OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL...
DATE: FRIDAY 23RD DECEMBER 2016
THEME: WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS
Memorise: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matthew 6:21
Read: Matthew 6:19-21
6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
MESSAGE
Treasures are highly valued objects or accumulated riches. Physical treasure has at best only short-term benefits and is capable of opening up the owner to various physical and spiritual dangers. However, spiritual treasure is of eternal value and comes from knowing and serving God. The Bible encourages Christians to save for the future and expects good parents to keep an inheritance for their children. It is also desirable to invest wisely. By the special grace of God, these processes could lead to a huge accumulation of wealth. The focus however is not the wealth but the mindset and attitude of the owner. Matthew 6:20 says,
“But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:”
The problem is that wealthy people are familiar with how to make earthly investment and acquire earthly treasures, but only a few of them have the understanding of what it means to layup treasures in Heaven or how to go about it. The Bible recorded an encounter between Jesus and a very rich ruler with a similar challenge in Luke 18:15-25. Luke 18:22 says,
“Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven….”
The solution that Jesus offered is simple, if you want to have treasures in Heaven and you have earthly wealth, sow a bulk of it into the lives of the poor. If you go the extra mile to enrich the poor, you will have treasures in Heaven. Your wealth or possessions on their own are worth nothing to God, except they are converted into something of value that promotes the work of God, or affects the lives of others for good. If you use your wealth to promote the gospel or you meet needs with it, you will reap the harvests in Heaven because the principle of sowing and reaping applies there. Way to be rich in Heaven is to be rich in good works (1 Timothy 6:16). Use your wealth to better other people’s life, no rich Christian Brother or Sister has a reason to be poor in Heaven. No poor believer should also be poor in Heaven. You are the one to take the decision that will positively impact your eternity. Invest in the work of God by promoting the Gospel and sow bountifully into the lives of the poor.
Prayer Point:
Father, please help me lay up heavenly treasure more than earthly treasure.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Leviticus 20:1-22:16
Psalms 131-132
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 11: STANDING ON THE PROMISES OF CHRIST OUR KING
Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
Through eternal ages let His praises ring,
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, Standing on the promises of God.
Chorus:
Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of God my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.
2. Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.
Chorus:
3. Standing on the promises I now can see
Perfect, present cleansing in the blood for me;
Standing in the liberty where Christ makes free,
Standing on the promises of God.
Chorus:
4. Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
Bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord,
Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
Standing on the promises of God.
Chorus:
5. Standing on the promises I shall not fall,
List’ning every moment to the Spirit’s call.
Resting in my Savior as my All in all,
Standing on the promises of God.
Chorus.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR PASSAGES
Leviticus: 20. 1. The Lord said to Moses, 2. "Say to the Israelites: 'Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death. The members of the community are to stone him. 3. I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people; for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. 4. If the members of the community close their eyes when that man sacrifices one of his children to Molek and if they fail to put him to death, 5. I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cut them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molek. 6. "'I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people. 7. "'Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. 8. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy. 9. "'Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head. 10. "'If a man commits adultery with another man's wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death. 11. "'If a man has sexual relations with his father's wife, he has dishonored his father. Both the man and the woman are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. 12. "'If a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law, both of them are to be put to death. What they have done is a perversion; their blood will be on their own heads. 13. "'If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. 14. "'If a man marries both a woman and her mother, it is wicked. Both he and they must be burned in the fire, so that no wickedness will be among you. 15. "'If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he is to be put to death, and you must kill the animal. 16. "'If a woman approaches an animal to have sexual relations with it, kill both the woman and the animal. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. 17. "'If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They are to be publicly removed from their people. He has dishonored his sister and will be held responsible. 18. "'If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her monthly period, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both of them are to be cut off from their people. 19. "'Do not have sexual relations with the sister of either your mother or your father, for that would dishonor a close relative; both of you would be held responsible. 20. "'If a man has sexual relations with his aunt, he has dishonored his uncle. They will be held responsible; they will die childless. 21. "'If a man marries his brother's wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless. 22. "'Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. 23. You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them. 24. But I said to you, "You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey." I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from the nations. 25. "'You must therefore make a distinction between clean and unclean animals and between unclean and clean birds. Do not defile yourselves by any animal or bird or anything that moves along the ground—those that I have set apart as unclean for you. 26. You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own. 27. "'A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.'
Leviticus: 21. 1. The Lord said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: 'A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean for any of his people who die, 2. except for a close relative, such as his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother, 3. or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband—for her he may make himself unclean. 4. He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage, and so defile himself. 5. "'Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies. 6. They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because they present the food offerings to the Lord, the food of their God, they are to be holy. 7. "'They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands, because priests are holy to their God. 8. Regard them as holy, because they offer up the food of your God. Consider them holy, because I the Lord am holy—I who make you holy. 9. "'If a priest's daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire. 10. "'The high priest, the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair become unkempt or tear his clothes. 11. He must not enter a place where there is a dead body. He must not make himself unclean, even for his father or mother, 12. nor leave the sanctuary of his God or desecrate it, because he has been dedicated by the anointing oil of his God. I am the Lord. 13. "'The woman he marries must be a virgin. 14. He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, 15. so that he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the Lord, who makes him holy.'" 16. The Lord said to Moses, 17. "Say to Aaron: 'For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God. 18. No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; 19. no man with a crippled foot or hand, 20. or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles. 21. No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord. He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God. 22. He may eat the most holy food of his God, as well as the holy food; 23. yet because of his defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.'" 24. So Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.
Leviticus: 22. 1. The Lord said to Moses, 2. "Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to me, so they will not profane my holy name. I am the Lord. 3. "Say to them: 'For the generations to come, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean and yet comes near the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the Lord, that person must be cut off from my presence. I am the Lord. 4. "'If a descendant of Aaron has a defiling skin disease or a bodily discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is cleansed. He will also be unclean if he touches something defiled by a corpse or by anyone who has an emission of semen, 5. or if he touches any crawling thing that makes him unclean, or any person who makes him unclean, whatever the uncleanness may be. 6. The one who touches any such thing will be unclean till evening. He must not eat any of the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water. 7. When the sun goes down, he will be clean, and after that he may eat the sacred offerings, for they are his food. 8. He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, and so become unclean through it. I am the Lord. 9. "'The priests are to perform my service in such a way that they do not become guilty and die for treating it with contempt. I am the Lord, who makes them holy. 10. "'No one outside a priest's family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired worker eat it. 11. But if a priest buys a slave with money, or if slaves are born in his household, they may eat his food. 12. If a priest's daughter marries anyone other than a priest, she may not eat any of the sacred contributions. 13. But if a priest's daughter becomes a widow or is divorced, yet has no children, and she returns to live in her father's household as in her youth, she may eat her father's food. No unauthorized person, however, may eat it. 14. "'Anyone who eats a sacred offering by mistake must make restitution to the priest for the offering and add a fifth of the value to it. 15. The priests must not desecrate the sacred offerings the Israelites present to the Lord 16. by allowing them to eat the sacred offerings and so bring upon them guilt requiring payment. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.'"
Psalm: 131. 1. 【A song of ascents. Of David.】
My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. 2. But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. 3. Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore.
Psalm: 132. 1. 【A song of ascents.】
Lord, remember David and all his self-denial. 2. He swore an oath to the Lord, he made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob: 3. "I will not enter my house or go to my bed, 4. I will allow no sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, 5. till I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob." 6. We heard it in Ephrathah, we came upon it in the fields of Jaar: 7. "Let us go to his dwelling place, let us worship at his footstool, saying, 8. 'Arise, Lord, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. 9. May your priests be clothed with your righteousness; may your faithful people sing for joy.'" 10. For the sake of your servant David, do not reject your anointed one. 11. The Lord swore an oath to David, a sure oath he will not revoke: "One of your own descendants I will place on your throne. 12. If your sons keep my covenant and the statutes I teach them, then their sons will sit on your throne for ever and ever." 13. For the Lord has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling, saying, 14. "This is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it. 15. I will bless her with abundant provisions; her poor I will satisfy with food. 16. I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her faithful people will ever sing for joy. 17. "Here I will make a horn grow for David and set up a lamp for my anointed one. 18. I will clothe his enemies with shame, but his head will be adorned with a radiant crown.
No comments:
Post a Comment