OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL: SATURDAY JUNE 29TH 2024

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TOPIC: WHO DO PEOPLE SAY YOU ARE? MEMORISE : “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” - (Matthew 16:13) READ: Matthew 16:13-16 13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. MESSAGE : Today’s topic is a question you must be conscious of. In today’s Bible reading, Jesus asked His disciples whom people said that He was. He wasn’t confused about His identity; He knew who He was, but He was concerned about how people perceived Him. You must be conscious of how people perceive you too. People will only relate with you based on what they think about you and not what you th

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL : TUESDAY 6TH OF DECEMBER 2022

TOPIC: THE MINISTRY OF ANGELS l

MEMORISE: 
And God's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him. 
Numbers 22:22

READ: Exodus 14:15-27 
15. And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:

16. But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

17. And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

18. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

19. And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:

20. And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

21. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

22. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

23. And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

24. And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,

25. And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.

26. And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.

27. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

MESSAGE:
Hebrews 1:13-14 says that angels are ministering spirits. They are sent to minister to those of us who are heirs of salvation. Once you are born again, at least one angel is allocated to follow you everywhere you go. He is to follow you so that he can protect, assist and defend you. The angel will also monitor your actions and report your activities  to God.

It is a beautiful thing to have an angel with you everywhere you go. Whenever the enemies think they have gotten you, your angel can just simply take you out of their hold when they have gone to sleep (Acts 5: 17- 25, Acts 12:5-11). Even if you come face to face with lions, an angel will shut their mouths so that they don't harm you (Daniel 6:19-22). With an angel with you everywhere you go, you have the best security in the universe because angels are really strong. The first time you see an angel of God, the first thing he will tell you is, "Fear not", because you would really be frightened.

What you get from an angel is determined by whose side you are on. If you are on God's side, the angel will work for you; if you are not, the angel can block your way so that everything you try to do would just be hitting a brick wall. In Numbers 22 :21-35, we read about Balaam who God told not to go with Balak when the latter called for the prophet. Balaam insisted that he wanted to go. An angel blocked the way and was ready to kill him because the Bible says God's anger was kindled against him. If a demon is blocking your way, you can tell it to get out and it would leave, but if an angel stands in your way and you tell him to go, he would ask, "In whose name?" If you say, "In Jesus' name", he will say, "It is Jesus that asked me to stand here" and there would be no way to move forward from there. If you don't want an angel to stand in your way, you had better not annoy God.

It was an angel that ensured that the Egyptians did not get close to the Israelites all night so that they could be drowned in the morning. The angel was rescuing the Israelites while simultaneously pushing the Egyptians towards death. Do not displease God; surrender your life to Jesus and live a holy life so thatGod's angels will work in your favour.

 KEY POINT:
Angels will work for you if you are on God's side but against you if you are living in sin. 

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Corinthians 15- 2 Cor. 2

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE 

HYMN 2: CONQUERORS AND OVERCOMERS NOW ARE WE 
1. Conquerors and overcomes now are we,
Thro' the precious blood of
Christ we've victory
If the Lord be for us,
we can never fail,
Nothing 'gainst His mighty
pow'r can e'er prevail. 

CHORUS:
Conquerors are we,
through the blood of Jesus, 
God will give us victory,
through the blood of Jesus, 
Thro' the Lamb for sinners slain,
Yet who lives and reigns again,
More than conquerors are we,
More than conquerors are we.

2. In the name of Israel's
God we'll onward press,
Overcoming sin and
all unrighteousness;
Not to us, but unto
Him the praise shall be,
For Salvation and for
blood bought victory. [CHORUS]

3. Unto him that overcometh
shall be given,
Here to eat of hidden
manna sent from heav'n,
Over yonder he
the victors palm shall bear,
And a robe of white,
and golden crown shall wear. [CHORUS]

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