01-21-2019, 09:06 AM
OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: MONDAY 21ST JANUARY 2019
THEME: QUALIFIED BY GRACE
MEMORISE:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Ephesians 2:8
READ: Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
MESSAGE
For you to truly appreciate what grace is, you need to see it as the love of God clouded in mystery. Throughout the Bible, those who encountered God's grace were blessed and favoured, and they could hardly explain what justified the favour they received. One of those who enjoyed God's grace declared in 1 Chronicles 17:16b:
“Who am I, O LORD God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?”
The good news is that God's grace is made abundantly available to all those who desire to be saved and blessed today. Titus 2:11-12 says:
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;”
God's grace is embodied in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. To access this grace, you must accept Christ as "God manifested in flesh", and believe in the sufficiency of His finished work at Calvary to wash away your past and give you a bright new future. Doing so will open the door for you to escape the imminent judgement that will be poured out on this sinful world, just as Noah escaped the flood that brought God's judgement on the people of his time. The secret to Noah's salvation from the great deluge is revealed to us in Genesis 6:7-8 as God's grace:
“And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”
God's grace for salvation through Christ is such a difficult concept for religious people to comprehend. They fail to understand it because they think the basis of divine acceptance is their own personal efforts. The truth is simply this: salvation is by grace, and this grace is available only through Christ. Are you a religious person reading this devotional out of curiosity? You will be mightily and eternally blessed if you embrace the grace of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. Nevertheless, we must keep in mind that grace does not indulge the beneficiary in sin or lawlessness; rather, it gives spiritual power to help us live according to the acceptable standards of our holy God. You can only live acceptably before God through grace. Through this same grace, you will receive help to do God's will, and when you close your eyes in death, you will safely arrive in the bliss of heaven. Are you a partaker of God's grace?
ACTION POINT:
Stop struggling with your sins today. Hand them over to Jesus who will give you the grace to live above them
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Mark 12-13, Isaiah 19:16-20:6
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.
DATE: MONDAY 21ST JANUARY 2019
THEME: QUALIFIED BY GRACE
MEMORISE:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Ephesians 2:8
READ: Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
MESSAGE
For you to truly appreciate what grace is, you need to see it as the love of God clouded in mystery. Throughout the Bible, those who encountered God's grace were blessed and favoured, and they could hardly explain what justified the favour they received. One of those who enjoyed God's grace declared in 1 Chronicles 17:16b:
“Who am I, O LORD God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?”
The good news is that God's grace is made abundantly available to all those who desire to be saved and blessed today. Titus 2:11-12 says:
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;”
God's grace is embodied in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. To access this grace, you must accept Christ as "God manifested in flesh", and believe in the sufficiency of His finished work at Calvary to wash away your past and give you a bright new future. Doing so will open the door for you to escape the imminent judgement that will be poured out on this sinful world, just as Noah escaped the flood that brought God's judgement on the people of his time. The secret to Noah's salvation from the great deluge is revealed to us in Genesis 6:7-8 as God's grace:
“And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”
God's grace for salvation through Christ is such a difficult concept for religious people to comprehend. They fail to understand it because they think the basis of divine acceptance is their own personal efforts. The truth is simply this: salvation is by grace, and this grace is available only through Christ. Are you a religious person reading this devotional out of curiosity? You will be mightily and eternally blessed if you embrace the grace of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. Nevertheless, we must keep in mind that grace does not indulge the beneficiary in sin or lawlessness; rather, it gives spiritual power to help us live according to the acceptable standards of our holy God. You can only live acceptably before God through grace. Through this same grace, you will receive help to do God's will, and when you close your eyes in death, you will safely arrive in the bliss of heaven. Are you a partaker of God's grace?
ACTION POINT:
Stop struggling with your sins today. Hand them over to Jesus who will give you the grace to live above them
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Mark 12-13, Isaiah 19:16-20:6
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.