Open Heavens for Teens Saturday 2 February 2019 Daily Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye
Topic: Whatsoever Things Are Honest
Memorise: “Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest… if there be any praise, think on these things.” – Philippians 4:8
Read: Luke 18:10-14
10 Two men went up into the temple [enclosure] to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee took his stand ostentatiously and began to pray thus before and with himself: God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of men–extortioners (robbers), swindlers [unrighteous in heart and life], adulterers–or even like this tax collector here.
12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I gain.
13 But the tax collector, [merely] standing at a distance, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but kept striking his breast, saying, O God, be favorable (be gracious, be merciful) to me, the especially wicked sinner that I am!
14 I tell you, this man went down to his home justified (forgiven and made upright and in right standing with God), rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.
Bible In One Year: Exodus 28-30, Matthew 21:1-22
MESSAGE:
Philippians 4:8 advices that we should think on honest things. This is because the mind is so powerful that it takes the shape of whatever it dwells on, if it dwells on pretense, the fellow may not even know who he is anymore.
To be honest is to be free of deceit. It is good to be honest with everyone, especially yourself. If you write an exam and fail because you did not read, don’t say “The examiner failed me”, be honest with yourself and accept your fault so that you can study for the next exam.
If your parents are not as rich as the parents of the other children in school, don’t struggle to wear the things they wear or spend the little you have to keep up appearance, you will gain nothing from that. Be true to yourself; no pretense, it is only then that your mind will be settled to mind important things. Trust me; it doesn’t matter who you are today, what matters is who you are becoming. I am the son of a village farmer that is extremely poor. He struggled to send me to school where I met with children of richer parents. I didn’t pretend, I just concentrated on becoming successful. Today, by God’s grace, I am well recognized all over the world.
Key Point: It doesn’t matter who you are today, what matter is who you are becoming.
Hymn 7: I am Thine 0 Lord, I have heard Thy voice
- I am Thine 0 Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee.
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.
- Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the pow’r of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine. - Oh, the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God
I commune as friend with friend! - There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with Thee.
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