DATE: SUNDAY 31ST DECEMBER 2017
THEME: YOUR LOCATION MATTERS
MEMORISE:
“He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.” Proverbs 10:5
READ: Genesis 3:7-10
3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were Unclad; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
3:8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
3:9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was Unclad; and I hid myself.
MESSAGE:
Although God is much very willing to help you, before you can receive help from Him, you have to first settle the issue of your spiritual location. In today’s Bible reading, when God came visiting Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, and He did not find them where he expected them to be, He made a passionate call to them saying: “Adam, where are you?” If God will help you, He needs to know where you are. Do you want God’s help today? If yes, where are you standing presently? Are you where you were at the beginning of the year? Are you stagnant, unproductive, unprofitable, and not making progress? In the parable of the talents, the fellow who received one talent proved to be unproductive (Matthew 25:24-30). That is however not God’s expectation of you. Some people are unproductive because they do the right thing at the wrong time. Proverbs 10:5 says,
“He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.”
There is a time for everything. There is a time to work and a time to rest. Rest follows work and not the other way round. Today, quite a number of people unfortunately go on vacations even though they have not worked. Rest is earned. If you rest without deserving it, you will be showing to the whole world how unwise you really are. When many children of affluent people, who never worked one day to earn an income, are bequeathed with great wealth, the next thing they think of doing is how to go on a spending spree of the funds they never worked for.
Beloved, where is your present location? If you are located in laziness, disobedience, self-will or unforgiveness, receiving help from God may be a mirage. If you are sleeping when you should be actively engaged for the Master, you are a shame to the Body of Christ. The harvest of this world is already ripe and gradually becoming overripe. This is harvest time. How many souls did you personally win to Christ this year? Is there any significant improvement to your life compared to last year or have you lost further grounds to laziness, procrastination and idleness? Can you say you are experiencing progress? Movement can be sideways, forward or backward. May you never go backward in Jesus’ Name! Consider your location and take appropriate steps so that you can receive God’s help this season.
ACTION POINT:
Before asking God for anything make sure you are not located in disobedience or unbelief.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Songs of Solomon 4-8
Malachi 3:16-4:6
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 9: ON THE HILL FAR AWAY
1. On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suff’ring and shame;
And I love that old cross where the Dearest and Best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.
Refrain:
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it someday for a crown.
2. Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary.
Refrain:
3. In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.
Refrain:
4. To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me someday to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share.
Refrain:
��� *LET US PRAY* ���
.. _*Sunday, December 31, 2017*_
*PRAYER POINTS*:- _YOUR LOCATION MATTERS._
1. *THANKSGIVINGS* .
2. *INTERCESSIONS/SUPPLICATIONS.*
3. *PRAYERS FROM OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL:*
----- Father, i thank you because *YOU ARE THE ALL IN ALL.*
*_---- Father, I thank you for saving me and for the salvation of my soul....._*
*_---- Father, I Thank You for the message in today's OPEN HEAVENS Devotional....._*
*_---- Father, this season, please divinely locate me, in Jesus Name......_*
*_----Father, please wipe away every form of disobedience or unbelief from my life, in Jesus name......._*
*_------Father, this season, I refuse to be unproductive, in Jesus name......._*
*_---- Father, as I enter the new year, please let me begin to experience significant improvement in my daily walk with You, in Jesus name;......_*
*_---- Father, please make me to be fruitful in every area of my life, in Jesus name;......_*
*_---- Father, please help me not to disappoint You in my daily living, in Jesus name;......_*
*_---- Father, I Thank You for the Author (Pastor E.A. ADEBOYE) of the messages in the OPEN HEAVENS Devotional ....._*
*_---- Father, please continue to strengthen him the more and endow him with more wisdom and knowledge to draw many closer to You....._*
4. *PERSONAL PRAYERS AND OTHER PRAYERS REQUESTS:*
-- (John 16:23 - 24,
-- LUKE 18:1,
-- MATT 7:7 - 8 )......
---- FATHER, I thank you for the answers, for in *JESUS MIGHTY* Name I have Prayed.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR PASSAGES
Song of Solomon 4: 1. Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead. 2. Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them. 3. Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks. 4. Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men. 5. Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies. 6. Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. 7. Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee. 8. Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards. 9. Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. 10. How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices! 11. Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. 12. A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. 13. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, 14. Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: 15. A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. 16. Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.
Song of Solomon 5: 1. I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. 2. I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. 3. I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? 4. My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him. 5. I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. 6. I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. 7. The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me. 8. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love. 9. What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us? 10. My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. 11. His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven. 12. His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set. 13. His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh. 14. His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. 15. His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. 16. His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. -
Song of Solomon 6: 1. Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee. 2. My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. 3. I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies. 4. Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners. 5. Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead. 6. Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them. 7. As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks. 8. There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number. 9. My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her. 10. Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners? 11. I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded. 12. Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib. 13. Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies. -
Song of Solomon 7: 1. How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman. 2. Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies. 3. Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins. 4. Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus. 5. Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries. 6. How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights! 7. This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes. 8. I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples; 9. And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak. 10. I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me. 11. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. 12. Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. 13. The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved. -
Song of Solomon 8: 1. O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised. 2. I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother's house, who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate. 3. His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me. 4. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please. 5. Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee. 6. Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. 7. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned. 8. We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? 9. If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar. 10. I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour. 11. Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. 12. My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred. 13. Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it. 14. Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices. -
Malachi 3: 16. Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. 17. And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 18. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
Malachi 4: 1. For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts. 4. Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. 5. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
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