Open Heaven 26 November
MEMORISE: Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Psalms 32:1
BIBLE READING: LUKE 23:39-43
39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, [a]“If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said [b]to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Read yesterday’s Open Heaven Devotional here
We may not be able to comprehend what true blessedness is until we experience divine forgiveness. Nothing can be compared with the joy of salvation.
We see this with Zacchaeus when Jesus called him in Luke 19:2-8; it was that joy that caused him to make restitution for his past evil deeds. When a man is genuinely saved, he will not only joyfully live a godly life, he will also feel compelled to right his past wrongdoings.
It is the lack of genuine salvation that makes an individual to still keep, for example, a strange man or woman in his or her life, even after conversion.
One of the most amazing salvation stories is in todays Bible reading. With just a few hours before he would have gone into hell, one of the robbers on the cross beside Jesus experienced a great turnaround and entered into Paradise.
From this, we can see that the salvation prayer does not have to be lengthy; it only has to be simple, straight to the point and sincere. All you need to do is repent of your sins and promise God not to return to them. Pleading the blood of Jesus over your life for cleansing is also paramount in this regard.
We see the publican pray in Luke 18:10-14 ..God be merciful to me a sinner and Jesus said of him I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.. Gods blessings (divine help) come in multiple forms but the blessing of divine forgiveness should be the first one we should all seek.
In todays Bible reading, both robbers made separate requests. One asked for deliverance, the other salvation. Jesus Christ prioritised the request for salvation. Here we see true blessedness.
Beloved, true blessedness lies in the forgiveness we receive for our sins; it is upon this foundation that all other blessings are built. This is why, if you are yet to repent, I implore you to do so without further delay.
Confess your known and unknown sins to Jesus – the Saviour of mankind. He will forgive you as He did Zacchaeus and the robber on the cross, so that Gods blessings will flow into your life, in Jesus name.
PRAYER POINT: Father, please pardon all my known and unknown iniquities and give me the power to Go and sin no more, in Jesus name.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: HAGGAI 1:1-15, HAGGAI 2:1-23
Thank you for studying today’s Open Heaven – The Blessing of Forgiveness – written by Pastor Enoch A.
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Open Heaven 26 November 2021
