FRIDAY 4TH OCTOBER 2019 THEME: SPIRITUAL HEART SURGERY

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL

DATE:  FRIDAY 4TH OCTOBER 2019
THEME: SPIRITUAL HEART SURGERY

MEMORISE:
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. Ezekiel  36:26

READ: Acts 2:37-42
2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.

2:40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

MESSAGE:
Advancements in science and technology have attained a level where most organs in the human body can be replaced with organs from a donor's body, through a medical procedure known as a transplant. Nevertheless, long before human beings discovered how to do this, God has been in the business of carrying out transplants, both in the physical body and spiritual being of man. Unlike transplants carried out by man, the Surgeon of heaven uses only brand new parts, custom-made to perfectly meet His patients' needs. One area of need lies in the fact that mankind is dead in sin. God knew that for us to receive new life through the Blood of Jesus, we would need a new heart. God committed Himself to doing just that in today's memory verse. Why does man need a heart transplant? The Holy Spirit answers this in Jeremiah 17:9 saying:

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

Everyone who has not laid on the operating table of the heavenly Surgeon possesses a stony heart, which is unreceptive of the things of God. As a result, the seed of God's word cannot take root in it (Mark 4:5). To benefit from the abundant life available in the new covenant with Jesus Christ, we must surrender ourselves to God for the spiritual heart surgery that replaces our stony heart with a brand new heart of flesh.

Using His surgical knife that leaves no scar, the Surgeon of heaven is ready to work on every sincere patient who comes to Him. God's surgical knife is His word. Hebrews 4:12 says:

"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

We see this instrument at work in today's Bible reading. When it had finished its work, three thousand souls were saved. How did it achieve this feat? Acts 2:37 says:

"Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?"

God's word, delivered by Peter, caused the hearts of its hearers to "bleed" as they were convicted of their sins. They experienced godly sorrow, which led to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). God also transplanted their stony hearts with brand new hearts of flesh in accordance with the prophecy in Ezekiel 36:26. Beloved, God still performs this spiritual surgery today. Are you wondering how you can be free from sin? Surrender yourself to God for a spiritual heart transplant. Confess your spiritual ailment of sin to God and ask Jesus to transplant your heart with His word, and you shall be made whole.

PRAYER POINT:
Father, please give me a heart of flesh in which the seed of Your word grows, in Jesus' Name.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
1 Chronicles 8-10, Daniel 12

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 6: HAVE YOU BEEN TO JESUS FOR THE CLEANSING POW’R

1 Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing pow’r?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
 
Chorus:
Are you washed in the blood,
In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?
Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

2 Are you walking daily by the Saviour’s side?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Do you rest each moment in the Crucified?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

3 When the Bridegroom cometh will your robes be white!
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Will your soul be ready for His presence bright,
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb?

4 Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin,
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb;
There’s a fountain flowing for the soul unclean,
O be washed in the blood of the Lamb.