Expending your resources, Time, Talent and Money- Open heavens devotional by Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Ps 34 - 36
EXPENDING YOUR RESOURCES Saturday, September 25, 2010
MEMORIZE: “I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him” (Eccl. 3:14) READ: Eccl. 3:1-8 Besides choosing whom to serve, your spiritual partner, your spouse and where you will spend eternity, you will also need to make decisions on other issues that may not be as fundamental as the previous but are also very important. God has given everyone of us certain resources - time, talent, money, etc. And God is interested in knowing how you will utilize each of these resources He has made available to you. How do you spend your time? Everyday, God gives you 24 hours which could be utilized to accomplish certain things. How do you spend your day? God, Satan, and secular affairs compete for your time on daily basis. What percentage do you give to God? Increasingly, legitimate work is taking more and more of our time.Some people either close very late or end up sleeping in their offices. But at the end, what do they get from such sacrifices? Some lose their health, some their homes, others lose their relationship with God, while some lose their joy. How much of your time do you give back to God? It is so difficult for some people to stay in God’s presence for a three or four hours service. Yet, they spend close to 12 hours for work or business. Do you think God is not seeing you? Do you think God does not have expectations on what He wants you to do for His glory on daily basis? Ecclesiastes 3:1 says there is time for everything under Heaven. How much time do you devote to things that would not matter after you die? How much time do you give to things that are expedient? How much time too do you spend on television programs and home videos daily? What time do you apportion to prayer, Bible study, fasting, and seeking God’s face? God wants to know. NB- Time waits for no one, whatever you have to do for the Lord, do it now. Support the www.10millionexercisebooks.com project, a Christian initiative towards eradicating illiteracy. Also, God wants to know how you use the talents and abilities He has given you. Some people are using their music or dancing skills to entertain the world and glorify Satan and they still claim to be children of God. Any talent that cannot be used to regularly glorify God is useless to God. How are you using yours? Lastly, God wants to know how you spend the money He puts into your hands. What percentage of it goes back to Him? Do you give any part of that money to the devil - for instance, to your unbelieving parents to sponsor fetish festivals in your village? Do you owe Him? How do you score yourself on these? Ask for God’s help. ACTION POINT: If you liaise with God on what He has made available to you, He will tell you how to use them.

He creates wine- Open Heavens devotional by Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Ps 31 -33
HE CREATES WINE Friday, September 24, 2010
MEMORIZE: “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3) READ: John 1:1-3 Just as you have the old wine, so also you have the new wine. Until the chairman of the marriage at Cana in Galilee tasted the new wine, he did not appreciate the remarkable difference (John 2:1-11).  Hence, Psalm 34:8 says, “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him”. Until you taste Jesus Christ, you cannot appreciate how sweet He is. Until you taste the Spirit of God, you will not appreciate His superiority over other spirits you had frolicked with. What is the new wine to us today? It is a product of divine sovereignty.  That means, because the decisions about producing the new wine and at what time are entirely in God’s hands,  God takes all the decisions and nobody can question Him. The Lord will produce and serve you with new wine this season and nobody will be able to question Him. Another thing to note about the new wine is that it is a product of divine creativity totally void of the input of men. According to the accounts in John 2:1-11, the water pots were filled with water.  No chemical was added. No physical contact was established between the Lord and the water pot. All He did was to ask the servants to begin to serve the water and it turned into the best of wine. The change came by the power of His Word just as He did in the beginning (John 1:1-3). Every fruit juice started as water but became sweet juice inside the fruit. God will turn your water into wine this season! Are you crying that all you have is your limited provision? The Lord of Heaven and earth will intervene in your situation and bring out sweetness from your ugliness. Also, the new wine is God’s response to man’s need.  God knows your needs and wants to respond to them at the right time. He knows the best way to meet that need. He will still your storms! He will heal your wounds! He will deal with your enemies. This season, the Lord who holds the divine technology of turning water into wine will sweeten your life. When you need Him, He will be there for you. He will not fail you. Psalm 33:8-9 says as soon as He speaks, the matter is settled. Your blessings are settled this season. ACTION POINT: If you serve bitterness to others, your wine may turn sour.

Leadership Qualities -2 - Open heavens devotional by Pastor E. A Adeboye

Good day, Today's topic is on leadership, did you miss Leadership Qualities 1? Check it here.  Enjoy the reading and don't forget to subscribe so you receive the devotional directly on your mailbox. And most importantly, forward to a friend and be a blessing. Ayo BIBLE IN A YEAR: Ps 28 - 30
LEADERSHIP QUALITIES - 2 Thursday, September 23, 2010
MEMORIZE: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him”  (James 1:5) READ: 2 Chronicles 1:7-10 One leadership trait you must have is a servant-heart. Also, a leader must be humble. It takes humility to have a servant-heart. In John 13:13-16, our Lord Jesus Christ said that one trait that would stand believers out is humility - their ability to stoop low to wash the dirty feet of those under them. He demonstrated it for us to follow. To what extent are you doing this? As a leader, you can go to the house of your subordinate and help him do the dishes, feed his little baby, clean up the living room, wash his car, give him or his children a hair cut or help him prepare breakfast. You may protest that that is too demanding. How could you do such to your subordinate? But that is true service! Was it not demanding when the King of kings began to wash the dirty feet of His disciples? Do you know that if you touch their lives with such acts of humility, apart from making indelible impressions on them, you will truly be resembling the Lord Jesus Christ your forerunner in humility? You could have Servant-leaders’ Week once in a while where leaders take on humble assignments for those under them. If anything, such acts will serve to remind you of the need to be a true leader. Another leadership trait you would require to succeed as a leader is wisdom. It takes wisdom to be humble. There are certain battles you cannot win except through humility. That is wisdom! After an impressive offering, God asked Solomon to ask anything. That was an open check: He could have anything he asked for in that moment. If a similar opportunity was given to you, what would you ask? Do you know you need wisdom to ask aright? Solomon’s little wisdom helped him to prioritize his needs to the point of making an impressive request by asking for wisdom. What was the result? His simple request brought several other things he never asked for! Unusual requests produce unusual results. Many of us limit God and ourselves by our requests. The most difficult resource to control is human beings.If you want to successfully reign over men, you must ask God for wisdom. Any leader who lacks wisdom has failed already, hence, you should go to God for this most essential quality. ACTION POINT: Wisdom never stands alone: It attracts all other good things. If you have wisdom, king’s treasures will be in your coffers. Stand out today, support the www.10millionexercisebooks.com. Towards eradicating illiteracy

PLANNING YOUR END? - Open heavens devotional by Pastor E. A Adeboye

Hi, Today's topic is all about planning. Do you remember the topic 'Planning like God?' This is the continuation if you will call it that. Start planning till the end. Please enjoy and don't forget to forward to a friend. Be a blessing today Ayo BIBLE IN A YEAR: Ps 25 - 27
PLANNING YOUR END? Wednesday, September 22, 2010
MEMORIZE: “Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase ” (Job 8:7) READ: John 2:1-11 One lesson we can learn about God and timing is that He sometimes reserves His intervention in a life, family or situation to the last moment of an era, age, year, month, week, day, hour or second. This is why you must never lose hope of God’s intervention when a service is coming to an end or when a year or day is coming to an end. Quite a number of people have benefited from God’s last moment blessings. In the marriage in Cana of Galilee, after their wine ran out, God gave His best.(John 2:1-11). God sometimes deliberately reserves His best for the last. A particular brother had a close walk with God. He would come and discuss with him for a long time and then leave. During several visits, the Lord made him some beautiful promises which he thought would be fulfilled immediately. Along the line, he went through a period of difficulties for over 12 years. It was some 20 years after, God’s promises began to manifest effortlessly in his life. There are promises of prosperity that may not be fulfilled until the beneficiary is over 40 or 50 years. Never give up your hope for a change. Your change could meet you during the last moments of your life. Some people who are battling with poverty today will spend the latter end of their lives in prosperity. “Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase” (Job 8:7). How you start a thing is important but how you end it is even more important. Many believers plan on starting their Christian walk but never plan how to end it. Starting big but ending small is a disaster. It is not a crime to start small. It is not a crime to start that business with a few hundreds or thousands of naira. God is used to starting something big in a small, insignificant way. It doesn’t matter if you are unknown at the start. But God expects you to end up in a big way. When Jesus was born, only a few shepherds and wise men from the East knew of His value but when He died on the Cross, the whole world could not but know and relate with Him to get saved. God has a plan for your latter end. He wants you to end well because He is the Ending. As you continue on that project, plan or business, make sure the One who can give you a great ending is right with you. And that person is Jesus Christ. How are you ending your life? ACTION POINT: A wise man is one who not only plans his beginning but also his ending. Do you have plans for your last moments on earth?

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Ps 22-24
CONFRONT YOUR FEAR Tuesday, September 21, 2010
MEMORIZE: “The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace” (Exo. 14:14) READ: Mark 6:45-51 Apart from enemy’s renewed determination to hold you back and your need of God’s high hand, another challenge that confronted the Israelites as they set out for the promised land was fear. Even though they had left Egypt, they were gripped with fear. The forces of fear and intimidation opposing a crossover could be so strong to the point of making the one who is crossing over to beat a retreat. Some people cannot start a project, relationship or take a Spirit-led step on an issue because of fear. Some start but cannot continue out of fear. One foe you must conquer in your quest to cross over to the other side is fear. In today’s reading, after the Lord asked His disciples to go over to the other side, they faced fear as one of their challenges. Fear has a crippling effect. It stifles your faith. It robs you of the only means of pleasing God - faith. The purpose of fear in your life is to make you an enemy of the Almighty God. Are you being intimidated by fear? Resist it, break its hold over your heart and spirit and plead the blood of Jesus over your heart and spirit. Moreover, one good lesson from the Israelites’ experience is that if God is on your side, the enemies that are determined to stop your move to the next level are about to face extinction (Exo. 14:13). Their fate is already determined. The forces you see working against you today will soon be no more. When they perish, their evil pressure will also cease. God is not only interested in stopping the attacks of the enemy, He wants to also stop the enemy. He is not only interested in stopping the bullets and arrows of the enemy but their guns and bows too. With God, there are no half measures. God’s deliverance is full and complete. In addition, a time of crossover is a time for God to fight for His own. Even when God is just beside us, ready to take on our fights, we insist on fighting our fights and end up losing the battle. Leave that battle to Him! Vengeance is His. If you take it upon yourself to revenge, God will simply step aside. If you want God to fight for you, put an end to those physical, carnal and fleshly fights. Let Him do His job! ACTION POINT: In overcoming the enemy, there is division of labor. Your job is to hand over the problem or enemy to God, while His is to do the fighting. Keep to your part!

ELISHA WAS PROCESSED - Open heavens devotional by Pastor E. A Adeboye

Hello everyone, if you are reading this devotional today, can you say a word of prayer for me? Why? I am a year older today and today's message seem to be specially prepared for me. So, pray and enjoy the reading. Ayo BIBLE IN A YEAR: Ps 19-21
ELISHA WAS PROCESSED Monday, September 20, 2010
MEMORIZE: “Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth” (Ps. 71:20) READ: 2 Kings 4:8-13 If you must be what God has designed for you to be, you cannot afford to skip any stage in God’s training process.  Today, some people are trying to dodge what God has allowed them to go through and in the process turn themselves into half-baked disciples. For instance, if God puts you under a king Saul, it’s for a purpose.  If you find yourself under an impossible leader, running away or moving church may not really be the solution. That tough or even mean boss could be the ‘helper’ you need to break you into usable form. If you run away, you will delay and most likely prolong your wilderness experience. For any bonafide child of destiny, there is no one that you cannot work with: you should be able to work with the simple, complex, mean, even crooked boss. If they put you under your peer or even under your juniors, all you have to do is accept that God has a purpose for it and thank Him for it. If a lesson God wants you to learn as part of your requirement into greatness, can be taught through your subordinate, He may allow you to become the subordinate of your subordinate for a period. If you can see God’s purpose in it, you will not be offended or feel humiliated. One Old Testament character who went through a step-by-step preparation was Elisha. Like everybody else, he started as one of the sons of the prophets. He left his wealth behind and poured water on the hands of his master Elijah. During his apprenticeship, he humbly learnt under his master.  During his final examinations, he passed his three subjects with distinction; little wonder he bagged a double portion anointing. Even after that, he kept climbing. Some people want to lead without being led. They want others to submit to them when they cannot submit to anyone else. Later, Elisha became a father to kings and army generals.  When you start with the first step on the first wrung of the ladder, never stop until you get to the peak.  You will not get to the destination on the same day you started. Just take it step-by-step, one day at a time and you will get there. Never be intimidated by the height somebody else has climbed. Humble yourself before God, learn from the various situations you go through and be prepared for greater assignments ahead. ACTION POINT: Ask for the grace to be completely processed for Heaven’s optimal use.

PREVENT FUTURE REGRETS! - Open heavens devotional by Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Ps 16 - 18
PREVENT FUTURE REGRETS! Sunday, September 19, 2010
MEMORIZE: “What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose” (Ps. 25:12) READ: 2 Kings 5:20-27 Obtaining a change can be quite costly irrespective of whether it is a positive or negative one. Naaman had to give up his pride and reputation in order to receive his healing. What is that price standing between you and your desired end? For a user of this Devotional, pride is what is hindering you from your desired breakthrough. As you humble yourself and submit totally to God on that pressing issue, you will obtain your desire. Gehazi also paid a price for his negative change. Everyone in the Bible who experienced a negative change paid a very costly price. The truth is, the price you pay for a positive change is far cheaper than what you would pay for a negative change. For one moment of greed and covetousness, Gehazi lost his health, ministry, possibility of being the most anointed and powerful Old Testament prophet and even the goodwill of his future generations. If you know what that single, few minutes of sinful pleasure could cost you and your generations, you would prefer to die that moment than indulge in it! Today, many have regrets. Gehazi regretted his foolish act after the curse but it was too late. Abraham is still regretting one moment of unbelief during his faith ride which made him to accept to sleep with Hagar - Sarah’s maid. Oh, the havoc the world has seen and is still facing as a result! Adam is another person who paid dearly for a negative change. For deciding to be wilful and to take his life in his hands, he lost his relationship with God, the Garden of Eden, control over all creatures and the position as the god of this world. Before you decide to step into sin, think! think! And think again! Think of what it will take from you, your family, the church of Christ and your generations. One sinful act could turn your helpers against you. It could deny you of the help they were meant to deliver to you. Oh, how Adam would have regretted that day he took of the forbidden fruit! Are you doing something that could make you to regret? Put a stop to it today! Do all you can to reverse any negative seed you have sown to prevent unstoppable regrets in the future. ACTION POINT: Anything that will cause regrets later can be avoided. Ask for grace to prevent regrets.