Open Heavens Daily Devotional Messages, By Pastor E.A Adeboye.

GOD’S WAR INSTRUMENT – Thursday December 31st 2015
YIELD TO GOD – Wednesday December 30th 2015
EFFECTIVE TRACKING DEVICE – Tuesday December 29th 2015
THE EXCLUSIVE DOOR – Monday December 28th 2015
ARE YOU INDUSTRIOUS? – Sunday December 27th 2015
ATTRACTING GREATER LOVE – Saturday December 26th 2015
HE CAME TO SEEK THE LOST – Friday December 25th 2015
DEBTORS OF GRATITUDE – Thursday December 24th 2015

GOD’S WAR INSTRUMENT – Thursday December 31st 2015

Posted: 25 Dec 2015 04:50 AM PST

GOD'S WAR INSTRUMENT

Memorise: Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms: Jeremiah 51:20

Read: Isaiah 41:14-16, ¹⁴Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.

¹⁶Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.

Bible in one year: Song of Solomon 5-8, Jude 1

MESSAGE!

Because holiness is the nature of God, living a holy life makes you a partner with God in His work. 2^nd Corinthian 6:1 say:

"We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain."

What a great privilege this is! When you have the same nature as God, He will not look at your limitations; rather, He will lift you up so that He can relate with you. God wants to partner with you. He wants to be able to seek your opinion on issues; not because He does not know what to do, but just to make you known that you count before Him (John 6:5-6). Living a holy life makes you count before God, and it gives you relevance before Him (Genesis 18:17-19).

Moreover, holiness empowers you to plead your cause before God. As a sinner, you cannot stand before God, because your sins have disqualified you to begin with. But when you approach Jesusand accept Him as your saviour, His blood washes you clean and He stands as your lawyer to plead your cause (1^st John 2:1). Thereafter, as you imbibe His holiness and allow His nature to express itself through you, you are empowered to plead your own cause before God (Hebrews 4:16). Holiness also qualifies you to plead for others: are you living a holy life? How well are you pleading your cause and that of others before heaven's court?

Similarly, living a holy life makes you God's sharp battle axe: you become a fighting instrument in His hands (Jeremiah 51:20). A life of holiness is a declaration to the kingdom of darkness that you are on God's side permanently. You therefore become a very useful instrument in God's hands. Isaiah 41:15 says:

"Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains; and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff."

One of my sons once had a dream where he saw his hands being exchanged with iron hands. Even though he tried to resist what the angels were doing, he could not stop them. Thereafter, the Lord used him mightily against the kingdom of Satan and is still using him today. The more you live a life of holiness, the more likely it is that God will use you to do greater things and to fight bigger battles. Are you living a holy life?

Prayer Point

Father, make the Body of Christ a sharp battle axe in your hand in these last days.

YIELD TO GOD – Wednesday December 30th 2015

Posted: 25 Dec 2015 04:47 AM PST

YIELD TO GOD

Memorise: Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but

yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. Romans 6:13

Read; 2^ndChronicles 30:8-9, ⁸Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the Lordyour God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.

⁹For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.

Bible in one year: Song of Solomon 1-4, 3^rd John 1

MESSAGE!

God has a unique plan for your life. In all that you do, never let this escape your mind. Note however that there is a difference between desire and purpose. There is also a difference between ambition and purpose. Your joy can only be full when you find your purpose in life. Until you get to this point, life will be such a struggle, full of stress and pressures. It is good to have ambition, but it is better to seek God's purpose for your life, and having known it, make that your life's ambition. You will be happier for it.

Moreover, having carved out His purpose for your life, God gives you the gifts and abilities that will enable you fulfil that purpose. God's calling on your life is in line with His divine purpose. Where a conflict exists between God's plan for your life and your own plans, there will always be problems. For instance, if God wants you to be a missionary in a particular country and you plan to be a doctor in another part of the world, there will be great conflict. If you fail to yield to His will, you will be disrupting His plan. It is either a person is brought to a halt over his personal ambition that is making God's will secondary, or God will alter His plan for that person by moving someone else into his place. If your pursuit runs contrary to God's plan for your life, God expects you to do something fast. When Peter's fishing business got in God's way, he was called out of traditional fishing into fishing for men. As we speak, there are several people who refuse to yield to God over His plan for their lives. They have continued to struggle with God's will. Resisting God's will regarding His plan for your life can be frustrating. It can lead to labouring without commensurate harvest, afflictions, disappointments, great loss of valuables and much more. If you remain adamant after repeated attempts to bring you back in line, God may have to replace you. When God replaces a person, he or she is left alone to pursue his or her ambitions, which will lead nowhere. Are you struggling with God? Is God calling you into His service or into full-time ministry and you are resisting? Stop resisting Him today!

Prayer Point

Father, I yield my life to You today, make out of my life what You desire for it.

EFFECTIVE TRACKING DEVICE – Tuesday December 29th 2015

Posted: 25 Dec 2015 04:46 AM PST

EFFECTIVE TRACKING DEVICE

Memorise: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: Matthew 7:7

Read: Daniel 10:10-14, ¹⁰And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.

¹¹And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.

¹²Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

¹³But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

¹⁴Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.

Bible in one year, Ecclesiastes 8:14-12:14, 2^ndJohn 1

MESSAGE!

From the experience of Daniel in our Bible reading today, we understand that praying effectively makes it impossible for your blessings to pass you by. When you pray, your blessings are branded with your name, and as you continue in prayer, a heavenly courier is sent with your package. When you pray some more, the courier will deliver the package to you. Do you know that there are blessings which were released from Heaven but which never got to their owners? One likely way of losing your blessing is to stop praying about them. if you stop, by the time they are being sent, they could get missing in transit. So many blessings have been lost due to a lack of follow-up prayers.

Let us look at Daniel's experience. He had a burden to unravel a particular mystery; so he set out to fast and seek God's face on the matter. A day passed, a week passed, and another week passed, but he kept on praying. It was after three weeks that the answer came. The angel who brought the answer told him that from the day the request was made, it was heard and an answer was sent, but certain forces of darkness delayed him until Angel Michael came to assist him. This tells us that the battles in heavenly places are real. No wonder Ephesians 6:12 says:

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

These forces exist and they are out to delay or deny you your blessings. If you lost faith and stop praying, the enemy might divert them.

It is one thing to pray and have the answer released, but it is another thing to receive the answer. Today, it is possible to send something by post and track its movement from country to country up to its destination through the internet. Prayer is the spiritual tracking device you need to track your blessing from Heaven until it arrives in your hands. Once you start praying on a particular issue, don't stop. Keep on praying until the answer gets to you. In addition, it is necessary to specifically pray against every spiritual agent of hindrance. Paralyze every diversionary agent of darkness. Pray against blessing thieves and hijackers, and envelope your blessings in the Blood of Jesus.

Key Point

Prayer is like a hook with rope tied; with it you can catch your blessing, and pull it until it gets to you.

THE EXCLUSIVE DOOR – Monday December 28th 2015

Posted: 25 Dec 2015 04:44 AM PST

THE EXCLUSIVE DOOR

Memorise: I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. John 10:9

Read: John 14:1-6, 14 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

²In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

⁴And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

⁵Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

⁶Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Bible in one year: Ecclesiastes 5:1-8:13, 1^st John 5

Jesus Christ is the door to finding everlasting peace. Peace is so vital to human existence that people search for it in many ways. Some people even do all sorts of abominable things to get peace, but the more effort they put in, the more they realize that they are far from having the peace of God. Jesus is the only door through which true peace is guaranteed. Because Jesus is the door, whatever you need to access in life can only be done effortlessly through Him. As the door, He does not need a door to come in, nor does He need a door to go out. For everything you desire in life, there are doors for accessing them. There are doors of financial breakthrough, academic excellence, marital bliss, spiritual endowment and health. All these doors are enclosed in the original Door – Jesus. There is none of these doors that Jesus Christ cannot open. Nothing can deny any child of God access to these doors as long as they are in Christ.

Are you in search of promotion, fruitfulness and breakthrough? Then come to Jesus. He will give you access to all the closed doors in your life. There is no need for worries or panic, because Jesus will give you permanent victory over the challenges confronting you. If you want Jesus to be your access through the journey of life, you must give Him full access into your life. You must always allow the Lord to be before you. Psalm 16:8 says:

"I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved."

If you want to have Jesus as your exclusive way, you must allow Him take the lead while you follow. You need to always look up to Him and let Him be your focus. If you can do this, you will realize that those things you have been running after for many years will begin to come to you. As long as you have Jesus, you cannot be limited. All you need to do is open your heart to Him. What are those things you worry yourself about? Trust in the exclusive door. He will lead and guide you. The moment Jesus becomes your door; everything will begin to respond to you. There are many people who are not yet blessed because they have shut the door to their heart to the Lord. The moment the door is opened for Him to come in, the lines will begin to fall in pleasant places for you. Jesus is the only true door. Other doors will fail, but Jesus can never fail.

Prayer Point

Father, as I open up the door of my heart to Jesus, help me to always hear Your voice.

ARE YOU INDUSTRIOUS? – Sunday December 27th 2015

Posted: 25 Dec 2015 04:31 AM PST

ARE YOU INDUSTRIOUS?

Memorise: Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread. Proverbs 20:13

Read: Proverbs 31:10-13, ¹⁰Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

¹¹The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

¹²She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

¹³She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

Bible in one year: Ecclesiastes 1-4, 1^st John 4

In the school of life, those who are prone to giving excuses end up as failures. Greatness in life is not for the slothful but for the diligent. It is not for men of theoretical faith, but for those who can put their faith into action. There are many people walking around blind to opportunities. They always complain about the economic situation of their country, and for this reason, they have refused to take their destinies in their own hands. Nothing moves until you move. There are opportunities all around you, but if you can't see them, they will not translate into tangible results. To be industrious is to be hardworking, conscientious, diligent and productive. John 15:16 says:

"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name. he may give it to you."

God expects His children to be productive and be creative in their thinking. The fact that you belong to God should make you see solutions to issues where others only see problems. The spiritual controls the physical; this is why you need to ask God to open your spiritual eyes. You need to see the good things coming your way from afar off, so that as they come, you can tap into them. There are many people sitting and living around opportunities without exploring them. There is no future for lazy fellows.

The life God expects from the industrious is a life of fruitfulness in every area. Fruitfulness is a covenant benefit of God's children. If you are still in school, you need to be industrious in order to graduate with excellent grades. If you are serving in God's ministry, you need to be industrious, so that you can access the anointing required for doing spiritual exploits. If you are engaged in business, you need to be hard-working to make more profits and access greater business opportunities. If you are in the corporate world, being industrious will put you on the cutting edge of your career. You need to keep growing. You need to develop yourself for the glorious future you see ahead of you. You must not be distracted with those things that will not enhance the quick actualization of your God-given dreams. There is no need losing your head over what you don't have. What you have is more than enough for your breakthrough. Never be afraid of starting small. Ask the Lord to open your eyes so that you can multiply the seed in your hands to become a forest.

Key Point

Whatever you don't value can never add value to you.

ATTRACTING GREATER LOVE – Saturday December 26th 2015

Posted: 25 Dec 2015 04:28 AM PST

ATTRACTING GREATER LOVE – Saturday December 26^th 2015

Memorise: For it became him, for whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to

make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Hebrews 2:10

Read: Genesis 22:15-18, ¹⁵And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,

¹⁶And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

¹⁷That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of

his enemies;

¹⁸And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Bible in one year: Proverbs 27:23-31:31, 1^st John 2:28-3:24

Your love for God is something you must prove to be genuine. God is not satisfied with verbal affirmations only. He is not satisfied with promises to love surrounded by procrastination. He wants to see your love for real; hence, 1^st John 3:18 says:

"My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth."

Have you been able to prove your love for God beyond words? One beautiful truth here is that whenever you demonstrate your love for God, it will attract greater love from Him. This principle can also be seen in the natural world. If I smile at you, unless you are angry with me, you will return the smile. Every time you prove to God that you love Him, He will reciprocate by showing you greater love. In Acts 20:35, Apostle Paul echoed the words of our Lord Jesus Christ that is better to give than to receive. Many people find it hard to understand this. Simply put, it is better to give because when you give, you automatically open the door to receive more than what you gave.

The act of giving is subject to the law of harvest; therefore, everyone who gives receives something much more than what was given, because the harvest is usually greater than the seed sown. Harvest 2:9-10 tells us that when God gave His only begotten Son, He brought many more sons into glory. God gave one Son and now has millions of sons and daughters from different parts of the world. There are some desires that you may not receive until you give. There are certain great requests that may appear illusive until you requests, you must first be prepared to pay any price by giving anything God wants you to. What you are prepared to give determines the extent to which God is compelled to give to you in return. Are you ready to pay the ultimate sacrifice? Sacrificial giving never goes unrewarded. After Jesus laid down His life for the sins of the world, He was rewarded with the Name above every other name (Philippians 2:8-11). Similarly, after Abraham demonstrated his love for God, the Lord swore to bless Abraham and his children beyond measure, promising to multiply his generations like the sand on the seashore. What are you doing to prove your love for God today?

Key Point

Every act of love towards God is a seed sown on the best soil, which will definitely generate a great harvest of love.

HE CAME TO SEEK THE LOST – Friday December 25th 2015

Posted: 25 Dec 2015 04:27 AM PST

HE CAME TO SEEK THE LOST

Memorise: For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke 19:10

Read: Luke 19:1-10, 19 And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.

²And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.

³And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.

⁴And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.

⁵And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.

⁶And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.

⁷And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.

⁸And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.

⁹And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.

¹⁰For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Bible in one year: Proverbs 24:23-27:22, 1^st John 2:7-27

While on earth, Jesus demonstrated the nature and character of God to man (John 14:8-11). There was no one who came in contact with Him that did not testify on His goodness. Why was this always the case? It is because Jesus knew the purpose of His coming to earth. When the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable. Because Jesus knew why He was here, He never wasted any opportunity. He was so committed to the business of seeking the lost that He even became the guest of sinners. There is so mach potential being wasted today, because very few people are committed to the business of winning souls; whereas this is the global mandate given to every believer by the Lord. There is no one in Jesus' cabinet that is useless. Before He came into their lives, they might have been ordinary men, but after they became citizens of His kingdom, they became valuable instruments in the hands of God.

Anyone could be lost, irrespective of their position, titles or academic achievement. Even if you are a renowned professor, as long as you do not have Jesus in your heart, you are lost. There is no one who Jesus cannot receive. He is waiting earnestly for everyone to come to Him. In our Bible reading today, a chief sinner came to Jesus, and he got his salvation. This is the beauty of salvation: all you need to do is come to Jesus and receive Him as your Lord and Saviour. Salvation is for all. No matter how terrible you have been, just try Jesus, and He will make sense out of your life. He will not only receive you to Himself, He will polish away your rough ends to the point where you become a testimony to the entire world. All you need to do is make straight your crooked ways. Even if you have backslidden, He is waiting to accept you back by His love. To be lost in sin is a terrible thing. Sin has wages, and the wages of sin is death. It is sin that produces sickness, affliction, bondage and distress; but the moment you are found by the Lord through salvation, you begin to enjoy good health, abundant life and the peace of God, and live a holy life that counts to His glory. When you allow yourself to be found by the Lord, you can be assured that in your salvation lies your breakthroughs and victory. I was formally lost, but when Jesus came into my life, everything changed. This can be your testimony too. Your past will no longer matter to God; He will only use it as a testimony of His faithfulness

Prayer Point

Father, please save all those who are lost in my family.

DEBTORS OF GRATITUDE – Thursday December 24th 2015

Posted: 25 Dec 2015 04:23 AM PST

DEBTORS OF GRATITUDE

Memorise: Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Psalm 103:2

Read: Psalm 103:1-14, 103 Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

²Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

³Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

⁴Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

⁵Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

⁶The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.

⁷He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

⁸The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

⁹He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.

¹⁰He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

¹¹For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

¹²As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

¹³Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.

¹⁴For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

Bible in one year: Proverbs 21:2-24:22, 1^st John 1:1-2:6

MESSAGE!

Everyone on earth is indebted to the Almighty God. Irrespective of your many needs that are yet to be met, you must still remember that the breath of life you have is not a function of your power. If you can think deeply within you, and look at all that is happening around you, you will give ceaseless praise to God. The reason why some people do not think they should thank God is because they are looking at those things they do not yet have, but they forget to look at those things they have right now. Some would even say they have noting. Such people are unmindful of the fact that it is with life that things are produced, and when you have life you have all things. The Scripture in Psalm 68:19 says:

"Blessed be the Lord, and daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation."

The implication of this is that there is nothing we need that the Lord has not provided for. What to eat, what to drink, where to live, the car to drive, the person to marry are all examples of His benefits.

When the Psalmist followed the multitude into God's house, he went with joy without being forced (Psalm 42:4). Why then do we wait for people to motivate us to praise God? Why do we behave as if there is nothing in our life to thank God for? The mercy of the Lord towards us is everlasting (Psalm 100:5). With the assurance, we should be singing and praising His name. You are to bless the Lord for all He had done in the past, all He is doing in the present and all He is yet to do. As you do this, He is committed to doing more. One of the greatest lessons on gratitude I learnt was from my mother. Any time my mother wanted to collect my school fees from my father, she would draw up a strategy of praising and eulogizing my father. She would call him great names he did not bear. She would mention great feats and achievements far above his profile and credit him with them. Even before she was done, he would give her what she wanted. This strategy worked every time. If this can work for a mortal man full of limitations, how much more the immortal God who has no limitations? For all the blessings and protection of the Almighty God, you can never praise Him enough. When you praise God adequately and magnify His various Names, He is moved, and once God moves on your behalf, you can expect the miraculous. You can also expect Him to ambush your enemies and open doors in all aspects of your life.

Action point

Praise the Lord that you are alive.