THE IMPORTANT FACTOR: OPEN HEAVEN DEVOTIONAL - SUNDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER 2017

THEME: THE IMPORTANT FACTOR        

Memorise:
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.  Colossians 1:18           

Read: Matthew 6:31-34

6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

6:32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Message:
First thing first, so the saying goes. As a believer in Christ, when you come before God’s presence, the most important person is not you but Him. Also, unlike most of us believe, at God’s Throne of Grace, the most important thing is not you request, but rather the worship you offer to Him. If you fail to get this right, and you fail to adjust your approach and attitude to reflect this truth, you will always have issues with God. Do you know that every time you approach God’s presence, it is like facing a test? Believe it or not, when you come before God, there are two crucial people at the meeting: God and you. One of these two must take pre-eminence. Similarly, God has a need and you also have a need; one of these two needs; one of these two needs must be more important.

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”   Matthew 6:33

This scripture tells us about a divine order that must be followed. It also talks about God’s need and man’s need. It tells us that God has already provided for all man’s needs. In other words, God already has all you would need at any time in your life. For you to receive them, all that He requires from you is to simply meet His needs. Give Him what He wants. Put Him first and your needs last. Give Him quality thanks, praise and worship. When you follow Heaven’s protocol, you will easily receive a favorable answer to your requests. God expects you to come before His presence with thanksgiving, praise and worship, leaving your request as the last thing. Do you know that one way to know how important something really is to you is to measure the amount of time you give to it? When you pray for one hour and you use 50 minutes of the time presenting your request, you are telling God that you and your request are more important than him and Hos desires. How do you think this makes God feel? In any case, He has already expressed His thoughts about this in 1 Samuel 2:30, where He said:

“for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.”

Also, what you focus on becomes magnified. If you focus on your problems, they will be enlarged. But if you focus on God and what He wants, He will be magnified to the extent that your problems will fade into insignificance. By the time you eventually remember them, you would discover that they have been swallowed up by His Almightiness, leaving you with the answer to your prayers.


Key Point:
If you make God your priority, He will make you His priority.


BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:

Nehemiah 9

Ezekiel 46:1-12
                         
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE


HYMN 3:  HOW GREAT THOU ART

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder,

Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made;

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.


Refrain:

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee,

How great Thou art! How great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,

How great Thou art! How great Thou art!

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.

When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur

And hear the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.


Refrain:

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;

Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;

That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,

He bled and died to take away my sin.


Refrain:

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,

And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.

Then shall I bow, in humble adoration,

And then proclaim, "My God, how great Thou art!"

Refrain: