OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL: TUESDAY, JULY 21, 2026

TOPIC: THE KEYS TO FREEDOM 2

MEMORISE

See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; - (Deuteronomy 30:15)

READ: Exodus 21:1-6 (KJV)

1 Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.

2 If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.

3 If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.

4 If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.

5 And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:

6 Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.

MESSAGE

Yesterday, I mentioned that admitting there is a burden and recognising the need for God's help to remove it is the first step that people who are under the yoke of satan must take to become free from his bondage. Today, I will discuss the next step that such people must take to gain their freedom.

While admitting the need for help is the first step to gaining freedom from satan's bondage, the second step is to be willing to be helped. In John 5:2-9, Jesus asked a man who had been sick for 38 years, "Do you want to be made whole?" Ordinarily, one would think that there is no need to ask a man who had suffered for so long if he wanted to be made whole. However, Jesus asked him the question because He knew that not everyone wants to be helped; some people love their burdens and do not want to be set free from them. Today's Bible reading tells us that when slaves love their chains, their owners should pierce their ears and brand them as slaves for life.

No matter how long a slave has been in slavery, the day such a fellow decides that he or she wants to be free marks the beginning of his or her journey to freedom. For example, the day the woman with the issue of blood in Matthew 9:20-22 sought Jesus for her deliverance was the day her bondage of 12 years disappeared. The Almighty God can deliver anyone who is under the devil's yoke, even a lawful captive (Isaiah 49:24-26); however, he or she must be willing to be delivered.

Beloved, any Christian who is still indulging in the pleasures of sin is under the devil's bondage and is clearly not willing to be free. Anyone who claims to be a believer but keeps company with people who lure him or her to sin is under satan's yoke and cannot be free until he or she decides to cut off such relationships. It is not enough for a person to just declare that he or she wants to be free; the person's actions must show a willingness to be free. Such a person must live a holy life and must be committed to praying, studying the Bible regularly, and fellowshipping with other believers. God will fight for such a person and give him or her total freedom. 

REFLECTION

Are you submitting to the devil in any area of your life? 

AUTHOR: Pastor E. A. Adeboye 

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR

Isaiah 25 - 28

HYMN 23 - ALL TO JESUS I SURRENDER

1. All to Jesus I surrender all to Him I freely give; I will ever low and trust Him, in His presence daily live. 

CHORUS 

I surrender all,

I surrender all,

All to Thee, my blessed saviour, I surrender all.

2. All to Jesus I surrender, 

Humbly at His feet l bow; 

Worldly pleasures all forsaken. 

Take me, Jesus, take me now. 

3. All to Jesus I surrender. Lord, I give myself to Thee; Fill me with Thy love and power, Let Thy blessing fall on me. 

4. All to Jesus I surrender, 

now I feel the sacred flame 

o the joy of full salvation!

Glory, glory to His name!