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

26 October 2016 Open Heavens:- What are you living for?

Posted: 23 Oct 2016 12:46 PM PDT

WHAT ARE YOU LIVING FOR? – Wednesday October 26^th 2016

Memorise: Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. Ecclesiastes 12:13

Read: Luke 12:15-20, (KJV)

¹⁵And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

¹⁶And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:

¹⁷And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?

¹⁸And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.

¹⁹And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

²⁰But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

Bible in one year: Nahum 1-3, Habakkuk 1-3, Psalms 88

MESSAGE

To know what you live for, you need to consult the Holy Scriptures and this is what we shall briefly do in today's reading. Open Heavens 26 October 2016:- What are you living for? The Bible says:

"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."

Revelation 4:11

The unfortunate thing about life is that, people live as if they own their lives. Our Lord Jesus Christ told us the story of a certain rich man who in one year had so much money that he started boasting of many years of enjoyment. While he was ranting and boasting, God said to him:

"Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

Luke 12:20-21

Beloved, we are expected to live for God the Father, through Jesus Christ the Son. We are not supposed to live for ourselves anymore, because we have been bought with price. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ admonished us as peculiar people to show forth the praises of Him (Jesus) who hath called us out of darkness into His marvellous light. (1^st Peter 2:9). Moreover, Paul, another apostle corroborated this when he wrote:

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

Galatians 2:20

The apostle further wrote that, after we have given our lives to Christ, we should live a new life as becoming the saints. We should put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 26 October 2016 Open Heavens.

This is the only way we can live for God and not for ourselves. May the Lord grant us the grace to live acceptably before Him in Jesus' name.

Prayer Point

Father, help me to live for You alone in Jesus' name.

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

25 October 2016 Open Heaven:- Spiritual Adultery Forbidden!

Posted: 23 Oct 2016 12:35 PM PDT

SPIRITUAL ADULTERY FORBIDDEN! – Tuesday October 25^th 2016

Memorise: For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall he be called. Isaiah 54:5

Read: Hosea 2:2-5, (KJV)

²Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

³Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.

⁴And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.

⁵For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.

Bible in one year: Micah 5-7, Psalms 87

MESSAGE

The relationship between God and his human creatures could be likened to the relationship between a husband and his wife. God, who instituted marriage, patterned the relationship in marriage after His relationship with His people. This is why spiritual adultery is severely punished from time to time in the history of man and his interaction with his Maker. Open Heavens 25 October 2016:- Spiritual Adultery Forbidden!

"And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim….And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before enemies."

Judges 2:11, 13-14

God is jealous, like a man could be jealous over the relationship of his wife with another man, when his human creatures follow other gods besides Him (Exodus 20:5). The spiritual adultery which the children of Israel committed is vividly illustrated in the relationship between Hosea and Gomer his professional harlot-turned wife. The patience of Hosea with Gomer who was always going back to her whoredom like a dog that goes back to its vomit also illustrates God's patience with His people who court with the people of the world. The bond becomes stronger when someone at the altar of repentance, betroths himself or herself to Jesus Christ, the original Bridegroom. The Bible says:

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If an any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

1^st John 2:15

Our Lord Jesus Christ also said that our love cannot be possibly shared between God and ephemeral things of this world. He said:

"No servant 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."

Luke 16:13

Serving God and mammon is spiritual adultery, punishable by rejection and shame. 25 October 2016 Open Heavens. The Bible says:

"Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts. Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, an set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst."

Hosea 2:2-3

Beloved, beware of spiritual adultery. Stick to Jesus Christ. The Lover of your soul and He will do you good.

Prayer Point:

Father, please forgive me of any spiritual adultery I might have committed against You and our spiritual matrimony. For Christ's sake, please do not reject me.

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