OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 22ND 2023
THEME: KILL THAT WEAKNESS
MEMORISE: Neither give place to the devil. Ephesians 4:27
READ: Hebrews 12:1 -8
1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
MESSAGE:
When you want to fight a champion in a boxing match, the first thing you want to know is if he has been wounded before. If he has, you can hit him on that spot to get the upper hand in the match. When the devil want to bring down a champion, he look for the greatest weakness in them and next keep aiming at it until the champion fall.
A hunter went hunting and kill a big leopard. He also saw a baby leopard and decided to take it back to the village because it looked harmless. The little leopard began to grow, playing with children in the village, and the hunter’s son was its best friend. Years later, the leopard had the hunter’s son riding on its back towards the village stream. The boy fell and bruised his leg on the ground. The leopard wanting to help its friend, licked the blood on its friend’s leg. The taste of the blood drove the leopard to eat the boy up.
Beloved, if you don’t kill that little leopard in your life, it will kill you. That little contamination- that little anger or lust would later kill you , if you don’t kill it now.
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
Song of Solomon 2:15
It doesn’t matter how many good virtues you have or how strong you are in the Spirit. If there is just one weakness, it can destroy you completely. A little contamination destroy purity. Hebrew 12:1 says that you should lay aside that sins which easily beset you so that you can run the Christian race successfully. This race is a marathon. In marathon, carrying the smallest weight can cause you to fall. Once the devil sees you carrying that weakness around, he knows he now has a joker card to use in bringing you down later. Don’t give him that joker card, kill the weakness immediately.
KEY POINT
The smallest of weaknesses in your life can stop you from making heaven. Kill that weakness now.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Acts 24-26
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE
HYMN 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 ceaseless praise,
Let them flow in ceaseless 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.
