| Memorise: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20)
Read: Acts 7:54-60 |
| In Matthew 4:1, immediately the Heavens opened to Jesus, He was led by the Spirit to sit for an examination. When Heaven opens to you, you will face examination. Also, your focus or direction in life will change. This is certain, not a probability
. Anyone who experiences open Heavens must have a different focus. In Acts 9:1-8, Saul was on his way to Damascus to further torment the Christians when he encountered open Heavens. From that day, his focus changed. He dropped his evil mission for a Heavenly assignment. He changed from Doctor Saul the persecutor to Apostle Paul the missionary. Some people want God to use them mightily in the miraculous but do not want to lose their jobs. They argue that after all, they will still use whatever they earn to work for Him. Paul differs. It wasn’t long after the Heavens opened to him that he wrote Galatians 2:20 . He said, “I am crucified with Christ”. In other words, he was saying, ‘I am a dead man’. It was about this period he wrote Philippians 3:4-10 and said he had counted all his gains, profits and achievements as loss that he might win Christ. When Heaven makes God’s power available to you, certain things will have to suffer. One of such realities is that you might sacrifice your rest. When Heaven opens to you, you will catch a glimpse of God’s glory and the effect can translate you into the Heavenly realm. This was Stephen’s experience in Acts 7:54-60. The day Heaven opened to him, he was more than willing to die. When Heaven opens to you, nothing matters anymore; clothes, houses, cars, marriage, wealth, education will lose their shine because you are seeing something far more glorious. In 1977, I preached about the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The power of God fell. There was this young girl from Kano in that meeting. When the power of God fell, the Lord opened her eyes to see Heaven from 3.00pm to 11.00pm. She made up her mind to die that day. We had to employ every possible reason to convince her not to die. If God opens your eyes and you see God’s glory, you will not want to stay a second longer in this world. However, we need to stay a little longer so that we can work to increase our Heavenly glory and reward. Colossians 3:1-4 says if you have risen with Christ, you will prove it by seeking Heavenly things. What are you seeking? |
| Father, let this year be my year of open Heavens. Pray that God would preserve the Elders of this church in the fear of the Lord. |
