Monday, May 25, 2015

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL (MONDAY 25 MAY 2015)

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye  
Monday May 25

YOU ARE GOD'S SANCTUARY

Memorise:
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
1 Corinthians 6:19

Read: 1 Corinthians 6:15-20
15  Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.   
16  What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.    
17  But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.    
18  Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.    
19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?   
20  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Message
The most pleasurable sin to the flesh is sexual immorality. Incidentally, this particular type of sin is the most deadly because its consequences are not only spiritually unpleasant but also physically humiliating. In our Bible reading, Apostle Paul warned the Church at Corinth against sexual immorality. He explained that we are the temple of God. The implication of this is that your body does not belong to you, but rather, it belongs to God. He further revealed to us the judgment that would follow if we defile the temple of God - our body. In 1 Corinthians 3:17 he wrote:
 "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."

Are you currently involved or planning to go into any form of sexual immorality? God is warning you today. You better desist before it is too late. If sickness has turned your body into its permanent place of abode, and you have claimed all the promises of God concerning healing to no avail, it would be wise of you to examine yourself. Is there any sexual sin you have committed and you have not confessed? I am afraid to tell you that you may be under God's judgment, and there is nothing any anointed man of God can do about it unless you repent. You have defiled God's temple; you therefore need to make amends through genuine repentance that involves confessing and forsaking this sin entirely. I know of a man of God who appeared fervent, but suddenly he was stricken with a strange sickness. This sickness persisted for so long a time that I began to wonder what was actually responsible for his affliction. One day, the Lord decided to satisfy my curiosity. Someone came to tell me some secret things about this man of God without knowing how close I was to him. He was flirting around with women, including widows! The Bible in Proverbs 9:17 says a whore sits at the door of his or her house calling customers who lack understanding to come and patronise him or her, saying:
 "Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant."

This is the deceit of the devil. There is nothing in that strange woman or man you are going out with that is not present in your spouse. The same scripture in Proverbs 9:18 says:
 "But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell."
I pray that you will not go to Hell as a result of either pre-marital or extra-marital sexual adventures.

Prayer Point:
Dear Holy Spirit, please prepare me as a pure and holy dwelling place for You in Jesus' Name.

Bible in a year: 2 Samuel 16-17 & Mark 14:10-31... Read after the cut:

2 Samuel 16-17; 

2Sa 16:1  And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and an hundred bunches of raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine. 
2Sa 16:2  And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be for the king's household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink. 
2Sa 16:3  And the king said, And where is thy master's son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem: for he said, To day shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father. 
2Sa 16:4  Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine are all that pertained unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech thee that I may find grace in thy sight, my lord, O king. 
2Sa 16:5  And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came. 
2Sa 16:6  And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. 
2Sa 16:7  And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial: 
2Sa 16:8  The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man. 
2Sa 16:9  Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head. 
2Sa 16:10  And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so? 
2Sa 16:11  And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him. 
2Sa 16:12  It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day. 
2Sa 16:13  And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill's side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust. 
2Sa 16:14  And the king, and all the people that were with him, came weary, and refreshed themselves there. 
2Sa 16:15  And Absalom, and all the people the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. 
2Sa 16:16  And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, was come unto Absalom, that Hushai said unto Absalom, God save the king, God save the king. 
2Sa 16:17  And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this thy kindness to thy friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend? 
2Sa 16:18  And Hushai said unto Absalom, Nay; but whom the LORD, and this people, and all the men of Israel, choose, his will I be, and with him will I abide. 
2Sa 16:19  And again, whom should I serve? should I not serve in the presence of his son? as I have served in thy father's presence, so will I be in thy presence. 
2Sa 16:20  Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you what we shall do. 
2Sa 16:21  And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father's concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father: then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong. 
2Sa 16:22  So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. 
2Sa 16:23  And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom. 



2 Samuel 17; 

2Sa 17:1  Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night: 
2Sa 17:2  And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only: 
2Sa 17:3  And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace. 
2Sa 17:4  And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel. 
2Sa 17:5  Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith. 
2Sa 17:6  And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not; speak thou. 
2Sa 17:7  And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time. 
2Sa 17:8  For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people. 
2Sa 17:9  Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom. 
2Sa 17:10  And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men. 
2Sa 17:11  Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person. 
2Sa 17:12  So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one. 
2Sa 17:13  Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there. 
2Sa 17:14  And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom. 
2Sa 17:15  Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled. 
2Sa 17:16  Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him. 
2Sa 17:17  Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel; for they might not be seen to come into the city: and a wench went and told them; and they went and told king David. 
2Sa 17:18  Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of them away quickly, and came to a man's house in Bahurim, which had a well in his court; whither they went down. 
2Sa 17:19  And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known. 
2Sa 17:20  And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They be gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem. 
2Sa 17:21  And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David, and said unto David, Arise, and pass quickly over the water: for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you. 
2Sa 17:22  Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over Jordan: by the morning light there lacked not one of them that was not gone over Jordan. 
2Sa 17:23  And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father. 
2Sa 17:24  Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. 
2Sa 17:25  And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab: which Amasa was a man's son, whose name was Ithra an Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab's mother. 
2Sa 17:26  So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead. 
2Sa 17:27  And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim, 
2Sa 17:28  Brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse, 
2Sa 17:29  And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat: for they said, The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness. 



Mark 14:10-31

Mar 14:10  And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them. 
Mar 14:11  And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him. 
Mar 14:12  And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover? 
Mar 14:13  And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him. 
Mar 14:14  And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? 
Mar 14:15  And he will shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us. 
Mar 14:16  And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. 
Mar 14:17  And in the evening he cometh with the twelve. 
Mar 14:18  And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me. 
Mar 14:19  And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I? 
Mar 14:20  And he answered and said unto them, It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with me in the dish. 
Mar 14:21  The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born. 
Mar 14:22  And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. 
Mar 14:23  And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. 
Mar 14:24  And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many. 
Mar 14:25  Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. 
Mar 14:26  And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives. 
Mar 14:27  And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. 
Mar 14:28  But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee. 
Mar 14:29  But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. 
Mar 14:30  And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. 
Mar 14:31  But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all. 

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