OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - SUNDAY - 15/06/2014 - REMAINING AS LIGHT BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

REMAINING AS LIGHT

MEMORISE

The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

Matthew 6:22

READ

James 1:17-22

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

MESSAGE

When you look at the account of creation in Genesis 1:1-3, and observe the pre-eminence given to light, you will realise that one of the most pleasing events to God is when His children shine. As lights, we are expected to shine. Are you shining in your family, place of work, church, society, town, state, province or country? Can the Almighty God see you as light wherever you are located? May you never disappoint the Lord in Jesus’ Name. One of those who shone as light of the world was the man Abraham. His light was so bright that God could vouch for him. Genesis 18:19 says this about him:

“For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”

Can God vouch for you? Can God see you as light in the midst of darkness? How bright is your light? How much of God’s light do you reflect at your place of work, church or whatever little corner of the world you are in? Jesus in Matthew 5:16 said:

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

One of the ways to shine is through soul-winning. This is the primary mandate of believers. To shine therefore, we should make soul-winning a continuous practice till Jesus comes back in power and glory (Acts 1:6-8, 2 Timothy 4:5). You can achieve the mandate to win souls by preaching the gospel through witnessing and tracts distribution. Souls won must be prayed for regularly and followed up to avoid loss (John 15:16). You can also shine as light by attending to the needs of the less privileged (Matthew 25:41-45). You need refuelling in order to sustain your light (Isaiah 40:31). To do this, be conversant with the word of God. Spend quality time reading, studying and practising the word. Listen to sermons of seasoned and anointed men of God. Spend quality time in worship, prayer, thanksgiving and intercession on a daily basis. We should also avoid pollution in order to shine. Our light can be polluted. Most times, what pollutes our light is weight. The weight that can pollute our light and render it impotent is sin. Easily-besetting sins like gossiping, exaggeration, hatred, variance, wrath, strife, envying, drunkenness etc, can pollute our light and keep us from shining. Identify all sins that can pollute your light, confess them to God, repent and change. It is your time to shine.

PRAYER POINT

Father, let your light shine through me to the whole world.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR

Leviticus 13;

Psalm 123-124