WHEN SMALL IS BETTER- Open heavens devotional by Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: 1 Sam 8 -10
WHEN SMALL IS BETTER Sunday, May 09, 2010
MEMORIZE: “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;” (Eph. 5:3) READ: Ephesians 5:1-4 A virgin is pure and undefiled.  According to 2 Peter 1:4, corruption is a major cause of spiritual defilement. Whenever you seek, pursue or crave to be what God has not designed you to be, you cannot avoid being defiled. If you want to get rich overnight, there is no way you will not dabble into something that can destroy your Christian testimony.  When you want promotion before its time, you might be made to sell your birthright. Any ‘blessing’ Satan gives always comes at the cost of your salvation. This is one way of knowing whether an opportunity or open door is of God or not. If you would have to sin against God or break your relationship with Him in order to enjoy that benefit, it is not from God; It is from the pit of hell! In addition, engaging in things of the flesh will defile your garment of righteousness. Galatians 6:8 says, if you sow to the flesh it cannot deliver a spirit-filled yield to you. If you want to keep off defilement, watch your tongue and keep your heart from evil thoughts (Matt. 15:18, James 3:6). The problem of defilement is that the defiled calls for divine hammer. Also, whatever the fellow touches automatically becomes defiled. How undefiled are you? Another trait of a virgin is that such a fellow operates very high principles like Daniel who shunned the dainties of the king for the worst of meals. Can you turn down a well-paying job because it will take Christ from you, but, rather accept one which is not attractive in remunerations but helps you to keep your relationship with Christ? This tells us that sometimes few is better than much and small is better than large. Hence, Psalm 37:16 says, “A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked”. Verse 17 says the wicked will eventually lose their hands. Out of greed many people are choosing jobs, contracts, and spouses that will take them to hell. To make Heaven, you must be highly principled.  You must have a list of dos and dont’s.  Some things must become taboos to you. For instance, fornication and any form of sexual sin must not be once named of you after you claim to have received Christ (Eph. 5:3). But can this be said of you? What principles do you live by? Are you living for your mouth or for God? Are you a virgin? ACTION POINT: The size of a provision or opening is nothing compared with its state of holiness.

Is your harvest right?- Open heavens devotional by Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: 1 Sam 4 -7
IS YOUR HARVEST RIGHT? Saturday, May 08, 2010
MEMORIZE: “Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase: ” (Prov. 3:9) READ: Haggai 1:4-11 The correct knowledge of how a harvest works is important for the one who wants to maximize his or her harvest. It is one thing to take in a harvest and another thing to benefit maximally from it. When your harvest begins to come, remember to put God first? Proverbs 3:9 says God must be honored with your substance and firstfruits. The first salary or profit in the year is your firstfruits. Honor God with it. The first salary on a new job is your firstfruits. The first profit of a new line of business is your firstfruits. The difference between your old salary and the new salary after an increase has taken place is your firstfruits. What do you do with your firstfruits? It is simply meant for honoring God. If you refuse to honor God with your firstfruits, you may have a harvest but waste the proceeds. Without honoring God with your firstfruits, you may not be able to obtain maximum benefit from your harvest. According to today’s reading, when your output is not commensurate with your inputs, it’s time to look a little closer.  Refusing to honor God with your harvest can determine a whole lot: Whether your harvest will be commensurate with your efforts; whether what you put out will deliver the expected service, and whether your investment and savings schemes will perform as predetermined or be lost. Have you heard of some believers becoming victims of fraudsters? That could be as a result of refusing to honor God with their substance and firstfruits. If you fail to honor God with your firstfruits, you deny yourself the privilege of being honored by things created by God or those designed by man. Do you know that some believers cannot understand why electrical appliances fail to deliver the service or comfort they were meant to? The truth is, even such appliances could rebel against their owners and become tools in the hands of the devourers when they fail to honor God. Anytime your receipts are not commensurate with your inputs, look a bit closer.  Consider your ways. See if you are owing God in the area of honor.  Like the daughters of Zion, what has been worn to bring about beauty and glamour can become ugliness and stink (Isaiah 3:24). Are you experiencing leaking bags? Find out if God is first in your life. ACTION POINT: One major way of honoring God is by bringing Him your firstfruits yearly and as and when due. How faithful are you in doing this?

What Report?- Open heavens devotional by Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: 1 Sam 1 -3
WHAT REPORT? Friday, May 07, 2010
MEMORIZE: “Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil” (1 Tim. 3:7) READ: 1 Timothy 3:1-7  There is an approved attire in which believers should be clad: This is Heaven’s dress. God expects you to be clothed with salvation, honor, righteousness and humility. According to David’s request, it is possible to be clothed with shame and dishonor (Psalm 35:26). Every garment of shame and dishonor the enemy has dressed you with shall be burnt in Jesus’ Name. In Matthew 17:1-2, when Jesus was transfigured, His robe was as white as light. White represents several things. First, it represents purity.  This is one reason wedding gowns in the olden days were white, as the ladies were expected to be virgins.  According to His personal testimony documented in John 14:30, our Lord Jesus Christ wore purity as a dress. White is also a symbol of perfection. Scientists say white is a combination of seven colors. The number seven is the number for perfection. When Jesus asked us to be perfect like our Heavenly Father in Matthew 5:48, He meant that we should wear perfection as a dress. Are you clad in purity and perfection? The store house of a brother was burgled and a number of things were carted away. To the police, the chief suspect was the brother in charge of the key, but the company’s chairman insisted it could not be him as he was clad in holiness. He compelled the Police to release the brother.  On his release, the brother thanked his chairman and requested for three days off to enable him settle the matter with the One he served. And that if after that period the real culprits were not apprehended, he would take personal responsibility for all the stolen items. He gave the chairman the key and left. Two days later, the robbers repeated their visit and were caught.  If there is a fraud where you are, would you be exonerated? Can your boss, leader or superior vouch for you? How clean are your hands? If people around you cannot vouch for your character, you are miles away from purity.  1 Timothy 3:7 says one of the cardinal virtues a minister must have is good report especially among unbelievers. If questionnaires on your character, relations with others and attitude to money, position and women are circulated among those around you, what would be their testimony? Would their report be good or unprintable?  The Way of Life; Holiness Unto the Lord; The Indwelling Spirit ACTION POINT: Christianity is not just a way of life, but God’s only way of expressing righteousness.

Want God dead?- Open heavens devotional by Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: 2 Pet. 1-3
WANT GOD DEAD? Thursday, May 06, 2010Let Somebody Shout Hallelujah! The Life and Ministry of Pastor E. A. Adeboye
MEMORIZE: “Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing” (Rev. 5:12)     READ: Revelation 5:11-13 “For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another” (Isaiah 48:11). God is prepared to share His love and power but not His glory.  No glory thief canescape God’s judgment.  The way some ministers of God are running their ministries leaves much to be desired. You would think they were the ones who employed God and not the other way round. If a miracle takes place through their ministry, the whole world would know that it was their intense prayer, not God, that was responsible. When some people come to testify of what they claim God did for them, at the end of the day, it will be glaring that they - their prayer, fasting, zeal or faith, but not God that brought about the miracle. Are you a glory thief? You are playing with fire and will definitely be burnt unless you repent. One of the fastest ways of eroding your blessing is by attributing a divine deed to yourself. That was the pit of error king Nebuchadnezzar fell into. “The kingspake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30). He caused trouble for himself. Whenever God helps you to become something and you begin to take His glory,  you would set God against you. You would be compelling God to prove that you were nothing afterall. And for Him to prove that ,He may be compelled to reduce you to nothing. Matthew 6:13 says you should always give God all the glory.  You should do things specifically to glorify His Name. While on earth, Jesus worked relentlessly to glorify the Father.  Eventually, the Father glorified the Son. If you seek God’s glory in all you do, that glory will rub off on you. Besides, on your day of divine appointment, the Father will glorify you like Jesus. Proverbs 3:35 says it is possible to inherit glory.  The category of those w ho will inherit glory are termed wise because they have been giving God all His glory until that point. Like any other inheritance, there is an appointed time to inherit glory. Asking for your inheritance while your Father is alive is synonymous with wishing your father dead. God’s glory is your glory.  If you lift Him up, you are lifting yourself up. Give God all the glory due to His Name. Today’s reading says God earned every measure of glory He receives: do not take it from Him! ACTION POINT: After God uses you over an assignment, remember to give Him every credit.

Expressing the Anointing- Open heavens devotional by Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: 1 Pet 3 - 5
EXPRESSING THE ANOINTING Wednesday, May 05, 2010
MEMORIZE: “Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved” (Matt. 9:17) READ: Acts 13:6-12 “Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved” (Matthew. 9:17). The vessel that will carry the anointing is of paramount importance to God. Right from the beginning, everything was done after an order - grasses, fruit-bearing trees, animals and even men reproduced after their kind (Gen. 1:11-12). There was no criss-crossing of kinds or breaking the order of kinds. Similarly, in Ephesians 4:22-24, we are commanded to put off the old man and put on the new man. This is necessary because it is impossible to receive the new anointing in an old body. If you ask the Spirit of God or the anointing to come upon the body of a sinner, you are asking God to violate the law of kinds. You have the old wine and the new wine. When you are drunk with the old wine, you will be motivated to exhibit the works of the flesh. You will be intoxicated and not only misbehave, but also sin against God. But according to Colossians 3:16, when you are drunk with the new wine, it will manifest in the fruit of the Spirit and in all spiritual graces. But if you seek to receive the Holy Spirit and His anointing in your defiled vessel, He will work against you and you could lose your health, peace, joy or even life. It is a very dangerous thing to ask for divine graces while the recipient lives in secret or open sin. This is responsible for some incurable or unexplainable sicknesses in the lives of some so-called Christians. The new anointing is as strong as new wine. It is not only strong but also aggressive. Any hindrance brought before it will be resisted aggressively. We find an example in Acts 13:6-12. While preaching to a governor, a sorcerer tried to stand in the way of Paul and the anointing in him began to boil. He simply decreed that that agent of darkness will be blind for a period and it was so. Fresh anointing can clear any obstruction out of its way. Are you born again, Spirit-filled and sanctified? Nothing can resist the Holy Spirit that is at work in you. Arise and reel out decrees against every opposition on your way and they shall be established. Put a demand on the Anointing in you or He will remain dormant. The power to rule your world was deposited inside you the day you received Jesus Christ into your heart. Is that new wine finding expression?  Let Somebody Shout Hallelujah! The Life and Ministry of Pastor E. A. Adeboye ACTION POINT: Expressing the anointing is an act of faith. Bottling it up is an act of unbelief. Provoke the Spirit into action today.

Good enough for the thief?- Open heavens devotional by Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: 1 Pet 1-2
GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE THIEF? Tuesday, May 04, 2010
MEMORIZE: “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:2) READ: Revelation: 1:7-11 “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen” (Rev. 1:7).The King is coming. The Creator of the Heavens and the earth who once came as a baby, will return as the King of kings.  However, His return will be in two stages. At the first stage, He will come unannounced - like a thief in the night (1 Thess. 5:2). He will be coming to ‘steal’ the precious ones of the earth whom He has redeemed by His blood. “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garment, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame” (Rev. 16:15). In that advent, only the prepared ones like the five wise, holy and watching virgins will go with Him. Many who are rising and falling in their Christian faith will be so engrossed with whatever they deem more important that they would not know when Jesus would come as a thief. For such people, shame, sorrow and disgrace are inevitable. One lesson from this is that God does not want His children put to shame. God is not happy when you are disgraced so He does what He can to prevent shame. But inspite of all the warnings, many will still face shame for paying deaf ears to the voice of the Holy Spirit. You shall not be taken unawares at His coming. The second stage of His second advent will be a public coming unlike the first. He will return with the believers He earlier ‘stole’ from the earth because He wanted to hide them from the seven most horrible years the earth would ever know, also called the Great Tribulation (Isa 26:20-21).  As He returns with His saints after this period, the Antichrist will gather the world’s  army to resist His earthly takeover at the battle of Armageddon. That would be the mother of battles yet, it would not exceed one day.  Jesus and His saints will defeat the resisting forces in a physical combat and would take over the earth and reign for 1000 years. Although nobody would want to be ‘stolen’ or missing presently, the second advent is a good time to be ‘stolen’. Are you among the precious ones the Lord will ‘steal’ at His coming? Ask God to make you part of those to go with Him to Heaven at His second advent. You shall not be left behind! ACTION POINT: If your name is not missing from earth’s register, you will not be present to answer  your name during Heaven’s roll call. May you be missing from earth on that day!

The vision will speak- Open Heavens devotional by Pastor E.A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Ruth 1-4
THE VISION WILL SPEAK Monday, May 03, 2010
MEMORIZE: “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (Hab. 2:3) READ: Habakkuk 2:1-3 Holiness is a key to realizing our life’s goal.  In Genesis 39:7-9, when Portiphar’s wife tried to lure Joseph to sleep with her, he asked: “How can I do this evil and sin against God?” He knew how paramount holiness was in achieving his life-longdream. Many people have traded their glorious destiny for momentary pleasures. Anyone who tries to lure you into sin is sporting for your failure. No matter how close, the fellow wants you doomed. Always look beyond that attractive, promising sinful offer as underneath lies the worst form of destruction.  Usually, even after God makes a promise, you will need to wait in righteousness until it comes to pass. Most life-long promises may almost take a third, quarter or half of a lifetime to fulfill. They may not be immediate! Let us take the example of David. In 1 Samuel 16:11-13, he was anointed as king in the midst of his brethren. The seed of greatness had been sown in him, yet, for many years, he was nowhere close to the throne. Why? It takes a process for a male child to become a man. He must develop in various areas. He would learn to crawl, walk and start kindergarten.  Sooner or later, somebody would have to give him a beating on his way to school. He would cry back home. Sometimes, he would have to go to school under rain or shine and be weather-beaten.  And finally, he grows up into a man. Anyone who skips the stages in growing up could still attain the age of 40 yet he is not considered mature for lack of experience. Due process must be observed or else, such a fellow would be strange and would find it difficult to cope with daily challenges of life or to become relevant to himself and others. There is a process of growth you must follow spiritually. This was why the Israelites were deliberately made by God to take the longer route into their promised land. A journey of 40 days became one of 40 years just for them to mature in the process. Without this, they would lack what it takes to sustain their victory and remain on top. Several years after being anointed king, David became the king of Judea and finally the king of the whole of Israel. That means he was first what we call a state governor before he became the president of the nation of Israel. On the day he was made king of Israel, he must have looked back to the day he was secretly anointed king. Does God’s promise to you appear delayed? You are only undergoing your preparatory process! As long as you keep away sin, but continue in faith, obedience and humility, the vision  will speak at its appointed time. ACTION POINT: Thank God for all God’s Generals all over the world and what the Lord is using them to do through their ministries. Ask that the Lord will sustain them in holiness.