OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3RD, 2017.

THEME: UPTURNING BLESSINGS

MEMORISE:
And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. Joshua 6:18

READ:
Malachi 2:1-6

2:1 And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.

2:2 If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.

2:3 Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.

2:4 And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.

2:5 My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name.

2:6 The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.

MESSAGE:
God can bless you by pronouncing a blessing on you, canceling a curse or even turning a curse into blessing. It is important to establish at this point that no man can change your blessings into a curse - not even the one through whom the blessing was pronounced. Once the blessing is pronounced, it cannot be taken back. We see a manifestation of this truth in Genesis 27:30-37. After Esau returned from his father’s errand and realized his brother had stolen his blessing by impersonating him, he went to his father and said, “Daddy, what have you done?” Isaac, his father, replied, "I am sorry son, I have already blessed him and he remains blessed. 

I didn’t know I was blessing the wrong fellow, but I can’t change the blessing now. He is already blessed!" In the Name that is above all names, every blessing that has been pronounced on you and your family shall come to pass! Your blessing shall never be reversed in Jesus’ Name! Every plan of the wicked to upturn your blessings shall fail and meet with disappointment!

However, God can change blessing into a curse. In 1 Samuel 2:30, God told Eli, “With my mouth, I said that you and your father’s house would stand before Me forever, but now, because of what you have done, I have changed My mind”, and with the same mouth, God cursed Eli and his descendants forever. In that scripture, the Lord revealed that honouring Him is very crucial. If you want Him to fulfill His promises and beautiful prophecies to you and your family, you must be prepared to honour Him. God will only honour those who honour Him. 

I have often told those brethren who attend our monthly Divine Encounter programme that when God asks you to give Him your first fruits, it is not because He is in need. It is simply a way of you honouring Him. Proverbs 3:9-10 says,

“Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.”

Have you been faithful in paying your first fruit? If you pay it faithfully, He will definitely keep His word by bringing His promises to fulfillment in your life. If however, you cannot meet his conditions, do not waste your time claiming the promises. God is a responsible God, and He is the Father of responsible children. If you ignore the commands of your earthly father, it doesn’t show you are responsible. It works the same way with God.

ACTION POINT:
Pray that your blessing will never become a curse.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
2 Peter 1-3
1 John 1
Hosea 11 

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 10:  
THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING

1. There shall be showers of blessing:
This is the promise of love;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
Sent from the Savior above.

Refrain:
Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need:
Mercy-drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead.

2. There shall be showers of blessing,
Precious reviving again;
Over the hills and the valleys,
Sound of abundance of rain.
Refrain:

3. There shall be showers of blessing;
Send them upon us, O Lord;
Grant to us now a refreshing,
Come, and now honor Thy Word.

Refrain:

4. There shall be showers of blessing:
Oh, that today they might fall,
Now as to God we’re confessing,
Now as on Jesus we call!
Refrain:

5. There shall be showers of blessing,
If we but trust and obey;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
If we let God have His way.