You are watching the Wednesday LIVE Service tagged “Covenant Hour of Prayer, November 7, 2018 with Bishop David Oyedepo at Living Faith Church, aka Winners’ Chapel, Faith Tabernacle Canaan Land Ota Nigeria. (Please, reload this page for the latest live event)
Read: Colossians 3:12–17, Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 40–42; Hebrews 4
Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13
In 2005, Collins falsified a report that resulted in McGee being thrown in prison for four years, and McGee vowed to find Collins when he got out and “hurt him.” McGee was eventually exonerated, but not before he lost everything. Meanwhile, Collins’s many falsified reports were uncovered, he lost his job, and he too spent time behind bars. But both men came to faith in Christ while in prison.
In 2015, the two discovered they were working together in the same faith-based company. Collins recalls, “I [told McGee], ‘Honestly, I have no explanation, all I can do is say I’m sorry.’” It was “pretty much what I needed to hear,” said McGee, who graciously forgave him. The men were able to reconcile because both had experienced the incomparable love and forgiveness of God, who empowers us to “forgive as the Lord forgave [us]” (Colossians 3:13).
Now the two are great friends. “We have this joint mission . . . of letting the world know that if you owe an apology to somebody, put your pride down and go apologize,” said Collins. “And if you’re holding something against somebody, let go of the bitterness because it’s like drinking poison and hoping it’s hurting them.”
God calls believers to live in peace and unity. If we have “a grievance against someone,” we can bring it to Him. He will help us to reconcile (vv. 13–15; Philippians 4:6–7).
Prayer: Dear Father, thank You for forgiving us when we come to You in sorrow over our sins. Help us to receive Your forgiveness and to extend it to others.
Christ sets us free to forgive.
INSIGHT:
Many of the themes in Colossians 3:12–17 are repeated in Ephesians 4–5. Paul challenges followers of Christ at Colossae and Ephesus to have a forgiving spirit (Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13), to love one another (Ephesians 5:2; Colossians 3:14), to live in the peace of Christ (Ephesians 4:3; Colossians 3:15), to allow the message of Christ or the Holy Spirit to dwell within them and fill them (Ephesians 5:18; Colossians 3:16), and to worship God with singing (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). And everything is to be saturated with a thankful spirit (Ephesians 5:20; Colossians 3:15).
The common denominator is that we’re incapable of doing any of it in our own strength. It’s only as the Spirit fills us and the gospel changes our hearts that the higher ground of the Christ-life will be expressed in us.
Bill Crowder
This message was written By Alyson Kieda [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]
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Memorise: “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”– Proverbs 27:6
Read: Psalm 41:7-13 (KJV)
7 All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt.
8 An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.
9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
10 But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.
11 By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.
12 And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.
13 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.
Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 49, Luke 18:1-17
MESSAGE:
In today’s world of social media, the real meaning of friendship is fast fading away. It is becoming more frightening to claim to have friends these days because there are so many deceitful friends out there. The magnitude of this problem increases greatly when people have something to gain from their association with you. Are you one of such unfriendly friends? Is your friendship with people built around the furtherance of your interests? Before you begin to identify those who claim to be your friends but are not really so, ask yourself if you are truly friendly. The wisdom of God in Proverbs 18:24 says:
“A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”
One cannot but be amazed by the lamentation of the Psalmist in Psalm 41:9, where he said:
“Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.”
These words perfectly describe the typical character of an unfriendly friend. More often than not, they are very close to their victims. This makes one wonder if they deliberately got close to their victim in order to wreak their havoc. If that is the case, should we not avoid having close friend or any friend at all? I don’t think so; we only need to be prudent in our choice of close friends. An example of Jesus’ choice of associate should help us here. While there were multitudes of followers, He had seventy disciples (Luke 10:1). Among the seventy, He had his core of twelve disciples, and within the twelve, He had three close friends (Mark 3:14, Mark 9:2). Finally, amongst the three, He had one beloved (John 19:26). Note that Judas Iscariot was numbered among Christ’s close friends, so that His destiny as our Redeemer might be fulfilled according to the pattern indicated by scriptures (John 13:17-21).
We need to have friends, but the challenge is how to identify good ones. There is one antidote against choosing enemies as friends, which is prayer. God knows the hearts of men, and only He can shield us from treacherous friends. Also, the law of harvest applies in friendship. The Lord said you should do unto others what you would have them do unto you (Luke 6:31). If you are an unfaithful friend, some other people will also be unfaithful to you. Friendship always come with a price tag; therefore, for those you cannot relate with as friends, I recommend that you relate with them as brethren and co-pilgrims on the way to heaven, doing only that which is needful to help and assist them as God gives you strength.
Open Heaven 7 November 2018 Wednesday Action Point:
If you have hurt anyone by taking undue advantage of their friendship with you, repent and make appropriate restitution.
Wednesday Hymn 9: The Old Rugged Cross
1. On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suff’ring and shame;
And I love that old cross where the Dearest and Best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.
Chorus:
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it someday for a crown.
2. Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary.
3. In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.
4. To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me someday to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share.
Open Heaven 7 November 2018 Wednesday Daily Devotional guide 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. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC. Open Heaven 7 November 2018 Wednesday Daily Devotional.
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Key Verse: “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day“ (Psalm 119:97).
MESSAGE:
A doctorate student embarked on a peculiar project to disprove the claims of the Bible. He set forth on this doctoral thesis with a devious intent to disclaim Christians’ profession of the Bible as God’s Book and its acclaimed effect on peoples’ lives. In the process of carrying out his study, he became converted and the same Bible he sought to disprove transformed his life. He later became a preacher of the Bible in countless universities the world over.
The psalmist in our text prayed to God. Each verse addresses God directly, with no petition; only adoration and personal testimony. He declared his love for the law of God and stated how he meditated on the word of God all day which made him wiser than his enemies and gave him more understanding than his teachers. He did not only read and meditate on God’s word, he also obeyed the precepts. This restrained him from committing sin and hating every false way. This should be the testimony of all believers in Christ.
The Holy Bible is the Book of books. It is the inspired Word. Its primary purpose is to give mankind a revelation of God. It has solution to every problem, clarity to every mystery and a message for every man. No Christian can live successfully without the Bible; likewise, no Christian worker or minister can be qualified for the ministry without a thorough knowledge of it.
To discover hidden treasures in the Bible, all hindrances to spiritual receptivity must be removed. The Christian, like the psalmist, must have undying love for the Word and read it daily, cherish, treasure and obey its truths and commands to sustain a close relationship with God and remain uncompromising until the end.
Thought For The Day: The Bible is the word of God; love it, read it and obey it.
Bible Reading In One Year: Matthew 24
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
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Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments…. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. – Psalm 112:1, 7
The man who makes a habit of delighting in God’s Word will have a heart that’s fixed! He can make it through disastrous situations without losing his balance. His mind’s made up before he ever gets to the disaster. He’s victorious before he ever gets there. A person like that is hard to whip!
The sad thing is that most believers wait until the disaster hits before they start trying to establish themselves on the Word. They wait until their back is against the wall. Then, suddenly, they get real spiritual and start fasting and praying…and all too often they find they’ve started too late.
That’s like a guy who finds out a burglar is in his house and then starts looking for the barbells, so he can build up enough muscle to throw the burglar out. He’s not going to make it! If he’d been working out instead of watching television every night, he’d have been ready. But as it is, he’s headed for a painful defeat.
Be ready before the devil breaks into your house. Get your heart fixed. Turn off the television. Turn off the distractions of the world and turn on the Word. The time to start establishing yourself on it is right now!
Scripture Reading: Job 22:21-30
This message was written by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, the leader of the Kenneth Copeland Ministries (www.KCM.org) that specializes in teaching principles of bible faith – prayer, healing, salvation and other biblical topics.
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