OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: WEDNESDAY MARCH 6TH, 2024.
THEME: GOD IS TALKING TO YOU
MEMORISE:
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers
only, deceiving your own selves.
James 1:22
READ: 2 Samuel 12:1-7
1 And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:
3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
5 And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
MESSAGE
Many times, when we go to Christian gatherings and the message or sermon being preached starts to sound a bit hard to swallow, there's always a tendency for us to feel that God is talking to neighbor and not to us. I believe you must have felt like that before. Once in a while, as the preacher is preaching and condemning certain things that make us a bit uncomfortable, we console ourselves by saying, "He can't be talking to me. He must be talking to my neighbor." Don't deceive yourself when the word hit you; God is talking to you and not someone else. Every time you hear the word of God, don't go pointing fingers. Look within yourself, and wherever you see that you are not living up to His standard, make adjustments immediately.
In the Bible reading for today, a prophet came to King David and told him the story of a rich man who robbed a poor man of the only lamb he had. The rich man killed the lamb and used it to entertain his visitors instead of taking one out of the many that he had. David went into a rage and said, “That man shall surely die." Then, the prophet turned to him and said, "Thou art the man". Many times, God brings messages like that to us, and just like David, we start to condemn others, but, if we take a moment to reflect on the message, we just might be the ones being described.
The way to grow as a Christian is not to assume that certain messages or scriptural verses are meant for other people and not you. Listen or read as if you are the one God is talking to directly. Face the fact that you might not be doing some things right and ensure that you do what must be done to make things right if that is the case.
The reason we have many so-called Christians who don’t behave like Christ is not because God does not correct them; it is because when He corrects them, they assume He is correcting other people. Unfortunately, if they keep doing that, they will get to a point where they could be destroyed.
Beloved, God is speaking to you today. He wants you to surrender all to Him completely without holding anything back. Don't be like those who harden their necks because the end of such people is destruction (Proverbs 29:1):
ACTION POINT
Every time you hear a message or read your Bible, assume that you are the only one that God is talking to.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Joshua 8-10
AUTHOR: PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 7: I AM THINE O LORD
1 I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith,
And be closer drawn to Thee.
Refrain:
Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.
2 Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the pow’r of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.
3 O the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God,
I commune as friend with friend!
4 There are depths of love that I yet may know
Ere Thee face to face I see;
There are heights of joy that I yet may reach
Ere I rest in peace with Thee.
Amen and Amen🙏🙌
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