OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - THURSDAY - 18/09/2014 - CHURCH ON FIRE BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

CHURCH ON FIRE

Memorise

And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

Acts 4:33

Read

Acts 5:10-14

10 And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,

11 And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:

12 Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.

13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.

14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.

Message

God has expectations for His church. It is His desire that the church would be identified by her firepower. He wants the church to be full of His divine fire. When this happens, satanic agents will no longer be able to operate within or around the assembly of the ‘called out’. There must be fire on the prayer altar at all times. The church should make it impossible for agents of darkness to carry out their nefarious activities in their midst. It is unfortunate that witches and wizards sit down comfortably in many churches. They are at ease due to the lack of fire in the midst of the congregation. We’ve had enough of lukewarm Christianity; the fire must be brought back.

“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

An incident happened several years ago at the headquarters of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Ebute-Metta, Lagos, Nigeria. Something reminiscent of what happened in the above passage was re-enacted. There was a woman who was invited to the annual convention. The power of the Holy Spirit was mightily present and the fire was so much that she ran out of the church. From a distance, she was shouting “Please, help me to pick my bag, I must go back home now”. The woman who invited her to church came out to find out why she wanted to leave the service mid-way; she kept on saying she must go home, she insisted she would not return to the church hall. At this point, the friend became inquisitive and after further questioning, she gave this shocking answer: “I’m sorry; I can’t stand the fire in there. The fire burning inside the church is too much for me to bear”. It is indeed surprising that a stranger could attest to the presence of divine fire during the service. It is my desire to see such days again so that the church will no longer be comfortable for agents of darkness.

This is the season of divine fire. God is visiting His church again. The same fire which descended upon the early church, by which divorce, worldliness, gay marriage, corruption etc, became alien to them, will come upon us afresh in Jesus’ Name. When this fire falls, both the clergy and the laity will bow in humble adoration. God is set to do something new in the church, and everyone will experience His awesome power.

Prayer Point

Father, set the church on fire and let there be a hunger for revival in every worshipper.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR

Judges 5:1-6:35;

Job 39:26-40:14