Open Heaven 27 June 2018 Wednesday – THE PRICE OF BEING A STANDARD
Open Heaven 27 June 2018 Memorise: At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. 2nd Timothy 4:16
Read: 2nd Timothy 4:14-18 Open Heaven 27 June 2018
14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
15 Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.
16 At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.
17 Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Read: 2nd Timothy 3:10-14 KJV
10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,
11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.
12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
Open Heaven 27 June 2018
Bible in one year: 1st Chronicles 11-12, Acts 18:1-23
Hymnal: Sing hymn 5
Message – Open Heaven 27 June 2018 Wednesday Daily Devotional
Every Christian is expected to be a standard for people around to emulate. Standing out for God as a standard has a price tag attached to it. The price of being God’s standard is comprised mainly of antagonism, loneliness and persecution. In John 16:2, our Lord Jesus Christ prepared our minds for what we should expect if we would be His standard in this world, saying:
“They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whatsoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.”
We live in times when these words are being fulfilled right before our very eyes.
To live as God’s standard in this world, you have to be ready to walk on the cold road of loneliness sometimes. God’s standards we celebrate today, such as Elijah and Apostle Paul, all faced this reality (1st Kings 19:14, 2nd Timothy 4:16). When you choose no to follow a multitude to sin, they will confront and antagonise you because you are different. When they realise that they cannot win you over to their side, they will sideline and isolate you. You must be willing to pay this price to avoid the contamination of the world. Always have at the back of your mind that the Christian race you are called to is an individual race that can be lonely. However, be assured that the Lord will be with you always, and so you are never alone. He stood by Paul in his moments of loneliness and He also strengthened Elijah in his time of despair (2nd Timothy 4:17, Acts 27:23-25). You can be sure that what He did for them, He will do for you also.
Open Heaven 27 June 2018 Wednesday
To live as God’s standard in this generation, you must prepare your mind for it. The secret of not confronting to the standard of this world lies in the continuous renewing of your mind with the word of God. The Holy Spirit revealed this truth to us in Romans 12:2, where He said:
“And be not confronted to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
The reason is that what is in your mind determines what you would become and the nature of life you would live in this world. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stood out for God and they become standards and reference points in the Babylonian and Medo-Persian empires. Although they suffered a great deal, their suffering yielded extraordinary promotions (Daniel 3:30, Daniel 6:26-28). Anyone who wants to be a standard of godliness must be ready to suffer all sorts of evil from the enemies of the cross. The good news is that Jesus Christ promised He is with us till the end of the world (Matthew 28:20b).
Prayer Point – Open Heaven 27 June 2018
Father, please grant me grace to stand firm as Your standard in this crooked generation.
Open Heaven 27 June 2018 Wednesday Hymn
Sing hymn 5 – I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS
I have decide to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.
The world behind me, the cross
Before me;
The world behind me, the cross
before me;
The world behind me, the cross
Before me;
No turning back, no turning back.
Through none go with me, still I
Will follow;
Through none go with me, still I
Will follow;
Through none go with me, still I
Will follow;
No turning back, no turning back.
My cross 1’ll carry, till I see Jesus;
My cross 1’ll carry, till I see Jesus;
My cross 1’ll carry, till I see Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.
Will you decide now to follow
Jesus?
Will you decide now to follow
Jesus?
Will you decide now to follow
Jesus?
No turning back, no turning back.
That all for Open Heaven 27 June 2018 Wednesday, do consider to bookmark this site for your Open heavens daily devotionals and also if you missed yesterday Devotional click to read Open Heaven 26 June 2018 Tuesday and may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob continue to keep us all. God bless you. Open Heaven 27th June 2018 Wednesday. Please comment and share what you have learnt, you might be a blessing to others.
Open heavens has been a tremendous blessing to me and it is great to have it available on the internet. However over time I have noticed that this internet version has a number of errors and typos even in the quoted scripture passages, almost on a daily basis. For example “conformed” was written as “confronted” twice in today’s edition. I suggest that a more thorough editing or proof-reading be carried out or that the text should be copied directly from the version that is used for publising the hardcopy edition which I find to be well-written.
God bless you.
This is very true infact the 26th which is yesterday was unreadable to me. All the same thank u for the good work, but improve on it. Cheers
I bless God for the good work He’s doing with you and I trust that He’s faithful to keep His promises towards you.
I also think care should be made to use the right words for better communication eg conform as found in Rom 12: 2 not confront . God bless you.
Brethren, as a child of God let us set a standard for our life as we are carefully working with the Lord Verse 17 of the Bible passage we read says,Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.Psalms 119 : 157, John 16 :33, Acts 27 : 25 and Revelation 2 : 10.
Brethren take your stand with Jesus and be a man or woman of integrity and let the world be behind you and the Cross be before you. Romans 12 : 2. GBU.
Suffering and pain in the Lord sure last only a while but the Glory and victory that comes thereafter is eternal. Staying steadfast is not easy but that should be a goal for every Christian and the Lord Jesus Christ will sure Bless our endeavors.
God bless his word, and may his word manifest in our life. Amen.