Open Heaven 2012: Identified by Goodness and Integrity

Aside

Saturday 20 October

Bible in one year: Psalms 88-90

IDENTIFIED BY GOODNESS & INTEGRITY

Memorise: The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of the wicked are deceit. Proverbs 12:5

Read: Proverbs 11:3-6

You can identify the righteous by his desires. Proverbs 11:23 says:

The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath.

The thoughts, desires and motives of the righteous are always good. That is, they tally with the Bible. The righteous wants to be in power for the right reasons. He is appalled by the abuse of power by political office holders, as well as church leaders. He seeks to be in such a position to right wrongs, bring justice to the oppressed and create joy for many. The requests, thoughts and motives of the righteous are devoid of selfishness. When he makes a comment, it is not to spite anyone but to move people closer to God’s directive. And because his or her desires are always good and they agree with God’s desires, God easily grants both the wants and needs of the righteous. Sometimes, you wish someone who is not well disposed to you some evil; not the righteous! He seeks the good of everyone including his enemies. Even when people do something against him, he finds it difficult to accept the deed was deliberate as he will easily make excuses for them. Proverbs 12:5 says his thoughts are right.

Another thing that helps you to identify a righteous man is his integrity. The righteous is a man or woman of integrity. Proverbs 11:3 says the integrity of the righteous provides him with direction. Being someone who wants to please God, there are certain things he cannot do. Anything God will not be pleased with is a no-go area for him. Being a man of integrity, he states the exact time of his arrival in his office. In fact, everyone will strive to arrive before him knowing that he cannot alter his arrival time. He cannot also compromise the truth. He will not buy something for ₦100 and say he bought it for ₦500. He keeps his promises. His word is his bond. His relationship with the opposite sex is clean. He cannot take what does not belong to him. He has clean hands and a pure heart. Are you a man or woman of integrity?

ACTION POINT:

Ask God to help our leaders to be men and women of integrity in all aspects of life.

NB: Copyright is a benefit to society. It’s not just about financial gain.
One of the chief purposes of copyright law is to ensure the authenticity and accuracy of the text.
Please learn more about the subject by referring to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention_for_the_Protection_of_Literary_and_Artistic_Works
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorized_King_James_Version#Copyright_status

Addressed by Dressing

Aside

RCCG Open Heaven Devotion 2012 – Pastor E. A. Adeboye (ISBN: 978-36079-4-4)
Download Open Heaven – iOpenHeaven , www.m.openheavensportal.net
(Previously available online @: http://www.rccgna.org/Resources/BibleStudy/Devotionals.aspx)

Friday 19 October

Bible in one year: Psalms 85-87

ADDRESSED BY DRESSING

Memorise: Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? 1 Corinthians 11:14

Read: Exodus 2:14-20

It is possible to be clothed and yet be naked. If you are physically clothed at the expense of your garment of righteousness, the result will be nakedness. Any dressing or adornment that makes you compromise God’s standard of holiness must be destroyed. Many women spend hours painting their faces, making their hair, sitting before a mirror to see how they look but they cannot even spend a quarter of that time looking at the perfect law of liberty – the Bible, to correct their lives and see how they look before God. You may put on the best designer wear on earth and the world will applaud you whereas you are completely naked before God and all of Heaven will shame you. The choice is yours. The Laodicean church preferred to be accepted by men and chose poorly. That was a poor choice. What is your choice?

Although it is good to be well dressed, yet God is more concerned about your internal dressing and adornment. It is commonly said that the way you dress is how you will be addressed. If a pastor’s wife is dressed like a prostitute, the men who see her may want to sleep with her or even rape her. The truth is some Christian women have attracted rapists to themselves through indecent dressing. If a lady dresses decently and honourably, men who see her will treat her with respect. In the world, this is also true. If you dress like the world, the world will think you are one of them and do to you what they do to their kind. If you say you are not of the world then what are you doing wearing their clothes? When Moses – a Hebrew and potential deliverer went on exile to Midian, he was taken and addressed as an Egyptian because he wore Egyptians clothes. After that experience, nobody would have taught him to discard those clothes and dress properly. How are you dressed today? If you do not want men to treat you like a whore, don’t dress like one. Dress well and let God’s name be glorified through your dressing.

KEY POINT:

A few decades ago, Christians were first identified by their dressing.

Today it is not so but we can retrace our steps.

Open Heavens: Mountains Melts

Posted on October 18, 2012 by admin

Thursday 18 October

Bible in one year:Psalms 82-84

MOUNTAINS MELT

Memorise: The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. Psalms 97:5

Read: Joshua 6:1, 20-21

The manifest presence of God in some of His children is so negligible that it is no threat to demons and their activities, whereas, this was not the case with people like Peter, Paul and others. What a joy to know that sicknesses and diseases bow at His presence! That is why when you are sick, endeavour to be in His presence. By mountains we mean barriers, hindrances and long-standing problems. None of these is strong enough to resist His presence because He was there ever before they existed. Isaiah 90:1-2 reveals that God is older than the oldest problem or mountain facing us. A very formidable wall the children of Israel faced was the wall of Jericho. For other nations, when the battle reached Jericho and the gates of Jericho were shut, that was the end of the story. Following the same trend, the people of Jericho thought the case was closed as far as the battle with the Israelites was concerned.

On their part, the Israelites felt helpless. They too thought they had lost Jericho until the Lord gave specific instructions concerning the city. They marched around the city with the presence of God and at some point those massive walls came crashing down. Once the walls were down, the inhabitants of Jericho were exposed, defeated and completely destroyed. No high wall of resistance can withstand His presence. No problem – no matter how formidable, can withstand His presence. Psalms 97:5 says when mountains stand before God, they melt like candle wax. From today, every problem in your life shall melt like candle wax in Jesus name. Psalms 104:32 says mountains cannot stand if touched by God’s finger – they will burn. The Lord will touch the mountain before you and it will burn until it is completely consumed. Ask God to increase His presence in your life to the point that mountains will respond to you like they respond to the Lord.

KEY POINT:

While the presence of God melts mountains, the absence of God’s presence allows then to grow unchecked.

Fruitfullness and Abundance

Posted on October 17, 2012 by admin

Wednesday 17 October

Bible in one year: Psalms 79-81

FRUITFULNESS AND ABUNDANCE

Memorise: The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. Deuteronomy 28:12

Read: Deuteronomy 7:12-14

Not only should you expect to live long as a child of God, you can also expect to be fruitful. Fruitfulness is a covenant benefit of God’s children which can affect every area of their lives. You can be fruitful spiritually, materially, academically, socially, physically and financially. Deuteronomy 7:12-14 reveals that God expects you to be fruitful in the fruit of your body, in your business and livestock. This implies that, because you are blessed by God, everything associated with you will carry a mark of that blessing. This is why you should have great expectations regarding fruitfulness. Are you struggling with barrenness? In the name of Jesus Christ, there shall be no more barrenness in your life, in your body and in your business. From now on, you shall be fruitful spiritually, mentally, financially, materially, and in your body.

Similarly, according to Deuteronomy 28:11-12, believers can expect supernatural abundance from the Lord. Remember, expectations should go ahead of you before the blessings are delivered. If you expect nothing, do not be surprised when you get nothing. Those without expectations demonstrate that they do not know what they want. When you read about God’s powerful promises, expectations should rise up within you. The Lord says He will so bless you that you will become a creditor to nations. This abundance is not limited to finance. He can so bless you intellectually that you will be invited by different schools across the globe to impact knowledge in your field of study. As a minister of God, you can become the toast of churches all over the world. That little book or idea you are nursing can be in high demand across the globe. Today, with the presence of the internet, the world is truly a global village. You can showcase your goods on the net and start receiving requests from everywhere. The promises have been made but does your expectation match them?

PRAYER POINT:

Father, fulfill Your promised abundance in my life. Let me swim henceforth in the abundance of Your blessings.

Open Heavens: Finger of War & Comfort

Aside

Tuesday 16 October

Bible in one year: Psalms 76-78

FINGER OF WAR & COMFORT

Memorise: And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Revelation 21:4

Read: Revelation 21:1-5

The finger of God is a finger of war and He teaches our own fingers also to fight.

Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight. Psalms 144:1

Exodus 15:3 says God is a man of war. There is no one as experienced as the Lord when it comes to war. He is the greatest war veteran. There is no type of missile that He does not have in His armoury. Not only that, He is the One who controls all weapons on earth and in Heaven. Any weapon He says should not work against you will suddenly become useless (Isaiah 54:17). When God puts His finger on your hand while you are about to fight the enemy, you will suddenly receive a knowledge that will give you victory over the enemy. In this way, He teaches us to war. When He puts His finger on your fingers, they will manipulate weapons they have never operated before in ways those who were trained cannot operate them. When He puts His fingers on yours, your weapon will no longer be limited as other ordinary weapon of its kind, but will have the ability to work for you physically and spiritually. This was the experience of the king when through the hand of Elisha, the finger of God was laid upon his hands (2 Kings 13:14-19). When that same finger was laid upon the ordinary rod of a shepherd – Moses, it began to swallow the powers of darkness, part the Red sea and perform great wonders.

If the finger of God comes upon your work instruments, weapons, certificates, talents and abilities, what was dormant will work, and what was working will operate at a super efficient level and achieve the impossible. Also, that same finger of God is the finger of comfort. When we meet with Him in Heaven, with those fingers, He will wipe away all tears from our eyes. From that moment and for all eternity, we will know no more sorrow, death, tears or pain. Are you in tears or sorrow today? What those fingers can do in eternity can be done today. God’s fingers can give you a foretaste of the glory ahead. Ask God to wipe away all tears from your eyes today with His fingers.

PRAYER POINT:

Father, lay Your fingers upon everything I touch from today.

Offerings and self-examination

Aside

Monday 15 October

Bible in one year

Psalms 73-75

OFFERING’S & SELF -EXAMINATION

Memorise:Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Matthew 5:24
Read: Matthew 5:23-24

Before giving to God, make yourself acceptable first. If your person is not accepted of God neither will your offering be acceptable to Him. Not only must your ways be right with God before giving to Him, they must equally be right with your fellow man. You are blessed when you give to God and He accepts it. It is a great privilege. If God is presently pleased with you but somebody else holds a grudge against you, you have scaled through God’s test but your gift will not be accepted. One reason God placed this as a criteria for receiving your offering is so that your heart will be free towards God and men. Hence Paul says in Acts 24:16:

And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.

This is not limited to your offerings but also your sacrifice and service in the Kingdom. If you serve God with sin in your life, your service will be unacceptable. Even if you were to make the greatest sacrifice to God, for instance giving yourself to be burnt for the sake of the Gospel and you are yet living in secret sin, you would have killed yourself for nothing.

In 1 Samuel 15:22, Samuel said to Saul:

And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

If you disregard any of God’s instructions and think you can bribe Him with a big offering or sacrifice, better get some shock absorbers ready. God wants you to have His best hence Jesus says whenever you bring your gift before God, examine yourself to find out if there is some malice, anger, bitterness or an unforgiving spirit somewhere, capable of eroding your gains from that offering. If there is, keep your offering safe, go and meet that brother and say: “Bro, you are so important that without you my offering will be a waste. Please forgive me for what I have done wrong” or “I forgive you for what you have done to me.” Embrace each other and come and offer your gift or offering.

KEY POINT:
If you use God’s Word as yardstick for measuring the quality of your service, gifts and offerings, you can tell which ones will be relevant in Heaven.

Open Heavens: Hunted or Love

Posted on October 15, 2012 by admin

RCCG Open Heaven Devotion 2012 – Pastor E. A. Adeboye (ISBN: 978-36079-4-4)
Download Open Heaven – iOpenHeaven
(Previously available online @: http://www.rccgna.org/Resources/BibleStudy/Devotionals.aspx)

Sunday 14 October

Bible in one year

Revelation 19-22

HUNTED OR LOVE?
MV: As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. Psalms 42:1
Read: Psalms 42:1-5

In today’s Bible reading, the Psalmist speaking of his yearning for God said his soul pants. He compares his yearning for God to the extreme yearning of a dehydrated deer for water shown by its panting. We know the hart or deer does not pant except when it is being chased by a hunter or when it is highly dehydrated. Do you know that for many people, it is only when they are being hunted by the devil or situations of life that they remember God? When everything else is in place: the store is filled with rich varieties of food, the bank account is bubbling, the contracts are coming, the family members are well and making progress and the ministry is moving on; the need to search for God never arises in the hearts of many. But when there is trouble: child is sick, there is no food to eat, the business is experiencing dryness and there are several challenges in the ministry; then suddenly the one at the receiving end would remember that he or she has a God. If you seek God only when you are hunted, you are a God-user and not a God-lover.

You can be sure God knows the difference and He will deal with His seekers accordingly.

It is possible to pursue God, not because you are in trouble but because you love Him. Anything can happen when you are in love. Song of Solomon 2:5 says it is even possible to become sick because of love. If you have intense love for God, you will go to any length for Him. God has created us to be capable of loving one another, particularly Him. If you find it difficult to truly love God, it is because something else or someone else has stolen your love. Material things have stolen the hearts of many people from God. If you have lost your first love – the original quality of love you once expressed towards Him when you first knew the Lord – then ask Him to help you recover it. Are you panting after God because you are hunted or because of love? If love drives you to God, love will drive Him to you. He will give Himself to you without reservation.

PRAYER POINT:

Father, let your love be shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost.

Identified by Words

Posted on October 15, 2012 by admin

Sat October 13 2012

Identified by Words
MV: The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom. Pro 10:21
Text: Proverbs 10:19-21

The righteous are identified by their speech. They do not speak carelessly. They understand the weight of words and use their words effectively, knowing someday, they shall account for every idle word. Psalms 37:30-31 says

The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgement. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide

From this passage, we see that the Word of God that we hide inside our hearts can control both our tongues and our feet. The righteous takes time to hide God’s Word in their heart. When God’s Word fills your heart, your mouth will open in wisdom. Any believer who engages in foolishness is most likely bereft of God’s Word. If you spend five minutes with the righteous, there is no way you will leave without hearing something that God has said. What is your tongue used for? If you engage it in immoral discussions with the opposite sex, gossiping, lies or any form of falsehood, you are not a righteous fellow.

The words of the righteous are like food to the hearers. They sweeten the soul. If you sit by a righteous man for counselling, within few minutes what you will hear will put you on the right path

The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom. Proverbs 10:21

Since the righteous knows how to speak the right words to meet with every occasion, their tongues feed many (Proverbs 10:32). The foolish hears the words of the righteous and receives wisdom. The sinner hears the word of salvation from them. The sick receives the word of healing while the hopeless receives hope. You cannot meet a righteous man or woman and hear him or her and not be impacted. No wonder Proverbs 10:11 says his mouth is a well of life. There is a fountain of goodness in him so that whenever he opens his mouth, living waters ooze out. When the righteous preaches the Word, deep truths are revealed that can impact hearers for good. Can you be adjudged righteous by your words?

Key Point: The world is waiting to be positively impacted through the words of the righteous.

OpenHeaven: Daughters of Zion

Aside

Fri October 12 2012

Daughters of Zion?
MV: “But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. 1 Peter 3:4
Text: Is 3:16-26

It is one thing to be clothed physically and another one to be clothed spiritually. Like the Laodicean church, many who think they are clothed are really naked before God. The Lord told the church that with all their affluence and sophisticated clothes, they were naked. You will observe that being sparsely dressed is more common among the wealthy and enlightened. If you look at what the world regards as fashion today, particularly in the western developed countries with all their wealth and level of comfort, a greater percentage of such fashion styles tend towards nakedness. If a lady’s breasts are not exposed, that dressing is regarded as old fashioned. If the skirt is not so short or slit in such a way as to reveal their underwear, it is not fashion. Instead of the world to look to the church for healthy, sane dressing, it is the church that is looking to the world for fashion. Copying the dress styles of the world that promotes promiscuity and nakedness is worldliness. 1 John 2:15-17 says believers in Christ must not love the world. Whatever you do in terms of dressing should not defeat the purpose for which God created it in the first place, which is to properly cover nakedness (Genesis 3:21). You will notice that Adam and Eve made themselves aprons (loin covering belt) from fig leaves to cover their nakedness (Genesis 3:7), this is synonymous to the scanty clothes pf today; but God saw this is inadequate, therefore He made them coats (a long shirt-like garment). Therefore let your dressing be moderate and covering your nakedness. Look decent and presentable; glorify God in your dressing.

If you see nothing wrong with transparent or perforated clothes, or clothes which reveal your nakedness or clearly shows your laps and accentuate or emphasize the size of your buttocks, you are being carnal. In those days, believers were very mindful of their dressing so that they did not cause their brothers to stumble. But today, provocative dressing is all over the church of God. There are some churches you will go to and will be wondering whether you are in a brothel. Some sisters feel we are too hard on them and so they want to be free. Are you then waling in love, if you know what you are wearing is seductive and will cause someone else to stumble in lust? We are commanded to walk in love (Galatians 5:2); if you want to make Heaven, you have to judge your motives and actions by this standard. Judge yourself and make amends fast before God’s judgement descends on you.

Action Points: Examine your wardrobe and fish out any dress that violates the code of decency. Do not give such out but destroy them.

Open Heavens 2012

Posted on October 12, 2012 by openheaven

Welcome to Open Heavens 2012.

Open Heavens

Open Heavens Devotional

Monthly Archives: October 2012

Open Heaven 2012: Identified by Goodness and Integrity

Aside

Addressed by Dressing

Aside

Open Heavens: Mountains Melts

Fruitfullness and Abundance

Open Heavens: Finger of War & Comfort

Aside

Offerings and self-examination

Aside

Open Heavens: Hunted or Love

Identified by Words

OpenHeaven: Daughters of Zion

Aside

Open Heavens 2012