GOD OF PURPOSE- 11/02/2014

GOD OF PURPOSE- 11/02/2014

Yesterday’s message was titled “MEET ME ON THE  MOUNTAIN”. Today’s message is titled “GOD OF PURPOSE” as given by Pastor E. A. Adeboye in Open Heavens Devotional (Adeboye, 2014). In today’s message, we have been asked to memorise  Ephesians 1:11 “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being Predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” and read Proverbs 3:5-7. Our Bible in one year for today has been taken from Isaiah 30:13-3§:24  and Psalm 36 (Adeboye, 2014).

The message is quoted below for our usual discussion:

“Our God is a God of purpose. He created man for a purpose. He declared His purpose for man even before creating him in His own image. The Bible in Genesis 1 :26 says,

"And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the  air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and  over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. “

Therefore, know that you were born for a purpose; you are not an accident, even if your parents were no longer expecting children at the point they had you, just like it happened in my own case. It could even be that you're a child out of wedlock. Notwithstanding all these, the fact that you came and you survived despite all the forces against you, and that you became exposed to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, shows that God has you uppermost in His heart. You got this far because He was’ behind the scene working out His purpose for your life. So don't let the devil deceive and rob you of your glorious destiny. Remember, Solomon was a product of a relationship founded on adultery and intrigue that resulted in the murder of his mother's husband.

The true children of God were chosen from the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-5). He chose us for different purposes. We should seek out His purpose and rest in Him while He brings it to pass. Moses, who was chosen for a great purpose by God, jumped ahead in his own self-counsel to begin the deliverance of his people. The result was a forty year wait in the wilderness. Do not jump ahead of God, stay close to His heartbeat in the place of meditation. Hear what will have you do per time. Knowing and walking in God’s purpose for your life brings a level of confidence that makes YOU exude calmness in the midst of the storm. This was the case with Paul in Acts27:23-25

“For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose lam, and whom l serve, Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me”

Know that there is a purpose for you, discover what that  Purpose as and pursue it with all your might. God will help you in Jesus Name.”

Today’s action point is to praise God for whom He has made you to be; you are fearfully and wonderfully made with a purpose to fulfill

God bless you as you contribute to today’s discussion.

Reference:

Adeboye, E. A. (2014) Open Heavens: A Guide to Close Fellowship with God, Volume 14, 2014. Nigeria: Open Heavens Media Limited.

MEET ME ON THE MOUNTAIN- 10/02/2014

MEET ME ON THE  MOUNTAIN- 10/02/2014

Yesterday’s message was titled “ACCEPTED TIME III”, thereby concluding the series on ACCEPTED TIME. Today’s message is titled “MEET ME ON THE  MOUNTAIN” as given by Pastor E. A. Adeboye in Open Heavens Devotional (Adeboye, 2014). In today’s message, we have been asked to memorise Isaiah 57:15 “ For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” and read 1Kings 18:17-19. Our Bible in one year for today has been taken from Isaiah 28:1 to Isaiah30:17, and Psalm 35 (Adeboye, 2014).

“Although mountains are usually regarded as symbols of problems, obstacles and obstructions to progress, they can also be a place for great achievements. Elijah set the stage for an explosive encounter with top agents of the devil on Mount Carmel. He brought down revival and God was glorified on this mountain. A mountain can have good or positive uses. In Exodus 17:10-13, Moses demonstrated that a mountain can be a suitable place to direct battles. As you get on the mountain   with God, every battle of life confronting you shall be crushed just as the Amalekites were routed and crushed before Israel while Moses was on the mountain. The mountain top is a place of loneliness, because when you really want to be intimate with God, it can only be you and God alone. The glory that accompanies being with God however makes it worth the price. With glory from the mountain top, your next contact with men in troubling situations is bound to deliver a solution. The episode described in Matthew 14:22-32 clearly reveals that Jesus Christ was able to bring respite to the disciples’ nasty experience of being tossed about by a terrible storm on the Sea of Galilee after spending some time with His father on the mountain.

The most important thing about the mountain top is that it is a place of answered prayers. Miracles happen there, as well as incredible things that would build the faith of unbelievers and bring down revival among the people of God. The unrepentant enemies of God meet their waterloo on the mountain, just like it happened in the case of Elijah (1 Kings 18:36-40). It should be realised however, that before these wonderful experiences can occur, there must be preparation in terms of separation, and a decision to serve God and Him alone is a necessity. Getting to the mountain top is by divine selection; Jesus took only three out of twelve disciples along with Him to the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-2). Jesus led the three of them, t us showing that God would lead anyone up there who is meek, humble, gentle and peaceful (Psalm 25:9, Isaiah57:15). Note also that He led them; He did not carry them, meaning that such individuals must be willing to pay the price, because climbing requires effort. As you desire the mountain top experience, may the grace to pay the price be given to you in Jesus’ Name. Finally, remember that you must have clean hands and a pure heart to access the mountain top of God (Psalm 24:3-4). There Is no room for fraudulent and dishonest Imaginations at the mountain top”

Our prayer point for today as given by Pastor E. A. Adeboye (Adeboye 2014) is that we should pray that God will grant us the essential qualities required for mountain top experiences.

Please pray this prayer point with all seriousness and we will soon meet at the mountain top in Jesus Name, Amen.

Reference:

Adeboye, E. A. (2014) Open Heavens: A Guide to Close Fellowship with God, Volume 14, 2014. Nigeria: Open Heavens Media Limited.

ACCEPTED TIME III- 09/02/2014

ACCEPTED TIME III- 09/02/2014

Yesterday’s message was titled “ACCEPTED TIME II”, while today’s message builds on yesterday’s message and is titled “ACCEPTED TIME III” as given by Pastor E. A. Adeboye in Open Heavens Devotional (Adeboye, 2014). In today’s message, we have been asked to memorise 2 Corinthians 6:2 “For He saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation..” and read Numbers 14:39-45  Our Bible in one year for today has been taken from Isaiah 24-27 and Psalm 34:11-22

 (Adeboye, 2014).

Please feel free to post your contribution/comments. God bless you richly in Jesus Name.

Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth did not give birth to John the Baptist until they had grown old. Yet the Bible says this of Zechariah the priest of God and Elizabeth his wife in Luke 1:6:

"And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.”

In spite of their right standing with God, John was not born until the time was set in God's timetable. This was on purpose. The one that would be the forerunner of the Messiah (Jesus) was only going to be older than Jesus by 6 months. God had reserved for His righteous servants the honour of becoming the parents of this fellow who would be the forerunner of the Lord, and who would also be the greatest of the Old Testament prophets (Matthew 11:11). The same applies in the case of Hannah, who was ridiculed and mocked for a long period of time, due to barrenness. Right about that time, God wanted to have a man for Himself who would love Him and walk in total obedience, so as to clear up the prevailing mess of spiritual lethargy and lead the people back to Him. That child must be one that would be completely devoted to God. Hannah's desperation for a child made her willing to devote her child to God right about the time when God's timetable was set for His plan. You may have been waiting for a long period for your own child and it seems God has forgotten you. Not so. You are being prepared for a history—making child that would be used mightily of God.

You must be ready when God says His time has come. From our Bible reading, when on God's timetable,‘ the Israelites were supposed to move into the Promised Land from the wilderness, they were instructed through Moses to do so. They were however not ready. They demonstrated unbelief and doubt in God's ability and faithfulness. This made them afraid of the physical stature of the people in the land. Hence they revolted and missed their chance. When it eventually dawned on them that they had made a serious mistake, it was too late for them. All these happened within the space of a 24-hour window. Even an hour's delay can be disastrous in the things of God. In 1 Kings 17:8-16, if Elijah had delayed, the widow would have prepared her last meal and she would have eaten it all. It is my prayer that you Will be ready when God's time comes, in Jesus‘ Name.

Today’s action point is to decisively deal with the weaknesses of unbelief, Doubt, disobedience and fear before they cause you Great loss.

Wishing you total fulfilment and abundance of God’s blessings in His presence today. Happy Sunday.

ACCEPTED TIME II- 08/02/2014

ACCEPTED TIME II- 08/02/2014

Yesterday’s message was titled “ACCEPTED TIME I”, while today’s message builds on yesterday’s message and is titled “ACCEPTED TIME II” as given by Pastor E. A. Adeboye in Open Heavens Devotional (Adeboye, 2014). In today’s message, we have been asked to memorise John 7:8 “Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet an to this feast; for my time is not yet full come.” and read John 11:39-44. Our Bible in one year for today has been taken from Isaiah 19:16 to Isaiah 23:18 (Adeboye, 2014).

God bless you for your contribution towards today’s discussion

"God is never too early, and He is never too late. His timetable is set on purpose; the purpose is not only for your sake but also for His. In all things, His name shall be glorified. No doubt, He would have been glorified healing Lazarus of his sickness, but this cannot compare to raising hum from the dead after four days. God works according to His own time-table. His time-table is not necessarily in tune with your own time-table, even when it concerns situations or issues of your life for which you desire His intervention. Being the perfect God that He is, His time-table is the perfect one and not yours. Your case will soon become a testimony that will bring you great joy and celebration; your testimony will also bring great glory to God, in Jesus’ Name. Keep restin in Jesus, keep trusting in Him, and don't shift your focus from Him. You are on the verge of God turning the table in your favour and turning it against your enemies.  

The attributes of God's nature such as omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience are demonstrated in the way His timetable works. His love moves Him to seek the good of His people and to desire their peace, joy, fulfilment, health etc. By His omnipresence and omniscience, He sees and knows all that is going on, even to the smallest detail. Through His omnipotence, He has the ability to effect the required and desirable change — for example, He can make a ninety year old woman conceive a child, as was the case with Sarah. He can bring back to life a decaying corpse, as was the case of Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary (John 1 1 :3 9-44). He can also= make a woman to have natural birth after three previous births by caesarean section, as He did for my wife. God, by His omnipotence is even able to bring back lost opportunities, such as in the life of Abraham, who in spite of working out his own plan to fulfil God's purpose for his life, still received the true seed of promise, though his action and expectation should have aborted God's original plan for his life (Genesis 17:16-19). What more can we hope for? When God is at work, the impossible becomes possible, the irreversible becomes reversed, _and the hopeless becomes hopeful. He can (rewrite history with your life. For someone using this Devotional now, your accepted time is now. Your story is changing from a shameful or reproachful one to an enviable one. You will forget quickly the pain and sorrow of your past by the change of events which will occur soon in Jesus’ Name"

Today's action point is to extol God for all His attributes: love, power, faithfulness and others. Tell Him you love and will serve Him with all your heart Then tell Him what you  want Him to do for you.

Reference:

Adeboye, E. A. (2014) Open Heavens: A Guide to Close Fellowship with God, Volume 14, 2014. Nigeria: Open Heavens Media Limited.

ACCEPTED TIME I - 07/02/2014

ACCEPTED TIME I - 07/02/2014

Yesterday’s message was titled “THE PARADOX OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE”, while today’s message is titled “ACCEPTED TIME I” as given by Pastor E. A. Adeboye in Open Heavens Devotional (Adeboye, 2014). In today’s message, we have been asked to memorise Ecclesiastes 3:1: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” and read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. Our Bible in one year for today has been taken from Isaiah 14:28 to Isaiah 19:15 and Psalm 33: 12-22 (Adeboye, 2014).

As usual, let’s take a look at the quoted text for today’s message as provided by Pastor E. A. Adeboye (Adeboye, 2013)

“God in His perfection has His own ways of doing things. One of such ways is that He has a timetable by which He works, and He follows it strictly. This is demonstrated in the way He handled the case of Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha (lohn ll:l-8) The Bible says He loved this man and his two sisters. because of this love, the sisters of Lazarus were in no panicky state at all when he fell sick because they knew that all they needed was for Jesus to hear that His friend was sick and He would rush to the scene and heal him immediately. How mistaken they were. However, God knew of the condition of Lazarus even before it happened. The Bible says:

“Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” Acts 15:18

Lazarus’ sisters waited for Jesus to come till the time they concluded it was all over. They were not disappointed at the end because when it was time for Him to act according to His timetable, their mourning turned to joy and theysang a new song.  lf you are truly His child, walking uprightly before Him, be aware that He knows of that experience you are having for which you earnestly desire a change. He is not just getting aware of it now but He knew about it before you were born. How amazing! When He stepped into the case of Lazarus according to His own time-table on the fourth day of his demise, the hopeless situation became a great testimony. Has His “delay” made your case worse, or has your case degenerated and decayed, just like the body of Lazarus in the grave for four days? I have good news for you: the Lord will step in and yours shall be a mighty testimony, and great joy shall follow in Jesus‘ Name. Note that while the disappointment of Martha and Mary lasted over their dead brother, it was not reported that they  got angry with Jesus. In grief, they did not consider Him less  than they had taken Him to be. They did not blaspheme or say rubbish against God. There is no doubt that they were  pained because Jesus did not come around at their own timing when, supposedly, there was still hope.  Nevertheless, their response to Jesus was still that of reverence (John 1 1 :32)”

The key point for today is to ensure you do not get angry with God when faced with trouble, as this could your problem.

I pray that the spirit of patience and perseverance will never depart from us in Jesus Name, amen.

Reference:

Adeboye, E. A. (2014) Open Heavens: A Guide to Close Fellowship with God, Volume 14, 2014. Nigeria: Open Heavens Media Limited.

THE PARADOX OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE: 06/02/2014

THE PARADOX OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE: 06/02/2014

Yesterday’s message was titled “YOUR FIRST LOVE”, while today’s message is titled “THE PARADOX OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE” as given by Pastor E. A Adeboye in Open Heavens Devotional (Adeboye, 2014). In today’s message, we have been asked to memorise Ephesians 2:6: “And hath raised us up together; and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” and read John 15:18-19. Our Bible in one year for today has been taken from Isaiah11:1-14:27 and Psalm 33:1-11 (Adeboye, 2014).

The message is quoted below for our usual discussion. God bless you for your contribution to this discussion in Jesus Name

“There are people with dual citizenship in this world. Some others migrate and renounce the citizenship of where they are coming from to take up that of another land. The nature of a believer is close to this. Before becoming born-again, you were born to exist in this physical world, ut when you give your life to Christ, you now exist at a higher spiritual realm of God in addition to being present in this physical world. John 1:12-13 says:

”But as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

This dual contrasting existence of every child of God poses some challenges especially in a world that is hostile to the ways of our native land. The ways and manners of our native land are outlined for us in the Bible. These Bible traditions which form the pattern for our life are not going to be popular in this world but rather, demon-inspired fashions, styles and behaviours will continue to be the norm. The unfortunate thing is that some people of God have lost their identity and are occupied with the fashion of this world which will pass away. Our Lord made it very clear from our Bible reading for today that the world will not love us because we are not of the world. We are also instructed in 1 John 2:15 not to love the world or the things that are in the world.

We need to be clear about our identity. We are told that though we are in this world, we are not of the world. We therefore ought not to be bugged down by the affairs of this world but rather by that of our native land — Heaven. We are to exhibit the culture of Heaven right here in this world. Our affections ought to be on the things above (Colossians 3:1-2). Beloved, what is your affection set on? What are those things you are seeking? Remember, friendship with the world is enmity with God (James 4:4). This means if you claim to be a child of God, and yet you love the world and its ways and methods of evil doings, in reality you're an enemy of God. Please examine your life and ways this moment; you may not have been like that from the beginning, but by not being sober and vigilant you exposed yourself to the subtlety of the wicked one. Turn to God now with godly sorrow and repentance, and he will forgive you and restore you to spiritual fervency again. Let it be known to you that the trumpet is about to sound. May you really be ready in Jesus‘ Name.”

Today’s action point is that in whatever area of life  this message affects you, repent, cry to God for mercy and amend your ways. Pray for the revival of holiness and power in the Church.”

I pray that this message will not come against us in condemnation in Jesus Name, Amen

YOUR FIRST LOVE - 05/02/2014

YOUR FIRST LOVE - 05/02/2014

Yesterday’s message was titled “APPOINTED TIME”, while today’s message is titled “YOUR FIRST LOVE” as given by Pastor E. A Adeboye in Open Heavens Devotional (Adeboye, 2014). In today’s message, we have been asked to memorise Revelation 2:4: “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” and read Revelation 2:1-5. Our Bible in one year for today has been taken from Isaiah 8-10 and Psalm 32 (Adeboye, 2014).

The message is quoted below for our usual discussion.

“As a Christian, your heart ought to be aglow ‘with genuine love for Christ, unless you are not genuinely saved as a result of having not truly repented from your sins even though you have confessed Jesus. At the new birth experience, the Holy Spirit regenerates our spirit and fills it with deep and pure love for God. However, often times, we do not diligently watch to ensure the flame of this love is kept aglow, rather we gradually give prime attention to some spiritual exigencies at the expense of our first love, forgetting that this first love in itself has a way of propelling and driving us into the activities required of us by God. It becomes disastrous when we get to a state where we consider as less important, the condition of our first love. God did not hesitate to point out the mistake the church at Ephesus made by falling into this state. He told them that in spite of those good things they were occupied with, He would remove their candlestick because they had forsaken their first love. Thank God they had the opportunity to repent. May you not get to a state where  God will remove your light in Jesus Name.

Beloved, what really is this first love for God? This is that deep and pure affection; His kind of love toward us which we are born into at our surrendering to Christ. It is the kind of affection between two lovers by which they share deep intimacies just between themselves to the exclusion of all others. God cherishes His communion with His bride (the believer). The lesson here is that we should not allow our labour or service no matter how expedient to becloud our consciousness and the necessity to maintain our first love for Jesus.

What are the expressions of this love? They include: Strong desire to be in the presence of God in praising, thanking and worshipping Him, spontaneously singing to Him either in private or in public. Another is by spontaneously expressing a fondness of him, making reference to Him at all times. Also, it includes readily resorting to him when confronted it with any given difficult situation and finally, enjoying imitating him all the way - such as by living holy. When we measure a life that portrays these expressions against the attitude of some who say they are His children you will discover that there seems to be no trace of this love, or that it has been suffocated. What shall we say about a Christian  who in a restaurant cannot pray over his food, or stylishly rays over the food before eating to avoid being noticed by other people”

The action point for today is that you should pray to God to help you recognise the true state of your first love for Him and ask for help to sustain it. If your  love is found wanting, repent and ask for mercy to rediscover it. (Adeboye 2014).

God bless you for your contribution

Reference:

Adeboye, E. A. (2014) Open Heavens: A Guide to Close Fellowship with God, Volume 14, 2014. Nigeria: Open Heavens Media Limited.

APPOINTED TIME -04/02/2014

APPOINTED TIME -04/02/2014

The message of yesterday was titled “TRAIN UP YOUR CHILD, PART II”, while today’s message is titled “APPOINTED TIME” as given by Pastor E. A Adeboye in Open Heavens Devotional (Adeboye, 2014). In today’s message, we have been asked to memorise Psalms 102: 13: “Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her; yea, the set time, is come.” and read Psalm 102:12-13 . The Bible in one year for today has been taken from Isaiah 4-7 and Psalm 31:19-24 (Adeboye, 2014). 

The message is quoted below for our usual discussion.

“Many times, the prayers we importunately make to God are like when clouds are gathering M together. They gather together over a period of time until thick layers of clouds are formed. Heavy torrents of rain will then begin to fall over the area where the clouds were formed.The Bible indeed says:

’’If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.” Ecclesiastics 11:3

From this illustration, we observe that the result of cumulative prayers can be great at the appointed time. However from our Bible reading for today, the time to favour you — a child of God, is declared to be now! The use of the phrase: ”is come”, attests to this. It therefore follows that you can fast forward your time for actualising God's favour to the present. Such was the case of the wedding at Cana of Galilee. In the middle of the celebration, the wine ran out. What an embarrassment, what a shame. Jesus was at the occasion with his disciples and so was his mother Mary. Perhaps the celebrant was a close relation of theirs, as it is obvious that Mary was an insider. She knew what was going on before it became an issue of public knowledge and ridicule. Knowing the power of God in her son, she approached Him for assistance to remedy the situation. Jesus however told her His hour was not yet come. She nevertheless by faith went ahead to tell the servants that whatever he asks them to do they should do it (John 2:5). Before the ”nakedness” of the celebrants became exposed, Jesus covered them up by performing his first ever miracle of turning water to wine, a wine of incomparable quality.

Is your case at the threshold of becoming an object of public ridicule and making you a laughing stock? The same Jesus will cover your nakedness like He did at that occasion. Like Mary, rather than grumbling and murmuring, what you need is faith in God. You should also ensure that you demonstrate your trust in Him bypraising and thanking Him, living a lifestyle of obedience grid holiness, and by touching and winning souls (1 John :22)” (Adeboye 2014)

Today’s Action point is to praise God for having your best interest at heart and for His anticipated intervention in your situation that will lead to a harvest of great testimonies.

God bless you all for your continual contribution to this forum.

TRAIN UP YOUR CHILD II - 03/02/2014

TRAIN UP YOUR CHILD II - 03/02/2014

Good morning dear brethren and welcome to the first working day of February. In yesterday’s message, titled “TRAIN UP YOUR CHILD, PART I”, we were made to understand the importance of giving the necessary foundation to our children, for the sake of tomorrow. Today’s message is a continuation of yesterday’s message and is titled “TRAIN UP YOUR CHILD, PART II” as given by Pastor E. A Adeboye in Open Heavens Devotional (Adeboye, 2014). In today’s message, we have been asked to memorise Proverbs 19:18: “chasten thy while there is hope, and let not  thy soul spare for his crying.” and read 2 Timothy 3:14-15. Our Bible in one year for today has been taken from Isaiah 1-3 and Psalm 31:9-18 (Adeboye, 2014).

The message is quoted below for our usual discussion. God bless you all for contributing to this forum.

“These days, even the children of pastors are not exempted from the degeneration prevalent among youths. You are expected to train up your children on the word of God. Some pastors could say one thing in church and another thing at home, hence the children become confused, leading to their rebellion against God.

Children, if your parents are pushing you aright, glory be to God. If they are not, you can chart a course in life that goes through God's principles. My own mother did her best on me. She pushed me; thank God I allowed her to push me. You must be hard working if you are not banking on bribing your way through life. Bribing your way through can only take you some distance. There is one thing that takes one to the top in life — hard work. God is not going to promote lazy fellows. ”There is no royal road to success” they say. The elders will tell you princes have become slaves before. Parents, some of your children spend too much time watching TV and playing video games. Life is no bed of roses; there is a lot of struggle going on in the world. Only the hardworking will reach the top, so sit up and work hard. Some Christians are believing God for breakthroughs, but let me tell you the truth; there is no breakthrough for a lazy man, because God knows if the breakthrough comes by laziness, the breakthrough would slip out of his hand.

Children, be aware that you must obtain blessings from your parents. Honour your father and mother so that they may bless you. I have said it over and over again that I am where I am today by the grace of God and by the blessings my mother pronounced on me. One blessing she used to pronounce then which I did not understand was: “Son, because you have done this, you would call one person but two hundred will answer.” Today, by the grace of God, if I call one pastor and I do not mention any name, more than two hundred would respond.

Finally, one cannot be in sin and expect to be a star for God. How can one in sin rise in God; how can God promote such? The Bible says we cannot continue in sin and expect grace to abound. Parents, if you are not ready to be a star for yourself, for the sake of your children, please surrender your life completely to Jesus so that the future of your children will be secure in glory. Do this, if you truly love them."

Our prayer point today is for children of ministers of God; that they would be true to the God of their parents and that they will be shining stars in this generation.

There is a common Yoruba adage that a child that we refuse to build today will end up selling off the house that we may build tomorrow. I pray that the Almighty God will give us the needed wisdom to bring up our children in the fear of God, and thereby secure our tomorrow in Jesus Name. 

Reference:

Adeboye, E. A. (2014) Open Heavens: A Guide to Close Fellowship with God, Volume 14, 2014. Nigeria: Open Heavens Media Limited.

TRAIN UP YOUR CHILD I - 02/02/2014

TRAIN UP YOUR CHILD I - 02/02/2014

Happy Sunday to everyone. Yesterday’s message was titled “THE BLESSING OF THE LORD?” and today’s topic is titled “TRAIN UP YOUR CHILD, PART I” as given by Pastor E. A Adeboye in Open Heavens Devotional (Adeboye, 2014). In today’s message, we have been asked to memorise Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” and read Psalm 127:3-5 Our Bible in one year for today has been taken from 1 John 5 to Jude 1 and Psalm 31 :1-8 (Adeboye, 2014).

Today's message is quoted below for our usual discussion. God bless you all as we continue to sharpen the faith of one another in this forum.

“The major undoing of modern civilized society is an abounding generation of untrained children. This trend did not just start, but has been on for some time now. The result is that many untrained children of few years back have become parents themselves. It is the multiplier effect of their lack of proper home training that is now being experienced in the society. Home training is a moral training by which such virtues as honesty, diligence, respect for elders and also some abilities cum skills - such as care of the body, cooking etc are inculcated into children. You will observe that the children of these days have no respect for older ones except in some few cases where parents are not too busy to give attention to the training of their children.

The Bible clearly shows that some children have cut their lives short for being rude to people who are old enough to be their parents (2 Kings 2:23-24), hence time and energy must be invested by parents into their children to forestall such. What about the area of marriage? Some ladies have everything going fine for them but have failed in the area of marriage. They are beautiful, highly educated and have good jobs, but they lack some basic housekeeping and home making skills like preparing good food. Such demeanour have pushed their husbands into the hands of other women who can do better, thus they lose marital joy and peace which often results into a total collapse of the marriage. In many cases, the wedding day was full of all pomp and pageantry, the officiating pastor would have preached from his heart a message such as: ”Keys to a Happy Home”, he also would have prayed his heart out at the occasion. But all these ought to be on the foundation that should have been laid a long time earlier. Psalm 11:3 chiefly sums up such cases.

Rather than orientating their children into godliness through godly conversation at home as Deuteronomy 11:18-19 commands, some Christians only engage themselves with worldly counsels and jokes. Our memory verse says train up your child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it. God knows better than we do. He did no say wait until these children become old, but rather from their infancy we need to begin to train them up in the godly way so that their tomorrow would be bright. God says in Deuteronomy 11:19&21 that what you teach your children when you're with them at home will determine how God will respond to them.

Prayer point: Pray that the eyes of parents will be open to see the evil of not training their children and that God will  touch the heart of our  youths to live godly lives.” (Adeboye, 2014).

Reference:

Adeboye, E. A. (2014) . Open Heavens: A Guide to Close Fellowship with God, Volume 14, 2014. Nigeria: Open Heavens Media Limited.