OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL BY PASTOR E.A.ADEBOYE, 04/05/2017

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL

DATE: THURSDAY MAY 4TH 2017

THEME: HELP FOR THE HELPLESS 

Memorise:

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Psalm 46:7

Read: Psalm 9:18-20

9:18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.

9:19 Arise, O Lord; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight.

9:20 Put them in fear, O Lord: that the nations may know themselves to be but men.

MESSAGE 

There are general blessings and also personal blessings. I have observed that anytime David wanted to discuss something that is very important to him, he normally personalize it. For instance, in Psalm 23:1, he says,
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” 
He did not say, “The Lord is our shepherd”. He was simply saying, “I can only speak for myself; I don’t know about you.” I pray that you will experience God as the Good Shepherd, so that you can testify personally and not just by sharing other people’s experiences. A shepherd is a person who looks after sheep. One thing you will observe about sheep is that they are very defenseless against predators. They cannot bite, they have no claws, and they cannot run fast; their only defense is the shepherd. 

You will agree with me that it is a very frightening thing to be defenseless in a hostile world. It is indeed a horrible feeling to be completely helpless. When a man is sick, he runs to the doctor hoping to be healed, but when the doctor tries his best and says there’s nothing he can do, the sick becomes hopeless. When a man has serious financial problems, he runs to his bank expecting a bailout, but what will he do when the bank insist on using assets he doesn’t have as collateral? In the same way, when a child is sick, he looks up to his parents for help and care, but how will the child feel if his parents tell him that the forces battling against him are beyond their capability? Worst still, imagine how you will feel if your pastor tells you that after praying all manner of prayers, there is nothing more he can do to help you! It is a terrible thing to feel lonely or forsaken by relatives and loved ones. A man who once experienced such a situation used these words to express his feelings in Psalm 102:6-7:
“I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.”

Have you been in such a situation? Do you feel exposed, Unclad and prone to shame? Are you facing the worst of times with no one to defend you? Has everyone you thought could help deserted you and now you think life is worthless? I bring you good news today! There is hope for the hopeless and cover for the Unclad. God can still do something about that hopeless situation you are going through. God is very close to you, and He will reach out and touch you today. The Lord will make a way for you! Call on Him and tell Him you have no one to help you but Him. Ask Him to help you now. He will answer and turn your situation around for good.

Key Point:

When everything else has failed, never give up your hope for a better life; although it may take time, help will surely come. 

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Deuteronomy 1
Jeremiah 25:17-33

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 4: THROUGH THE LOVE OF GOD OUR SAVIOR

1. Through the love of God our Savior,
All will be well;
Free and changeless is His favor,
All, all is well.
Precious is the blood that healed us,
Perfect is the grace that sealed us,
Strong the hand stretched forth to shield us,
All must be well.

2. Though we pass through tribulation,
All will be well.
Ours is such a full salvation,
All, all is well.
Happy still in God confiding;
Fruitful if in Christ abiding;
Steadfast through the Spirit's guiding:
All must be well.

3. We expect a bright tomorrow;
All will be well.
Faith can sing through days of sorrow,
All, all is well.
On our Father's love relying,
Jesus every need supplying;
Or in living or in dying;
All must be well.



BIBLE IN ONE YEAR PASSAGES
Deuteronomy: 1. 1. These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2. (There are eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadesh-barnea.) 3. And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them; 4. After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei: 5. On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying, 6. The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: 7. Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. 8. Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them. 9. And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone: 10. The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. 11. (The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!) 12. How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? 13. Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. 14. And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do. 15. So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. 16. And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. 17. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it. 18. And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do. 19. And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea. 20. And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God doth give unto us. 21. Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged. 22. And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come. 23. And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe: 24. And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out. 25. And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God doth give us. 26. Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God: 27. And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28. Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there. 29. Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them. 30. The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes; 31. And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place. 32. Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God, 33. Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day. 34. And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying, 35. Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers, 36. Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD. 37. Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither. 38. But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39. Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it. 40. But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea. 41. Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against the LORD, we will go up and fight, according to all that the LORD our God commanded us. And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the hill. 42. And the LORD said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies. 43. So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the hill. 44. And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah. 45. And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you. 46. So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there. 


Jeremiah: 25. 17. Then took I the cup at the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me: 18. To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day; 19. Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people; 20. And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod, 21. Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon, 22. And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea, 23. Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners, 24. And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert, 25. And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes, 26. And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. 27. Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. 28. And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink. 29. For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts. 30. Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. 31. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD. 32. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. 33. And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.