OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 07, 2024

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 07, 2024

*THEME: WHOSE CHILD ARE YOU?*

*MEMORISE:*

“Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”

Matthew 7:20

*BIBLE READING: MATTHEW 7:16-20*

16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

*MESSAGE:*

JOHN 1:12 says:

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

If you have received Christ into your heart and you believe in His name, not just in word, but in deeds such that everyone around you can see from your lifestyle that you are a believer in Christ, then you qualify to be called a child of God.

On the other hand, the Bible says that the devil has his own children too. Jesus Christ was addressing the Pharisees and He said to them in John 8:44:

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

The question then is, how do we tell a child of God apart from a child of the devil? The Bible answers this question aptly. For example, the Bible says that people who love the world do not have the love of God in them (1 John 2:15-16). This clearly implies that such people cannot be described as God's children. When you see someone who loves material things more than God, that fellow does not have the love of God in him and hence cannot be His child if he or she remains in that state.

A child of God on the other hand is one who is born of the Spirit and focuses on spiritual things rather than worldly things. John 3:3-7 says that anyone who wants to enter into the kingdom of God must be born of the Spirit, and of course, only the children of God can enter into His kingdom. This is why you must be born again.

Beloved, when you are born again, you are born of the Spirit, and you truly become a child of God. When you are born of the Spirit, you will begin to live by the Spirit and be led by Him. You will begin to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit as written in Galatians 5:22-23. Remember, it is the kind of fruit you produce that will determine who your father truly is.

*REFLECTION:*

Check your character, whose does it mirror, that of the Holy Spirit or that of the devil?

*BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:*

NUMBERS 1-2

*AUTHOR:*

PASTOR E A ADEBOYE 

*HYMNAL: 13 - JESUS LOVES ME, THIS I KNOW*

1 Jesus loves me, this I know,

for the Bible tells me so.

Little ones to him belong;

they are weak, but he is strong.

   *Refrain:*

Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.

2 Jesus loves me he who died

heaven's gate to open wide.

He will wash away my sin,

let his little child come in.

   [Refrain]

3 Jesus loves me, this I know,

as he loved so long ago,

taking children on his knee,

saying, "Let them come to me."

   [Refrain]