OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL­-SATURDAY-16/07/2016-OUR CROSS BEARER-BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL­-SATURDAY-16/07/2016-OUR CROSS BEARER-BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

OUR CROSS BEARER

Memorise

The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father; neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. Ezekiel 18:20

Read

Ezekiel 18:1-4,

1The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying,

2 What mean ye that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?

3 As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.

4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

KJV

MESSAGE

   The righteousness of God demands that the soul that commits sin will die (Genesis 2:16-17). The first man and woman disobeyed God and then became sinners doomed for prediction. When Jesus Christ was sent to come and die for mankind, He made a demand on man to carry his cross and follow Him. The cross being referred to isn’t just two pieces of wood put together. Rather, it may be the consequence of the sins someone has committed. This is why Jesus came to help us with the cross of sin. He said:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

   When we answer this call of Jesus Christ, He exchanges His light burden with our heavy load of sin. The Bible says that the reason Jesus Christ came to this world is that He may bear our burden of sin for us.

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

Isaiah 53:4-5

    Beloved, come to Jesus Christ today and He will carry your burden of sin for you. As a matter of fact, the cross He carried during His earthy ministry was for you and me. All you need to do is to confess your sin and accept Him as your Saviour and Lord. The Bible says if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and there is no truth in us. We deny ourselves the privilege of the Cross bearer if we refuse to come to Him and make Him as the Lord of our lives. He must not just be a Saviour; He should also be the Lord. My prayer is that whatever heavy burden you are carrying will be lifted in Jesus’ name.

Prayer point

Father, I bring my burden to you today in genuine repentance, please forgive me and help me lift this burden.

Bible in one year

1^st Corinthians 14:26-16:24, Psalms 10:12-11:7

OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL­-FRIDAY-15/07/2016-A PARTAKER OF OTHER PEOPLE’S SINS-BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL­-FRIDAY-15/07/2016-A PARTAKER OF OTHER PEOPLE’S SINS-BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

A PARTAKER OF OTHER PEOPLE’S SINS?

Memorise

Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins; keep thyself pure. 1^st Timothy 5:22

Read

2^nd Chronicles 18:28-34

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead.

29 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and will go to the battle; but put thou on thy robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself; and they went to the battle.

30 Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots that were with him, saying, Fight ye not with small or great, save only with the king of Israel.

31 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him; and God moved them to depart from him.

32 For it came to pass, that, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back again from pursuing him.

33 And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: therefore he said to his chariot man, Turn thine hand, that thou mayest carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.

34 And the battle increased that day: howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the even: and about the time of the sun going down he died.

KJV

MESSAGE

   There is an error now rampant among the children of God, which must be avoided if we will make it to Heaven. That error is partaking in other people’s sins, particularly the unbelievers! The reason for this development is connected with the unwillingness to take our stand in the midst of opposition and antagonism from the unbelieving people of this age. Children of God now conform a lot with the evil in our society because we do not want to be blacklisted, whereas, this is the nature of our calling. Jesus Christ said concerning the experience of His disciplines in this world:

“And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Matthew 10:22

   It is unfortunate that those who indulge in aiding and abetting sinful ways do not know that they will also be partakers of the punishment:

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient. Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers… Who knowing the judgement of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”

Romans 1:28, 32

   In the Bible reading for today, we read about how Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah partook in the sin of his friend, the king of Israel and was almost killed but for divine intervention. He agreed to disguise to be the king of Israel, not knowing that it was the king of Israel that was being sought for destruction. In the same vein, many children of God make friends with ungodly people of the world only to discover that they share the punishment with the ungodly. This should not be so because the Bible says:

“As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even for ever. For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.”

Psalms 125:2-3

   Unless children of God cease from being partakers of the sins of the unbelievers, we may continue to suffer just because of our alliance with the wicked people of this world. For example, when a child of God enters into a business partnership with an unbeliever who refuses to pay his tithe, the business may collapse for this reason and the ignorant child of God suffers together with the unbeliever. May God have mercy on His children.  

Action Point

Break all alliances with unbelievers and pray that the Almighty have mercy on you for previous alliances.

Bible in one year

1^st Corinthians 11:17-14:25, Psalms 10:1-11