Open Heaven of Friday 2nd August 2013. WHO DO YOU FEAR? Memorise: The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe. Proverbs 29:25 Read: Proverbs 29:25-27 The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe. Proverbs 29:25 Many seek the ruler's favour; but every man's judgment cometh from the LORD. Proverbs 29:26 An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked. Proverbs 29:27 Bible in one year: Lamentation 3-5 Message The favourites of God often share similarities with eagle. One outstanding trait of the eagle is its ability to see its enemy coming long before it arrives, and as a result, decide on how to deal with it. Usually, when a snake is about to penetrate the nest of an eagle, the latter would have seen it earlier. The eagle will wait for the right moment to strike. Without warning, it will strike by grabbing it by the neck, take it to a great height and drop it from there. This will lead to the death of the snake. As a favourite of God, when the enemies are planning their evil attack, the Lord will reveal it to you so that you will know how to handle your enemies. How often does God forewarn you of the plans of your enemies? When Herod was seeking the life of baby Jesus, Joseph was warned. If you hardly ever get divine warning about the scheme of your enemies, it is doubtful if you are God’s favourite. It simply means you need to work on your relationship with God. In addition, the favourite of God enjoys divine security which leads to unusual boldness. Hence, Proverbs 28:1 says such believer have the boldness you find in lions. If you are a divine favourite, you will fear no man but God. Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.” Whenever you are afraid of a man, you will definitely fall into a pit. There is a link between the fear of man and snares. If you carry out a fact-finding quest on those who found themselves in one trap or another, you will discover that majority of them got there because they were afraid of somebody or some persons. The fear of the Israelites made king Saul to be rejected. If you are afraid of offending men because you do not want to be sacked, spoken against or prosecuted, you will definitely offend God. Men are not to be feared but loved, respected or honoured. God is the only one you should fear. God’s favourites do not care about the opinions of men but about what God thinks about them. What do you fear? ACTION POINT Ask God to help you grow in love and in the fear of God.

OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL Monday 29 JULY, 2013 LEADING WITH GOD'S FEAR Memorise: The God of Isreal said, the Rock of Isreal spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just,ruling in the fear of God. 2 Samuel 23:1-4 In Exo 1:15-21,a Pharaoh who did not know Joseph came on board and passed a decree to kill all male Isrealites that were born. We see here that power must be balanced with the fear of God for it to be productive. It occured to me that if we leave the government of our nation in the hands of someone who lacks d fear of God, we are all bound to pay dearly for it. Even unborn children and many innocent people will suffer it. This is why we should obey 1Tim 2:1-3, Verse 2 of that scripture says we should pray. that means d level of peace and quiet we experience in our nation is a function of d amount of quality prayers rendered on behalf of our leaders. Some believers tell you they are not interested in politics. They do not care who rules them. Yet they complain of excessive taxation, bribery and corruption and misrule of such rulers. If you do not pray for those who lead you, then you have lost your right to complain. Beside those in secular government, you must equally prayerfuly determine who becomes your next General Overseer,Senior Pastor or Pastor. Pray that God will never allow anyone who lacks d fear of God to rule over you. Dis also applies to d one who accepts to be your husband. If he lacks d fear of God,dat home is doomed. Wake up today and start to pray! You would be amazed how much you can achieve through prayer. Your prayer can affect who governs you. Use this power to get the appropriate candidate that will bring joy to you and it will be well with you. As a student, you can prayerfuly ask for the right teacher, lecturer or supervisor dat will be instrumental to your success. Start to ask the Lord for a leader wit the fear of God from now on. ACTION POINT A leader who fears God is both accountable to God and the people under him/her. Ask dat such leaders will govern your life and nation from now on.