OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: TUESDAY DECEMBER 26TH, 2023.
THEME: ATTRACTING GOD'S BLESSINGS l
MEMORISE:
And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
Deuteronomy 28:2
READ: Genesis 22:1-18
1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
MESSAGE:
A blessing is a manifestation of all the forces in heaven, on earth and under the earth helping someone. When God blesses someone, everything - family, career, finance and so on will be working well for that fellow. If you really want God to bless you, you need to know how to attract His blessings. Psalm 115:3 says God is sovereign, He does as he pleases. He can bless anybody He wants; He can bless the younger more than the elder. He is God.
In our memory verse for today, the word of God made it clear: "And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD they God."
Deuteronomy 11:26-28 says further:
Behold, l set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which l command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which l command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.
The choice you make between living holy and committing sin determines what you attract to your life - whether blessings or curses. If you live holy, you would attract God's blessings, if you choose to live in sin, you would attract curses. Which one will you choose?
Blessings don't come without a cause. In Genesis 27:1-4, Isaac told Esau to prepare a very nice meal that would satisfy him, so that he could bless the boy before dying. Though it was Esau that was to be blessed, Jacob who brought the meal first, got the blessing. He provoked the blessing upon himself by doing something to please his father. If you want God to bless you, do something to please Him always. To achieve this, you must live a life of holiness. If you refuse to live holy, forget about attracting the blessings of God.
Don't mistake just having money for divine blessings. A truly blessed man has all round peace and prosperity.
KEY POINT
Holiness attracts God's blessings.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Revelation 4-7
AUTHOR: PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 10: IN CHRIST ALONE
1 In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My comforter, my all in all
Here in the love of Christ I stand
2 In Christ alone who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live
There in the ground His body lay
3 Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
4 No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand