MONDAY 4TH JUNE 2018 KNOW YOUR RIGHTS IN GOD

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL

DATE: MONDAY 4TH JUNE 2018

THEME: KNOW YOUR RIGHTS IN GOD

MEMORISE:
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: Ephesians 2:6

READ: Acts 27:18-25

18 And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship;

19 And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship.

20 And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.

21 But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.

22 And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.

23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,

24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.

25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.

MESSAGE
Many children of God are genuine in their Christian walk, but they do not know their rights in God. For this reason, they unfortunately still live at the mercy of the enemy. A classical example of someone who knew his position in God is Elijah. How I wish all children of God would be just like Elijah in this regard. I tell you beloved, if this were the case, the whole world would have been won into the kingdom of God by now. When confronted by a group of soldiers ordered by the king to terminate his ministry, Prophet Elijah in 2 Kings 1:10 simply decreed:

"...If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty..."

Exactly what Elijah decreed was what happened, and this happened twice before the third group of soldiers learnt their lesson. The move of God is not found in the multitude of words or in vain repetitions but in the power of the Holy Ghost. However, you cannot walk in this realm without knowing who you are in Christ.

Based on today's Bible text, I have often taught my children that Paul had some credit in his account with God, and so for his sake lives were saved from physical perdition. Having given his all to Christ, he was conscious of the credit he had with Him. For this reason, when he suffered shipwreck with a host of other prisoners, crew and soldiers, he prayed that God should spare their lives. He even encouraged them to eat because God had spoken with him, assuring him of the safety of every life in the ship. Many lessons can be derived from this, the profound of these being that Paul knew his position in Christ. In other words, he understood his rights in Christ.

Do you know your position in Christ? Are you aware of your kingdom rights? Can you gauge your credit balance with God? The knowledge of your current standing with God will cause you to improve your relationship with Him in order to appropriate benefits of life in Christ. When you do this, I can assure you that you will no longer find yourself living at the mercy of the devil and circumstances again.

ACTION POINT:
Examine yourself to see how much credit you have with God. Endeavour to increase your credit with Him so that you can always have something to draw from in the days of adversity.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
1 Kings 16-17, Acts 5:22-42

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 16: STAND UP! STAND UP FOR JESUS

1. Stand up, stand up for Jesus!
Ye soldiers of the Cross;
Lift high His royal banner,
It must not suffer loss.
From vict'ry unto vict'ry
His army shall He lead,
Till every foe is vanquished
And Christ is Lord indeed.

2. Stand up, stand up for Jesus!
The trumpet call obey;
Forth to the mighty conflict
In this His glorious day!
Ye that are men, now serve Him
Against unnumbered foes;
Let courage rise with danger,
And strength to strength oppose.

3. Stand up, stand up for Jesus!
Stand in His strength alone:
The arm of flesh will fail you;
Ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the Gospel armour,
And watching unto prayer,
Where duty calls, or danger,
Be never wanting there.

4. Stand up, stand up for Jesus!
The strife will not be long;
This day the noise of battle,
The next the victor's song
To him that overcometh
A crown of life shall be;
He, with the King of Glory
Shall reign eternally.