Wednesday, March 18, 2015

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL (THURSDAY 19 MARCH 2015)

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye
Thursday March 19

SATAN'S ATTACK OR THE LORD'S CHASTENING?

Memorise:
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Hebrews 12:6

Read: Hebrews 12:4-6
4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.    
5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:  
6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Message
Christians are spiritual soldiers. We engage in constant warfare against principalities, powers and wicked spiritual forces that operate in high places. Ephesians 6:12 says that:
 "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
There is a tendency among Christians therefore to view anything unpleasant that happens to them as emanating from spiritual warfare. When a difficult situation arises, many immediately ask God to remove their distress. It is worth noting that not all problems that we face as believers have something to do with the devil or the spiritual warfare we are engaged in. In Galatians 6:7, the Scripture says,
 "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

Some hardships, difficulties and unpleasant happenings arise as a result of sin, disobedience, pride or other shortcomings that call for disciplinary action from our Heavenly Father. Sin frequently attracts punishment. Sin can be described as transgression or non-conformity to the law of God in our inward or outward conduct of life, whether by omission or by commission. The Bible indicates that sin justly deserves punishment and that it calls down the righteous judgement of God (Romans 6:23). Various kinds of sins are mentioned in the Scriptures. These include presumptuous sin, secret or hidden sin and sin against the Holy Ghost. 

Presumptuous sins refer to defiant acts of sin. These are sins committed on the basis of assumption. Some people steal, tell lies, commit fornication or adultery, forge documents or engage in other evil acts. When such people are confronted with God's view on their waywardness and its implications, they argue that God understands. They assume that God is too holy and kind to send a sinner to Hell-fire. Presumptuous sin is dangerous. God is a God of both love and of judgment (1 John 4:8, Hebrews 10:31). King David wisely prayed that God should keep him from presumptuous sins (Psalm 19:13). Secret sins are sins which escape the notice of the soul. Many people commit sins without being conscious of it. These also attract divine judgment and chastisement. What such people need is repentance and deliverance. David also prayed that God should cleanse him from secret sins (Psalm 19:12). The last but not the least is sin against the Holy Ghost or what is referred to as "sin unto death" (Matthew 12:31-32, 1 John 5:16). This is a wilful rejection of grace. Are you facing unpleasant happenings? Look inward. God's expectation from chastising is repentance.

Action Point:
Examine yourself to see if there is any presumptuous or hidden sin in your life.

Bible in a year: Daniel 9-10 & Matthew 4:23-5:20... Read after the cut:

Daniel 9-10

Dan 9:1  In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; 
Dan 9:2  In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. 
Dan 9:3  And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: 
Dan 9:4  And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; 
Dan 9:5  We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 
Dan 9:6  Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 
Dan 9:7  O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. 
Dan 9:8  O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 
Dan 9:9  To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; 
Dan 9:10  Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 
Dan 9:11  Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. 
Dan 9:12  And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. 
Dan 9:13  As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. 
Dan 9:14  Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice. 
Dan 9:15  And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. 
Dan 9:16  O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. 
Dan 9:17  Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. 
Dan 9:18  O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 
Dan 9:19  O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. 
Dan 9:20  And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God; 
Dan 9:21  Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. 
Dan 9:22  And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. 
Dan 9:23  At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. 
Dan 9:24  Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 
Dan 9:25  Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 
Dan 9:26  And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 
Dan 9:27  And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. 



Daniel 10;

Dan 10:1  In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision. 
Dan 10:2  In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. 
Dan 10:3  I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. 
Dan 10:4  And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; 
Dan 10:5  Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: 
Dan 10:6  His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. 
Dan 10:7  And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. 
Dan 10:8  Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. 
Dan 10:9  Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. 
Dan 10:10  And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. 
Dan 10:11  And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. 
Dan 10:12  Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. 
Dan 10:13  But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. 
Dan 10:14  Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days. 
Dan 10:15  And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. 
Dan 10:16  And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. 
Dan 10:17  For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me. 
Dan 10:18  Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me, 
Dan 10:19  And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me. 
Dan 10:20  Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. 
Dan 10:21  But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince. 



Matthew 4:23-5:20

Mat 4:23  And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. 
Mat 4:24  And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. 
Mat 4:25  And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan. 



Matthew 5:20

Mat 5:1  And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 
Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, 
Mat 5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
Mat 5:4  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 
Mat 5:5  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 
Mat 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 
Mat 5:7  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 
Mat 5:8  Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 
Mat 5:9  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 
Mat 5:10  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
Mat 5:11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 
Mat 5:12  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. 
Mat 5:13  Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 
Mat 5:14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 
Mat 5:15  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 
Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. 
Mat 5:17  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 
Mat 5:18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 
Mat 5:19  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 
Mat 5:20  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. 

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