WEDNESDAY 12TH FEBRUARY 2020.THEME: THE BELOVED II.

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL

DATE:  WEDNESDAY 12TH FEBRUARY 2020.

THEME: THE BELOVED II.

MEMORISE:

And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. Genesis 22:18

READ: Genesis 22:11-18

11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,

16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

MESSAGE 

Blessings are in level. It could be general or special. God causes the rain to fall on both the good and evil; He makes air available to everybody. These are general blessings. But He can also reserve special blessings- the greatest of them, for His beloved.

In order not to be seen as a partial, He puts up His beloved for great blessings and then leaves them to take critical decisions. Elijah asked the widow of Zarephath to surrender her last meal to him, and after she did, God blessed her with an unending supply of food. If anyone should ask God in future, “why did you send Elijah to that widow of all the widows in the land?” He would turn to them and ask, “Can you surrender your last meal?”

When He loves you, He will put you in line for irreversible blessings by asking you for a serious sacrifice. The moment you do it, He will bless you greatly. In Genesis 22:1-18, God told Abraham to sacrifice his son to Him, but as soon as he lifted the knife to kill the boy, God stopped him and swore by Himself saying “In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.”

Generally, God’s favorite will not lack any good thing. David, the man after God’s heart said confidently “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1).when God loves you, He will ensure that all your needs are supplied even before you make a request and if you want more, He will give you in abundance. In 2 Samuel 12:8, He told David:

“And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.”

If you would obey Him absolutely from now on, God will put you in line for an irreversible blessing in the mighty name of Jesus.

KEY POINT:

God’s beloved would never lack any good thing.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Exodus 39-40

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE 

HYMN 5:  DEEPER, DEEPER IN THE LOVE OF JESUS.

1. Deeper, deeper in the love of Jesus

Daily let me go;

Higher, higher in the school of wisdom,

More of grace to know.

o Refrain:

Oh, deeper yet, I pray,

And higher every day,

And wiser, blessed Lord,

In Thy precious, holy Word.

2. Deeper, deeper, blessed Holy Spirit,

Take me deeper still,

Till my life is wholly lost in Jesus,

And His perfect will.

3. Deeper, deeper! though it cost hard trials,

Deeper let me go!

Rooted in the holy love of Jesus,

Let me fruitful grow.

4. Deeper, higher, every day in Jesus,

Till all conflict past,

Finds me conqu’ror, and in His own image

Perfected at last.

5. Deeper, deeper in the faith of Jesus,

Holy faith and true;

In His pow’r and soul exulting wisdom

Let me peace pursue.