Mrs Eche Thomas Mom: Good morning
OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE.
DATE: TUESDAY 17TH JANUARY, 2023.
THEME: THE LIVING SACRIFICE.
MEMORISE:
“I beseech you therefore, brethren by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” – (Romans 12:1)
READ: Matthew 16:24-27 (KJV)
24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
MESSAGE:
The sacrifice that pleases God the most is your life. You become a living sacrifice the day you surrender your life to Jesus.
From the day you genuinely surrender your life to Him, He can send you wherever He wants, set the direction of your life and use you to fulfil His plans. God knows, I never wanted to be a Pastor, talk less of a General Overseer, but I am a living sacrifice. I had wanted to retire at the age of seventy, so that I could then begin to live a normal life – sleep when others sleep, eat when others eat and so on, but God said, “No”. Since I am a living sacrifice, my response was, “Yes, Daddy”.
God expects your entire life to be a sacrifice to Him; you are to go wherever He sends you. When He says witness – you witness, sit – you sit, pray – you pray.
The moment God knows that He has you as a living sacrifice, whatever other offering you give becomes acceptable because it would be given under His guidance.
Some of us, even before coming to Church, have made up our minds on the offering to give. For the fellow who is a living sacrifice, God will tell them what to give.
When I became General Overseer, things were hard. We could hardly pay the staff on the church’s payroll and many a time, there would be nothing left to pay the General Overseer.
Having left paid employment for full-time ministry after working for the government for several years, I received my gratuity, with plans to save some, invest some in shares and so on.
However, since I am a living sacrifice, I asked God, “What do I do with this money?” He responded that I should divide it into three parts and give each to a different ministry while retaining nothing for myself.
As painful as this was, I was comforted when He said further, “I will be your source”. When you become a living sacrifice, God will become your source.
The day you became a living sacrifice, you became His property, so He will take care of you. Things may be hard at first, but He will make sure that your tomorrow will be all right (Colossians 1:27).
REFLECTION:
Are you a living sacrifice for God? Can He decide to do whatever He pleases with you and all you have?
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Exodus 5-7
AUTHOR: PASTOR E A ADEBOYE
HYMNAL: 23 – TAKE MY LIFE, AND LET IT BE
1 Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in endless praise,
let them flow in endless praise.
2 Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee,
swift and beautiful for thee.
3 Take my voice and let me sing
always, only, for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
filled with messages from thee,
filled with messages from thee.
4 Take my silver and my gold;
not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
every power as thou shalt choose,
every power as thou shalt choose.
5 Take my will and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne,
it shall be thy royal throne.
6 Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee,
ever, only, all for thee.
HAVE A BLESSED DAY 🙏🏼
[1/17, 06:48] Mrs Eche Thomas Mom: *Faith Food Devotional*
_January 17_
BY CONQUEST
_”And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it”_ *(Col. 2:15)*.
This is a picture of Christ in combat with the hosts of darkness!
A marginal note in my King James Version reads, “He put off from Himself the principalities and the powers.” It is evident that when the demon hosts thought they had Jesus within their power, they intended to overwhelm Him and hold Him in bondage.
But when the cry came forth from the throne of God that Jesus had met the demands of Justice – that the sin problem had been settled, and man’s redemption was a fact – and Jesus overthrew the hosts of demons and Satan himself.
I think Rotherham’s translation of Hebrews 2:14 makes it even clearer: “In order that through death He might paralyse him that held the dominion of death, that is the Adversary.” Jesus paralyzed Satan! Jesus put him to naught!
There is authority in the Name of Jesus, because Jesus achieved the authority in His Name by conquest!
Confession:
_Jesus Christ spoiled principalities and powers. He made an open show of them, triumphing over them in it. Jesus paralyzed Satan and all his cohorts. Therefore, there is authority in the Name of Jesus. And I have a legal right to use that triumphant Name against the forces of the enemy!_
*Source: Faith Food Devotions by Kenneth E. Hagin.*
*Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications.*
*****
*Health Food Devotional*
_January 17_
*WALK BY FAITH*
_”For we walk by faith, not by sight”_ *(2 Cor. 5:7)*.
In 1971, I was preaching at the First Assembly of God Church in Pasadena, Texas. I had known the pastor of that church, Rev. R.V. Kemp, and his wife for a number of years.
His wife had been operated on twice for cancer at a well-known cancer hospital in Houston, Texas. When the cancer came back a third time, the doctors said that it had spread to every gland in her body, and gave her three months to live.
Brother Kemp brought his wife to one of the services. When my wife and I saw her, we almost wept; she looked like the picture of death.
She came forward, and I laid hands on her. The power of God fell on her and she said, “This is it. This is it. I know according to the Word of God I’m healed.”
Yet she still had all the symptoms. She was still helpless. Her husband had to get her out of bed and dress her. He had to prepare her meals, then pick her up in his arms, and sit her down in a chair at the table.
Confession:
_I know according to the Word of God that I’m healed. I choose to walk by faith in God’s Word, rather than by sight._
*Source: Health Food Devotions by Kenneth E. Hagin.*
*Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications.*