Open Heavens Daily Devotional September 1, 2017
Topic: A Target of Forces
Memorise: Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth; thou art taken with the words of thy mouth. Proverbs 6:2
Read: Genesis 35:16-19 (KJV)
35:16 And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.
35:17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.
35:18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.
35:19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.
Bible in one year: 1st Chronicles 28-29, Ezekiel 33:30-34:10
MESSAGE: Blessings and curses are two of the most powerful forces on earth, even though they function in opposite ways. When present in any life, either of them can seriously affect the destiny of their recipient. Psalm 37:22 says,
“For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.”
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What does this mean? It means that if God blesses you, there is nothing you desire that you cannot get. This is why I am amazed whenever I come across some of my children and they say to me, “Daddy, please pray for me”, and when I respond saying “God bless you”, they still ask me to further pray for them. I tell such people that I have already prayed the greatest prayer anyone can pray for them, because if God blesses someone, all his or her problems will be over. As a user of this devotional, I say to you, God bless you!
Proverbs 10:22 reveals the power of the blessings that God gives; it says,
“The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”
If you are blessed of the Lord, you will definitely inherit the earth. You will have all you want. However, if you are cursed by God, you will find out that when God curses a person, that fellow will sooner or later become desolate. What is a curse? A curse is an invitation to all the forces in heaven, on earth and underneath the earth to combine forces and resources to work against a person, until he or she is completely destroyed. So when an individual is cursed, demons, men, animals and even the elements will work against that fellow. Let us consider the example of Rachael in Genesis 31:31-35.
After Jacob served Laban, he finally left to return home. Then came Laban in hot pursuit after Jacob, and he caught up with him. Laban then said to him, “You have taken my two daughters and my cattle, and now you have equally stolen my idols.” Jacob denied stealing the idols and said whoever stole them should die. Unknown to him, his beloved wife Rachel had stolen these idols and sat on them. They checked everywhere but the idols were not found. Jacob thereafter left Laban in annoyance. Later on, in Genesis 35:16-19, shortly after delivering her next child, Rachel died. The curse her husband had pronounced eventually worked against her. May you not use your own mouth to undo yourself or members of your family in Jesus’ Name!
Key Point: A curse makes a person the target of negative forces.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.