Theme For Open Heavens Devotional January 13 2021 – MCY:SELF-SUFFICIENCY.
MEMORY VERSE:
“I Am The Vine, ye are the Branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing “John 15:5
BIBLE READING: Judges16:20-21
20• And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.
21• But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
MESSAGE:
1• RESISTANCE= P+S+ PG+ M+ L+B+ F+ RA.
The ‘S’ in our equation for Resistance in the “Mathematics of Christ in You” (MCY)stands for Self-Sufficiency (If you do not understand, kindly refer to the devotionals of January.11 and 12).
2• Most times, what many people call self-sufficiency is purely reliance on their flesh rather than God.
3• In Daniel 4 :2 8-37, we see how this attitude got Nebuchadnezzar into trouble.
4• He said “Is this not Babylon that I built?”
5• As a result, God sent him to eat grass in the forest for seven years to prove to him that all he had was from Him.
6• By the time he came back, he acknowledged God as the Most High Who rules in the affairs of men.
B•. Today’s Bible Reading tells the story of Samson.
1• This man had defeated an entire army with the jawbone of an ass. He was really strong.
2• Unfortunately, he did not realize that this strength was not from him but from God.
3• I know this because if you look through the feats he had accomplished, you would see everything starting with “And the spirit of The Lord came upon Him”
4*Judges 14:6, “And The Spirit of The LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
5*Judges 14:19, “And The Spirit of The LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house.”
6*Judges 15:14. “And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and The Spirit of The LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. “
7• One day, after God’s Spirit had left
him, he said “‘I will arise and go out as at other times before” (Judges 16:20) but he was put to shame.
8• It does not matter how gifted or skillful you are, without God, you are no different from the sand in the beach.
B•. Many a time, when we listen to the testimonies of some people, we still see them glorifying ‘self’.
1• They take the shine off God and put it on their efforts.
2• In Philippians 3:3-7, “3 For we are The circumcision, who worship God in The Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and happy have no confidence in the flesh, 4 though also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.”
6• Paul had been talking so much about himself until something warned him “Be careful”, and he quickly added in verse 7 7• “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.”
8• Proverbs3 :5-6 says: “Trust in The Lord with all thine hear; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”
C• You want God to live in you and operate through you?
1•Then, you must not lean on your own understanding.
2• You must get to the point where you can say that it is in Him that I live, move and have my being (Acts1 7:28).
3• We should always remember the words of Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:5:
4• “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;”
KEY POINT:
YOU ARE NOTHING WITHOUT GOD.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 21-22
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN: JESUS MY SAVIOUR•
1•My Jesus, my Savior
Lord there is none like you
All of my days, I want to praise
The wonders of your mighty love
My comfort, my shelter
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You
Shout to the Lord, all the earth let us sing
Power and majesty, praise to the King
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name
I sing for joy at the work of your hands
Forever I’ll love you, forever I’ll stand
Nothing compares to the promise I have
In YOU!
2•My Jesus, my Savior
Lord there is none like You
All of my days, I want to praise
The wonders of your mighty love
My Comfort
My Shelter
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You
Shout to the Lord, all the earth let us sing
Power and majesty, praise to the King
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of your name
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands
Forever I’ll love you, forever I’ll stand
Nothing compares to the promise I have
In YOU!
Credit For Open Heavens Devotional January 13 2021 – Pastor Adeboye / rccg.org