OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL SATURDAY JANUARY 6TH 2024.

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL SATURDAY JANUARY 6TH 2024.

*THEME: NEW YEAR RESOLUTION V

*MEMORISE:*

It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.

Psalm 118:8

*BIBLE READING: JEREMIAH 17:5-8*

5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.

6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.

7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

*MESSAGE:*

My fifth resolution is that this year, l am going to be very deliberate about putting all my trust in God, and none in man. I will do so because God said, "Vain is the help of man" (Psalm

60:11). You may have discovered that several of the people you thought will help you have let you down, but there is a God who never fails, and He will not fail you this year.

I went to my village in the 1980s after I had just become the General Overseer of the RCCG, and someone said to me, "Now that you are the General Overseer, you will need a befitting house to host dignitaries that may have cause to visit you here,

especially when you have one ceremony or the other". I agreed with him, and he said he would help me to build the house. He told me that he produces blocks, so he will supply me with all the blocks "|| need to build the house, and l can pay him for them

whenever I can afford to. I believed God was behind it all, and I was very happy.

Beloved, when somebody offers you help, check first with God to be sure it's from Him. I built the house, and the very day I roofed it, he asked me to pay for all the blocks he had supplied. I was shocked. This man

had said that I could pay anytime I had the money. I had just roofed the house and hadn't even put doors or windows! Deep within me, I was sorrowful. I said to God, "Lord, you know l have never done anything that I cannot handle; it was this man who lured me into this. Please have mercy on me, don't let me be put to shame." I prayed all night and fell asleep at my desk. When I woke up, there was a man standing at my doorstep. He said he came all the way from the north, and that God told him to give me an envelope. I collected the envelope, praved for him, and he left.BAfter he left, I opened the envelope; it was the exact amount that I was owing!

There is a God who is the ever-present help in times of

trouble. This year, He is ready to help you, but you must put all your trust in Him.

*REFLECTION*

When you have a problem, who do you ask for help, God or man? Your answer shows whom you trust more.

*BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:*

Genesis 21-23

*AUTHOR:*

PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE

*HYMN 30: WHEN WE WALK WITH THE LORD*

When we walk with the Lord 

in the light of his word, 

what a glory he sheds on our way! 

While we do his good will, 

he abides with us still, 

and with all who will trust and obey. 

  *Refrain:*

Trust and obey, for there's no other way 

to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. 

2 Not a burden we bear, 

not a sorrow we share, 

but our toil he doth richly repay; 

not a grief or a loss, 

not a frown or a cross, 

but is blest if we trust and obey. 

  [Refrain]

3 But we never can prove 

the delights of his love 

until all on the altar we lay; 

for the favor he shows, 

for the joy he bestows, 

are for them who will trust and obey. 

   [Refrain]

4 Then in fellowship sweet 

we will sit at his feet, 

or we'll walk by his side in the way; 

what he says we will do, 

where he sends we will go; 

never fear, only trust and obey. [Refrain]