Open Heavens 10 April 2015: Friday daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Rapturable

Open Heavens 10 April 2015: Friday daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Rapturable

Topic: Rapturable [Friday April 10, 2015]

Memorise: In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trum: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. -1 Corinthians 15:52

Read: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 (KJV)

13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Bible in One Year: Joshua 4-6, Matthew 18:1-20

MESSAGE:

To make Heaven at last will take something extra from you. The ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 were expecting the return of the Kings of kings. As virgins, they were pure, sanctified, holy, chosen and expectant. It can be assumed that upon having all these qualifications, they would have automatic access to Heaven. Yet, somewhere along the line, they all slumbered and slept. This is frightening and calls for introspection. When the ten virgins were leaving their houses, they all had oil; otherwise their lamps would not have been burning. The five that made it did so because they had extra oil. It is important we all realise that if we are going to make it to Heaven, it is going to take connecting with the Holy Spirit and tapping into everything He has to offer.

The Almighty God is absolutely interested in the purity of His children. In Exodus 30:1-3, God insisted that His altar must be overlaid with pure gold. The words of the Lord are pure (Psalm 12:6). His commandments also are pure (Psalm 19:8). Everything about God reflects purity. In 2 Samuel 22:27, David said this about God:

“With the pure thou will shew thyself pure; and with the forward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury.”

If you are pure, God will arise for you in all your battles. Even if your beginning is small, because you have chosen to pursue purity, your ending shall be greatly increased. If you pastor a church that is very small and you are pure, you will greatly increase. However, I have seen people who started pure but did not remain pure. This is the greatest undoing of this present age. Those who give room for defilement cannot make it to Heaven unless they amend their ways before the appearance of the Bridegroom. When a girl desire more than what her parents can provide, she will end up defiling herself. When a minister of God wants to be what God does not yet say he should be, he will defile himself. When you insist on acquiring the status which God has not yet ordained for you, you will defile yourself. When a pastor’s wife wants to complete with the “big women” in the church, she will bring defilement to the ministry that God has entrusted to her husband. Those who defile the temple of God shall diminish. It does not take long for anyone who has been defiled to begin to diminish. It is the same God who increases the pure that diminishes the defiled. Do not give the devil an inch (1 Peter 5:8). Be highly disciplined. Do not open the door to temptation. Keep your distance from danger zones. Somebody who the enemy desires to roast should not sit near the fire.

Prayer Point: Father, cleanse me and equip me with all that it will take for me to make it to Heaven at last.

Open Heavens Daily Devotionalwritten by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God