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

NOT A HINDRANCE! – Monday July 18th 2016

Posted: 15 Jul 2016 01:42 PM PDT

NOT A HINDRANCE! – Monday July 18^th 2016

Memorise: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Read: Philippians 1:12-21, (KJV) ¹²But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;

¹³So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;

¹⁴And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

¹⁵Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:

¹⁶The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:

¹⁷But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.

¹⁸What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

¹⁹For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

²⁰According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

²¹For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Bible in one year: 2^nd Corinthians 5:12-9:15, Psalms 13-14

MESSAGE

While man does not have a way of getting solutions to his problems, God has uncountable ways to solving universal problems. This is because He is the Almighty. Another thing about the ways of God is that it does not appeal to the natural man. This truth is what Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ tried to convey to us in our memory verse for today when he wrote:

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

Romans 8:28

Paul wrote to encourage believers in by telling them that the hardship he was going through was for the advancement of the gospel. It takes the eyes of faith to come to terms with this type of truth. In chains, he was moved from one place to another as a criminal under trial. However, at every given time and opportunity to speak, he preached the gospel. In Acts 24 & 25 alone, he addressed three different very important personalities namely Felix, Festus, King Agrippa. It was King Agrippa that said to Paul:

"Almost thou persuade me to be a Christian"

Acts 26:28

Then Paul said:

"I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds."

Acts 26:28

This is a level all children of God must reach if we will enjoy our walk with God. This same truth helped Joseph from misbehaving when he came to power in Egypt and his brothers were afraid of revenge. He told them:

"…. Fear not: for I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."

Genesis 50:19-20

In all these, we must learn that challenges will not be a hindrance if God is with us, rather, it will be a stepping stone to our destiny. Some children of God attributed their failure to certain hindrances. This should not be, because the Captain of our battle never lost any battle. As a matter of fact, we are more than conquerors and all things will always work together for our good if we believe. I pray for someone using this devotional; all the seemingly hindering situations on your way to success will become a stepping stone to your breakthrough in Jesus' name.

Prayer Point

Father, I command all hindering mountains in my life to give way today in Jesus' name.

Open Heavens Daily, written by Pastor E.A Adeboye

SEPARATED UNTO THE LORD – Sunday July 17th 2016

Posted: 15 Jul 2016 01:36 PM PDT

SEPARATED UNTO THE LORD

Memorise: Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:48

Read: Genesis 17:1-7, (KJV) 1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

²And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.

³And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,

⁴As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

⁵Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.

⁶And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

⁷And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

Bible in one year: 2^nd Corinthians 1:1-5:11, Psalms 12

MESSAGE

God Almighty does not hide His feelings about how we must relate with Him; He wants us to be totally His. The Bible says: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3). There should be nothing standing between us and our God neither should there be anything taking His place in our lives. The only way we can convince Him of the fact that we are totally His is when we are completely separated unto Him; when nothing/no one else can lay claim our lives.

In our Bible reading for today, God asked Abraham to walk before Him and be perfect. In other words, God was telling His friend, Abraham that He needed more of his devotion, commitment and consecration. This is what God demands from all men, particularly His children. To be separated unto the Lord is to be separated from this world of sin. The Bible says:

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God."

Romans 12:1-2

This should be a very pleasant development for those who have suffered from the tyrant Lucifer. The entanglement with this world is enslaving and deadly but the unfortunate thing about this is that the victim may not realise it. Worldliness is a subtle taskmaster that must be avoided by all children of God. The "twin-sisters" whose names are godliness and contentment are the answers to the challenge of worldliness that brings serious entanglement upon children of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ said:

"No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon."

Matthew 6:24

We must separate ourselves from material things of this world if we will please our God. The Bible says:

"But they that will be rich fall into temptation and snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and prediction. For the love of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."

1^st Timothy 6:9-10

Therefore, it is not profitable for us to allow this to take our lives away from our Maker. Let us acknowledge the primacy of the original Royalty, the God of the Heavens and the Earth. May our services be acceptable to Him from today in Jesus' name.

Action Point

Determine to be separated unto your God afresh today.

Open Heavens Daily, written by Pastor E.A Adeboye