Open Heaven 14 June 2023: Don’t Be A Friend
MEMORISE: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” – 1 John 4:18 (KJV)
BIBLE READING: Isaiah 41:10-20
10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.
12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.
13 For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.
16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:
20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.
Read Yesterday’s Open Heaven Devotional here
One of the things that makes fear so terrible is that almost invariably, that which you are afraid of will come to you (Job 3:25). The fear of death has put many people in bondage today. The question now is: is everyone not going to die anyway? Hebrews 9:27 says death is an appointment that everyone must keep. The devil keeps people in bondage because of something that they should be prepared for rather than afraid of.
When you have God with you, fear will get away from you. David said that the reason he had no fear even in the valley of the shadow of death is because he had the presence of God with him (Psalm 23:4). Romans 8:15 says you do not have the spirit of bondage to fear, rather, that of adoption, giving you the right to call God your Daddy. The true realisation that you are a child of God and that God is with you always will chase fear out of your life. No child is afraid of a bully when his daddy is standing beside him. As long as you are a child of God who lives holy, you can be sure that God is with you always. Our Bible reading for today says you should not be afraid for God is with you, it says He will hold your hand and strengthen you. If you have God on your side, you have nothing to fear.
Draw close to God and He will draw close to you (James 4:8). This means that if you surrender your life to Jesus and begin to live a holy life, God will come close to you and fear will disappear from your life. Sin will create a gap between you and God as He won’t even hear the prayers of unrepentant sinners (John 9:31) not to talk of saving them from danger.
The only thing I fear is for God to leave me because if He does, I know that I am finished. That is why I live holy; I cannot afford to be away from His presence. What about you?
REFLECTION: God’s presence drives away fear.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalm 50-55
Thank you for studying today’s Open Heaven – Don’t Be Afraid – written by Pastor Enoch Adeboye
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Open Heaven 14 June 2023
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