Open Heaven 19 September
MEMORISE: Being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. 2 Corinthians 9:11
BIBLE READING: JOHN 6:11-13
11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” 13 Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.
Read yesterday’s Open Heaven Devotional here
There are many so-called praise songs that are not celebrating the beauty of Gods holiness and are thus unacceptable to the Lord. The sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving can produce abundant prosperity, according to our memory verse today.
Let us consider prosperity through the sacrifice of thanks, as we see in today’s Bible reading. We as children of God need to understand that God has numerous ways by which He can do whatever He says He will.
We should not waste our time in trying to pre-empt God or dictating to Him how our blessings or prosperity should come. We are to simply pray for what we want with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6 ).
When the battle against the children of Israel raged in 2 Chronicles 20:1-37, King Jehoshaphat merely obeyed the voice of the Lord by appointing choristers to sing unto God.
Who would have thought that soldiers from the attacking nations would go to war with so many precious jewels and expensive clothes?.
God had purposed to bless His people because He knew from the onset that they would praise and bless the beauty of His holiness and He had to compensate them for giving Him His due!.
Another lesson we must learn from this story is that our praise and worship must be inspired by the Holy Spirit. Some of our so-called songs of praise are from our carnal man, not the Spirit.
“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” “John 4:23-24”
When we give God heartfelt praise and worship, He, in turn, showers us with blessings. However, if we deny Him the praise He is worthy of, He would also deny us His prosperity.
In the text of today, our Lord gave thanks upon five loaves and two fishes; the response of His Father was phenomenal five thousand men were fed to satisfaction.
Many of us are so ungrateful. How blessed we would be if we could learn to offer God the sacrifice of thanks. Let us cultivate the habit of giving God worthy praise and thanksgiving and He will bless us with abundant prosperity.
PRAYER POINT: Decide to worship God in truth, in spirit and in holiness, giving thanks throughout today as you go about your activities.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: PROVERBS 13:1-25
Thank you for studying today’s Open Heaven – Provision Through Thanks – written by Pastor Enoch A.
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Open Heaven 19 September 2021
