Thursday, March 19, 2015

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL (FRIDAY 20 MARCH 2015)

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye
Friday March 20

SANCTIFICATION PRECEDES DIVINE COMMISSIONING

Memorise:
If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
2 Timothy 2:21

Read: John 17:13-19
13  And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.   
14  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.   
15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.   
16  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.   
17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.   
18  As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.   
19  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

Message
The most important thing a person needs is to be born-again (John 3:3). From personal experience and from the experience of others, certain things give you the assurance that you are born-again. If you are born-again, you stop thinking about yourself alone. You stop thinking only about what Jesus can do for you but also of what you can do for Jesus. This was the case with Paul after he met the Lord in Acts 9:6:
 "And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do."
You also begin to think about restitution (Luke 19:8), and you begin to serve God with the same vigour with which you served the devil (Acts 9:20-22).

After you are saved, you need to be sanctified before you can be divinely commissioned for service. An unsanctified believer is susceptible to backsliding, hence the need for sanctification. The state of the human heart before salvation is one of the reasons why sanctification is necessary. Jeremiah 17:9 reveals that:
 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"
Every person is born with a heart that is desperately wicked, and every of our actions originate from the heart (Matthew 15:19-20). Sanctification changes the nature of a person's heart (Ezekiel 36:26-27). 
Many people who were once born-again backslid because of their failure to get sanctified. A backslider is worse than a sinner who has never been saved. Backsliding is horrible. It can be likened to a dog going back to its vomit. Worldliness can cause a Christian to backslide. Demas was an example of a Christian worker who backslid because of his attachment to the things of this world (Philemon 24, 2 Timothy 4:10).

The ability to live holy is given by God. Jesus died for our sanctification. When a person is sanctified, he or she begins to think like Jesus. You forgive like Jesus and like Him, you become humble. You develop a servant-spirit and you become obedient and meek (Matthew 11:29). To become sanctified, you must believe that it is possible to live holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). You must then admit that you cannot do it without the assistance of the Holy Spirit (John 15:5). Finally, ask God to remove the heart of stone from you and replace it with a heart of flesh.

Prayer Point:
Father, sanctify me wholly; give me a heart of flesh that is in line with Your nature.

Bible in a year: Daniel 11-12 & Matthew 5:21-42... Read after the cut:

Daniel 11-12

Dan 11:1  Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him. 
Dan 11:2  And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia. 
Dan 11:3  And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. 
Dan 11:4  And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those. 
Dan 11:5  And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion. 
Dan 11:6  And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times. 
Dan 11:7  But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail: 
Dan 11:8  And shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the north. 
Dan 11:9  So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land. 
Dan 11:10  But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through: then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress. 
Dan 11:11  And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand. 
Dan 11:12  And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands: but he shall not be strengthened by it. 
Dan 11:13  For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much riches. 
Dan 11:14  And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall. 
Dan 11:15  So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand. 
Dan 11:16  But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him: and he shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed. 
Dan 11:17  He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do: and he shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her: but she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him. 
Dan 11:18  After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many: but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him. 
Dan 11:19  Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found. 
Dan 11:20  Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle. 
Dan 11:21  And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. 
Dan 11:22  And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant. 
Dan 11:23  And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people. 
Dan 11:24  He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time. 
Dan 11:25  And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him. 
Dan 11:26  Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down slain. 
Dan 11:27  And both these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed. 
Dan 11:28  Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land. 
Dan 11:29  At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter. 
Dan 11:30  For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. 
Dan 11:31  And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. 
Dan 11:32  And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. 
Dan 11:33  And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. 
Dan 11:34  Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. 
Dan 11:35  And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed. 
Dan 11:36  And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. 
Dan 11:37  Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. 
Dan 11:38  But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. 
Dan 11:39  Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. 
Dan 11:40  And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. 
Dan 11:41  He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. 
Dan 11:42  He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 
Dan 11:43  But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. 
Dan 11:44  But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. 
Dan 11:45  And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. 


Daniel 12;

Dan 12:1  And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. 
Dan 12:2  And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 
Dan 12:3  And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. 
Dan 12:4  But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. 
Dan 12:5  Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. 
Dan 12:6  And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? 
Dan 12:7  And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. 
Dan 12:8  And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? 
Dan 12:9  And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 
Dan 12:10  Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. 
Dan 12:11  And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. 
Dan 12:12  Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. 
Dan 12:13  But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days. 



Matthew 5:21-42

Mat 5:21  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 
Mat 5:22  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. 
Mat 5:23  Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 
Mat 5:24  Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. 
Mat 5:25  Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. 
Mat 5:26  Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. 
Mat 5:27  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 
Mat 5:28  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. 
Mat 5:29  And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 
Mat 5:30  And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 
Mat 5:31  It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 
Mat 5:32  But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. 
Mat 5:33  Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 
Mat 5:34  But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: 
Mat 5:35  Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 
Mat 5:36  Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 
Mat 5:37  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. 
Mat 5:38  Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 
Mat 5:39  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 
Mat 5:40  And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. 
Mat 5:41  And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 
Mat 5:42  Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. 

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