OPEN HEAVENS BY PST. ENOCH .A. ADEBOYE

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 25

HE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU

MEMORISE:

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. Isaiah 49:16

READ:

Luke 5:1-9

 1. And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:

 Nehemiah 1-5

MESSAGE:

God has designed life such that as men, we are dependent on each other. Once in a while, we might need help and may become weary if it does not come (Proverbs 13:12). I have experienced this countless times but God has always helped me. He is the Ever-present help in time of need (Psalm 46:1).

Sometimes, there may be nobody to help. At other times, those you have trusted may just decide against helping you, but not God. David, in Psalm 27:10 said:

*“When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.”*

Even if everybody were to forsake you in your time of need, God would never do so. The Yorubas say that when fire burns a parent and his/her child at the same time, the parent would naturally focus on saving him/herself first irrespective of the depth of love towards that child. However, with God, He will put you first. In Isaiah 49:15, God asked a vital question:

*“Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.”*

Can you recall the explosion that occurred in Lagos in 2001? Many people were so scared that they left their children behind and ran for their lives. When such things happen, mothers forget their suckling children. May we never experience such again in the mighty name of Jesus.

At other times too, those who really want to help may have tried their best, but are unable to save the situation. Doctors are great, but once in a while, even they do not have solutions to some health problems. Although some ailments have been termed incurable by man, there is no such thing with God. He does the impossible.

Set your love upon God, then call upon Him today. He will answer you (Psalm 91:14-15).

ACTION POINT:

I join my faith with yours now. Ask for God’s intervention in that area where you need help desperately.

HYMN 29:

1. What a friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit,

Oh, what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer!

2. Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged—

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful,

Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness;

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

3. Are we weak and heavy-laden,

Cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Saviour, still our refuge—

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,

Thou wilt find a solace there.

4. Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised

Thou wilt all our burdens bear;

May we ever, Lord, be bringing

All to Thee in earnest prayer.

Soon in glory bright, unclouded,

There will be no need for prayer—

Rapture, praise, and endless worship

Will be our sweet portion there.

The first principle is that God is the source of everything. Philippians 4:19 says, "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Proverbs 8:20,21 adds, "I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures."

And 2 Corinthians 9:8 says: "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." Whenever we need money or possessions, prayer is the answer. Look to the Lord, because He will provide it-according to His will.

The second principle is that of giving. Luke 6:38, a key verse, says, "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." According to Deuteronomy 14:23, one purpose of tithing was to teach the people of Israel to put God first in their lives.

I find there are a couple of ways I can put God first daily. One is to have a quiet time. If I am unwilling to meet the Lord each morning when I get up, that means I'm putting somebody else or something else before the Lord.

For example, how many people have thought seriously about not taking the daily newspaper? The man who is unwilling to cancel a newspaper subscription, which is keeping him from reading the Word of God, may often be the same man who is having trouble making the payments on the TV set that is keeping him from doing the things that would help him grow closer to the Lord. So it can be a vicious cycle. And with TV commercials by the dozens exhorting him to buy, spend, charge and go, is it any wonder that thousands of people are so molded by the world?

Having a quiet time is one way a person can put God first. I believe another is to commit a tenth of his income-right off the top-to the Lord's work. Proverbs 3:9, reads: "Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst with new wine."

The third principle is that of living on a margin. Everyone ought to live on a margin-a physical margin, a spiritual margin, a time margin and a financial margin. Living on a margin simply means allowing room for things to happen.

There are really only three ways a person can arrive anyplace. He can arrive early, on time or late. I used to aim at arriving right on time, and I consistently arrived five minutes late. That's because I allowed no margin.

Those precious minutes add up. Think of the cumulative effort, on health alone, of continually spending 15 minutes hurrying to be five minutes late. I swim three times a week at the YMCA to stay in shape, and I try to eat right and keep my weight down, since I want to serve the Lord and therefore don't want to die of a heart attack. But 15 minutes of hurrying three times each day for 15 years adds up to nearly six months of 24-hour days when I'm under unnecessary tension, just hurrying to be late. And tension is a leading cause of heart attacks. How ridiculous! But the Lord led me to operate on a time margin-planning to arrive early rather than hurrying to be late.

The fourth financial principle concerns saving money-setting something aside for a rainy day. Proverbs 21:20 says, "There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up." And Proverbs 22:3emphasizes, "A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished."

For a simple example, if a couple with an income of $12,000 a year would save $1000 of it each of those years and let this money earn 6 percent interest, compounded annually, they would have $24,672.56 at the end of a 15-year period.

If at the end of 15 years of saving faithfully, a son or daughter is ready for college or the family needs to move into a bigger house or wants to serve the Lord on a full-time basis, the couple can start to withdraw their savings. They can withdraw $2000 a year for 10 years and still have $15,322.17, or slightly more than they set aside. Isn't this making your money work for you? God has a reason for the principle of saving money.

The fifth principle is to keep out of unnecessary debt and thus avoid the debt trap. Borrowing for a house or car is one thing but taking on financial obligations one can't keep-buying beyond the ability to pay-is another. Psalm 37:21 says "the wicked borroweth, and payeth not again." The minute a person goes into debt, he loses a portion of his freedom. As Proverbs 22:7 says, "The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender."

Suppose this same young couple with the $12,000 annual income had decided that instead of saving $1000 a year, they would go into debt for $1000 to buy some furniture. And suppose they continue to increase their indebtedness by $1000 during each of the 15 years, without paying back one cent. With 10 percent interest, compounded annually, on the increase in debt, the couple's debt would have been an astronomical $34,949.74. The debt on $1000 alone for that same period, without any repayment, would have been $4177.21.

Too many people think you can buy now and pay later. That isn't true. I've found that easy credit now makes people uneasy later. Usually a person pays more for the use of borrowed money than he gets in interest for saving it.

(Part 2 to be continued) 

Have you found this helpful? Kindly share to others and spread the word. Don't forget to like and comment. Thanks for reading! 

 

Whoever came up with this one has tried.

 

*A* lthough things are not perfect,

*B* ecause of trial or pain,

*C* ontinue in thanksgiving

*D* on't even think of whom to blame .

 

*E* ven when the times are hard,

*F* ierce winds are bound to blow,

*G* od is forever able

*H* old on to Jesus .

 

*I* magine life without His love,

*J* oy would cease to be,

*K* eep thanking Him for all the things

*L* ove imparts you to see.

 

*M* ove out of Complaining, 

*N* o weapon that is known

*O* n earth can yield the power

*P* raise can do alone.

 

*Q* uit worrying about the future,

*R* edeem the time at hand,

*S* tart every day with prayer

*T* o 'thank'  is God's command.

 

*U* ntil we see Him coming,

*V* ictorious in the sky,

*W* e'll run the race with gratitude,

*X* alting the Most High God.

*Y* es, there'll be good times and yes some will be bad, but,

*Z* ion awaits in glory...where no one is ever sad!

 

The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything..

 

Love and peace be with you forever, Amen.

 

PLS: GOD LOVES YOU...PASS THE WORD ON TO MORE FRIENDS AND ASK THEM TO CONTINUE TELLING OTHERS THAT GOD LOVES THEM AND HIS SON IS THE ONLY WAY TO SALVATION.