November | 2012 | Open Heavens

Open Heavens: Giving: What Container

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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)

Tuesday 20 November

Bible in one year: 2 Corinthians 7-9

GIVING: WHAT CONTAINER?

Memorise: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.

For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. Luke 6:38

Read: Luke 6:37-38

If you know the power of your seed, you will not joke with it; you will also not hide it. Another principle of giving is that God uses your measure to Him to give back to you. You will only be expecting God to become a magician if you expect a different measure. God is no magician. He multiplies what you give to Him but He does not change the container. Luke 6:38 says:

Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

Dollar is a measure, Naira is another measure. Euro is another and Pounds is another measure. If you want returns in Dollars, sow in Dollars. Do not sow in Naira and be expecting a harvest in Euro. It does not work like that.

You can be in any country and sow in the particular currency in which you want your harvest. Sow and keep on sowing in that currency. By the time your harvest comes, you will celebrate. In addition, the various denominations of each currency are different measures too. Take for instance the Nigerian Naira, you have N1000, N500, N200, N100, N50, N20, N10 and N5 notes. It is the particular denomination that you use that God will multiply and return to you. If you keep using the smallest of the denominations and think you are thrifty or wise, you are only limiting yourself. Do yourself a favour by using the biggest denominations so as to get the greatest harvest. Sometimes however, when you sow in a foreign currency, God may give you the harvest in a local currency for a reason. But if you check the value and compare with what you sowed, you will know that God knows how to calculate value in any currency. How often do you sow? The key to your financial breakthrough is in your hands. If you fail to use it, nothing will be delivered to you but if you use it very well, your life will turn around for good.

ACTION POINT:

Before you give, decide on the harvest you want and thereafter choose the seed and container that will deliver the harvest to you.

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Open Heavens: Heaven’s Worth it

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Monday 19 November

Bible in one year: 2 Corinthians 4-6

HEAVEN’S WORTH IT!

Memorise: So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Luke 12:21

Read: Luke 12:16-21

The greatest blessing you can give to anyone is to prepare the fellow for Heaven. Revelation 22:12 says:

And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

Give a man a million naira; if he is not financially prudent and does not have the wisdom on how to invest it, after some time, there may be no evidence of having received such a sum. But if you give a man Jesus and prepare the fellow for Heaven, not only will he be your crown of rejoicing, his own joy will be everlasting. Tell all who are associated with you that if they are not born again, no matter how religious they are and no matter the position they occupy in church, they cannot enter through the pearly gates of Heaven. Also tell them that if they are born again but they are not living holy, they will also not be able to enter in. You can equally be a blessing by getting the sick healed or getting the needy to have supernatural provision from God through your ministry, but the fellow who is healed today will still die one day and face eternity and the one with abundance today will die and return naked some day. So it is better to give people Jesus and prepare them for Heaven.

The other day, someone was congratulating me that I was nominated as Number one among the living legends in Nigeria and 49th among the world’s most influential. I thanked him and replied: “Number one in Nigeria, and Number 49 in the world, then Number what in Heaven?” This is what is most important! When Jesus returns, He is not going to ask you what number you were in your country or in the world, but where you are placed in Heaven. If God likes you and gives you good health, you may live up to 120 years on earth but over there, it is forever. If you make it to Heaven, you will enjoy forever but if you go to hell, you will burn throughout eternity. Some years ago, a man attended the Holy Ghost service and met someone he was familiar with there. “So, you too are here?” He asked. “Yes,” replied the other man. “Really, for how long?” “For five years” was the reply. Then the man became excited and said: ”You mean, you knew the way to Heaven for the past five years and you never told me, yet you call yourself my friend?” Lead all your acquaintances to Jesus today! Don’t be like the rich fool!

ACTION POINT:

What number are you in Planet Heaven? What are you doing to move up your rating in heaven?

Open Heavens: Pour out your Heart

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Sunday 18 November

Bible in one year: 2 Corinthians 1-3

POUR OUT YOUR HEART

Memorise: And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. Matthew 11:12

Read: 1 Samuel 1:13-18

While describing the way he prayed under a particular circumstance, the Psalmist in Psalms 42:4 says he poured out his soul to God. The phrase, “I pour out my soul” describes the soul like liquid. Depending on the situation, some prayers can take on a casual form while others may wear a garb of seriousness. The intensity of your prayers will defer in a case where you experienced a hitch-free trip compared to when you meet with several difficulties during a trip but eventually arrived safely. The Psalmist in Psalms

130:1-2 talks of calling unto God out of the deep. Somebody said that was Jonah’s prayer in the belly of the fish. When there is no imminent danger and you are in the comfort of your air-conditioned bedroom praying, that kind of prayer will be sweet, smooth and leisure-like. But the one in the belly of a fish such as in Jonah’s case would definitely be differently. Jonah would have been very aggressive and desperate and must have prayed like a drowning man.

In 1 Samuel 1:13-18, we read that when Hannah was praying, only her lips moved. Some people have used this as an excuse to engage in silent prayers. But the truth is, although she was not making a sound, it does not mean that she was not praying aggressively. We could compare this to a situation where an eight- day-old baby boy is circumcised and he is in pains. He cries out in agony and even when he is being given breast to suck, he continues to cry until his voice pales out, yet he will still be crying. Hannah must have cried to the extent of losing her voice. There is an extent you would pray and you would realise you have gotten God’s attention. What kind of prayer takes place in your family? How desperate are you? If you can pour out your heart to the Lord without being so mindful of grammar or who is nearby or who is looking or not looking at you, you would get His attention. At the end of the day, what is important is getting answers to prayers and not whether you appear to men as being prayerful. The Lord will hear your cry this season. Call on Him!

Prayer point:

Using Matthew 11:12 pray that God will grant you grace to express the needed spiritual violence that will deliver answers to you in the place of prayer.

Open Heavens: Mark of Faith

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Saturday 17 November

Bible in one year: 1 Corinthians 13-16

MARK OF FAITH

Memorise:And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. Genesis 15:6

Read: Genesis 15:1-6

The righteous can be identified by their faith in God. The Bible reports that Abraham was counted as righteous because he believed God.

And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. James 2:23

Hebrews 11:6 says without faith nobody can please God. If you come to God, you must believe that He exists. Not only that, you must take Him at His Word because He does not break His promises. You must also believe that He will do what He says He would. Faith in God is very paramount in the life of a Christian. The righteous believes every word that comes out of God’s mouth or His bona fide servants. If you find it difficult to receive God’s Word or to believe certain prophesies that the Lord has declared, your righteousness is questionable. The righteous is a believer in Christ, are you? Abraham’s faith in God was so outstanding that it made him to be called: The friend of God. Faith in your God is what elevates you. If you have the key of faith and it is inserted into Jesus Christ – The Door, and turned, it can take you to any height. If there is one thing that Jesus sought as He went about preaching, teaching and healing, it was faith.

Faith attracts His presence. One way or another, wherever He finds faith in God, He moves into the situation to salvage it. Beloved, where is your faith? As long as you have someone to depend on for that job placement, contract, appointment, etc., you will be unable to channel your faith towards God. Each time you depend overly on man instead of God, you make Him jealous. He sees anyone you totally depend on as competing for His space in your heart. He might be forced to sever you from such persons. God is the only One you should trust totally. The righteous trust God to the point of foolishness and He never disappoints them. To what extent can you believe God in today’s world?

KEY POINT:

Different situations call for different levels of faith.

In some cases, all you need is just simple child-like faith.

Open Heavens: Accepting Correction

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Friday 16 November

Bible in one year: 1 Corinthians 10-12

ACCEPTING CORRECTION?

Memorise: But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Hebrews 12:8

Read: Hebrews 12:5-11

Apart from telling them what to do to become truly rich, the Lord Jesus Christ also told the Laodicean church to buy eye drops from Him so as to have clear vision (Revelations 3:18). Amos 3:3 says:

Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

For two people to work in agreement, they must see and mind the same thing. They must be focused on the same goal. If God is focusing on the greater harvest of souls in your parish and the pastor is focusing on pleasing the members so that he can get something out of them for himself, you can be sure there will be problems. Today, this is the summary of the state of the church. There are divergent goals. God is looking to the right but we are sometimes looking to the left. If God sees you as non-performing but you see yourself as okay, then there can be no genuine progress. But you can be sure God cannot be wrong in His assessment. You need “spiritual eye drops” to clear your eyes. May you begin to see the same way He sees from today in Jesus name.

As unworthy as this church was, the Lord still loved them. In Revelation 3:19, He says:

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent.

If God loves you, one proof of that love is that He will correct you. To rebuke in Greek is to compel a man to see the error of his ways. Psalms 94:12 says the one God chastens is blessed. Hebrews 12:5-11 says God’s correction can be quite painful. God can cane you and you will be in tears, yet you know it is all for your good. The same passage says if you say God is your father and He does not correct you whenever you do wrong, then you may have to look for your father; it is obviously not God. Has God used anybody including your parents, colleagues, spouse, children or wards to correct you? It is because God loves you and wants the best for you. If God hates you, He will ask you to be left alone (Hosea 4:17). That means He has washed His hands off that individual. May He never leave you alone! However, how do you respond to His corrections? Do you drag your feet or respond promptly?

ACTION POINT:

A true believer accepts correction joyfully. Ask for grace to do so.

Open Heavens: Experimental Pig

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Thursday 15 November

Bible in one year: 1 Corinthians 7-9

EXPERIMENTAL PIG

Memorise: So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 1 Corinthians 3:7

Read: 2 Samuel 6:11-12

In 2 Samuel 6:9-11, afraid of the immediate judgement of God on Uzzah who tried to save the Ark of the Covenant from falling, David decided to use somebody else as an experiment. “Who knows Obededom? If he dies, not many people will miss him”, he reasoned. Then he told the man, “Please let the Ark of God rest in your house for a while”. “It is my greatest honour, sir”, Obededom replied. Then, the king sent people to keep an eye on him. ”Is he sick? Are members of his family sick?” David asked anxiously. ”No my Lord, he and members of his household are doing just fine”, some of his spies replied. After they observed him for the first, second and third week, they brought word back to the king: “My Lord, it seems some things are happening with this man but we cannot figure it out yet: let us watch him further”. Suddenly, they observed that Obededom who was a nobody gradually became so highly favoured and popular. His health was never better. He and his family no longer complained of sicknesses. The debts the man had been unable to pay were suddenly written off. His children who could not go to school for lack of payment of fees have now fully paid for all their years in school. His business had taken a new turn as all the customers had left his competitors to patronise only him. Even his competitors were now coming to find out how he is doing it. Every member of his family were so blessed that they were sharing testimonies everyday.

Not long after, people began to think that someone as blessed as Obededom should indeed be a king. At that point, King David told his aides: ”Our experimental pig is almost making me totally irrelevant. Please, go and bring me the Ark”. Are you an experimental pig? Has your pastor sent you to a dangerous zone he knows he cannot go? Are you left alone in God’s hands over your present assignment? Are they expecting you to resign, be frustrated or even die on the job? Fear not! As long as you have God’s presence with you, very soon you and where you are will become the centre of attraction. The Lord will not leave you alone. He will work with you and turn your every effort into gold.

KEY POINT:

If men are experimenting with you to reproach you and your God, the Lord will turn it around for your glory and promotion.

Open Heavens: Enlisted in this School

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Wednesday 14 November

Bible in one year: 1 Corinthians 4-6

ENLISTED IN THIS SCHOOL?

Memorise: Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness: Colossians 1:11

Read: James 5:7-11

Between a promise and its fulfilment, there is a waiting period. The same pattern is observable in the natural world. For instance, the gestation period of a woman is normally nine months. She will be full of expectations of seeing what her child will look like, whether it’s a boy or a girl, whether the child will resemble her or her husband. Yet, she will not be able to realise all her expectations until the day of delivery. If she decides to go for an operation to deliver the baby after three months because she is so full of expectation, what she will see will not be what she was expecting. While it takes a woman nine months to see the joy in her womb, it takes an elephant almost two years – 22 months, while it takes a rat about 20 days. As it is in the natural world, so is it with us spiritually. If your expectation is small, your waiting period will be short. But if your expectation is very big, then, you might have to enrol into the University of Patience, College of Waiting. In the Department of Records of this college, you will find the list of those who have passed through this school and how long it took them to graduate. You will find Patriarch Abraham who waited for 25 years, Zacharias, etc. Their records will encourage you when they tell you your graduation will be earlier than Abraham’s.

Many people enrol into this school but before their graduation day, they dropped out. The Lord will definitely hear your prayer as you enrol in this school, but the question is: Will you still be there when He comes to grant your desire? In Luke 18:8, the Lord asked a question that everyone should answer personally:

I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Many have lost their blessings for failing to stay in this school for just one more year or month or one more week or one more day. Will you be ready to wait as long as it takes?

KEY POINT:

If you enrol in the University of Patience, you are a work-in-progress in God’s hands.

If you choose not to be there, you are on your own

Open Heavens: First the Fruit

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Tuesday 13 November

Bible in one year: 1 Corinthians 1-3

FIRST, THE FRUIT

Memorise: For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth; Ephesians 5:9

Read: 2 Kings 2:23-24

An encounter with the King of glory adds glory into you and changes your life and destiny forever. Take for instance erstwhile blind Bartimaeus who begged for several years in blindness. The day he had an encounter with the King of glory, his garment of shame was forever removed. His blindness and darkness were replaced with sight and light. He never begged again, he was never stagnant again and was never a burden for the rest of his life. Yet, over 2,000 years later, his testimony is still touching lives and stirring them up to receive theirs.

An encounter with the King of glory changes everything, but there is a price to pay. To encounter the King of glory, you must be ready to pray and be prepared for dramatic changes. When Moses asked to see His glory, He told Moses, anyone who sees Him will die. Let us put aside physical death for a moment. If you want to see the King of glory, you must die to the desires of your flesh -anger, laziness, immoral thoughts, etc. If these are not dead in your life, they will rubbish God’s glory or anointing in your life. Take for instance Elisha. He got the double portion of the anointing on Elijah. While returning from healing the bad water and barrenness of Jericho, some children mocked him because of his bald head and he cursed them, and they were immediately destroyed. What would their parents say if they got to know he was responsible for the death of their children? Again he became angry with some kings and their armies. The King of glory realised that if He did not do something fast, Elisha would destroy the world, so He withdrew from him for a while. It took him sometime singing and praising God before the power returned, but after that, he learnt his lesson and was never angry again. Some years ago, I asked for double portion of the anointing on Elisha, Peter, Paul and Jesus Christ while on earth, all rolled up together and doubled again. God told me I was courting trouble and asked if I could pay the price. He said If He gives me that anointing, I must never be angry again. This explains why I try not to be angry when people are pushing me here and there. I know what God has put in me and what I am still expecting from Him. Can you control your temper? First concentrate on building the fruit of the Spirit before taking in dangerous levels of the anointing.

KEY POINT:

You need the fruit of the Spirit to ensure you don’t end up in hell, after receiving and manifesting the gifts of the Spirit.

Open Heavens: Seed Expedites Promises

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Monday 12 November

Bible in one year: Isaiah 64-66

SEED EXPEDITES PROMISES

Memorise: Then Isaac sowed in the land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. Genesis 26:12

Read: Genesis 26:12-14

If there is one lesson we ought to learn from Isaac’s experience with sowing, it is that even when God’s promise has gone ahead of you, sowing is still necessary to expedite action on the promise. In Genesis 26:1-6, God gave Isaac fantastic promises and asked him to stay in Gerar and not go down to Egypt. He promised to bless him in Gerar. Yet, when the famine was biting hard, Isaac sowed in the land.

Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. Genesis 26:12

It was after he sowed that God blessed him. The reason some people do not sow today is because God gave them solid promises. Some may tell you,

”Because I have great and powerful promises concerning this business, whether I do something or not, God will bring His Word to pass in my life.” It does not always work like that! There are some people God gave even bigger promises but they never realised them. At the end, they saw God as a covenant breaker. They were waiting for God to do something but God had already done something by giving them His promises. God was waiting for them to take a step before the blessings will follow but they never did.

Do you know that if Isaac had not sowed the seed, he would either have waited a longer time to see the fulfilment of the promises or would never have realised them at all? The one who really wants to be blessed will give God no excuse for not blessing him or her. That is, he or she will do everything possible including sowing to provoke the miracle. From Isaac’s experience, it is glaring that your seed can hasten the fulfilment of God’s promises in your life. The blessing that should come in one, two or more year’s time can be delivered to you now if you sow the right seed. How soon do you want your blessing? In addition, sowing a seed is a sure way of breaking the effects of a famine. Are you going through a famine? What steps have you taken to arrest the situation?

Key point:

Promise is not enough. A provoking action must follow the promise to convert it into reality.

Open Heavens: Where is your God

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Sunday 11 November

Bible in one year:Isaiah 61-63

WHERE IS YOUR GOD?

Memorise: But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Psalms 115:3

Read: Psalms 115:1-3

One question that bothered the psalmist in Psalms 42:3 was, “Where is thy God?” It can be very painful when the authority of God your lover is so challenged. You will want to do anything to defend Him even if it means doing so with your life. In 1 Samuel 17:23-26, in the battle between the Philistines and Israel, Goliath came out and boasted exceedingly and asked them, “Where is the God of Israel?” For as many as had no intimate relationship with God, this threat, challenge and disgrace meant nothing to them. But then one day, one little boy who loved the Lord was there. Then he heard Goliath boast and he was mad. His love for God propelled him to dare this giant that was bringing shame on God and His people. That was how the reproach was taken away. It can be painful when you have a problem that is quite obvious and has persisted, especially when you know that your God is more than able to solve it. People will be asking, “Did you not say your God can do all things? Why has He not done yours?” Yes, it can be painful, but you must be prepared to love God to the extent of not minding what people are saying about your condition.

In Psalms 115:1-3, when the unbelievers where asking this psalmist: “Where is your God?”, instead of being embarrassed or engaging in self-pity, he was not bothered. In fact, he began to make excuses for God because of his love for Him. He replied them: “Are you asking of my God because of this little problem? My God is still in Heaven. He is still on the throne and He cannot be dethroned. If you must know, my God does whatever He pleases and is not accountable to anyone. Whether He does it or not, you cannot take Him to court. He knows the right time to solve this problem because your time and mine may not be His. Is it not for me? I am prepared to wait for His time; I am not in any hurry”. With that kind of answer, the mouths of the enemies will be stopped. How much do you love God? Do you make excuses for God over some delayed blessings? Prove your love for Him!

KEY POINT:

If you truly love God, you will not see any fault in Him.

Open Heavens

Open Heavens Devotional

Monthly Archives: November 2012

Open Heavens: Giving: What Container

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Open Heavens: Heaven’s Worth it

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Open Heavens: Pour out your Heart

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Open Heavens: Mark of Faith

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Open Heavens: Accepting Correction

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Open Heavens: Experimental Pig

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Open Heavens: Enlisted in this School

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Open Heavens: First the Fruit

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Open Heavens: Seed Expedites Promises

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Open Heavens: Where is your God

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