Topic: He Sent His Word [Thursday 19, January 2017]
Memorise: He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. – Psalm 107:20
Read: Jeremiah 33:1-9 (KJV)
1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;
3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
4 For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword;
5 They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.
6 Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.
7 And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.
9 And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.
Bible in One Year: Mark 9, Isaiah 15:1-16:11
MESSAGE:
It often breaks my heart to see the children of God, who ought to value the word of God, which is the source of our power and our defence, trivializing it as if they do not know what they stand to lose when they do not heed it, or the danger inherent in ignoring it. The Bible warns us against such an attitude in Hebrews 2:1
“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”
When the word of God comes to an individual, maybe in the form of prophecy, through the written word or by any other means, it is a wise thing to pay close attention to it. The word of God comes for many reasons and for different purposes. Going by today’s Bible text, we can see that the word of God was sent to the people of Judah for the purpose of deliverance and for the restoration of their freedom which had been lost to the Chaldeans. For this reason, I always warn members of the congregation during our services never to dose off, because they do not know when God would send a specific word of prophecy that would settle their cases. At often times in the Old Testament, before the people of God went to war, the word of God would go forth announcing their victory and that always settled the battle (2 Kings 3:17-19, 2 Chronicles 20:13-15). Likewise, in our meetings, before the people start to pray after the sermon has ended, God through His spoken word would often have already settled their cases. The word of God comes at times to bring peace in the time of crisis, as in the case of Judah (Jeremiah 33:6). When Jesus Christ was in the boat with His disciples and the devil was playing pranks through the tempest, a word of peace settled the turbulent waves of the sea (Mark 4:39). I therefore prophesy into your life right now, your trouble life, marriage, business or career receives peace now in Jesus’ Name.
It is equally comforting to note that when a child of God is exposed to the word of God, he or she receives spiritual cleansing. It is therefore unfortunate for any child of God to run away from the sound teaching of the Bible by failing to read it, study it or listen to it being preached. To underscore this salient truth, the Lord Jesus Christ in John 17:17 prayed thus:
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
Prayer Point: Father, please grant me the grace to align my life to conform to Your word, and through Your word, deliver me from all forms of destruction.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries.
