Open Heavens Devotional Tuesday 26th September 2023 – Put God First Always

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY. 

MEMORISE: Proverbs 3:9

Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.

READ: 1 Kings 17:7-16

7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

Elijah and the Widow
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”

12 So she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a [a]jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”

13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’ ”

15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.

Click here for yesterday’s Open Heaven message by Pastor Adeboye

OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY

One of the things I have discovered about God in my little walk with Him is that He wants to be your priority at all times. He said in Matthew 6:33 that you should seek His kingdom and righteousness first. In Psalm 10:4, the Bible describes those who do not seek God and have Him in their thoughts as proud. In Deuteronomy 26:2, God said that your very first harvest should be given to Him. He wants to be your number one or nothing at all to you.

In fact, one of His names is ‘Jealous’ (Exodus 34:14). Now, when God sees that you always put Him first and you have honoured Him, then He will begin to work out a befitting reward for you. In Proverbs 3:9-10, the Bible says: “Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with 19 the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine”.In our Bible reading for today, Elijah told the widow of Zarephath to prepare his meal first before making that of herself and her son.

Some other women would have said, “Prophet, did you not hear that there is only one meal left? If I prepare that one for you, there will be nothing left to prepare for me and my son”. Instead of saying that, she honoured God in the life of the Prophet in that difficult situation and in return, she never lacked food again. While the entire nation was starving, she had food in abundance.

That is what happens when you put God first. I was in Ilesha, holding a crusade many years ago when my Professor took my PhD thesis to the external examiner. Normally they post it, but he bought a ticket and took it. If you ask all those who got their PhDs back then, they will tell you that it usually takes months for external examiners to invite PhD candidates for an oral examination.

While I was busy in Ilesha doing the will of God, my Professor took my thesis to the external examiner and said, “I am not going back until you read this”. After the external examiner read it, he said “Go and give the boy his PhD”. If you do the will of God first, He will take care of all your needs. When you honour Him and put Him first in all you do, what you will get in return will be a multiplication of what you sacrificed for Him.

Bible in one year: Zephaniah 1-3

Hymn 23 Take My Life And Let It Be

About The Devotional.

The Open Heavens is One of The Most Wildly Read Devotionals in The World. It is written by Pastor E. A Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). The Open Heavens Devotional is designed to fill you daily with God’s word, and keep you inspired, encouraged, and uplifted. It includes Open Heavens devotionals, Teens Open Heavens devotionals, and many more…. Read more

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