OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
SATURDAY 21ST DECEMBER 2019
LIVING HOLY II.
MEMORISE: Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. Psalm 112:1
READ: Hebrew 10:25-31
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Proverbs 13-15, Zechariah 9
MESSAGE
Yesterday, we considered the place of God's word in living a holy life, but that is not the only tool we need to sustain a life of holiness. Apart from God's word another tool that God has provided for us to live holy is accountability to each other in the place of Fellowship. If you are not part of a fellowship of brethren, it will be easy for you to fall into temptation. In fact, when the devil is after a Christian, one of the things he does is to isolate the person from fellowshipping with the brethren. He will either cause a quarrel between the fellow and someone else in the fellowship or make the fellow offended by some of the activities of the Fellowship. In my Village, we used to cook with firewood and we needed a lot of wood to make the fire big enough to cook a meal. Every log of wood in the fire helps the other to get and remain hot. If while cooking, one of the log of wood was removed from the fire and placed in a separate place, you would soon discover that this log of wood would get cold and stop burning, while the others that stayed together would keep burning. This illustrates the evil strategy of the devil; please don't fall for it by separating yourself from the Fellowship of the brethren. If there is any quarrel between you and any member of your fellowship, go to your leaders and let them settle it, rather than you leaving the fellowship.
Another important thing you need to note is that if you are in a fellowship where everyone else is feeding from you and you are not being fed by anyone, you need to change your strategy from just feeding your fellowship members to teaching them how to get fed directly from God so that they can also feed you from what God is teaching them. Even though the flame on a candle does not reduce with the number of candles it lights, a time may come when a strong wind blows out its fire and it will need another candle to light it up. If all the other candles in your fellowship have only little light, they will also not be able to withstand the wind, and hence they will be out of Fire too. However, if there is at least one person who has been feeding from you who now knows how to feed directly from God, you can get some fire from that fellow. This is why the Bible says in Proverbs 27:17:
“Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”
No matter how strong plastic is, it can never sharpen iron; so raise every “plastic” person around you to become iron. Believe me honestly, a “Sunday-Sunday” Christian will find it very difficult to live holy. Attending mid-week service are important to keep your fire burning. Small fellowship meetings also help you strengthen your spirit man against temptations. Meeting with a prayer partner or organizing small Bible study group meetings regularly will also make you sharper spiritually.
KEY POINT
Abiding in an environment of accountability prevents character erosion.
HYMN 12: DEEPER, DEEPER IN THE LOVE OF JESUS.
1. Deeper, deeper in the love of Jesus
Daily let me go;
Higher, higher in the school of wisdom,
More of grace to know.
Refrain
Oh, deeper yet, I pray,
And higher every day,
And wiser, blessed Lord,
In Thy precious, holy Word.
2. Deeper, deeper, blessed Holy Spirit,
Take me deeper still,
Till my life is wholly lost in Jesus,
And His perfect will.
3. Deeper, deeper! though it cost hard trials,
Deeper let me go!
Rooted in the holy love of Jesus,
Let me fruitful grow.
4. Deeper, higher, every day in Jesus,
Till all conflict past,
Finds me conqu’ror, and in His own image
Perfected at last.
5. Deeper, deeper in the faith of Jesus,
Holy faith and true;
In His pow’r and soul exulting wisdom
Let me peace pursue.
