OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL DATE: FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 23RD 2022

OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL

DATE: FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 23RD 2022

THEME: WHEN YOU MUST BE VIOLENT

MEMORISE:
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. Matthew 11:12

READ:
Matthew 18:18
18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

MESSAGE:
Some Christians are so gentle that they accommodate the devil and his agents in their lives, claiming the Bible says we should be gentle as a dove. The Bible says that it is only the violent that can take the kingdom of God by force. The devil will do, everything to ensure you don’t enter the kingdom of God; it is with violence that you will take it. If you are at peace when you should be fighting, the devil will roast you.

You must be violent when the devil is confronting you with a situation that can kill you. Any situation that can destroy your destiny or your spiritual life is not one to toy with at all.

Many years ago, l encounter a woman who was a senior official of an Examination Council in West Africa. She was married with children that were doing well. Just looking at her everything seemed normal, but she was a habitation of demons. She came to me one day and said, “Thus saith the Lord, you are my husband”. I said, “That can’t be l’m happily married, l’m a man of God, and you know l am committed to a life of holiness”. She said, “You are joking, l’m going to marry you”. When we couldn’t handle it anymore, the matter was reported to the police and a restraining order was issued against her, to no avail. One day, l went to London on an official assignment and didn’t tell anybody l was coming. Just as l entered the house where l was to stay, the phone rang and this same woman said, “Welcome, l have been waiting for you. I know where you are staying, and l will be there in fifteen minutes”. I told her the British police would be waiting for her at the door. Maybe because she knew there was a police station less than two minutes’ walk away from the house, she did not come, but she kept on calling. Now, ll knew that l had a big problem and l needed to be violent. I went on my knees and cried to God to help me. God told me, ” Son, you know the meaning of whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven. You know whatever you allow is allowed, whatever you forbid is forbidden”. I said, “Yes Lord”, then He said, “It’s up to you”. On hearing that l said, “Okay, then the mountain must move!” and it did move. If l hadn’t been violent, that mountain might have killed me.

KEY POINT:
Don’t handle anything that can destroy your destiny lightly.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Daniel 3-5

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE

HYMN 22: SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER
1. God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.

2 Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defence is sure.

3 Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.

4 A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.

5 Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

6 O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while life shall last,
And our eternal home.