Theme For Open Heavens Devotional 2 June 2019 – BE YOUR BROTHER’S KEEPER .
MEMORY VERSE:
“Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.” Romans 15:2
BIBLE READING: Romans 15:1-6
1. We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
2. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
3. For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
4. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
5. Now The God of Patience and Consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
6. That ye may with one mind and one mouth Glorify God, even the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
MESSAGE
Love and Compassion are the measure of true Christianity.
1. Our Lord Jesus Christ emphasized this by identifying The commandments to Love God as the first and general law.
2. After which He declared the directive to love fellow human beings as the second most important law.
3. Matthew 22:35-40 “Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
4. Jesus said unto him, “Thou shalt Love The Lord Thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and Great Commandment.
5. And the second is like unto it, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
6. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
7. When we carefully consider Love in line with Genesis 1:28, it instantly translates to a moral obligation.
8. Genesis 1:28 “And God Blessed them, and God said unto them, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
B. We all therefore have n obligation under God to one another, whether as leaders, pastors, married couples, parents, siblings, neighbors or simply as human beings.
1. Scripture further stresses a stronger and higher responsibility for Christians and the Church as a result of our special privileged relationship with God.
2. Many Christians do not have a clear understanding of the responsibilities that God has placed on us in relation to our fellow human beings.
3. Some are still asking, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
4. If you must know, the answer is yes.
5. God expects you, as Christ’s Ambassador in this world, to be your brother’s and sister’s keeper.
6. We have a responsibility to our brethren in The Lord and to the world at large, to be The Salt of The Earth and Beacons of Light in this world of darkness.
7. We need to live a life that is true to what The Lord said about us in Matthew 5:13-14, which says:
8. “Ye are The Salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
9. Ye are The Light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.”
C. Every Christian has the responsibility to represent Jesus Christ in the world, living as Channels of Divine Mercy and Kindness, both within The Church and out in the world.
1. Philippians 2:4-5 says: “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”
2. We must not close our ears to the cries of those who are poor in worldly goods or those poor in spirit.
3. Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of The Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach The Gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,”
4. Proverbs 21:13 “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.”
5. Many are desperately in need of sustenance, some are enduring diverse sicknesses and various forms of poverty, while some other are in bondage to sin and are being manipulated by the devil.
6. We must reach out to them all with The Gospel of love.
7. Let us endeavor to correct, strengthen, and encourage each other in love along the way, making sure not to destroy anyone who falls into error as a result of one weakness or the other.
8. Our light must shine so much that the reflection would brighten the paths of others in darkness and thereby bring Glory to God.
PRAYER POINT:
Father, Please strengthen me to manifest as a problem solver to my generation, In Jesus’ Name. 🙏Amen!
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Leviticus 19-20
Jeremiah 48:21-39
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN: LET OTHERS SEE JESUS IN YOU.
1.While passing thro’ this world of sin,
and others your life shall view,
Be clean and pure without, within;
Let others see Jesus in you.
Refrain:
Let others see Jesus in you,
Let others see Jesus in you.
Keep telling the story, be faithful and true;
Let others see Jesus in you.
2. Your life’s a book before their eyes,
They’re reading it thro’ and thro’
Say, does it point them to the skis,
Do others see Jesus in you?
Refrain:
3. Then live for Christ both day and night,
Be faithful, be brave and true,
and lead the lost to life and Christ.
Let others see Jesus in you.
Refrain:
EMMANUEL=GOD WITH US!
Credit – Pastor E. Adeboye