OPEN HEAVEN DAILY DEVOTIONAL: MONDAY MAY 11TH 2026

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TOPIC: BLESSED ARE THE PERSECUTED   MEMORISE :  Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 2 Timothy 3:12   READ : Matthew 5:10-12  10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 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. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.   MESSAGE A Christians will experience tribulations in the world (John 16:33), and being persecuted is one of the tribulations that every true believer must face. It is true that persecution is naturally unpleasant; however, it is a thing of joy to know that Jesus promised in Matthew 5:10 that those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake are blessed and will inherit the kingdom of heaven. Today's memory verse says that every believer who...

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL. THE SPIRITUAL MARATHON- Thursday July 23rd 2015

Memorise:
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Mathew 24:13

Read: Hebrews 12:1-3

Message:
The day you genuinely gave your life to Christ, you began a race. It is a spiritual race. The race to Heaven is not a sprint but a marathon. It is not something you run with all your strength for just one day and it ends there. Unlike the regular marathon that goes through streets and paths already marked out, you may have to take unmarked routes and paths hitherto unknown while running this race. Also, unlike in regular marathons where you can meet someone who has successfully finished the race for tips, those who have run this peculiar race to the end are definitely not around on earth for people to consult with.

By the grace of God, as young as I am in Christ, I have been running this race for more than forty years now, and I am yet to reach the finishing line. There are people who joined this race some fifty or sixty years ago, and they are still on it till now. Every race has its peculiar nature. If you need patience and a lot of tact while running an earthly marathon, you will need much more of these while running the heavenly race. No wonder Hebrews 12:1 says,

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed, about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us”

However, just like it happens in earthly marathons, there are several casualties in the heavenly race. Some people start a marathon like a sprint. They run far ahead of others, but after some time, they lose steam and begin to retrogress while those they left behind overtaken them. Also, there are those who fall and injure themselves, ending up in an ambulance. There are also those who out of exhaustion are unable to continue the race, and so they drop out. There are even those who after running for a while, gradually step out of the path, and are disqualified. All these scenarios are applicable to the spiritual marathon. Since you started the race to Heaven, have you been affected by any of these?  Have you stepped out of the path of the race? Have you run out of steam? Have you fallen and refused to rise up? Get up today! The Lord will give you strength. Persist some more. Take it one day at a time. Call on the Lord to help you. Never give up. Each day that passes draws you closer to the finished line. You will make it in Jesus’ Name!

Prayer Point
Father, grant me grace to run the race to Heaven with wisdom, patience and perseverance.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 CHRONICLES 32:1-33:9, JOHN 3:1-21

AUTHOR: pastor E.A. Adeboye

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