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

DIVINE ACCEPTANCE – Monday March 27th 2017

Posted: 25 Mar 2017 09:12 AM PDT

DIVINE ACCEPTANCE – Monday March 27^th 2017

Memorise: And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. Isaiah 65:24

Read: Acts 10:30-44 (King James Version)

³⁰And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,

³¹And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.

³²Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter; he is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the sea side: who, when he cometh, shall speak unto thee.

³³Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God

³⁴Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

³⁵But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

³⁶The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)

³⁷That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;

³⁸How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

³⁹And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:

⁴⁰Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;

⁴¹Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.

⁴²And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.

⁴³To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

⁴⁴While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.

Bible in one year: Exodus 31-32, Jeremiah 2:33-3:10, Hymn: Sing hymn 15

MESSAGE:

"And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."

Isaiah 65:24

The above scripture contains a very profound promise from God to His people. The Lord manifested His commitment to fulfilling this promise in today's Bible reading. Acts 10:44 says,

"While Peter yet spake those words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word."

Before Peter finished his sermon, he had not even made any altar call or said any prayer when God poured out His Spirit, and the fire fell on all those hearing his voice. The answer to Cornelius' prayer came while Peter was still speaking, in consonance with the promise of God in Isaiah 65:24. Do you know that the devil still delays prayers? This is why it is very important for us to be baptized in the Holy Spirit; this helps to expedite answers to our prayers (Romans 8:26). When you pray with your understanding or in a language the devil understands, he can take steps to hinder the answer to that prayer. In Daniel 10:1-14, when Daniel decided to set himself apart to seek God's face in fasting and prayer, God immediately dispatched an angel to bring him the answer to his request that very day. However, the devil equally sent a principality to block the way of this angel for 21 days, until reinforcement was sent to help him. If you pray in the Spirit, the devil will be thrown into confusion, and he won't know when the answer to prayer is coming; neither will he know the angel brining it. In that way, the answer to your prayer is not hindered.

In addition to answering the prayer of Cornelius, God also accepted his offerings. There is nothing as painful as offering something to God and He refuses to accept it. When Cain's offering was rejected, he was so devastated that he murdered his younger brother (Genesis 4:3-5). On the other hand, when Solomon's offering was accepted, he received a divine visitation (2^nd Chronicles 1:6-12). Let me share what I normally do during offering time with you. When the minister says we should lift up our offering to God and pray, l asks God to send down His fire and take up the offering to Himself. So before I drop the offering in the basket, it is already gone. The cheque may be in the basket, but the actual offering has been taken by fire to Heaven. I pray that from today, God will accept all your offerings and sacrifices to Him!

Prayer Point

Father, I offer myself as a living sacrifice to You. Accept me and release Your holy fire on me. Fulfil Your promise by expediting the answer to my prayers and cause my joy to be full.

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

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.
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LADEN WITH CAREER BURDENS? – Sunday March 26th 2017

Posted: 25 Mar 2017 08:56 AM PDT

LADEN WITH CAREER BURDENS? – Sunday March 26^th 2017

Memorise: For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder. Psalm 107:16

Read: Luke 5:1-11 (King James Version)

1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

²And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

³And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

⁴Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

⁵And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

⁶And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

⁷And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

⁸When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

⁹For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:

¹⁰And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.

¹¹And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

Bible in one year: Exodus 29-30, Jeremiah 2:20-32, Hymn: Sing hymn 4

MESSAGE:

One of the methods devised by the devil to impede our forward march on the straight and narrow way is to steal our joy and happiness. To achieve this, our enemy may make use of career burdens. The presence of a career burden might be the reason why you see some persons who were not as intelligent as you were during your school days, or even those who graduated several years after you did, now far ahead of you career-wise. A fellow under this yoke will want to hide his face when he or she comes face to face with an erstwhile junior, who is now better placed. Many years ago, while still lecturing at the University of Lagos, a professor applied for an advertised job and was invited for an interview. When he got to the boardroom where the interview panel was sitting, he soon discovered that the chairman of the panel was one of his students who had recently graduated. He therefore said to the panel, "I am sorry, it seems I came to the wrong room." "You are not in the wrong room sir", replied the ex-student. But he insisted and left.

You need to periodically take stock of your career to ensure you are where you ought to be. If you are deeply unhappy at your job because you are positioned at the level where you ought to be, the devil might be playing his dirty tricks on you. Are you in a situation where some people you interviewed for employment are now your superiors in the same office? Have you been denied your promotion for several years in spite of your hard work, and as a result, not only are your mates now your superiors, even your juniors have become your superiors? If you are experiencing any of these, you might be operating under a career burden from the pit of hell. The aim of this burden is to make you frustrated and disillusioned. Similarly, when your efforts are not receiving a commensurate reward like Peter in our Bible reading today, you might be carrying a career burden. Peter toiled all night long but caught nothing. I can relate with his experience because I love to fish. When I want to relax sometimes, I go fishing with my hook. From experience, within five minutes of casting the hook, a fish is taken; but occasionally, I spend hours without catching a single fish. Not too long ago, after spending some considerable time, I eventually caught a fish, but while pulling it out, it jumped back into the river, and there was nothing I could do about it. You might have failed in your career or business, not because you wanted to fail or because you were lazy: the presence of a career burden might be the cause. In the Name of Jesus, in any way you have been a victim of this wickedness of Satan, you are delivered today! That burden is destroyed and taken away from you! All you have lost over the years is restored to you this season!

Prayer Point:

I command that every career burden in my life and family be lifted now in Jesus' Name.

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