Topic: Daring God — Sunday September 10, 2017.

Text: Mark 12:1-12

Key Verse: “What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others” (Mark 12:9).

In a book entitled “Down to Earth”, John Lawrence tells the story of a city that dared God. It seems that the city of Messina, Sicily, was home to many wicked, irreligious people. On December 25, 1908, a newspaper published in Messina printed a parody against God, daring Him to make Himself known by sending an earthquake. Three days later, on December 28, the city and its surrounding district was devastated by a terrible quake that killed 84,000 people.

Christ tells a parable in our text which illustrates the judgment of God coming upon those who oppose Him and rebel against His word. In this parable, we are introduced to these husbandmen who were given the responsibility of tending a vineyard. They soon appropriated the fruits to themselves and resisted every attempt to render any account. They beat up all the servants sent to them by the owner of the vineyard and finally killed his well-beloved son.

These actions prompted the owner of the vineyard to destroy them and give the field to others who would be responsible and accountable. The parable illustrates the wickedness of the Israelites who slew the prophets that were sent unto them by God to demand that they bring forth fruits of righteousness. This was an act of disregard for God. It was as if they pointed their fingers at God’s face. The consequences would be devastating. Jesus had said in Matthew 23:35 that “upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar”. The Lord demands that we bear the fruit of righteousness and be ready to give account of all the talents He has bestowed upon us. Those who act lawlessly now as if there’s no God will soon face the reality of their folly.

Thought for the day: Do not dare God by continuing in sin.

Bible Reading in one Year: Numbers 3-4

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: Function in the Wisdom of God — Sunday September 10, 2017.

“However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,”  (1 Corinthians 2:6-7 NKJV)

Beloved, it is an established truth that the world today is in a cup of trembling. And many are not able to fashion out solutions to the complex challenges of this age. However, this should not be surprising to any believer, because like the Bible rightly says, all the kingdoms of this world shall be shaken. It is only God’s kingdom that is unshakable. And you and I belong to that kingdom. (Hebrews 12:28)

The rulers of this age are indeed “coming to nothing”. I like how the Message translation puts it “…but it’s not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will obsolete at some point. This is the reason why our conduct, communication, thoughts, beliefs, or actions as believers, cannot be founded upon such wisdom that is fading away. Rather, our lives should be hinged on the wisdom of God. Without the wisdom of God, we are limited and are not different from the rest.

The wisdom of God is not mysterious neither is it difficult to understand. What the mystery in our text means is that the wisdom of God is the truth concealed in the mind of God. Fortunately, as a result of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, the Bible says that we have the mind of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:6). Therefore we must ensure that we develop this mind, and engage it at all times. We develop the mind of Christ through the study of the scriptures, the more you read the Word, the more it’s developed. Beloved, I don’t know how we would function in these last days without the mind of Christ. I encourage you to develop and engage your mind, so you can make a formidable impact in your world.

Further Reading: Daniel 2:11-20, Ephesians 3:9-10

Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Proverbs 8-9; Evening- 2 Corinthians 3

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: His Still Small Voice [Sunday September 10, 2017]

But the anointing which ye have received of [God] abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth. – 1 John 2:27

Have you ever noticed that you are sometimes aware of certain things even before you know what the Word says about them? That’s because the Holy Spirit is inside you teaching you the truth. He speaks into your spirit. Then your spirit relays His promptings to your mind. Suddenly, you’ll have a new thought. I need to forgive that person, you’ll think, or I need to stop saying those unkind things.

As you become more aware of the Spirit of God in your everyday affairs, you’ll be quicker to hear and obey those promptings. You’ll actually get in the habit of allowing the Spirit of Truth to reveal the will of God to you. And, believe me, that’s one habit God wants you to have!

One of the first things that the Spirit said to me when I began to listen to His promptings was, Spend more time in prayer. As I obeyed, I began to be impressed to spend at least one hour a day in prayer. After I’d begun to do that, He revealed it to me in His Word (Matthew 26:40).

Since then, I have talked with people from all over the world who are hearing the same thing. Believers everywhere are hearing the Spirit of God direct them to more prayer.

God hasn’t given the Holy Spirit to just a few special Christians. He’s given Him to all of us. And if we’ll just learn to be sensitive to His voice, He’ll guide us into all truth!

Think about how different your life would be if you knew the truth of God about every situation! Doesn’t that just make you want to listen to your spirit? Doesn’t it make you want to be on the keen edge of what God is saying?

Start tuning your ear to His still, small voice within you. Honor Him and welcome His guidance into your everyday affairs. Listen for His promptings and be quick to obey. He’s ready to speak to you.

Scripture Reading: John 15:1-15

This message was written by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, the leader of the Kenneth Copeland Ministries (www.KCM.org) that specializes in teaching principles of bible faith – prayer, healing, salvation and other biblical topics.

Topic: Dream Great Dreams — Sunday September 10, 2017.

Be thou faithful unto death . . . — Revelation 2:10

In our day much of the world believes little or nothing. People are broad but shallow. Agnosticism, anxiety, emptiness, meaninglessness, have gripped much of the world—and even the church. Our youth are desperately searching for a purpose and a meaning in their lives. They are searching for fulfillment which they are not finding in sex and drugs.

By contrast, our Pilgrim forebears stand as shining examples of men who were narrow but deep, certain of what they believed, unswerving in their loyalty, and passionately dedicated to the God they trusted, and for whom they would willingly have died. I say to you, more than 350 years after the Pilgrim Fathers landed in the New World: Dream great dreams, embrace great principles, renew your hope, but above all, like them, believe in the Christ who alone can give total meaning and an ultimate goal to your life. “For in Him we live and move and have our being.”

Prayer for the day: May I always be faithful to my belief in You, Lord Jesus Christ. Where there is despair, use me to bring Your hope.

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: Writing Letters— Sunday September 10, 2017.

Read: 2 Corinthians 3:1–6, Bible in a Year: Proverbs 8–9; 2 Corinthians 3

You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. – 2 Corinthians 3:2

My mother and her sisters engage in what is increasingly becoming a lost art form—writing letters. Each week they pen personal words to each other with such consistency that one of their mail-carriers worries when he doesn’t have something to deliver! Their letters brim with the stuff of life, the joys and heartaches along with the daily happenings of friends and family.

I love to reflect on this weekly exercise of the women in my family. It helps me appreciate even more the apostle Paul’s words that those who follow Jesus are “a letter from Christ,” who were “written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God” (2 Cor. 3:3). In response to false teachers who wanted to discredit his message (see 2 Cor. 11), Paul encouraged the church in Corinth to keep on following the true and living God as he had previously taught. In doing so, he memorably described the believers as Christ’s letter, with their transformed lives a more powerful witness to the Spirit working through Paul’s ministry than any written letter could be.

Through our words and actions, the Lord spreads His life-giving love.

How wonderful that God’s Spirit in us writes a story of grace and redemption! For as meaningful as written words can be, it is our lives that are the best witness to the truth of the gospel, for they speak volumes through our compassion, service, gratitude, and joy. Through our words and actions, the Lord spreads His life-giving love. What message might you send today?

Prayer: Lord God, write the story of my life so that I might reflect Your love and goodness to those I encounter today.

We are Christ’s letters.

Insight:

Our Lord Jesus said we are the salt and light of the world (Matt. 5:13–14) to illustrate the impact believers have in their community (v. 16). We are not saved by our good works (Eph. 2:8–9), but once saved what we do and how we live are a witness to the power of Christ to change lives.

This message was written By Amy Boucher Pye [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]

Topic: Our Words Are Alive – Sunday September 10, 2017.

Mark 11:14 “And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.”

Text: Mark 11:14

Notice that this verse says that Jesus “answered” this fig tree. The tree had not spoken to Him verbally but it communicated that it had figs by the leaves on it. It is a fact that a fig tree should have figs by the time the leaves are evident. A fig tree actually produces green figs before the leaves appear and if no figs are produced by that time, then the tree will not have any figs that year. This fig tree was professing something that it didn’t have even though it was still too early for figs.

Not only plants, but other things can communicate with us too. Circumstances can tell you that you have failed. Your body can tell you that your prayer didn’t work – the Lord didn’t heal you, etc. You need to follow Jesus’ example and answer these things with a positive statement of your faith.

What good could it do to talk to a tree or an inanimate object? God created the heavens, the earth, and everything that is in the earth, by His words (Heb. 11:3). The whole creation was made by and responds to words. Our words, when spoken in faith, release either life or death (Prov. 18:21). They also affect people, things, and circumstances. We can release the power that is in faith by our words.

Speaking God’s Word in faith brings the Holy Spirit into action. In Luke 4, when Jesus was tempted of the devil for forty days, it was the Word of God that Jesus used to defeat the enemy at His temptation. We must take advantage of God’s Word by placing it in our hearts so that the Holy Spirit may bring it forth at the appropriate time to accomplish a complete and total victory.

Speak to that mountain in your life.

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: Lessons from People with Great Destinies [Sunday September 10, 2017]

Scripture: Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. Isaiah 48:10.

Thought For The Day: The Anointing of God births great destinies out of obscurity.

David, the son of Jesse, was one of the generational celebrities in history. He was a great man who was treasured by God as the man after God’s own heart.

Joseph was also a man of great destiny who rose from obscurity to prominence.

Now, what lessons can we learn from these great destinies?

1. Rejection is often the birth place of distinction

Anywhere rejection is found, distinction is about to be born. David was rejected (his father did not regard him as worthy of being anointed by Samuel the Prophet) but that created way for his distinction in life.

It does not matter if the frustration or rejection is even from your family members, God shall make you a candidate for distinction.

2. Victims of rejection become candidates for the unction.

Joseph was a victim of rejection, his brothers sold him into slavery but at the end, he became qualified for the anointing or the unction.

3. Great destinies are often raised out of obscurity.

The Anointing of God births great destinies out of obscurity. It is possible that no one may know your name now, but if the anointing of God is upon you, your greatness is confirmed.

Beloved, your background may not be clearly defined, but if God has laid His hands on you, the world must celebrate you.

Remember this: The Anointing of God births great destinies out of obscurity.

Assignment(s):

1. Do not underrate yourself on account of your background.

2. Connect the power of God for a lifting in life.

Prayer: O LORD, I ask that You lift me from the background to the forefront in life. Empower me for greatness, LORD, in Jesus’ Name.

FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THIS MESSAGE: MAXIMIZING YOUR LIFE.

Amazing Fact: Every person has a unique tongue print.

Today In History: 10/09/1926 – Germany joined the League of Nations.

Daily Reading: Isaiah 6:1 to 7:2, 2 Corinthians 11:16 to 33, Psalm 54:1 to 7, Proverbs 23:1 to 3.

Quote: Life is programmed form the heart…When you lose grip on your heart, you lose grip on your life. Culled from 15 KINGDOM STRATEGIES FOR SURVIVAL by Dr Paul Enenche.

Dunamis International Gospel Centre (DIGC), is a powerfully anointed church, headquartered at Abuja, Nigeria, with Dr Paul and Becky Enenche, as the Senior Pastors. It is a power-packed arena where God’s Presence, Principles and Power are at work for the salvation, healing and restoration of human destinies and dignities.

A Promise For You From Bible Promises:

Topic: Be Resilient To Deliver. Pt Three [09/09/2017]

Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. John 16:24. Read: Lk 11:5-10

A resilient prayer or person does not take no for an answer to his or her prayer, it’s either yes or nothing else. He or she is also confident that God must answer him or else, Heaven will not have rest. A resilient person is not chicken-hearted and don’t easily back off at any disappointment, he or she PUSH (AGAIN AND AGAIN UNTIL SOMETHING) HAPPENS because such person that only the violent takes it by force not the chicken-hearted ones. Jesus Himself is a perfect example of a resilient prayer warrior. During His earthly ministry, He prayed all through even on the Cross.

Hence, He was so confident to tell us from the above scripture that if truly we want to deliver our long awaited glorious destiny to the world, we must not chicken out over any obstacles we encounter in pursuit of our destiny, rather, we must be strong and stand upon the victory He has won for us by asking continuously until we birth our destiny. My friend, like that friend, you must trouble heaven until you receive your desired destiny and results. Stand your ground and fight for the manifestation of your destiny, don’t give in and don’t give up until you see your destiny birthed. Jacob refused to let the angel go until his name was changed.

#BiblePromisesPrayer

* Father, I receive the spirit to be resilient until I see and receive my desired results, I refuse to give up until I see the manifestation of my destiny in Jesus Mighty Name

Topic: Leave The House [Saturday, 9th September 2017]

The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.  Matthew 13:1‭-‬2

A lot of us have missions from the Lord to accomplish and we’re really excited to accomplish these missions. But sometimes, we think that we can do it from our comfort zones. At times, yes, it is because of our placements in life that we get to do some things, but not necessarily from comfort. I read somewhere once that God’s love is not a pampering love, it is a perfecting love.

Whatever God has called us to do is not only for the good of those we’ve been sent to. It is also for our own good. For example, Jonah who was sent to the people of Nineveh to tell them of their sins, and preach repentance to them (Jonah 1:1-2). But God used it as a medium to teach him a very important lesson in ministry. He made him understand that mercy is better than destruction. (Jonah 4). God also wants to teach us some vital life lesson on our way to accomplishing His assignment. And to learn these lessons and make these accomplishments, we must leave the place where we are most comfortable at.

Our anchor scripture records of how Jesus left the house to the seaside, and then the multitudes gathered unto Him. Over and again, the Apostle Paul had to leave where he was safe and secure to places where his life was in danger so as to preach the message of Christ and salvation, and accomplish what he was sent to do. It’s time to leave the place you’re most comfortable at so as to achieve what you’ve been sent to do. Staying in your comfort zone will only get you so far. God wants you to stress out and reach out, trusting Him to keep you on the way. Even when Apostle Paul had the prophecy from the Holy Spirit that bond and affliction awaited him in Jerusalem, in Acts 20:22-25, that did not deter him. He still went anyway. He left his safe place, so he could accomplish the task ahead, and today, we can’t talk about the gospel without mentioning him. That’s the kind of impact God wants you to make, but it won’t come in your comfort zone. Leave the house!

Keep winning daily.

Prayer:

Dear God, thank You again for the opportunity to serve You and do things for You. Help me always not to stay in my comfort zone, thereby not doing what You’ve called me to do, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

By Esun Tekeme

Topic: He Is At The Door! — Sunday 10, September 2017.

Memorise: Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.  – Revelation 3:20

Read: Revelation 3:19-22 (KJV)

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Bible in One Year: 2 Chronicles 21-23, Ezekiel 39:9-20, Hymn: Sing hymn 12 – How Sweet The Name Of Jesus.

MESSAGE:

God is a God of order, and Heaven is a place of order. Heaven is also a place where everything revolves around the will of the Owner: God. There is protocol in Heaven and a hierarchy or authority which must be respected. For this reason, when accessing God’s presence, the manner of approach really matters. How you enter into a room or house will determine whether you will be welcomed or chased out. Do you know that even God subjects Himself to the law of order? In Revelations 3:20, Jesus said,

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

Although God created us, He still has to knock and wait to be invited in before He enters into our hearts. Even though He created the space in your heart for Himself, He still doesn’t force Himself into that space. You are the one to decide if and when He should come in or not.

Coming Up Next: Open Heavens 11 September 2017: Monday daily devotional by Pastor Adeboye – Restitution: Evidence Of Salvation I

In Genesis 18:1-8, Abraham saw some divine visitors near his tent. He ran to meet them, pleading for the opportunity to be hospitable to them. In this instance also, you can see that God waited to be invited in. similarly, in Genesis 19:1-3, when the two angels arrived in Sodom, Lot invited them in to spend the night. Also, in 2 Kings 4:8, Elisha was just passing by when the Shunammite woman invited him into her house for lunch, and even though he said he was not hungry, the woman practically compelled him to come in. From that day forward, whenever Elisha passed by, he stopped over at her house.

God waits to be invited in because of His humility, and due to the fact that He does not want to impose Himself on us. Also, He created us as free moral agents and not as zombies or robots: He wants us to be free to express our own will. In addition, He wants us to be able to bear the consequences of our actions and not hold Him responsible for what we do. He also wants to be able to determine if we truly love Him and whether we desire to follow Him or not. If you are not yet born again, you have been keeping the Saviour waiting all these years. Please answer the knock on the door of your heart, kindly invite Jesus in, and surrender you whole life to Him. Doing this is in your own interest.

Action Point: Invite Jesus into every area of your life from which you have shut Him out.

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.