OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19TH, 2023.
TOPIC: DRESS DECENTLY
MEMORISE:
“In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array.”
1 Timothy 2:9
READ: 1 PETER 3:1-5 (KJV)
1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;
2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.
3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:
MESSAGE:
There is a popular saying: 'Dress the way you want to be addressed'. This means that how you look is an indicator of who you are. In the olden days, a mad person could be recognised by his rough and unkempt look. However, these days, it is called a style. This is deception. Simply put, it is what is inside that is coming out on the outside.
What kind of people do you see wearing torn clothes around today? Some people even cut their jeans by themselves and call them crazy jeans. Do you now see clearly where their inspiration is from? Why have you made mad people your new role models? That in itself is worrisome. As a parent, why would you allow your children wear things that portray them as people of the world, rather than of God? It is clear that some parents do not regard God highly; they would rather offend Him than discipline their children. I saw a girl dressed indecently one day; I asked her if her parents had been out when she left the house. She said they were at home and, in fact, it was her mother who had bought the dress for her. I said, "How can you walk through the streets like this? Don't you know that your dress says that you are available and cheap?". Surprisingly, she thanked me and said she had always suspected that her parents didn't really care about her. Parents, teach your children to dress in a way that will glorify God.
Some husbands allow their wives to dress like harlots. I find this very hard to understand. You cannot enter a private property without an invitation because doing so would amount to trespassing. A wife is not for sale; she is already off the shelf, yet there are wives whose dressing proclaims them as cheap and available. Why would a woman dress in such a way that what belongs to her husband is exposed for the whole world to see? Some women will say they want to look 'sexy'. Are you public property? The only fellow you should look 'sexy' for is your husband - no one else. The problem is that some husbands are so ignorant that they think their wife dressing half naked in public is stylish. May God deliver this generation from destructive mentalities, in Jesus' name.
KEY POINT:
If you are a child of the King of Kings, you should dress as such.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: ACTS 18-19
AUTHOR PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE
HYMNAL: 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 power of grace divine
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.
3. Oh, 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 cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with Thee.
