Topic: My Beloved Son (and Daughter) [Wednesday April 26, 2017]

And all of us…are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another…. — 2 Corinthians 3:18

We all make mistakes every day of our lives. But if we love God and want to do what is right, He keeps working with us and loving us into wholeness. We don’t have to feel rejected in the meantime. God sees the end from the beginning. He knows where we are now and is fully aware of every one of our faults, but He also knows where we can be if He keeps loving us and encouraging us to go forward. God changes us from one degree of glory to another, according to 2 Corinthians 3:18, but He also keeps loving, accepting, and approving of us while we are making the journey.

The Scripture tells us that a voice came from heaven two different times and said, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Why was this necessary? I believe that Jesus needed to hear these words, and I believe we need to hear the same expression of love and affirmation. Knowing that God is on our side gives us confidence. Jesus received God’s encouragement, and we need to do the same. Don’t concentrate on everything that is wrong with you. That will distract you from proper fellowship with God. Thank God for your strengths and turn your weaknesses over to Him.

When God finished all of His creation, including man, He looked at it and said, “It is good!” God intends to work in and through you, so relax and believe that God approves of you!

Love Yourself Today: Say out loud, “I am God’s beloved child. He approves of me and will finish the good work He started!”

Topic: Responsibilities of God’s Children I [Wednesday 26, April 2017]

Memorise: As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: – 1 Peter 2:2

Read: 1 John 3:1-3 (KJV)

1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Bible in One Year: Number 20-21, Jeremiah 21:1-10

MESSAGE:

All those who have accepted the Lordship of Jesus Christ over their life are children of God, by the grace of adoption through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:5). As children of God, while God has some responsibilities to make a success of our walk of faith in this world, we also have some responsibilities we have to bear in this regard. Peter, in today’s memory verse, points out that one of our responsibilities as children of God is to desire things that are beneficial to our spiritual growth. When some new converts become children of God, due to zeal without knowledge, they begin to nurse some good desires which are inappropriate or unhealthy for sustaining their victory in the Christian race. For example, some converts after giving their lives to Christ immediately begin to desire the office of a pastor, evangelist or Christian minister of any sort. Although these are good desires, they are inappropriate and ill-timed. The first responsibility of a believer when he or she becomes a child of God is to desire the sincere milk of the word so that he or she can grow to maturity through it. It is after this that he or she can think of rendering service to the Kingdom work. Physically speaking, when a little baby desires to eat bread, yam, or rice, such desires could kill him or her. In the same vein, when a newborn believer desires to be a pastor or an evangelist overnight, he or she would not last long. This is the mistake some Christian organisations make when they make converts out of Muslims and traditionalists and immediately turn them into tools of evangelism. The resultant effect is that such converts, without having depth in the word of God, would begin to see themselves as evangelists. Based on my experience and observations, more often than not, such converts don’t last. For this season, children being born into God’s family must take time to study the word of God and become well grounded in it.

In our Bible reading today, we see another responsibility of children of God, which is that they must keep themselves pure (1 John 3:3). After being cleansed and purified by the Blood of Jesus, children of God have the responsibility of not going back to their old vomit or staining their garment of righteousness with the filth of this world (Ephesians 5:26-27). Practically, you achieve this by measuring your action against the standard of God’s word. Anything that is contrary to the word of God is filth that must be avoided. This is the more reason why all children of God need to be grounded in the word first before anything else.

Action Point: Make sure you read, study and apply the word of God to your day-to-day living as a child of God, and you will grow in faith.

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: Press On in Patience [Wednesday April 26, 2017]

…Be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. – Hebrews 6:12

You’ve been walking by faith. You’ve been believing God to meet your need. But what do you do when the results seem slow in coming and you are tempted to give up?

Be patient!

There is not much said about patience these days. But, when it comes to receiving from God, it is just as important as faith.

It will make the difference between success and failure for you.

Patience undergirds and sustains faith until the result is manifest. After you have meditated on the promises of God and have them in your spirit, patience will encourage you to hold steady. Patience is power. It has the courage to refuse the lie of Satan that says the Word is not working for you. It knows that God’s Word has never failed. Patience will not draw back in fear but will press forward in faith until you have the answer.

When the results of your faith seem slow in coming, don’t give up! Continue to put the Word first, with patience, and you will surely receive the promise of God!

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 10:32-39

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: Spiritual Adultery [Wednesday April 26, 2017]

Text: 2 Kings 17:1-8

Key Verse: “For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods” (2 Kings 17:7).

A little boy, when his mother was out, got a chair and climbed up to a shelf in the closet to see if there was anything pleasant to eat. He saw a small white paper parcel. When he opened it, it was filled with white powder. The boy tasted and found it sweet; he took some more and put it up again. He soon became sick.

When he complained to his mother, she asked what he had eaten. He disclosed that he had tasted “some of the sweet sugar in the closet”. “Oh, my son, it is poison; it will kill you!” she exclaimed. The boy was taken to hospital to save his life. The boy never forgot the lesson thereafter, that what is sweet may be poison afterall. So it is with sin. Something we like much may be wrong; and if it’s wrong, it is sin. This is what happened to Israel during the reign of Hoshea, when he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. King Hoshea and his people decided to forsake the Lord who brought them out of bondage and serve other gods, walking in the statutes of the heathen whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel.

Israel paid dearly for this as God forsook them and they were carried away into captivity. In the Old Testament dispensation, Israel was referred to as the wife of God. “For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel…” (Isaiah 54:5). Hence, anytime the children of Israel went back from following the Lord, it was compared to the treachery of a wife against her husband. So, the relationship between God and His people is compared to marriage. This is exactly the same picture we have in the New Testament concerning Christ and His Bride, the Church. When Christians withdraw their love from the Lord at any moment and gives same to the world, it is regarded as spiritual adultery. The world in this instance means the evil system of the world as controlled by the devil. As a Christian, being friendly with the world is unequal yoke.

It is like bringing light and darkness together; linking righteousness with unrighteousness and bringing God and Satan into fellowship. It is deadly. Worldliness is spiritual adultery which will result in eternal death – eternal separation from God.

Thought for the day: The world and its dainties are mere mirage, yet deadly.

Bible Reading in one Year: 1 Corinthians 1-4

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: Someone to Touch [Wednesday April 26, 2017]

Read: Luke 5:12–16, Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 23–24; Luke 19:1–27

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. Luke 5:13

Commuters on a Canadian Metro train witnessed a heart-moving conclusion to a tense moment. They watched as a 70-year old woman gently reached out and offered her hand to a young man whose loud voice and disturbing words were scaring other passengers. The lady’s kindness calmed the man who sank to the floor of the train with tears in his eyes. He said, “Thanks, Grandma,” stood up, and walked away. The woman later admitted to being afraid. But she said, “I’m a mother and he needed someone to touch.” While better judgment might have given her reason to keep her distance, she took a risk of love.

Jesus understands such compassion. He didn’t side with the fears of unnerved onlookers when a desperate man, full of leprosy, showed up begging to be healed. Neither was He helpless as other religious leaders were—men who could only have condemned the man for bringing his leprosy into the village (Lev. 13:45–46). Instead, Jesus reached out to someone who probably hadn’t been touched by anyone for years, and healed him.

Thankfully, for that man and for us, Jesus came to offer what no law could ever offer—the touch of His hand and heart.

Prayer: Father in heaven, please help us to see ourselves and one another in that desperate man—and in the merciful eyes of Your Son who reached out and touched him.

No one is too troubled or unclean to be touched by Jesus.

Insight:

The healing of this leper would have had great significance to the people. Leprosy was a major problem in first-century Israel, with clear processes outlined for diagnosis and response to the disease (Lev. 13:38–39). It would be reasonable to ask: Why did the person go to the priest instead of going to a doctor? To the people of Israel, leprosy was not simply a fatal physical illness. Leprosy was seen as divine judgment for sin—a physical disease with spiritual roots. Since the cause of the disease was considered spiritual, the priest diagnosed the illness and, if the person was stricken with leprosy, prescribed the appropriate verdict: Isolation from family, home, community, and the corporate religious life of the nation. Not only did the Rabbi from Nazareth cleanse the man of his disease, but also by touching him He welcomed him back into the community.

Jesus still welcomes outcasts today. Whom can you welcome in today?

This message was written By Mart DeHaan [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]

Topic: Do Not Waste Your Life [Wednesday April 26, 2017]

Scripture: A wise youth makes hay while the sun shines, but what a shame to see a lad who sleeps away his hour of opportunity. – Proverbs 10:5 (TLB).

Thought For The Day: A waste of time is a waste of life.

Time is an essential and irreplaceable unit of life. The loss of time is an irrecoverable loss. Unfortunately, it has been confirmed that the easiest thing to waste in life is time. While some people waste money, resources and opportunities, others waste time. Time is the stuff life is made of. Therefore, to waste time is to waste life and a waste of life is a waste of destiny.

Now, what do you do in life to ensure that your life is not wasted?

1. Ensure that there is always a vision in front of you – a daily, weekly or monthly objective.

2. Back your vision with planning. Planning is equal to strategic thinking. People stink when they do not think.

3. Have a time schedule for all you need to do. Many people have plans but they do not have schedules; so their plans never see the light of day. You do not expect something to happen, if it is not scheduled. Without a timeline, there can be no headline. Your vision is useless and planning is a waste of time if a schedule is not included.

Beloved, it is a tragedy to waste your time. Avoid the spell of time wastage by ensuring that there is always a vision in front of you, back up your vision with planning and have a time schedule for all your activities.

Remember this: A waste of time is a waste of life.

Assignment(S):

1. Always endeavour to have a vision before you.

2. Prayerfully make plans and put those plans to action.

FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THIS MESSAGE:  WHAT IT TAKES TO AVOID THE TRAGEDY OF A WASTED LIFE.

Prayer: LORD, I shall not waste my life. I receive strength to go into action in order to fulfil destiny, in Jesus’ Name.

Daily Reading: Judges 6:1 to 40, Luke 22:54 to 23:12, Psalm 95:1 to 96:13, Proverbs 14:5 to 6.

Quote: It is wisdom to find out what you are looking for in life; what God wants to do with your life. Culled from 21 FOOLISH THINGS PEOPLE DO by Dr Paul Enenche.

Amazing Fact: Cockroaches can live 9 days without their heads before they starve to death.

Today In History: 26/04/1905 – Norway gained independence from Sweden.

Dunamis International Gospel Centre (DIGC), is a powerfully anointed church, headquartered at Abuja, Nigeria, with Dr Paul and Dr 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.

Topic: Your Word, Your Life [Wednesday, 26th April 2017]

For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Matthew 12:37

One of the things that we’ve come to understand about God, is that His word is more than His bond. God’s word is Him personified. You cannot divorce God from His word. This is a very important part of God, Who reverences His word above His name, because His word is Him (John 1:1).

Truth is, just like God’s word is Him personified, so also are our words. Your word is you. And it is very important that we live our words. As people of God, we preach to others and expect them to live by the guidelines our sermons outline for them, because we know it’s the best way to live. It is also expected of us, as the husbandman that labours in the word, to be the first partaker of the fruits of our words (2 Timothy 2:6). That is, it is expected we live our lives according to these godly and righteous guidelines we tell people to do first. This is very important, because our words – preachings – if not live out by us, will condemn us before men and God.

Scriptures says in Romans 2:24 that “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you.” Christianity is being mock by non-Christians because some folks who preach don’t live by what they preach. They do mostly the opposite of what they dish out on the pulpit. But this must not be named among us (Ephesians 5:3). Truth is, the ability to live by the words we preach has been given to us. We can live by the word. Let our words be our lives. Let people read us like epistles and live their lives based on what they see through our actions. Our words are our lives.

Keep winning daily.

Prayer:

Dear Father, I trust in Your grace, which is able to build me up and make me live by the words I preach. My life is a full representation of my words. What I ask people to do, I do first, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Topic: The Miracle of Life [Wednesday April 26, 2017]

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. — Psalm 19:1–3

There is a language in nature that speaks of the existence of God. It is the language of order, beauty, perfection, and intelligence. Some time ago a scientist told me that when he gave serious thought to the majestic order of the universe and its obedience to unchanging law, he could not help but believe in God. He had become aware that God was speaking through nature.

God speaks in the certainty and regularity of the seasons; in the precision of the movements of the sun, the moon, and the stars; in the regular coming of night and day; in the balance between man’s consumption of life-giving oxygen and its production by the plant life of the earth; and even in the cry of a newborn child with its ever-new dimension of the miracle of life.

Prayer for the day: The beauty of this day will be a constant reminder of the magnificence of You, God.

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.

Today’s Scripture: “Do not give the Devil an opportunity to work.” – (Ephesians 4:27, ISV)

Topic: Close the Door on Fear [Tuesday April 25, 2017]

So many people today are living with less than God’s best because they’ve allowed fear to creep in and take root in their lives. Fear is the greatest weapon the enemy uses to try to hold us back. Fear is not from God. Scripture tells us that fear brings torment. It’s designed to paralyze us and keep us from God’s blessings.

The good news is that God is greater than fear. His power in you is greater than any power that comes against you. But in order to walk in His power, you have to close the door on the enemy. See, the enemy can’t have access to your life unless you open a door and give him access. That’s why we have to be careful about what we watch, what we listen to, what we read, and what we say. When we open ourselves to fear, we give the enemy opportunity.

If you’ve allowed fear to steal from you in any area of life, today you can be free—you can be finished with fear. Conquering the enemy starts by making the choice to close the door on fear, and instead, meditate on God’s promises. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony! Let His truth sink down into your heart. Declare it out of your mouth. Let Him set you free and lead you into victory as you close the door on fear!

A Prayer for Today: “Father God, I come to You today declaring that I am finished with fear. Thank You for giving me power, love and a sound mind. I choose to stand on Your promises. Fill me with Your peace and joy today as I move forward in victory with You in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

A Promise For You From Bible Promises:

Topic: He Is At Your Back [25/04/2017]

But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Matthew 24:13. Lk 9:62

Your christianity is not complete until you end in heaven with Jesus Christ. It will be a total waste of time when you profess to be a child of God and at the end, you miss heaven. This shall not be your portion in Jesus name. Beloved, whatsoever you must risk to see Jesus is worth it. Don’t miss heaven for mundane things, that would be termed as foolishness. Don’t miss heaven for the passing pleasure when heavenly pleasure is endless with Christ. Every child of God should make this resolution that, “NO Retreat No surrender until I see Jesus in glory”. Whatsoever wants to take Jesus and heaven away from you must be endured. Earthly possessions caused Lot’s wife her life because she looked back. Gen 19:26. Demas (Paul’s co-worker) missed it because of his love for the world. 2 Tim 4:10

You must not look back because that is where the devil is. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan. Lk 4:8. Let it be forward ever with Jesus and backward never to Satan. Among all covering mentioned in Ephesians 6:10-17, no covering for the back. Be strong in the Lord and don’t look back.

#BiblePromisesPrayer

* Father, release upon me the sustaining grace not to look backward but go forward till I see you in glory in Jesus name