Open Heavens 12 November 2017: Sunday daily devotional by Pastor E. A. Adeboye –Does our worship benefit God?

DOES OUR WORSHIP BENEFIT GOD? – Sunday November 12^th 2017

Memorise: I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from mine enemies. Psalm 18:3

Read: Revelation 5:11-13 (KJV)

^5:11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

^5:12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

^5:13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.

Bible in one year: Job 25-29, Amos 2:4-3:2, Hymn: Sing hymn 3

MESSAGE:

Giving is a common and crucial activity that every serious minded believer in Christ should regularly engage in. The wise believer would hear this and flow with it, but those who think they are ‘smart’ will hear and ignore it to their own undoing. Luke 6:38 say that you should give and it shall be given to you. Have you ever asked yourself who benefits when you give to God? Can you make God richer by giving to the owner of the universe? Can you add to the owner of silver and gold by giving to Him? Everything you have, you receive from Him (1^st Corinthians 4:7). You are the one who gains from giving to God. When you refuse to give, who loses? The Holy Spirit answers that question in Proverbs 11:24:

“There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.”

If you fail to give, you are the one who loses. Why? Your giving determines how far you go in life. Overflowing abundance is a product of sacrificial giving. If you have been sowing sacrificially to God and His Kingdom but you have not yet reached the level of swimming in abundance, you should be celebrated. Why? It is because you are not likely to die until God pays you back in full. The One who said we should owe no man cannot afford to owe you.

Moreover, when you praise God, who gains? Can your praises add to Him in reality? In Psalm 18:1-3, David said several things about who God was to him. He said God is worthy to be praised, because he realised that when he praised God, he got delivered from his enemies. In other words, refusing to praise God would have resulted in him becoming a casualty in the hands of his enemies. So who loses if you refuse to praise God? Today’s Bible reading talks about God’s mass choir in Heaven. It says the size is something like 100 trillion. If God has such a great choir of angels and saved souls worshipping Him, what difference will adding or subtracting your voice from it make? Do you think that God will miss your voice? Therefore, who gains from worshipping and praising God? It is you! Every time God demands that we give something to Him, it is for our own good and not His. Only the fellow who wants to deceive himself or herself will think otherwise.  

Action Point

Serve and worship God because your life, joy and peace depend on it.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional Lessons 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.
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hymn 3

HOW GREAT THOU ART

1. O LORD my God! When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the works Thy hand hath made; 

I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder, 

Thy pow’r throughout the universe displayed:

Chorus:

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee, 

How great Thou art! How great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee, 

How great Thou art! How great Thou art!

2. When through the woods and forest glades I wander 

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;

When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,

And hear the brook, and feel the gentle breeze:

Chorus:

3. And when I think that God, His Son not sparing, 

Sent Him to die - I scarce can take it in:

That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing, 

He bled and died to take away my sin:

Chorus:

4. When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation 

And take me home - what joy shall fill my heart!

Then shall I bow in humble adoration, 

And there proclaim, my God how great Thou art!

Chorus.