Open Heaven 6 September 2023: The Work of Grace 1
MEMORISE: Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isaiah 1:18
BIBLE READING: EZEKIEL 36:24-27 (KJV)
For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Read Yesterday’s Open Heaven Devotional here
The Christian race is a marathon, not a sprint. Some of us thought that Jesus would come within a few years after we got born again.
Although He hasn’t come yet, believe me honestly, His coming is far nearer than it was then; He will soon be here.
Since this race is a marathon, then it means that in addition to strength, you would also need endurance if you want to run the race successfully.
Endurance comes by the special grace of God which He makes available to keep you standing until the end. These are the works of grace.
When I became born again, we were taught that there were three works of grace that God makes available to Christians – Salvation, Sanctification and the Holy Ghost Baptism. I decided to check further and discovered that there are at least 7 steps in this process.
From our Bible reading, you will discover that the first thing God says He will do even before Salvation is to gather His own together (John 6:44). You cannot be saved unless God draws you first.
When I came to The Redeemed Christian Church of God, it was because I had a problem my education could not solve and God used that problem to draw me to Himself.
When somebody is talking about their salvation experience and they say, “I found the Lord”, they are only speaking from their limited knowledge. God was never missing; it is He who found you (John 15:16).
This is why, if you are truly saved now, you should always thank God for the salvation of your soul.
It is however, possible that God could be drawing a man, yet the man refuses to come to Him.
The end of such people is always disastrous. There was a popular chief God sent me to preach salvation to and every time I visited, he would say, “Not yet”.
One day, he had a stroke that rendered him unconscious; I was called to pray for him and within one hour, he was restored to perfect health as if nothing at all had gone wrong.
This time I told him, “I feel God is giving you a last chance; will you give your life to Christ now?” Again, he said, “Not yet”. The next time I heard about him, he was dead.
If God is drawing you to Himself and you keep refusing, you are telling Him clearly that you prefer hell to heaven. You had better surrender to Him now for your own good.
PRAYER POINT: Check yourself: have you been ignoring the call of God to live holy?
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: EZEKIEL 39-40
Thank you for studying today’s Open Heaven – The Work of Grace 1 – written by Pastor Enoch Adeboye
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Open Heaven 6 September 2023
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