BETHEL: HEAVEN’S GATE – Saturday December 10th 2016
Memorise: And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Beth-el. Genesis 35:15
1 And
God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make
there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from
the face of Esau thy brother.
2 Then
Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away
the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your
garments:
3 And
let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto
God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the
way which I went.
4 And
they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and
all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under
the oak which was by Shechem.
5 And
they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were
round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.
6 So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him.
7 And
he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there
God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
Bible in one year: Exodus 30:22-33:6, Psalms 119:49-64
MESSAGE
Bethel
is the house of God, a place where God dwelled with His people. Over
time, the Bible redefined the true place of worship to be the heart of
man. Today therefore, Bethel could be said to represent the house of
God, the true place of worship, or the dwelling place of God. The
Samaritan woman by the well asked a million-dollar question from Jesus
about the location of the heavenly approved place of worship. Open
Heavens Saturday 10 December 2016:- Bethel: Heaven’s gate. Jesus
answered by saying that the time has come when the location is not of
utmost importance to God anymore. John 4:23 says:
“But
the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to
worship him.”
The
realization that man is the dwelling place of God should be taken
seriously by every Christian. Several passages in the Bible confirm this
truth. 1st Corinthians 6:19 says:
“What?
Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in
you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”
The
freedom and liberty granted to Christians at conversion does not
translate to ownership and absolute authority over ourselves as some
erroneously think. Brethren, you are not your own, you belong to God
your creator, you owe your allegiance to Him and you will do well to
live your life with that consciousness. This will help you to be
conscious of what you do with your body. It will help you to avoid
anything that could abuse the body such as sexual immorality, indecent
exposure, drug abuse, alcoholism, etc. it will also help you to watch
what you consume or take into your body such as literature, audio and
video contents. Realizing that your body is the temple of God will also
affect the type of company that you keep and where you go.
More importantly, 1st Corinthians 3:17 says:
“If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”
Children
of God should avoid doing anything that can defile them. In addition to
the things mentioned above, engaging in any form of cosmetic
reconstruction of the body in order to change or improve one’s
complexion, sexual orientation, or appearance, is a defilement of God’s
temple. [Open Heavens Devotional 2016]
Prayer Point
Prayer Point
Father, please let Your fire wake me up to my responsibility in Christ.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional, written by Pastor E.A Adeboye
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