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

GUILTY OF INJUSTICE? – Sunday July 3rd 2016

Posted: 30 Jun 2016 01:09 PM PDT

GUILTY OF INJUSTICE?

Memorise: Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. James 5:6

Read: Amos 8:4-10, (KJV)⁴Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,

⁵Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?

⁶That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?

⁷The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.

⁸Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.

⁹And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:

¹⁰And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.

Bible in one year: Acts 20:17-22:21, Song of Solomon 5:10-6:9

MESSAGE

Injustice has been in existence with mankind since the fall. The unfortunate thing is that God hates injustice because He is the God of justice and equity. In our Bible reading for today and in several others verses of the Bible, we see that God vehemently abhors injustice. This injustice is all-inclusive, because it is found among traders through false measure, the employers of labours who do not pay the correct wages or delay it unnecessarily and the employees who cheat on their employers by not putting up their best for the wages they earn. James 5:4 says:

"Behold the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which are of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth."

It is injustice when an employer keeps the wages of the labourers unpaid or holds back some of the wages meant for the workers. God says He will not take it lightly with whoever is guilty of this act. In the same vein, when an employee uses the time meant for his employer to do something else, it is injustice. This is why many employees do not have anything tangible to show for the wages they earn. When a man works for fifteen days put together in a month and he is given a salary of thirty days worth, at the end of the month, the value of what he will use the money for will not be more than his actual wage for fifteen days. Many traders are fond of using false measures to sell their merchandise. Only ignorance makes people indulge in such practices, because the God of justice will always bring judgement upon such businesses.

"Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgement, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt."

Leviticus 19:35-36

The consequence of the above injustice is written in our text for today:

"The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works… And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day."

Amos 8:7, 10

Beloved, beware of injustice of any kind so that you are not found guilty of practicing that which the Lord hates. The Bible says:

"Divers weights are an abomination unto the Lord; and a false balance is not good."

Proverbs 20:23

Action Point

Examine your life; if you are in any way indulging in injustice, repent today and restitute your ways.

Open Heavens Daily, written by Pastor E.A Adeboye

SUBDUING THE THREATENING GIANT – Saturday July 2nd 2016

Posted: 30 Jun 2016 01:06 PM PDT

SUBDUING THE THREATENING GIANT

Memorise: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid. Psalms 27:1

Read: 1^st Samuel 17:45-50, (KJV) ⁴⁵Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

⁴⁶This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

⁴⁷And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands.

⁴⁸And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

⁴⁹And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.

⁵⁰So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

Bible in one year: Acts 18:18-20:16, Song of Solomon 5:2-9

MESSAGE

There is a threatening giant mightier than Goliath that we must overcome if our lives will be meaningful and highly fulfilling. This giant is no other one than the devil. As a matter of fact, Goliath in our Bible reading for today was just an apprentice in the school of Satan. The Bible says that the devil is a roaring lion walking about, seeking whom he may devour (1^st Peter 5:8). This was exactly what Goliath did, he roared at the children of Israel and they trembled before him.

"And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, why are ye come out to set your battle in array? Am not I a Philistine, and ye servants of Saul? Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us."

1^st Samuel 17:8-9

How did the children of Israel overcome the threatening giant of their lives? They overcame him through their representative, the young David, who knew the God that he served. The giant came, cursing David by the name of his gods and David returned the curses by giving a deadly prophecy against the uncircumcised Philistine in the name of his own God:

"This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel."

1^st Samuel 17:46

One lesson we learn from this story is that battles of life are beyond the physical. Even the giant did not rely on his strength alone; hence the reason he cursed David by his gods! David was up to the task, so he replied, not in the same way but in a greater dimension by condemning the host of the Philistine carcases to the beasts, not only the Champion's. This is why the Bible says.

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

Ephesians 6:12

This is equally why we must put on the whole armour of God to be able to withstand the giants of our life, particularly in our Christian lives. Another lesson is that, since our weapons are not carnal, we must not attempt to fight against the giant with our senses or physical weapons. When King Saul gave physical weapons to David, he rejected them because he knew they would fail. He confidently challenged Goliath with his God. I encourage you to take hold of the Name of the Lord in your battle against the giants in your life and you will subdue them all. However, you must have a cordial relationship with the bearer of the Name through holiness and perfect obedience to His Word.

Prayer Point

Father, I come against all the giants of life threatening my destiny and I destroy them completely today in Jesus' mighty name.

Open Heavens Daily, written by Pastor E.A Adeboye