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Open Heavens: Issuing God Queries

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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)

Sunday 9 December

Bible in one year: Jeremiah 24-26

ISSUING GOD QUERIES

Memorise: And call upon me in the days of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shall glorify me. Psalms 50:15

Read: Psalms 50:14-15

The Psalmist, in the midst of his troubles asked questions.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. Psalms 42:5

There is a difference between questions and queries. He asked why his soul was feeling downcast. In other words, he expected his soul to look up to see the brighter side in the midst of gloom, but the soul was not responding. When you ask God questions but still demonstrate faith in Him and His ability, it is okay. But when your questions do not reflect your past experiences of what you enjoyed from a blossoming relationship with the Lord and your statements lacks faith or even tend towards annoyance, you are already issuing God a query. Before any child of God will issue out a query to God, the fellow must have changed his or her view. He will be seeing God on one side while he is on the other – no longer on the same side with God. He will also feel empowered to a point where he feels he and God are equals or that God is subordinate to him. After all, you cannot issue your boss a query but the other way round.

Similarly, the one who would query God is in doubt of God’s love and good intentions. He believes God is negligent, carefree and irresponsible. At such a time, he has believed the lies of the devil; he is seeing God in a new picture painted by Artist Satan. Little wonder his mouth will be speaking the words from the heart of Satan! Beloved, God loves you more than anything else. Or else, how do you classify the One who gave Himself for your salvation and washed you clean in His blood? No matter the situation or event that takes place, His love for you never diminishes as long as you remain in His Kingdom. Believe the best about Him. Believe His good intentions even when you do not understand. You can make excuses for the King of glory because the One who wants your good will not be working against you when you are in right relationship with Him. But do not query God; it will worsen your situation.

ACTION POINT:

If God has received several queries from you, go back and ask for forgiveness for ever doubting His love.

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Open Heavens: God’s Love Letter

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Saturday 8 December

Bible in one year: Jeremiah 21-23

GOD’S LOVE LETTER

Memorise: How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalms 119:103

Read: Psalms 119:97-104

Another mark for identifying the righteous is how he or she loves the Word of God. Psalms 119:97 says:

O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

The Bible is the authentic manual of righteousness. Every righteous person loves the Word of God genuinely. The Psalmist says he loves it so much that he thinks on it daily. In Joshua 1:8, we are instructed to meditate on God’s Word day and night – this covers both the Written Word – the Bible as well as the Spoken Word -some prophetic words the Lord has personally given to you. Do you know that the more you read, study and meditate on them, the more you see them actualised in your life and situation? While believers generally study the Bible and meditate on them so as to be successful, the righteous read, study, meditate, memorise and obey God’s Word because of their love for God. They do not read their Bibles in the morning just because someone will ask: ”Did you read your Bible this morning?” They read it because it is their Lover’s love letter. Married couples know how they often times read again the love letters their spouse wrote to them while in courtship. When distressed, confused and unhappy, they will go and search for those letters and read them. Some will almost study the letters, while others will read it over to themselves until they forgot their difficulties.

The Bible is God’s love letter to you. How often do you read it? The Psalmist says this love letter is so sweet to his spiritual taste buds that it is sweeter than honey to his mouth. If God’s Word is not as sweet to your mouth, it is doubtful if you are righteous. The Psalmist also loved God’s Word so much that he experientially discovered it gives great peace to those that read it and it insures them against offences (Psalms 119:164-168). How much do you love God’s Word? To what extent does the Bible guide your daily living? Ask God for grace to love His Word more than what you love most.

PRAYER POINT:

Lord, from today, Let Your Word be sweeter than honey to my taste buds.

Open Heavens: Visions of God

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Friday 7 December

Bible in one year: Jeremiah 17-20

VISIONS OF GOD

Memorise: And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Acts 7:56

Read: Mark 1:9-11

If the doors of Heaven are open to you, you will most likely see visions of God like Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:1). What you see affects you in tremendous ways. Many people are in hell today because of what they saw. They are now regretting seeing what they saw. The progress or otherwise of many people is as a result of what they saw. If you see heavenly visions, your mind will be more focused on Heaven, pleasing God and working for your crown and other rewards. When you see the visions of God, you will become ambitious about becoming great in the Kingdom that never ends. What are you seeing? Where are you looking at?

In Acts 7:56-60 when Stephen looked up, he saw the visions of God the Son. Even though he was in the midst of enemies who were about to stone him to death for his faith, what he saw took away every bit of fear from him. He was full of boldness seeing Heaven standing up for him. When you see the visions of God, persecution will lose its power and devastating effects in your life. You will no longer care who is watching and who is not. You will not care about the sufferings, hunger, denial or difficulty you are going through. Oh! There is so much that God wants to release to us from Heaven but only very few people are looking up. In Mark 1:10, when Jesus was baptised, He looked up and saw the Heavens opened and He saw the vision of the Holy Spirit. His life was never the same. The silence over His life suddenly became a thing of the past. Earlier, we heard of His birth heralded by an angelic choir. Later, when He was older, the wise men visited Him from the east. Then when He was 12, He was forgotten in Jerusalem but was later found in the temple reasoning intelligently with the doctors of the law (Luke 2:1-52). After He returned home with His parents, there was a silence of about 18 years. After He saw the vision of the Holy Spirit, that silence was forever broken. His ministry took off in power and within about 3½ years; He accomplished what many cannot do in 10 life times. When you see the visions of God, your ministry will take a new turn.

PRAYER POINT:

Father, give me a revelation of Yourself capable of sealing my fate in Heaven.

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.

Surrounded By God

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Thursday 25 October

Bible in one year: Psalms 94-96

SURROUNDED BY GOD

Memorise: As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever. Psalms 125:2

Read: Job 1:8-11

Although traditionally, mountains refer to problems, yet to protect His own, God takes on the form of a mountain. Psalms 125:2 says:

As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.

When God surrounds your life with His presence as a mountain, you become immune to all attacks of your enemies. It is not that they won’t try: they will but their attempts will fail. Although many believers take for granted that they are under God’s protective cover, especially because it is not physical or tangible to them, yet it is very visible to their enemies, especially those who operate in the negative spiritual realm. For so long, Satan desired to harm Job but could not because of this protective wall he called an hedge.

Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. Job 1:10

The enemy knows the areas God’s protection covers in the lives of believers. They know the areas that are exposed, which is where they would normally attack. If you are toying with sin, you are gradually exposing yourself to the enemies. From the reply of Satan, he must have been frustrated in previous attempts to harm Job. He must have wondered: ”How come Job is just enjoying all God’s blessings and I can’t even touch him?” It was another case of Daniel in the lions’ den. He could touch just anybody else but not Job. As long as you are under the protective cover of the Lord, the enemies will be frustrated concerning you. They will look for every opportunity to strike at you but finding none, they will attempt to distract you from the path of holiness into sin. If they can succeed in getting you to sin and especially to secretly continue in that sin, God will withdraw and they will take over. Ensure you remain under His cover, living holy before His presence.

PRAYER POINT:

Father, grant me the grace to remain under Your cover.

Open Heavens

Open Heavens Devotional

Tag Archives: God

Open Heavens: Issuing God Queries

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Open Heavens: God’s Love Letter

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Open Heavens: Visions of God

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Open Heavens: Where is your God

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Surrounded By God

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