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

Open Heavens 23 May 2017: Tuesday daily devotional by Pastor E. A. Adeboye –Be full of faith

Posted: 21 May 2017 01:15 AM PDT

BE FULL OF FAITH – Tuesday May 23^rd 2017

Memorise: Be ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Jude 1:20

Read: Acts 6:3-10 (King James Version)

³Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

⁴But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

⁵And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

⁶Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

⁷And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

⁸And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

⁹Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.

¹⁰And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.

Bible in one year: Acts 5:6, Jeremiah 34:1-16, Hymn: Sing hymn 1

MESSAGE:

According to Mark 16:17-18, the ability to demonstrate faith in God is very necessary in the ministry of signs and wonders. Hebrews 11:6 also says that without faith you cannot please God. So how do we recognise someone with faith? A look at the life of someone the Bible declared was full of faith should be able to provide us some answers. Acts 6:8 says,

"And Stephen, full of faith and powers, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

Stephen was only a deacon in the early Church. He was chosen as an usher to join others in serving food, and yet because he was full of faith, he performed great signs and wonders, even more than some apostles. From the example of Stephen, it therefore means that you can be a worker in the Church and God could still use you to perform mighty signs and miracles even more than a pastor. This simply tells us that walking in the miraculous is not about titles but about faith. You can be full of position or titles but empty of faith and therefore of little or no use to God in the ministry of signs and wonders. Some senior pastors cannot mention just one miracle the Lord has performed through them in the last two or more years, and yet God is doing wonders through their subordinates. It is doubtful that such pastors are full of faith. Are you full of faith or doubt? There is no way God will be at work among His people and His supernatural touch will not be visible for all to see.

Instead of building up their faith until it is full, some people choose to use everything at their disposal to secure a position or an ordination in the Body of Christ. Believing that the higher their position, the greater the anointing at their disposal. Unfortunately, they fail to realise that those who pursue position or ordination may get the title but not the power that backs it up. What is important is to build up your faith. After you are saved, do not keep your faith stagnant; grow it. Feed your faith by meditating regularly on God's word, praying in the Holy Spirit, reading sound Christian literature and texts, and by listening to good Christian music and testimonies. You also need to fellowship regularly in a Bible-believing Church, so that you are constantly exposed to the truth. When you are full of faith, fear will have no place to hibernate inside you. This makes you a sure candidate for God to work with. May God work with you! Do all you can to build up you faith.

Key Point

Your spiritual growth is your personal responsibility, and not that of your pastor.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was 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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Open Heavens 22 May 2017: Monday daily devotional by Pastor E. A. Adeboye –Ask for Nothing?

Posted: 21 May 2017 12:55 AM PDT

ASKING FOR NOTHING? – Monday May 22^nd 2017

Memorise: Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. John 16:24

Read: Luke 15:25-32 (King James Version)

²⁵Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.

²⁶And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.

²⁷And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.

²⁸And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.

²⁹And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:

³⁰But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

³¹And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.

³²It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

Bible in one year: Acts 3-4, Jeremiah 33:12-26, Hymn: Sing hymn 10

MESSAGE:

The benefits you derive from a person depends on how much that individual has and on how desperate you are to receive. If God is the One you need something from, then you are dealing with the Almighty God who has all things and who can do all things. Before approaching God, you need to first determine what you want and how much of it you want from Him. If your response is to ask God for nothing, I am afraid you will leave empty-handed. James 4:2 says,

"Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet have not, because ye ask not."

In John 16:24, after several years together, the Lord addressed His disciples one day and said something that should shock us:

"Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."

They lived, ate and slept with the Fountain of living waters, yet they failed to drink from it. Some people take contentment to the extreme. They think it is covetousness to ask God for anything decent, whereas God is waiting for them to ask. How much have you asked from God? Are you like the disciples who asked for nothing? Open Heavens Daily 2017 Monday 22 May 2017:-Ask For Nothing? They asked for nothing at a time when others, who were not even walking with Jesus, were already using His Name to get benefits from Heaven (Luke 9:49-50). Even God knows that living nothing is not good for you. The container of joy of the fellow who asks for nothing will always remain empty, whereas God wants it to overflow.

In the parable of the prodigal son, the senior son is another example of those who swim in abundance but hardly ever ask for a bit of it. When his younger brother returned and his father declared a feast, he was annoyed. How could his father slaughter a cow to celebrate his brother's return, whereas he had not even had a ram to celebrate his birthday with his friends? This was one major difference between the two brothers. While he never asked for the least of all he was entitled to, his brother did not mind exceeding his limits. The younger brother had asked for all he could get from his father and wasted it, and yet on his return, the father kept spending on his account. Whose cow was being slaughtered for the prodigal son? It was definitely that of the elder brother. This teaches us that what you fail to ask for may be taken over by those who ask. God gave you a mouth with which to ask. Ask and ask big! From today, as you ask, God will answer you speedily in Jesus' Name.

Key Point

When we get to Heaven and some people see what they asked for in comparison with what they could have asked for, they will feel seriously cheated.