OPEN HEAVEN DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: TUESDAY, 20TH DECEMBER, 2022
TOPIC : ARE YOU STILL A BABY CHRISTIAN?
MEMORIZE
Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; Galatians 4:1
READ: 2 TIMOTHY 2:1-4
1. Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
3. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
4. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
MESSAGE
We see from our memory verse today that an heir is likened to a servant if that heir is still a child. In the same vein, the devil will toss around a child of God if he or she is not mature. This alone tells you that spiritual maturity is a must for every child of God.
There are people who have been born again for 10 years yet God has not healed even a headache through them. How are they to get developed? 1 Peter 2:2 says:
“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:”
The more of God’s word you consume, the more mature you become spiritually. As you keep studying your Bible from day to day, you will be steered by the Spirit in the word of God to do all the other things needed for your spiritual growth.
If you spend quality time studying your Bible, you will hate sin; you will fast and pray regularly, love your neighbour as yourself, and many other qualities of mature Christians will be built in you.Dont waste the time you should spend building your relationship with God on frivolities. Dont eat when you should be fasting. Dont sleep when you should be praying.
Dont spend time on entertainment, when you should be studying your Bible. A woman who does not take responsibility to grow her relationship with God, but wants to marry a God-fearing man, is just wasting her time. A good father will not allow his committed son to marry a wayward lady. Also, if the devil meets you as a baby Christian, that is trouble.
A woman had a dream where a mad man came to her doorstep and started knocking furiously. She opened the door and chased the mad man away, but he stayed there and kept saying, Leave me alone. Leave me alone. It is your husband I have come to see. In the dream, the husband came to the door, saw the mad man and allowed him to come into the house.
This woman’s husband fell sick and died a few months later. Had the husband been spiritually mature enough, he would have chased that mad man away in the spirit realm. My beloved, don’t leave your spiritual life unattended to; there are terrible consequences for remaining spiritually immature.
ACTION POINT
The more spiritual exercises you do, the faster you grow spiritually and the more power you have over the devil.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR
Hebrews 6-9
AUTHOR
Pastor E. A. Adeboye
HYMN 14: NEARER MY GOD TO THEE
1. Nearer, my God to Thee, Nearer to Thee; E’en though it be a cross That raiseth me, Still all my song shall be, Nearer, my God, to Thee, (2ce) Nearer to Thee!
2. Though, like the wanderer, The sun gone down, Darkness be over me, My rest a stone, Yet in my dreams I’d be Nearer, my God, to Thee, (2ce) Nearer to Thee
3. There let the way appear Steps unto heaven; All that Thou send’st to me In mercy given; Angels to beckon me Nearer, my God, to Thee, (2ce) Nearer to Thee
4. Then with my waking thoughts bright with thy praise, out of my stony grief bethel I’ll raise; so by my woes to be nearer, my God to thee, (2ce) nearer to thee!
5. Or if on joyful wing cleaving thy sky, sun, moon, and stars forgot, upwards I fly still all my songs shall be nearer my God to thee, (2ce) nearer to thee!