John 10:9 (KJV) I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. May the Lord show us mercy grant us the grace to enter in through Jesus; have access into and out in response to His instructions, experience no lack as He provides nourishing pasture beyond expectation that is never depleting in Jesus mighty name.
OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: SATURDAY FEBRUARY 24TH, 2024.
THEME: A CALL TO TENACITY
MEMORISE:
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief: but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Romans 4:20
READ: Genesis 37:6-28
6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
12 And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem.
13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.
14 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?
16 And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.
17 And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.
18 And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
21 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.
22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.
23 And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;
24 And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
25 And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?
27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.
28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
MESSAGE
When I studied those who had gone ahead of me in ministry, I discovered that many of them got promises from God concerning the assignment He called them to do. For a long time, however, their situation did not look like the promises they received, yet, they kept doing the work and, after some time, saw God fulfil His promise.
When God calls you for an assignment, He will show you the exciting end results. However, when you begin to walk in that calling, you will start to see tough situations that you must go through to get the results He promised. Joseph had dreams about his brothers and parents bowing to him. That was exciting, but for those dreams to come to pass, he had to be sold into slavery, be lied against, and be thrown in prison. Nonetheless, he remained steadfast, believing that one day, what God showed him will come to pass- and it did come to pass.
Beloved, if God has called you to an assignment and has made some promises to you, and yet things are not looking like what He has said, you are in good company. Everyone who ever received a call from God also went through this, but only those who were tenacious enough to stay the course succeeded.
When God called me to full-time ministry, one of the promises He made to me was that I will lead a mighty end- time army for Him. At that time, the church was very small. I thought He will grow the church quickly to build that army, but we would increase by two members in one week and reduce by four the next week. I held seminars, fasted, prayed, and did everything I knew to do but the church did not grow. I had left my well-paying job to answer God's call, so I became a laughingstock to my
friends at the university because they thought I was crazy to have made that decision. Nothing seemed to be working, but I kept at it. I did not compromise on my faith, and I did not stop trusting God. Today, The Redeemed Christian Church of God is in over 190 nations of the World and we can indeed say that it is a mighty end-time army.
Like Joseph, don't compromise in times of trials; keep pressing on and you will see God's promises come to pass.
PRAYER POINT
Father, help me to hold firmly to Your promises. Help me to hold on to You until the very end, in Jesus
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: DEUTERONOMY 9-11
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. [Refrain]
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.
PRAYER POINTS ON TODAY'S OPEN HEAVENS:
Friday, 23 February, 2024
A CALL TO DILIGENCE
Special Note.
These prayer points are not written by Pastor E. A. Adeboye, but by one of his, disciples, of Christ, who was inspired and mandated by the Holy Spirit, effective, January 1st, 2015, to start writing these prayer points, based on the Open Heavens Daily Devotional authored by Pastor E. A. Adeboye.
Some of the prayer points are deep spiritually and may not be understood by carnal minds.
If you want to be blessed from these prayer points, you must first, surrender Your life, to the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, by saying this prayer:
“Lord Jesus, I come to You with a deeply repentant heart, please, forgive me all my sins. I surrender my life to you, today, and, I accept You, as my personal Lord and Saviour. Please, come into my life and save my soul from eternal destruction in hell fire. In Jesus' name, I pray.”
Prayer Points
1.Thank You, Father, for the privilege and honour to be called to serve, by You.
2.Thank You, Father, for Your anointing and covenant of protection, over my life.
3.Thank You, Father, for the examples of all the great men, including Jesus Christ, to follow, in the bible.
4.Father, in anyway I have fallen short of your glory, please, have mercy and
forgive me; let Your mercy prevail over judgement of sin in my life, in Jesus' name.
5.Father, please, remove from my life, every spirit of slothfulness, in Jesus' name.
6.Father, please, empower me to be diligent in my service to You, in Jesus' name.
7.Father, give me the grace to always go the extra mile, in my service to You, in Jesus' name.
8.Father, please, give me the strength to spend and be spent, in all my services to You, in Jesus' name.
9.Father, please, release upon my life, the spirit of profitable hard work and diligence, in Jesus' name..
10.Father, bless your son, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye; and, bless his ministry, home, and family (biological and spiritual), forever, in Jesus' name.
11.Father, bless Your son that You have been using to prepare these prayer points, beyond measures, and all those who have been rebroadcasting them, in Jesus' name.
12.Father, let every challenge, hindrance and obstacle of getting these prayer points across to Your children, timely, and on daily basis be removed, in Jesus' name.
13.Your Personal petitions.
( Philippians 4:6)
14.In Jesus' name I pray.
(John 14:13-14; 15:16)
15.Thank You Father for answered prayers.
(1 Thessalonians 5:18).
#GodBlessOurNation
These prayers have no expiry dates! Please, pray them, irrespective of the time they get to you. Remain blessed, in Jesus' name.
Kindly, purchase your own hard copy or online version of the Open Heavens devotional & buy for your friends too, as a potent evangelism tool. God bless you, as you sow, into Pastor E.A. Adeboye's, books ministry.
Note:
You may not add, subtract or rearrange these prayer points. The Holy Spdirit is the author, though He used someone, who, out of humility has refused to take glory for it, by not putting his name. It is plagiarism to use, or pass as your own, someone's else writing or work. The original author of these prayer points is the Holy Spirit. So, share, but don't share His glory with Him in the process.
Remain blessed, as you obey, in Jesus' name.
Job 17:15 (KJV) And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it? May the Lord visit you, bring an end to every form of discouragement and stretched of depression as you rest on our ultimate hope - Christ in you the hope of glory in Jesus mighty name.
OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: FRIDAY FEBRUARY 23RD, 2024.
THEME: A CALL TO DILIGENCE
MEMORISE:
The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.
Proverbs 12:24
READ: Acts 28:1-6
1 And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita.
2 And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.
3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
4 And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.
5 And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.
6 Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.
MESSAGE
When I realized that if God hadn't found me, I would have remained as a university lecturer heading towards hell, I made up my mind not to be an ordinary Christian. A mathematician who doesn't want to be ordinary will study those who excelled and reached the top, like Pythagoras and other great mathematicians. As I didn't want to be an ordinary Christian, I spent three years studying some people who God used mightily. One of such was Elijah. If you have listened to my series of sermons titled 'Going Higher (they can be found on Dove TV's YouTube channel) you will know that I have spent a lot of time studying Elijah. I also studied Paul because he was an academic professor of law that went into ministry like me and ended well. I found out that according to 2 Timothy 4:6- 8, he was a diligent man.
Paul was diligent in every facet of his life. In Acts 28:1-6, when there was a shipwreck on the Island of Malta, while everyone was gathered around the fire because of the cold, it was Paul who went out to fetch firewood. In the earlier days, during the RCCG conventions, my boys and I used to fetch firewood for the conventions. We also washed plates and did other menial work with joy. Whenever it was time to wash plates and anyone wanted to collect the sponge from me, I would tell them, "Wash your own portion of plates, let me wash mine." The hands that cannot do manual labor for the kingdom cannot heal the sick. When a programme is going on in your church, do not shy away from doing menial work. Get your hands dirty, and you will be amazed how the anointing will begin to surge through your fingers.
Many of the Assistant General Overseers in RCCG now were my boys in those days. This is because it is those you knew to be diligent when you were starting out that you can trust to remain diligent when you are successful. I have seen people advise that there are lots of people with great callings these days. They may have a calling, but have they been tested? Your calling is never enough to succeed. Can we put you in charge of something and go to sleep knowing that you will do the work as it should be done? Only those who are diligent can make full proof of their calling.
KEY POINT
A calling without diligence will yield no success.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: DEUTERONOMY 5-8
AUTHOR: PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 4: TO THE WORK, TO THE WORK
1 To the work! to the work! we are servants of God,
Let us follow the path that our Master has trod;
With the balm of His counsel our strength to renew,
Let us do with our might what our hands find to do.
Refrain:
Toiling on, toiling on,
Toiling on, toiling on:
Let us hope, let us watch,
And labor till the Master comes.
2 To the work! to the work! let the hungry be fed;
To the fountain of life let the weary be led;
In the cross and its banner our glory shall be,
While we herald the tidings, "Salvation is free!"
3 To the work! to the work! there is labor for all;
For the kingdom of darkness and error shall fall;
And the name of Jehovah exalted shall be,
In the loud-swelling chorus, "Salvation is free!"
4 To the work! to the work! in the strength of the Lord,
And a robe and a crown shall our labor reward;
When the home of the faithful our dwelling shall be,
And we shout with the ransomed, "Salvation is free!"
Prayer Points on Today’s Open Heavens:
Thursday, 22 February, 2024
Where Will You End Up?
Special Note.
These prayer points are not written by Pastor E. A. Adeboye, but by one of his, disciples, of Christ, who was inspired and mandated by the Holy Spirit, effective, January 1st, 2015, to start writing these prayer points, based on the Open Heavens Daily Devotional authored by Pastor E. A. Adeboye.
Some of the prayer points are deep spiritually and may not be understood by carnal minds.
If you want to be blessed from these prayer points, you must first, surrender Your life, to the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, by saying this prayer:
“Lord Jesus, I come to You with a deeply repentant heart, please, forgive me all my sins. I surrender my life to you, today, and, I accept You, as my personal Lord and Saviour. Please, come into my life and save my soul from eternal destruction in hell fire. In Jesus name, I pray.”
Prayer Points
1.Thank You, Father, for creating me in Your image and likeness; and for Your purpose and pleasure.
2.Thank You, Father, for bringing me out of the darkness of this world into Your marvelous light in Christ Jesus.
3.Father, in anyway I have fallen short of your glory, please, have mercy and
forgive me; let Your mercy prevail over judgement of sin in my life, in Jesus name.
4.Father, please, empower me by Your grace to live above sin and, above all the activities of the flesh, in Jesus name.
5.Father, please, let my end be more glorious than my beginning, in Jesus name.
6.Father, please, do not allow me to end my life's journey in hell fire, in Jesus name.
7.Father, Jude 1:24 says that You are the One that can keep a person from falling. Please keep me standing unto the end, in Jesus' name.
8.Father, please, grant me access to eternal life with You, in heaven, after departing from this world, in Jesus name.
9.Father, please, grant me the grace to endure till the end and to see You in glory, in Jesus name.
10.Father, bless your son, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye; and, bless his ministry, home, and family (biological and spiritual), forever, in Jesus name.
11.Father, bless Your son that You have been using to prepare these prayer points, beyond measures, and all those who have been rebroadcasting them, in Jesus name.
12.Father, let every challenge, hindrance and obstacle of getting these prayer points across to Your children, timely, and on daily basis be removed, in Jesus name.
13.Your Personal petitions.
( Philippians 4:6)
14.In Jesus name I pray.
(John 14:13-14; 15:16)
15.Thank You Father for answered prayers.
(1 Thessalonians 5:18).
#GodBlessOurNation
These prayers have no expiry dates! Please, pray them, irrespective of the time they get to you. Remain blessed, in Jesus name.
Kindly, purchase your own hard copy or online version of the Open Heavens devotional & buy for your friends too, as a potent evangelism tool. God bless you, as you sow, into Pastor E.A. Adeboye's, books ministry.
Note:
You may not add, subtract or rearrange these prayer points. The Holy Spdirit is the author, though He used someone, who, out of humility has refused to take glory for it, by not putting his name. It is plagiarism to use, or pass as your own, someone's else writing or work. The original author of these prayer points is the Holy Spirit. So, share, but don't share His glory with Him in the process.
Remain blessed, as you obey, in Jesus name.
