OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE TUESDAY 16TH JANUARY, 2024

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE TUESDAY 16TH JANUARY, 2024

THEME: THE BOOK OF REMEMBRANCE - I

MEMORISE:

“Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for the offices thereof.” - (Nehemiah 13:14)

READ: ESTHER 6:1-11 (KJV)

1 On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.

2 And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.

3 And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him.

4 And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king's house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

5 And the king's servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.

6 So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?

7 And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour,

8 Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head:

9 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.

10 Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.

11 Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour.

MESSAGE:

I prophesy to you today that as you read this, a pleasant book of remembrance will be opened in your favour, in Jesus' name.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the word remember means to be able to bring back a piece of information into your mind or to keep a piece of information in your memory. 

In Genesis 8:1, the Bible says that God remembered Noah. Ordinarily, one cannot imagine that God can be forgetful and not remember the family He put in an ark.

Thus, when the Bible said that God remembered Noah, it could only mean that God was now paying attention to Noah's situation.

The same thing applied to Rachel in Genesis 30:22-23 where the Bible says:

"And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and open her womb. And she conceived, and bare a son; and said God hath taken away my reproach:"

The above scripture reveals another meaning of remembrance: the taking away of reproach by a higher power. When God remembers a barren woman, she conceives and becomes a mother of children, like in the case of Hannah in (1 Samuel 1:1-28). She had been constantly provoked and humiliated by her rival because of her barrenness, and it seemed like her case was hopeless.

However, God remembered her and intervened in her situation when she cried out to Him in Shiloh. When she returned to Shiloh, she was carrying her testimony in her hands.

In our Bible reading for today, God intervened in the case of Mordecai against his adversary, Haman.

Mordecai and his niece, Esther, prayed, and there was a breakthrough. The king was unable to sleep, and he commanded that the record books be read to him. While this was being done, the good deed of Mordecai that had been forgotten was brought to remembrance.

That could only have been God. Nehemiah understood the things that can happen when God remembers a fellow, and that was why he prayed that prayer in today's memory verse.

Beloved, I encourage you to ask that the Almighty God should open a book of pleasant remembrance for you this year. 

I join my faith with yours, and I pray that He will remember you for good all through this new year and beyond, in Jesus' mighty name.

PRAYER POINT:

Father, please open a book of positive remembrance for me this year.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: EXODUS 1-4

AUTHOR PASTOR E A ADEBOYE

HYMNAL: 15 - PASS ME NOT, O GENTLE SAVIOUR 

1 Pass me not, O gentle Savior,

Hear my humble cry,

While on others Thou art calling,

Do not pass me by.

Refrain:

Savior, Savior,

Hear my humble cry;

While on others Thou art calling,

Do not pass me by.

2 Let me at a throne of mercy

Find a sweet relief;

Kneeling there in deep contrition,

Help my unbelief.

 [Refrain]

3 Trusting only in Thy merit,

Would I seek Thy face;

Heal my wounded, broken spirit,

Save me by Thy grace.

 [Refrain]

4 Thou the Spring of all my comfort,

More than life to me,

Whom have I on earth beside Thee?

Whom in heav'n but Thee?

[Refrain]