Open Heavens May 8, 2008

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Ruth 1-4

FLESH OR SPIRIT

MEMORIZE: "And suddenly there was a great earthquake, sothat the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediatelyall the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed"(Acts 16:26)

READ: 1 Kings 18:36-39

“And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed” (Acts 16:26).

Believers have wondered why we hardly record the type of dramatic answers that were common place with believers of Bible days. The reason is because of absence of the fire of Holy Spirit in our lives. Paul and Silas were imprisoned for their faith. Undeterred, the fire in them provoked spirit-led praise, worship and prayers to the extent that Heaven could not ignore them. When God came into their situation, the physical prison lost its foundation. The fervency of your prayer, sacrifice, thanksgiving and obedience will determine the depth, height and width of divine intervention you will have. If the disciples of old could pray out the foundation of the prison walls, you too can pray or praise God to the extent that the foundations of your problems will be uprooted. I decree today, that the foundation of your problems will scatter in Jesus’ Name.

There is a user of this Devotional. God gave you a big financial blessing. Instead of paying your complete tithe, you reasoned that because the tithe is sizeable, you would need to apply ‘wisdom’ and pay below the tenth of that provision. God as a result, has decided to use ‘wisdom’ in determining the blessing that He will give to you, except you repent and restitute. We need the fire of God. According to our reading, Elijah prayed and the fire came down and the backslidden Israelites returned to God. Without the fire, believers will continue to live in sin and compromise.

If you want your messages to go beyond entertainment, to change the souls of men, they must be soaked in God’s fire. Any sermon preached without fire, kills rather than transform. Many unbelievers have become hardened to God’s Word because they heard it without fire. At a Christian gathering, a singer took a song. At the end of it, she had a standing ovation. Thereafter, an uneducated man, offered to take the same song. At the end of his poorly presented rendition, the congregation broke down weeping. As long as you target the ovation of men, your messages will not have fire. It is when the church recovers and retains the fire that the church can enter greater realm of God’s divine purpose.

ACTIONPOINT: Father, I am tired of serving you without fire. Today, send you fire into my bones and let it stay so.