Open Heaven 20 March 2020 Friday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye

Topic: The Fire II

Memorise: “Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.” – 1 Kings 18:38

Read: 1 Kings 18:36-39 (KJV)

36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.

37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.

38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

Bible in One Year: Deuteronomy 30-31

MESSAGE:
The fire is proof that your offering has been accepted (1 King 18:38). No offering is acceptable to God except it is by fire. Always pray to God to send down fire to take your offering up before you drop it. In Judges 6:19-21, when the angel put his staff on Gideon’s offering, fire fell.

The Holy Spirit as fire also has the power to consume wood. Every piece of wood has the potential to become fire, hence the term firewood. Every piece of wood will die an ordinary death unless fire comes upon it. Every Christian has the potential to become a mighty man or woman of God. Unfortunately, many Christians will die without performing a single miracle for God because the fire never came to change their wood (gifts) into firewood (manifestation of the gift). Even though Jesus had said he would make Peter a fisher of men, he still needed the fire to come upon him on the day of Pentecost, after which he preached a single sermon and won three thousand souls on that same day.

There is something great that God has deposited in you, a great purpose God has for your life. You did not become a Christian just so that you can go to Church, shout Halleluyah, eventually die and go to Heaven. You were created for greater things, but that hidden potential will not find expression until the fire of the Holy Ghost comes upon you.

The fire also consumed stones which are representative of hardship and poverty. God says in 3 John 2:

“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”

He wants you to prosper; it is the devil who brings hardship and poverty. When you see someone struggling so much, yet with minimal results, it is very likely that a demon is behind it. Once the fire of the Holy Ghost comes upon that fellow, the demon will flee and an end will come to suffering in his/her life. You need the fire of the Holy Ghost.

Prayer Point: Father, let Your fire fall upon me now in the mighty name of Jesus.

Hymn 27: Take My Life And Let It Be.

1 Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in endless praise.

2 Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee.

3 Take my voice and let me sing,
Always, only for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.

4 Take my silver and my gold,
Not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.

5 Take my will and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own,
It shall be Thy royal throne.

6 Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.