Open Heaven 8 February 2023
MEMORISE: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” – (Romans 12:1)
BIBLE READING: Matthew 16:24-27 (KJV)
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.
Read yesterday’s Open Heaven Devotional here
Everyone who surrenders all to Jesus will enjoy many great blessings. Unfortunately, many Christians don’t know this, often choosing to do their own will rather than submitting completely to God. Beloved, don’t be ‘one leg in and one leg out’. Don’t be lukewarm.
How do you know if you have totally surrendered to God? Check your decision-making process. Do you involve God in the decision on what to do per time? Apostle Paul said in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
When you are totally surrendered to God, you would be living to do His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). Have you really surrendered all to God?
The interesting thing is that some people start out in total surrender to God, but as He begins to prosper them, that surrender diminishes. When they were living in a small apartment, it was easy to surrender their home for use as House Fellowship, but when God rewarded them with a mansion in a highbrow estate, they would claim that the security measures in their community would make that difficult.
The higher you go, the greater should be your surrender to God.
There was a brother in the Church many years ago who never missed a service, but then one day, a man of God came to preach and prophesied to him that he would soon become a millionaire”. Within six months, this brother’s life had changed dramatically. Before long, he stopped coming to Church, claiming that he had become so busy as his business had expanded. One day, I heard that he had had a stroke so I sent for him. When he arrived, he explained that he had the stroke upon learning that a contract had been withdrawn from him at the stage when he should have been paid. If only he had totally surrendered to the Lord who blessed him! May you surrender totally to God as He blesses you, in Jesus’ name.
KEY POINT: Father, please grant me the grace to totally surrender my life to You, in the name of Jesus.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: NUMBERS 1-2
Thank you for studying today’s Open Heaven – Total Surrender 1 – written by Pastor Enoch Adeboye
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Open Heaven 8 February 2023
