Open Heavens for Today: Saturday September 19th 2015

Topic :DESTINIES CAN CHANGE 

Verse To Memorise: Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. Hebrews 4:1 

Bible reading: Hebrews 3:15-19,  

¹⁵ While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

¹⁶ For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.

¹⁷ But with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?

¹⁸ And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?

¹⁹ So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

 Bible in one year: Leviticus 1:1-4:12, 1^st Corinthians 3

MESSAGE:-

One of the privileges that being in Christ grants to you is that your present situation and your past life cannot hinder your God-given destiny. God has decided your destination even before you were born. Because you are a child of destiny, you will get to your destination in Jesus’ Name. Nevertheless, you need to know that your destiny can be changed by God or by your attitude. God had to change His plan for eternal priestly succession, which He has earlier promised Eli and his household. Ponder on what God said to Eli in 1^st Samuel 2:30:

 “Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.”

May God never change His plan for your life, family and ministry in Jesus’ Name!

Just as God can change His mind concerning a promise He made to an individual or family, He can also change His mind concerning a promise He made to a nation. In Numbers 14:26-32, God changed His mind concerning a generation of the children of Israel. God had brought them to the borders of the Promised Land, in readiness to completely fulfil the promise He had made to their fathers over 400 years before they were born. But amazingly, they refused to enter in. they did not believe that God could complete the process He had started. God therefore changed His mind concerning them because of their unbelief (Hebrews 3:19). God told them that they would not enter into their destiny; rather, they would die in the wilderness, their children, whom they thought would never enter the Promised Land, were the same ones God now said He would take into the land. May God never change His good plans concerning your nation in Jesus’ Name! Unbelief is a terrible thing! Every time you fail to believe that God can do what He has promised to do, you tie God’s hands and push Him to dump the promise He made to you. Unbelief is a slap on God’s face. It is understandable why they cannot believe God in their current state. However, the moment you receive Jesus, you are supposed to become a believer. God is not happy when believers who have experienced His ability over time, demonstrate unbelief in Him. In any way you are in unbelief, repent fast and pull out of it!

Prayer Point: Father, in any way my deeds have affected Your plan for my life, have mercy on me, and let Your original plan for my life be fulfilled.

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Open Heavens for Today: Friday September 18th 2015

Topic: POPULARITY CAN EBB 

Verse To Memorise: There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD. Proverbs 21:30

Bible Reading: Numbers 16:1-3, 16 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:

² And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:

³ And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?

Bible in one year: Exodus 39-40, 1^st Corinthians 2

MESSAGE:-

Every race has its rules. Crossing the finish line without following the rules will bring you no reward. Service to God in His vineyard also fellows this principle. Some leaders who have gone ahead of us in the service of God messed up and ended up where they did not bargain for. This is why to avoid ending up like they did, we must learn from their experience. Korah, Dathan and Abiram were powerful leaders under Pastor Moses in the wilderness, but they erred and met with terrible judgment. That shall not be your portion in Jesus’ Name! From the narrative about them in Numbers 16, we learn that we should focus on the assignment God has given to everyone of us. 1^st Corinthians 7:20 makes it clear that everyone should mind their calling. 

“Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.”

Adding to what God has given you might actually be a distraction to your original calling. If you want God to increase the scope of your assignment, or if you desire to be promoted in the things of the Kingdom, the right approach is to draw closer to the Holy Spirit, tell Him about your godly desires, satisfy God’s laid down conditions for experiencing an uplift and wait to hear from the Lord. Using the methods of the flesh to gain ascendancy can only uplift the flesh. It takes the Spirit to lift you up in spiritual things. It is important to note that not everyone occupying a top ecclesiastical leadership position got there by the Spirit. Allow God to judge and reward them accordingly, but do not repeat their mistakes.

Moreover, another lesson from the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram is that using your growing popularity to work against the will of God can totally erode it. The 250 princes involved in this sad story were very popular in the wilderness, having been selected out of the general populace into the position of leadership. They were honoured and famous for as long as they played their roles within the scope of their divine assignment. But the moment they decided to partner with rebellious folks, honour gave way to shame, and their popularity turned to disfavour. Are you a leader in the church or in any enterprise? Praise God! Are you becoming very popular by virtue of your position and the opportunities you have access to as a leader? Praise God! However, be very careful! Never use your popularity against God’s people or God’s Word. If you do, it will surely backfire and you will not be proud of what you will get in return.  

 

Key Point : The essence and power of any influence, resource, ability or endowment you use against God will be eroded, and such acts will backfire on you.

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Open Heavens for Today: Thursday September 17th 2015

Topic: RECEIVED DIVINE INSTRUCTIONS 

Verse to Memorise: Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. Job 22:22

Bible Reading: Job 22:21-24,

 ²¹ Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.
²² Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.
²³ If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.
²⁴ Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.

 Bible in one year: Exodus 37:38, 1^st Corinthians 1

MESSAGE:-

Due to the advent of sin and the activities of our adversary, we are faced with different challenges of life from day to day. The loss of assets and of persons dear to us is one of those challenges which our adversary, the devil, throws at us to destabilise us and ultimately make us lose our faith. But thank God that provision has been made in the package of salvation for the recovery of those things which we may have lost. Do you desire to recover what you have lost? Stop crying about it and encourage yourself in the Lord. A time of loss is a time to seek the face of God in prayer. After David and his men suffered a major loss, he wept, but he didn’t stop there. He encouraged himself in the Lord and sought God’s face in prayer (1^st Samuel 29:3-8). Although God is a very present help in the time of trouble, it is only those who seek Him that will find Him (Proverbs 8:17). Based on his life experiences, the Psalmist confirms this in Psalm 34:10:

“The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.”

Have you lost any good things? Seek God’s face from today. Separate yourself to spend time with God alone. For the duration of that period, let God be your only focus. Pour out your heart to Him and meditate on His word. Praise and worship Him in spirit and in truth. Be quiet in His presence to hear what He has to say to you. Have you been seeking God’s face after suffering a loss?

It is important to receive instructions from God after suffering a loss. He alone can fully tell how a loss occurred. Where what we lost can be found and how best to recover it. Unfortunately, people seldom fellow God’s instructions. May people adhere to traffic rules, especially in developed countries, because they do not want sanctions. Similarly, most people fellow the instructions in the user’s manual of their gadgets; but when it comes to God’s instructions, people take what appeals to them and discard the rest. Beloved, receive all of God’s instructions because they will lead you to the path of success, victory and joy. Instructions from God can come to you through a variety of ways. God can instruct you by directly speaking to you. He can also do so through His servants, especially through the word of knowledge in programmes such as our monthly Holy Ghost Service. God can send you instructions while you fellowship with other brethren in church. It could be during praise and worship, the choir ministration, prayer time or through the sermon. This is why it is important not to neglect fellowshipping with the brethren. How attentive are you to receive instructions from God while in His presence?

Prayer Point :Father, my heart is open to receive Your instructions that will turn my life around for good.

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Open Heavens for today : Wednesday September 16th 2015

Topic :THE REAL FIX YOU NEED! 

Key verse to Memorise: Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. Isaiah 45:22

Bible text: Isaiah 45:20-25:

 ²⁰ Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.

²¹ Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.

²² Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

²³ I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

²⁴ Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.

²⁵ In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

Bible in one year: Exodus 35-36, Romans 16

In an attempt to fill the void created by the absence of God in some people’s lives, they find themselves using mind-bending substances. This is very rampant in societies that have replaced God with government. In admission of their failure to achieve this folly in the lives of men, some of them now allow the free use of these substances. What they fail to realise is that without Jesus Christ, you can never be complete (Colossians 2:10). Nothing else can take His place. The effects of mind-bending drugs such as marijuana or cocaine can never fill His space in the heart. If you take any of these, it will only take you “high” into a world of hallucination: an unreal world that Satan creates for you while the effects of these drugs last, but afterwards, he drops you far below where he took you from, leaving you feeling deeply depressed, dissatisfied, empty and naked.

Any person who uses mind-bending substances will always want to experience the “high” feeling again and again in a vicious cycle. It is ironic that there is never a feeling of satisfaction derived from the use of these substances. Rather, one wrap becomes too small and the fellow moves on to two, three, four or even five in order to experience the effect that used to be derived from just a single wrap or shot. It gets to a stage where they now live for hard drugs. At this point, nothing else matters to them but another wrap or shot All along, each use of those substances lead the user into madness.

No hard drug satisfies, but Jesus Christ does. He is the “hard drug” that can fix your life once and for all. Take one shot of Jesus Christ and He will take you truly high and keep you there. One wrap of Jesus will give you a bit of the heavenly experience that will increase every passing day as you fellowship with Him. Have you received Jesus into your life? Are you a drug addict? Do you need a fix every now and then? All you need is Jesus! He satisfies. He will quench your thirst for inordinate things. Receive Him into your heart and it shall be well with you. Your life will receive the transformation you need. Are you addicted to drugs and other mind-bending substances? Have you made effort to stop their use but could not stop? In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, you are set free today! That habit holding you bound is broken now! I command every demon of addiction to release you now! You are liberated from their grip in Jesus’ Name. Submit yourself to the environment of accountability in a church to strengthen your resolve never to go back.

Action point: Reach out to drug addicts for Christ or lend a helping hand to ministers dedicated to their salvation and rehabilitation.

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