Topic: Do You Surrender? [Wednesday September 20, 2017]

It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others. — Ephesians 2:10 (TLB)

Happiness and all of the unlimited benefits which flow from the storehouse of heaven are contingent upon our relationship to God. Absolute dependency and absolute yieldedness are the conditions of being His child. Only His children are entitled to receive those things that lend themselves to happiness; and in order to be His child, there must be surrender of the will to Him.

We must admit we are poor before we can be made rich. We must admit we are destitute before we can become children of adoption. When we realize that all our own goodness is as filthy rags in God’s sight, and become aware of the destructive power of our stubborn wills; when we realize our absolute dependence upon the grace of God through faith and nothing more, then we have started on the road to happiness.

Man does not come to know God through works—he comes to know God by faith through grace. You cannot work your way toward happiness and heaven, you cannot moralize your way, you cannot reform your way, you cannot buy your way. It comes as a gift of God through Christ.

Prayer for the day: Ever impress upon us, Lord Jesus, that it is through grace that we came to know You; that it is because of You that we stand righteous before You.

Written by Billy Graham, Founder of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association(BGEA). BGEA exists to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ by every effective means and to equip the church and others to do the same.

Topic: Heaven – Wednesday September 20, 2017.

Mark 12:25 “For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.”

Text: Mark 12:25

The word heaven comes from the Greek word meaning “the sky; heaven as the abode of God”; by implication, “happiness; power; an eternity.”

Paul mentioned being caught up into “the third heaven” in 2 Corinthians 12:2. Since “the third heaven” exists, there must also be a first and second heaven. The first is probably the atmospheric heaven, the second, the abode of supernatural angelic beings, and the third, the place where God dwells.

God now dwells in the hearts of His people, but He also sits on His throne in heaven. The Lord’s commitment to dwell in us and never leave us or forsake us, must be taken as an indication of His great love for us. Heaven has a real temple which is patterned after the Old Testament tabernacle. Saints who die go immediately into heaven and into the presence of God.

Paul had a vision of heaven that made him long to go there. Most people cling to this physical life for selfish reasons. Only when we lose our life (die to self and live for Christ and others) do we truly find out what life is all about. If we seriously thought about what the scriptures teach us about our life with Christ after this physical life, we would all think like Paul. The things prepared for us are so wonderful that we can’t totally comprehend them with our finite mind. We need to value our eternal life more and our temporal life less. This would solve many problems and remove a lot of grief.

This message was written by The Association of Related Ministries International (ARMI) is an extension of Andrew Wommack Ministries (AWM). ARMI is a unique partnership committed to providing resources to help like-minded ministers succeed in a spirit of excellence and to draw from the experience and expertise of both the AWM and Charis Bible College staff. (www.awmi.net).

Topic: Give First — Wednesday 20, September 2017.

Memorise: I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me. – Psalm 13:6

Read: 1 Chronicles 16:2-3, Acts 20:35 (KJV)

2 And when David had made an end of offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD.

3 And he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine.

Acts 20:35:

35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Bible in One Year: Ezra 9-10, Ezekiel 44:1-14, Hymn: Sing hymn 10 – There Shall be Showers of Blessing

MESSAGE:

Generous divine provision is a benefit of those in the sheepfold of the Great Shepherd. God prepares a table of abundance for His sheep (Psalm 23:5). No wonder David, in Psalm 13:6, said:

“I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me”

Coming up next: Open Heavens 21 September 2017: Thursday daily devotional by Pastor Adeboye – Abba, Father

This scripture is a personal testimony of David. After God had blessed him beyond measure, he began to testify of God’s goodness through songs. If you carefully study the life of David, you will discover that the secret of his prosperity lay in the principles he lived by. One of such principles is demonstrated in today’s Bible reading: he believed giving to be the key to receiving. Can you imagine a man giving a loaf of bread to every citizen of a country? This was what David did, and he even gave much more! We often wonder why most of us are not flowing in God’s abundance, even though God has resources to cater for more than we could ever need. One likely reason for this is that we do not strictly follow divine financial principles. Jesus, in Luke 6:38, said:

“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”

Let us draw a few lessons from this. Firstly, if you ever want to receive, it is your duty to first give. If you fail to sow, you would be deceiving yourself to expect a harvest. Many of us refuse to give, and yet we continue to pray, fast and do all other things right. If you want to receive, first give. It is important to note that God will never owe anyone. If you give, you will receive a harvest, no matter how long it takes, as long as the seed is not uprooted.

However, the way the harvest comes and when it will come are issues that may not be too clear to you. For instance, you may be expecting you harvest for a particular seed in the form of physical cash, not knowing that God has already given it to you as a harvest of peace in the time of trouble, or as protection when the enemy came calling. Sometimes, you cannot tell how the harvest of a given seed will come, although if you key into the Holy Spirit, He can sometimes reveal to you that a particular harvest you received was from a particular seed you sowed. Moreover, God who knows our needs should be given the freedom to determine when and how our harvests should come. Just make sure that a lifestyle of giving and sowing seeds is an indelible part of you. Do you give to God? Do you give to His servants? Do you give to the needy? How often do you give?

Action Point: Giving is an act. Giving is also a spirit. Pray that God will give you the spirit of giving.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries.

iOpenHeavens is the electronic version of the Hard Copy. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC.

Topic: The Mystery Snake: Vomit My Glory! [Tuesday 19 September, 2017]

(Isaiah 54:10-17).

It was a scene of shock and of the bizarre, when a mystery snake was killed in Badagry area of Lagos State of Nigeria. The shocker was in the contents of the snake’s belly when it was killed. It contained names of 8 persons written on a piece of paper, 7 passport sized photographs of seven other persons and 3 black candles. The other mystery was that the snake refused to burn even inside a blazing fire, till a pastor was called to pray. Thank God for the Holy Ghost fire! And that was not the first time that such a mysterious snake had been killed.

What God is saying to a user of today’s devotional is that no weapon fashioned against you shall prosper! Indeed, there are many weapons being secretly fashioned in evil prayer houses and witchcraft covens! Indeed, there are mysterious and unknown enemies because this world is a wicked place! A few years ago, I once saw a name tied to a padlock on the top of a very high mountain where I went to pray. On that same mountain, I saw coins with people’s names tied on them – a sign of poverty. ON A PRAYER MOUNTAIN?

What a wicked world! How can the destinies of people be buried in the stomach of a snake? God is sending me to announce to you that all your swallowed or buried/covered blessings shall be released today! Do you know that same people’s destinies are buried in snake bellies, big rivers/ oceans, evil forests, occultic houses, cemeteries and T-juctions?

In this second half of 2017, note that since the grave could not hold Jesus Christ, no snake, fish, animal, coin, cemetery, forest, or coven shall be able to hold your glory, favor and destiny whether they like it or not! As you pray now, they must vomit every swallowed up glory or testimony. Pray now!

THE LAGOS MOUNTAIN SEPTEMBER ANOINTING SERVICES AT LEKKI On Sunday September 24th. TIME: 7:00am. THEME: SATANIC EMBARRASSMENT MUST STOP. (Bring your oil & any point of contact. I shall lay hands on you and your oil). VENUE: Oando or Chisco B/Stop, Besides Oando Filling Station, Lekki, Lagos. Call: +234-706-3324-784, +234-909-0393-966 for more information.

Prayer Points: Take Song 1: Through the love………

1. Thank God for today’s word and pray as you are led!

2. I release my names/properties or body parts from any evil location today in Jesus Christ name (Pray this point seriously).

3. I decree: Every power holding down my glory and testimony, VOMIT IT in Jesus Christ name!

4. Pray the above prayer point for your loved ones name by name (Pray this point and the ones below seriously)

5. I command all evil snakes holding my destiny to vomit it now and die by fire in Jesus Christ name.

6. O Lord, let any stubborn evil power seeking my life and ministry be paralyzed now and be buried this year!

7. Pray any other prayer(s) as led now.

By Bishop (Dr) Chris E. Kwakpovwe (Cek)
Publisher/Writer Of ODM And

Rev (Mrs) Flora E. Kwakpovwe (Fek)
Co-Publisher/Writer Of ODM.

Topic: Overcoming Weariness [Tuesday September 19, 2017]

Weariness is satan’s weapon to frustrate the saints from taking their blessings.

It comes when hope seems gone and waiting seems not necessary any longer.

When weariness is not stemed it extends to frustration which in turn can open the door to all kinds of evil.

If you want to escape weariness, tame your utterances.

To dismantle weariness offer strong thanksgiving and praise to God always. Thanksgiving are hardly worn out, thanksgiving naturally wears out the enemy.

Topic: Fulfil Your Promise O Lord [Tuesday 19, September 2017]

Memorise: “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” – Matthew 28:20

Read: John 14:12-18

12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

Bible In One Year: Amos 1-4. Hymn: Sing Hymn 1

MESSAGE:

The promises of God reveal His specific and eternal purposes to which He is unchangeably committed and which Christians can totally depend on. These promises are conditional upon obedience on the part of children of God. God’s promises are unchangeable and sure, this is to say that God does not go back on His word, whatever He says, He will do (Matthew 24:35).

Whenever the fulfilment of a long standing promise is overdue, He creates an opportunity for divine favour, and God does not only give you an opportunity to tap into it by sowing, but will also personally make a demand for you. After waiting for years for a promise from God, at the time of God’s favour, the Lord suddenly changed His promise to Abraham into an irreversible decree. Every promise that the Lord has made to you and your family shall come to pass soon in Jesus’ Name.

Prayer Point: Father, please fulfil Your promises in my life in Jesus’ Name.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional for Teen’s guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries.

Topic: How to Have a Successful Courtship (3)

Dear Reader,

I welcome you to the presence of God. For the past two weeks, I have taught on the keys to a successful courtship and the length of courtship. Today, I want you to Beware of These Forbidden Fruits.

Pre-marital sex

Pre-marital sex is simply, sex before marriage. Many couples live together before marriage to see if they are capable of child bearing. Many end up messing themselves up by engaging in the works of the flesh. The Word of God lists the various work of the flesh: Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21).

Marriage was designed to bring honour to man and when the bed is defiled, the honour is taken away. If you are in courtship, you are not permitted to engage in sexual intercourse or anything that leads to it. If you do that, you are committing fornication and you are defiling your marriage bed thereby taking away the honour in your marriage. The marriage bed is for the married only. To engage in sexual intercourse as a single is a sin against your own conscience and God. Defiling the marriage bed, as a single, is the quickest route to shame in marriage; whether you are marrying the person involved or not.

For instance, if you are still single, stay clear of sex till you are legally married. The Bible enjoins singles to present their bodies as a living sacrifice unto the Lord (Romans 12:1). In other words, the presentation of your body unto the Almighty God as a living sacrifice is your reasonable service unto God. It doesn’t matter whether you sleep in the church every day, as long as your body is not kept pure, that service is not acceptable unto God.

Despite the volume of money you bring to the Church, when you defile the marriage bed, whether as a single or as a married person, whatever service you render to God has no record and will never receive a reward. You may be in the choir and your voice is as sweet as honey God’s eyes do not behold you; because, if the eyes of God behold you at all, it will be for judgment. It doesn’t matter the post you hold or your position. You can even be the leader of any board in the Church, Romans 12:1 is still in the Word of God. Until your body is presented to God as a reasonable service, every other service that you render is unreasonable.

Fornication

The dictionary meaning of the word “fornication” is any unlawful sexual intercourse between an unmarried man and woman. In the Bible, the Greek definition of the word “fornication” is to commit illicit sexual intercourse.

Today, fornication is no longer regarded as sin in our society; it has become a way of life. Permit me to say, that the sin of fornication is even more pronounced in the Church of God, today, than anywhere else in the world. As a Christian, your body has been bought with a price; it is not meant for fornication rather, your body is meant to glorify God. The Word of God says: Flee fornication… know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s (1 Corinthians 6:18-20).

Young ladies, don’t keep messing up your lives about with men because of the money they offer you. Your beauty is not meant for business. Remember, God who gave it to you can call you back anytime. Refuse to sell your body for money for your soul is more precious to God! You may say, “I have to do something to be able to keep up with my financial needs.” Your life is much more valuable than money. You may be a fornicator and still go to church, sing, clap and dance. When they say, “Lift up holy hands and let’s worship the Lord”; you also lift up yours. It is not your kind of hands they are talking about. The Word of God says: Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully (Psalm 24:3-4).

Moreover, some even claim, “After all, we are going to marry, so why can’t we sleep together on the same bed?” God knows that you are going to get married, but more often than not, you know what happens? After he must have seen your nakedness, the interest is no longer there because the love has waned. As I always tell people, more often than not, it is the lady that experiences more of the shame. Now, that the man has seen your nakedness, he can say, “I’m sorry sister, in fact God didn’t give me the leading, I have made a mistake; now go your way and let me go my way, God will give you your husband. He will also give me my own wife”. Why? You have sold yourself out to him and there is nothing new anymore.

In addition, marriage is honourable so, the bed should be undefiled. For you to experience honour in your marriage as a single, you must lay a good foundation by keeping yourself pure. Parents, begin to teach your children before they get to the stage of committing atrocities.

You need to surrender your life to Christ in order to have access to God’s grace to live a pure life. You surrender by confessing your sins and accepting Jesus as your Lord and personal Saviour. That way, you are born again. If you are ready for it, please say this prayer and be born again: “Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me my sins and cleanse me with Your Blood. I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Make me a child of God today. Thank You for delivering me from sin and satan to serve the living God and thank You for accepting me into Your Kingdom.”

Congratulations, you are now born again! If you prayed this simple prayer of faith with me, you are now a child of God. He loves you and will never leave you. Read your Bible daily, obey God’s Word and seek Christian fellowship (John 14:21).

With this, you are guaranteed all-round rest and peace in Jesus’ Name! Call or write to share your testimonies with me through [email protected], 07026385437 OR 08141320204.

For more insight, these books authored by me are available at the Dominion Bookstores in all Living Faith Churches and other leading Christian bookstores: Marriage Covenant, Making Marriage Work, Building A Successful Home and Success in Marriage (Co-Authored).

Pastor Faith Oyedepo is the wife of Bishop David Oyedepo, the founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide a.k.a. Winners’ Chapel, and Senior Pastor of Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland, Ota, Nigeria.

Topic: Go Forward — Tuesday September 19, 2017.

‘’I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gate of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:’ (Isaiah 45:2 KJV)

Often times in our walk with God, we get to certain roadblocks and we don’t know what next to do. Today, I come to announce to you to go forward. In Exodus 14, Pharaoh reluctantly gave permission to God’s people in Egypt to leave, but almost immediately, he and his cohorts pursued them with horses and chariots to bring them back to bondage and slavery. You can see that the devil would always attempt to fight the plans and purposes of God over your life. At the Red sea, God’s people became stuck and Pharaoh intensified his pursuit thinking he had them pinned down but unknown to him, it was a set up to wipe them all out.

Rather than surrender to the enemy, God commanded Moses to tell the people to go forward. Moses would have thought to himself, how can we go forward when the Red Sea is right in front of us? However, all he heard was go forward as impossible as it sounded. God had spoken and there was no going back. God was saying in effect, you may not see a way through the sea, but I am going to make a way for you even where none exists.

The clincher however, was that Moses obeyed what God had said. Acting on what God said, the people walked through the sea supernaturally, without struggle and continued their journey as if nothing happened. You can now see that obedience to divine instruction is key to obtaining victory in life.

I declare that no plan of the enemy concerning your life will come to pass. God will prove himself in your life. You will experience the supernatural. You will see the goodness of God in your life. God has spoken concerning this year so expect great things to happen for you. It is a decision you must take. You must choose to believe God for what he has said. Don’t cancel yourself out.

Further Reading: Philippians 3:13, Exodus 14:13-31

Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Ecclesiastes 1-3; Evening- 2 Corinthians 11:16-33

Written by Dr. Mike Okonkwo; Is the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM); a versatile man of God with over 30 years of dedicated service unto the Lord.

Topic: Not For The Unclean — Tuesday September 19, 2017.

Text: Leviticus 22:1-16

Key Verse: “Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD”( Leviticus 22:3)

Robert Murray McCheyne wrote to Dan Edwards after the latter’s ordination as a missionary that: “In great measure, according to the purity and perfections of the instrument, will be the success. It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God”.

From our text, the Lord warned the house of Aaron against making unholy use of dedicated things. Specifically, the Lord commanded Aaron to ensure any of the priest’s children who had any uncleanness was disallowed from eating hallowed food dedicated by the Lord’s people until such a person is cleansed and cleared accordingly. The consequence of violating those commandments could lead to premature or sudden death.

Strangers, visitors or hired servants (except those bought with money) are prohibited from eating holy things dedicated to the Lord. The lesson we’re learning here is that God is holy and therefore cannot bear with any one of His children who is spiritually defiled. Sin is evil and should be seen to be evil. The application today is that God will not give hallowed things to unclean, immoral and defiled servants of His.

The scripture says: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine…” (Matthew 7:6). In the same vein, God will not receive money or donations from unclean and unholy sources. The fact that ceremonial laws have been done away with together with the Old Testament rituals is not an excuse for vicars, pastors and shepherds to encourage their children who are publicly accused of immoral and riotous behaviour to do any manner of service in the sanctuary of God. His moral requirement and His demand for purity, especially in the house of God, has not changed.

Thought for the day: A holy minister is an awesome weapon in the hand of God.

Bible Reading in one Year: Numbers 29-30

DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.

Topic: The Ground Is Not For You — Tuesday 19, September 2017.

Memorise: For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.  – Proverbs 24:16

Read: Luke 22:31-34 (KJV)

31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

33 And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.

34 And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.

Bible in One Year: Ezra 7-8, Ezekiel 43:13-27, Hymn: Sing hymn 4 – Through the Love of God Our Saviour

MESSAGE:

It’s a fact of life that we are all susceptible to making mistakes. However, when we make mistakes, we must have the strength of character to admit our mistakes and also to resolve never to repeat them again (Proverbs 28:13). A child learning to walk will stand up, take a step or two and fall down again. You will observe however that in spite of these falls, he or she does not give up trying. The child will repeatedly make attempts at walking, and in the process of time, that child will not only walk, he or she will also run, leap and jump, all without falling to the ground like before. Do not turn a mistake into your final destination. Can you believe that because some people made a mistake in their walk of faith in Christ, they gave up the race entirely and decided to die there? That is most unfortunate! Some people cannot forgive themselves for either denying Jesus at a very crucial moment when their faith was tested, or for falling into a particular sin that they have been preaching against all along. Such people need to learn from the example of Apostle Peter, who thrice denied Christ. The Lord had to make him realise that it was not over yet. That same Peter was the one who later led the other disciples in defending their faith in Christ and in propagating the Good News of the gospel around the world

“Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.” – Micah 7:8

Coming up next: Open Heavens 20 September 2017: Wednesday daily devotional by Pastor Adeboye – Give First

One lesson from this scripture is that the fact that you slipped and fell does not mean that the enemy has won the battle over your life. He hasn’t. It also says that there is the possibility of a comeback. From where you fell, you shall arise in Jesus’ Name! Your rise shall be more formidable! You may say that your case is a bad one because you have fallen so many times and you therefore concluded that it was better to stop trying. Oh, how wrong you are! Proverbs 24:16 says it is possible for a righteous man to fall seven times and still rise. To fall seven times simply refers to the possibility of falling to a point of experiencing what most people will call the final or ultimate fall. Yet, even at that, if you are a child of God, the Lord says that you should not give up hope. Make another attempt at reconciling with the Lord, confess your weakness to Him, and ask for His help. He will lift you up and He will sustain you afterwards. So are you still on the floor? Arise now!

Key Point: Falling and rising in the Christian faith does not make you a failure; it only shows that you are at the babyhood stage of maturity and would need to trust Jesus Christ the more.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries.

iOpenHeavens is the electronic version of the Hard Copy. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC.