Open Heavens Daily Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL 

DATE: MONDAY APRIL 3RD, 2023.

THEME: DON'T FIGHT GOD

MEMORISE: 

Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? 

Isaiah 45:9

READ: Isaiah 45:9 -10

9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

10 Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?

MESSAGE 

Sequel to the discussion we started yesterday, the side you take determines who you fight against. If you take the side of God, you would be fighting against the devil and his demons. If you disobey the Lord, then you have chosen the side of the devil and would thus be fighting against God. Believe me honestly, you don't want to fight God. He is too big for you to take sides against and survive.

God has His way of dealing with people who take sides with the devil through disobedience to Him. One way is to withdraw His support from such a fellow like He did in Joshua 7:1-12 when Joshua failed because he had accommodated sin in his camp. Another way is to completely forsake the fellow like He did Samson in Judges 16:18-31. There are any people experiencing either of these today but they don't realize that it is God fighting them so they keep fighting without realizing that the One they are battling against cannot be defeated.

There was a lawyer who once told me that tithing was just a means for pastors to collect people's hard-earned money. I tried to explain to him that tithing was a commandment from God, but he refused to listen, so l said to him: "May l ask God to prove by Himself through you if tithing is His will or not?" He replied, "Pray the prayer" so l did. This brilliant lawyer lost all the three cases he handled immediately after this incident. This tarnished his reputation, and he lost some business. This man also owned a bakery and suddenly, during a festive period when most bakeries record higher demand and sales, all his bakers decided to resign from their jobs. He offered to double their salaries, but they all insisted that they were leaving. Hard as he tried, he couldn't get new bakers. After he realized that this must be God fighting him, he came to me and said, "l agree now that tithing is God's will, please pray for me". We prayed a simple prayer; he appealed the three cases he had lost and won all of them. His bakers also returned to work with him, and everything became good again.

Beloved, disobeying God amounts to fighting Him and woe unto him that fight his Maker (Isaiah 45:9).

KEY POINT

When you disobey God, you're taking sides with the devil to fight Him. 

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2Samuel 8-11

AUTHOR: PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 30: WHEN WE WALK WITH THE LORD 

1 When we walk with the Lord 

in the light of his word, 

what a glory he sheds on our way! 

While we do his good will, 

he abides with us still, 

and with all who will trust and obey. 

Refrain:

Trust and obey, for there's no other way 

to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. 

2 Not a burden we bear, 

not a sorrow we share, 

but our toil he doth richly repay; 

not a grief or a loss, 

not a frown or a cross, 

but is blest if we trust and obey. 

3 But we never can prove the delights of his love 

until all on the altar we lay; 

for the favor he shows, 

for the joy he bestows, 

are for them who will trust and obey. 

4 Then in fellowship sweet 

we will sit at his feet, 

or we'll walk by his side in the way; 

what he says we will do, 

where he sends we will go; 

never fear, only trust and obey.