Open Heavens for Today:Sunday September 27th 2015

Topic: FROM DEBTOR TO CREDITOR 

Verse to Memorise: For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. Psalm 72:12

Bible Reading: Psalm 72:10-14,:

 ¹⁰ The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

¹¹ Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.

¹² For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.

¹³ He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.

¹⁴ He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.

Bible in one year: Leviticus 16:1-17:9, 1^st Corinthians 10:23-11:16

 

MESSAGE:

When Jesus went into a synagogue one day, He met a man with a withered hand. When a hand is withered, it means it has died and totally dried up. In spite of the withered state of this hand, that encounter with Jesus restored life to it (Mark 3:1-5). There are some people whose future has withered financially. In the Name of Jesus Christ, you will soon become a creditor to many. Our God is a very practical God. I am speaking from experience. Beyond reading about Him, I have seen Him in action so many times that I can confidently say my God can reverse the irreversible.

Let us consider the experience of one of my daughters. She lost her husband and had 17 months to feed in addition to a huge debt; the biggest of which was in London. During one of our Conventions, the Lord said there was someone there who was heavily indebted, and that He was going to give that person three financial breakthrough: the first one was for God, the second was to be split 50-50 between God and that person, while the third would settle the persons problems permanently. On hearing this word, she received it. Within one week, she came with some big money she got, saying this was the first one. I argued with her and tried to refuse taking it, but she insisted. Eventually, we took the money but did not spend it. Not long after, the second one came and she brought 50% to God. It was easier for me to receive this than the first. Then came the third one: a bank in London that she owed so much wrote to say that they had checked their records and found out that she did not owe them, instead they were the ones owing her. Could they really have made a mistake? The most likely thing that occurred was that God went into the records and changed her status from debtor to creditor. Are you in debt? If you can call on the Lord in faith and secure His intervention, He can go into the books and turn the records in your favour. Yes! It is possible for you to move from debtor to creditor! All records are in God’s hands, because He is the Alpha and Omega. He is the first and Last of all alphabets, so He can cause every writing to work in your favour. Every negative thing written about you shall fail as the Alpha and Omega takes charge over them. These are His words to you in Colossians 2:14:

“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;”

You shall experience the reality of this Word in your finances in Jesus’ Name.

   

Prayer point : Father, wipe out my debts and turn around my financial situations in Jesus’ Name.

 

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Open Heavens for Today: Saturday September 26th 2015

Topic : CHILDREN ARE YOUR TOMORROW 

Verse To Memorise: Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

Bible Reading: Genesis: 18:17-19,

¹⁷ And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;

¹⁸ Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

¹⁹ For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

  

 Bible in one year: Leviticus 14:33-15:33, 1^st Corinthians 9:24-10:22

MESSAGE :-

The greatest of a person can be influenced by a father-figure – whether biological or spiritual. No wonder the Bible in Proverbs 17:6 says:

“Children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.”

A child is expected to be a better version of his or her parents. Your child is supposed to be a new, improved you. Your child is your future, hence, losing your child amounts to losing your future, while gaining your child is gaining your future. You can lose your child not necessarily to death but to sin. As unsaved or backslidden child erodes the future of his parents. This is why you must invest in your children. They are your tomorrow. I cannot understand why a parent will be competing with his or her child. How can a father say that he does not want any of his children to surpass him? If you children cannot surpass you, then you have failed. That is why Jesus in John 14:12 says:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”

You must be everything legitimately possible to prepare your children to have a better tomorrow.

Some parents do not mind playing “Father Christmas” with other people’s children, but they remain stingy and tight fisted with their own children. A man who was trained by his parents or relatives to secondary school level who now refuses to train his own children to at least that same level is a curse to his family. Some parents do not mind spending money to buy expensive clothes for weddings, funerals and other frivolous things, but when it comes to paying the school fees of their children, they will say they have no money. What are your priorities in life? Did your children beg you to bring them to the world? Why would you neglect them after bringing them to earth? Do you know that there are very many unbelievers who never had the opportunity of going to school, particularly women, who resolved in their heart to see that their children would be educated, and God made a way for them? Today, they have made graduates out of petty trading. How can it be said of you – a believer, created in the image of God and blessed with children of destiny, that you denied your children quality education? Far be it from you! Ensure you prepare your children for a better future. You cannot afford to disappoint God in this area!

Key Point :The greatest legacy you can give your children is first Jesus, followed by a good education up to university level. Others are extras. 

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Open Heavens for Today: Friday September 25th 2015

Topic :BEWARE OF MANIPULATORS 

 Verse To Memorise: A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. Proverbs 22:3

Bible Reading: Proverbs 22:1-5,

 1A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.

² The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all.

³ A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

⁴ By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life.

⁵ Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.

 Bible in one year: Leviticus 13:45-14:32; 1^st Corinthians 9:8-23

MESSAGE:-

When you are popular and celebrated on account of your position or service in the kingdom of God, beware and avoid every temptation to use what you have received against the will of God. If you are not careful, you may fall into a trap and become another example, like the 250 princes who were destroyed in Numbers 16. That shall not be your portion in Jesus’ Name! However, you need to know that if you are in a position of power or you are very famous and highly respected by people, you will be a target of manipulators. If you are not extremely careful, you will fall into traps you never thought could ensnare you. After Korah, Dathan and Abiram orchestrated an evil plan and they wanted the children of Israel to buy into it, who did they contact? They deliberately chose the most popular 250 princes in the assembly of God’s people and carefully sold the idea to them (Numbers 16:2). Once that was done, convincing the people under these princes was a walk in the park.

Believe it or not, just as these princes were tempted, you too will be tempted. People who have goods and services for sale will come to you because they want to reach your members or those under your sphere of influence. Some of these may be beneficial to your people and some may not. Some people may even ask you to come and support a cause that is contrary to scriptures. Be very careful! Be watchful and prayerful. When they come to make such proposals, place them side-by-side with the word. Any proposition that violates the word of God must be rejected without fear or favour. Those borderline issues which are not out-rightly wrong or sinful should be presented to God, asking for His direction. Never allow yourself to be used by manipulators! If you lead the people under you astray, not only will their blood be upon your head, you may lose your integrity, position, power and honour. Also, carefully watch out for sycophants who will sing your praise so high that you will not know when they begin to lead you astray. Sycophants are “loyal” to you for very wrong reasons – reasons they may never tell you. They will always want you to see what they do, because they do their service to impress the leader and not God. Ask God to weed off from you anyone who appears close to you but want to mislead you.

Action Point :Pray that God will weed off sycophants and those with a wrong motive hanging around leaders in the Body of Christ, your family, place of work and the government.

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Open Heavens for Today: Thursday September 24th 2015

Topic : INSTRUCTION RESCUES

Verse To Memorise: He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Psalm 107:20

Bible Reading: Proverbs 19:20-21,

 ²⁰ Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.
²¹ There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.

Bible in one year: Leviticus 12:1-13:44, 1^st Corinthians 8:1-9:7

MESSAGE:-

If you experience a loss at any point in life, know that it’s a time to stay calm and not a time to lose heart. If you can wait to receive specific instructions from the Lord, it will expedite the recovery of your loss. The reason why many losses of God’s children have not been recovered is because they have not found time to seek the face of God on the matter. As you seek God’s face concerning those good things you have lost, the Lord will give you a word that will lead to their recovery.

Many years ago, while we were building the first big auditorium at the Redemption Camp, we needed a lot of wood. We paid the government board in charge of sawmills in Edo state, Nigeria, to have this wood supplied to us. A few weeks to our convention, this government board decided to shut down all sawmills in the state. While pacing up and down asking God what to do, the Lord asked me what I knew about the Kingdom of God. To me, this question was irrelevant and I wanted to say so, but I cautioned myself and began to say that I knew about the Kingdom of God”. He concurred. Then I said “The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.” He agreed. This continued until I exhausted all I could remember on the subject matter. Eventually, I said “Since the days of John the Baptist, the Kingdom of God suffereth violence, and the violent taketh it by force.” Then He replied, “That is where we are going. Do you want your wood? Give me a violent offering.” That was on a Saturday; on Sunday, I shared this with my children and we gave a violent offering. On Monday, the governor of Edo state dissolved this government Board and reconstituted another one, which immediately reopened all sawmills. On Tuesday, someone who had no money to give brought his trailer for us to use as long as we wanted. On Wednesday, someone came to give us bags of nails. Several other people also brought materials for the building. Within two weeks, the auditorium was ready; all because I received an instruction from the Lord. The instruction that will lead to a full recovery of your losses shall be given to you this season. When you seek God’s face and He tell you what to do, don’t argue with Him; go ahead and obey the Lord and you will recover your losses. It is your recovery period this season!

Key Point : For every loss, there is a recovery strategy which can be found with the Great Restorer – Jesus Christ.

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