverbs 4:13 places a high premium on instruction to the extent of calling it ‘life’. The one who...

WHEN GOD BEAUTIFIES Monday 8 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time” (Eccl. 3:11A). READ: Ecclesiastes 3:10-14 I t is one thing for God to hear your groaning and another for Him to remember you. According to Exodus 2:24, God remembered His covenant after hearing the groaning of the children of Israel. The question is: can God ever forget? Isaiah 49:15 says even when, contrary to all-reasoning, a woman forgets her suckling child, God can never forget His children. He never forgets His own. Whenever it appears that God has forgotten you, just remember it’s not possible. Why it appears God has forgotten some is because God works according to His own timetable (Ecc. 3:1-8). For instance, in Acts 2:1-4, God had to wait for the day of Pentecost to fully come, before He moved. What of Joseph? After interpreting the butler’s dream, Joseph begged him to mention his case to his superiors but the butler forgot because it was not yet God’s time. If you f...

INDISPENSABILITY OF PRAYER Sunday 7 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Lk. 18:1). READ: Luke 22:31-34 T o succeed in your heavenly assigned task on earth, you would be required to undergo training from both human agents and God Himself. With such training, God’s work becomes a lot easier. Are you trained for ministry? Are you trained by man, God or both? However, as invaluable as training is to success in ministry, it is not exclusive. Training is good but not enough. Hence, we still see our Lord Jesus Christ praying specifically for those He had trained (John 17:1, 9-10). If the leaders He raised still needed prayers, then the leaders that are raised by today’s human trainers need more prayers. The trend we notice today is that most efforts are channeled towards establishing training institutions, as well as in training men. Nothing more! Unfortunately, no matter how equipped the training institu...

GOD, NOT IMPERSONAL Saturday 6 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18). READ: Isaiah 1:15-18 P art of defining your identity is knowing that you are not an animal. Any time you behave like an animal, you breach the law of kinds and you will not get away with it. In the Scriptures, certain people are described by their peculiar characteristics as displayed in animals. For instance, goats are used to refer to obstinate people and unrepentant sinners. Dogs on the other hand represent fornicators, agent of darkness and wicked sinners. Anytime a human being behaves like an animal, the fellow loses his or her honour as a human being. In addition to this, you must know that you are not just a number. Although there are about six billion people on earth never accept that you are only one of them. Today, growing ...

ATTACK THAT MOCKER! Friday 5 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace” (Eccl. 3:8). READ: 2 Kings 2:23-24 A nything that mocks God in your life must not be tolerated or else, it will move from state of tenancy into permanent residency. Sometimes ago, we were invited to pray for a man with a deadly cough. On reaching there, we asked him, ‘Sir, what exactly do you want us to pray about?’ He replied, ‘Pray that the cough will be going little by little’. From that response, it was obvious that he was not serious about being healed, and I was not ready to waste my effort. Eventually, he died of the cough. The ‘Egyptians’ that you tolerate will kill you. When do you want your mockers to take their leave? Besides not tolerating mockers, you have to attack them. When some demonized children were mocking Elisha, he refused to tolerate them. He even took a step further by attacking them (2 Kings 2:23-24). But some Christians who...

BREAKING STAGNATION Thursday 4 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the l in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.” (Exodus 12:33) READ: Exodus 12:31-33 A part from rising against pain, sicknesses and diseases, when God asked the Israelites to eat the Passover meal, it was meant to move Him to arise against retardation and stagnation. If there were people who knew what it felt like to be on the same spot, it was the Israelites. Today, some people have been on the same level in the office for four to five years. How do you feel when your contemporaries are elevated to the next level while you are left behind? Now imagine being on a spot for over 400 years! For that whole period, the Israelites were tied down by forces they could not challenge. They recorded no form of movement. They kept working as slaves but could not move forward or upwards. At best, they wandered about in circles. They remained on the sa...

YOUR TOMORROW IS OK Wednesday 3 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings” (Isaiah 3:10). READ: Galatians 6:7-8 A look through God’s unchanging Word assures us that there is no need to worry about the future; even if you are presently undergoing a sorrowful situation; it will not last! Psalm 30:5 says, “For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning”. Oh! How reassuring! Based on God’s unchanging Word, I am bold to say that if you are weeping right now, by tomorrow morning, laughter will fill your mouth. Occasionally, some people are apprehensive about the future. They may say: ‘Thank God things are going well now, but I need to be on the lookout because the tide may turn’. But what does God say about this? Proverbs 10:22 says that when God blesses, there is no sorrow added. Are you doing well but you secretly nurse the...

THE BETTER MEAL Tuesday 2 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye MEMORIZE: “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come” (1 Cor. 11:26). READ: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 W hen Daniel and his three friends ate a simple meal of water and beans, they were physically and mentally better than their counterparts who had access to the king’s table (Dan 1:11-17). The best meal is one that boosts you physically and mentally. And there is no better meal that can accomplish this than the body of Jesus. 1 Corinthians 11:24 says, “And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me”. The Holy Communion bread symbolizes the body of Jesus. John 6:51 says those who eat His body shall live. They shall be healthy and strong. In the same vein, there is no better drink than the blood of Jesus Christ. Leviticus 17:11 says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to...