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

24 October 2016 Open Heavens :- Occupying while waiting?

Posted: 21 Oct 2016 02:43 PM PDT

OCCUPYING WHILE WAITING? – Monday October 24^th 2016

Memorise: And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. Luke 19:13

Read: Joshua 13:1-6, (KJV)

1 Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the Lord said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.

²This is the land that yet remaineth: all the borders of the Philistines, and all Geshuri,

³From Sihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, and the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites:

⁴From the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that is beside the Sidonians unto Aphek, to the borders of the Amorites:

⁵And the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Baalgad under mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath.

⁶All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon unto Misrephothmaim, and all the Sidonians, them will I drive out from before the children of Israel: only divide thou it by lot unto the Israelites for an inheritance, as I have commanded thee.

Bible in one year: Micah 1-4, Psalms 86

The parables of Jesus sometimes were directed to the multitude and at some other times are directed to the disciples in particular. The parable of Jesus in the memory verse for today was directed to the disciples who were being prepared for the great commission (Mark 16:15-16). They were being told to occupy till He comes. Open Heavens 24 October 2016:- Occupying while waiting?

Sometimes we think the word "occupy" means "keep yourself busy" alone; it means more than that. We must not keep ourselves busy doing nothing substantial. To understand the import of Christ's command in Luke 19:13 we must take a look at the Bible reading of today. The Lord gave a not too good assessment of the journey to the Promised Land under Joshua, which should be a food for thought for the Church of the 21^st century.

"Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the Lord said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed."

Joshua 13:1

One lesson we must quickly learn from the above scripture is that Joshua was now old and there was no more strength and energy to lead the battle against the inhabitants of the land which God had given to them. They failed to occupy the Promised Land. In the same vain, when Jesus Christ told His disciples (and us by extension), to go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature, He was actually saying that we should go and occupy the land for Him and the Kingdom of His Father. It is beyond keeping ourselves busy just for its sake. The question now is, "Are we really occupying while we await His second coming?" Another food for thought is, in our evangelistic and missionary efforts, can we say we are occupying both the geographical and spiritual landscape and atmosphere of the world? What can we show for all the money spent on missions and evangelistic efforts? Have we taken a break in our efforts to occupy the nooks and crannies of world kingdoms like the disciples of old? We must remember that our mandate is to make disciples of all nations. 24 October 2016 Open Heavens.

Beloved, we must not lose grounds any more. As a matter of fact, the grounds we have lost to the enemy must be taken back. Like David encouraged himself in the Lord after the raid of his barrack at Ziklag, we must summon courage to go after the enemy and recover back the Kingdoms that once belongs to the Church. The cathedrals that have been turned to bars must be brought back for the worship of the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. Christian nations that have turned secular must be revived and brought back to the light of the gospel of the Son of the Living God. May the Lord help us in Jesus' name.

Action Point

Let us set a strategic plan to go to the "garrison" of the children of the bondwoman and take what belongs to our God back to Him because He is the God of all flesh.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional, written by Pastor E.A Adeboye

23 October 2016 Open Heavens:- The touch of faith

Posted: 21 Oct 2016 02:31 PM PDT

THE TOUCH OF FAITH – Sunday October 23^rd 2016

Memorise: Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. Matthew 9:29

Read: Matthew 9:20-22, (KJV)

²⁰And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:

²¹For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.

²²But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.

Bible in one year: Obadiah 1, Jonah 1-4, Psalm 85

There is tremendous power in a touch. It may be positive or negative as there are categories and types of touches. Open Heavens 23 October 2016:- The touch of faith Naaman knew the power in a touch, especially from representatives of God and said with a sense of disappointment when Elisha did not come out to touch him when he went to Samaria:

"…Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper."

2^nd Kings 5:11

A touch can bring death as in the case of Uzzah in the book of Samuel:

"And when they came to Nachon's threshing floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God."

2^nd Samuel 6:6-7

During one of our Conventions at the Redemption Camp in Nigeria, the Lord asked me to lay out a piece of cloth for people to touch by faith and receive their healing, with a warning that it should simply be touched and not held. A man went ahead to touch (I will say without faith) because he also grabbed the cloth. It took special grace and forgiveness of God for him not to die the moment he touched outside of faith; his entire body began to shake uncontrollably from morning till evening. It would have been a touch of death but for God's intervention.

Another touch can bring healing as in the case of the woman with the issue of blood in our Bible reading for today.

"For she said within herself, if I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole."

Matthew 9:21

This is the touch of faith. The touch of faith can work for the one who touches and for the touched. In the same chapter of Matthew's gospel, Jesus Christ was met by two blind men who were crying for mercy of healing. When Jesus found out that these men had faith to receive divine touches for healing, the Bible says: 23 October 2016 Open Heavens.

"Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, see that no man know it."

Matthew 9:29-30

The touch of faith is required anytime you need a miracle. I pray for someone using this devotional; the Lord will touch you for healing and deliverance today, and will have a testimony in Jesus' name. I also pray that whatever you touch by faith today will prosper in Jesus' name.

Prayer Point

Father, please touch me in the areas where I need Your intervention today and let my joy be full in Jesus' name.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional, written by Pastor E.A Adeboye