OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: TUESDAY JANUARY 3RD, 2023.
THEME: WHEN GOD BREATHES l
MEMORISE:
Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
Ezekiel 37:5
READ: Psalms 128:1-6
1 Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways.
2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.
4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.
5 The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.
6 Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel.
MESSAGE
The first thing you need to know about our topic for today is that God does not breathe to survive like we humans do. Someone who cannot die definitely does not need to breathe to stay alive. Thus, when we say that God breathes, it means that something very special is about to happen. Genesis 2:7 says:
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
The Almighty God, who does not need to breathe to remain alive, decided to breathe because He wanted to give life to a non-living thing. He breathed on ordinary clay, and it became a living soul. When He breathes on the dead, they come to life. That is how powerful the breath of God is, and believe me honestly, as humans, one thing or the other will seem to be dead in our lives at one point or the other, so we all need God to breathe on us.
Romans 4:19 says not only was Sarah's womb dead, her husband's body was dead too, but the One who can breathe life into the dead brought it back to life. He does not only breathe on dead wombs; He can also breathe on dead businesses, careers, marriages, ministries, and many more.
You may have noticed an area of your life where there has been no progress for years; you would need God to breathe on it and bring it to life. Genesis 49:22 says, "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall". Joseph prospered everywhere he went - even as a slave (Genesis 39:2), as a prisoner (Genesis 39:21-23) and then as a prime minister (Genesis 41:41).
The first verse of today's Bible reading shows the secret of Joseph's fruitfulness- he feared the Lord and walked in His ways. You have to stop committing sin and walked in the ways of the Lord, then you would find out that what had seemed dead before would begin to bear fruit. I pray that God will give you the grace to fear Him and to always do His will, in Jesus' name.
Father, please breathe on every dead thing in my life today in Jesus name.
Click here for TODAY'S OPEN HEAVENS PRAYER POINTS.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 9-12
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.