OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: WEDNESDAY JULY 19TH 2017
THEME: A NEW MANAGEMENT
Memorise:
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? Romans 6:16
Read: Romans 6:13-20
6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
6:20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Message:
When you have an encounter with Jesus that results in you accepting Him as your personal Lord and Saviour, your life comes under a new management. In Matthew 11:28-29, Jesus said:
“ _Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. *Take my yoke upon you* , and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls._ ”
Before encountering Jesus, your affairs were managed by Satan and also by your own self-will (Ephesians 2:2-3). A choice to welcome Jesus into your heart means that you have chosen to do away with all your former masters and have embraced the Lordship of Jesus over your affairs. My father used to say that whosoever you allow to be your master will take care of you with whatever he has. If Satan is your master, he will give you what he has: sickness, sorrow, fear and all kinds of problems. If Jesus is your master, he will take care of you with good health, joy, peace and all kinds of blessings. Who are you yielding to presently? Who is your master?
I was once invited to preach at the thanksgiving service of a particular king. While I was preparing for the service, his chiefs, dressed in regalia of various secret societies, began to come in. An ushers saw them and ran to ask if they should be allowed to enter the church. I told him to seat them in the front row where Jesus would be able to reach them quickly. I immediately changed my sermon to talk about Elijah’s confrontation with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. At the end of the sermon, because I know who my Master is, I said this to them: “ _I challenge all of you, if you can use all your powers to deflate one of my tyres, I will surrender to your god, but if you cannot, you must surrender to my God_ ”. I then told them the registration number of my car. By the time I gave the alter call, the second-in-command to the king, who was the leader of all the secret societies, was the first to come forward. When the other chiefs saw this, they followed suit. After the service, the king said we should go and check up on his second-in-command to find out if he understood what he just did. When we got to him, he said he knew what he had done by surrendering to Christ, adding, “When you see a small boy like this challenging all of us, who doesn’t know that he must have someone behind him? It is the One behind him that we surrendered to." Thirty days later, this chief died. He had served the devil all his life and was heading for hell, but thirty days before his death, he changed to a new government and he is now in Heaven. Who is managing your life?
Prayer Point:
Father, wherever forces of darkness are challenging your children in this nation, show up and paralyse them today.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
2 Samuel 14
Ezekiel 11:14-12:6
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 11: I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS
1. I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.
2. Though none go with me, still I will follow;
Though none go with me, still I will follow;
Though none go with me, still I will follow;
No turning back, no turning back.
3. My cross I’ll carry till, I see Jesus;
my cross I’ll carry till, I see Jesus;
my cross I’ll carry, till I see Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.
4. The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
No turning back, no turning back.
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