Open Heavens 16 March 2018 Friday Daily Devotional by Pastor AdeboyeM

Memorise: “Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.” – Luke 7:22

Read: Luke 4:16-21 (KJV)

16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

Bible in One Year: Number 32-33, 2 Corinthians 12

MESSAGE

When God completed the process of creation, He carefully appraised everything He had created and concluded that they were very good. Genesis 1:31 says,

“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

However, looking at the world created by God today, it is obvious that a lot of things are no longer very good. Why is this so? Through the deception of the devil, Adam and Eve fell into the error of sin, and this brought corruption and degeneration into the world. After the fall, mankind began to worship created things such as the moon, stars, mountains, rivers, trees and animals as God. Because the Almighty God is a jealous God, He responded by cursing the earth, and this led to a situation where these created things began to work against humanity, thereby making life terribly difficult for them. The land refused to yield its increase, weather became contrary, and animals became wild and unfriendly. However, the Almighty God knew that humanity needed restoration: the kind of restoration that only He, the Creator, could provide. This prompted Him, out of love and compassion, to send His only begotten Son on the difficult assignment of restoring mankind to his original state. May God’s Name be praise forever.

During the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ on earth, He went about restoring things that had been destroyed by the enemy back to God’s original plan and purpose. Through the Lord Jesus Christ, the restoration power of God was released, not only by miraculous healing and deliverance, but also through forgiveness of sin, restoration of destiny, recovery of lost glory, and restoration of communities (Luke 8:39-40). Through His restoration work, a once shunned leper could now freely join other people to worship God, and people who were previously blind, lame and incapacitated became useful members of their society instead of living as beggars. Those freed from demonic possession were no longer feared by their neighbours. Some even became evangelists, openly testifying to the glory of God. The same Jesus is still in the business of physical and spiritual restoration. I pray that in every way your destiny has become corrupted, the Lord will grant you total restoration in Jesus’ Name. I also pray that in every way perversion has entered into the Body of Christ, to attack and paralyse its operation, the Lord will step in to completely restore His church in Jesus’ Name.

Action Point: Call on Jesus to restore every good thing that has lost its purpose in your life and community.

Hymn 3: What Can Wash Away My Sins

1. What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Chorus:
Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

2. For my cleansing this I see
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
For my pardon this my plea
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

3. Nothing can my sin erase
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Naught of works, ’tis all of grace
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

4. This is all my hope and peace
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
This is all my righteousness
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!