Open Heaven 21 September
MEMORISE: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; Philippians 3:10
BIBLE READING: MATTHEW 24:2-13
2 And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
Read yesterday’s Open Heaven Devotional here
Numerous blessings await anyone who knows Jesus, spends time reading, studying and meditating on the word of God.
Apostle Paul prayed that he might know Jesus the more (Philippians 3:10) because he knew that doing so would bring a lot of blessings.
What does it entail to know Jesus Christ? It takes staying with Him, learning of Him, doing His bidding and loving people unconditionally. He said in Matthew 11:28-29 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me…
There are lots of things we must learn of Jesus if we really want to know Him as He is. For example, Jesus Christ was confronted with the three categories of sin: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life when He was tempted by the devil to engage in a show of power.
However, He refused to jump from the pinnacle of the temple, according to Luke 4:9-13. Jesus overcame by His obedience to the word of God. Against one of the temptations, Jesus said in Luke 4:4 It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
The more we know Jesus Christ, the more we want to conform to His image, the suffering He endured and His death on the cross.
“If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny Himself.” “2 Timothy 2:12-13”
Anyone who lacks the knowledge of Jesus Christ is an alien to God and thus short-changes himself or herself.
The Bible says: “And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” “Daniel 11:32”
The apostles of old understood the importance of knowing the true God, thus one of them said in John 14:8 …shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Our knowledge of Jesus Christ is all we need for our cases to be permanently settled.
My prayer is that you will know Him today in Jesus name.
PRAYER POINT: Using Philippians 3:10, pray earnestly to God that He may reveal Jesus Christ to you.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: PROVERBS 16:1-33
Thank you for studying today’s Open Heaven – The Cost and Blessings of Knowing Jesus – written by Pastor Enoch A.
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Open Heaven 21 September 2021
