I sat down and started my devotional this morning and I looked ahead of me out of my office window and the words “WINDOWS OF HEAVEN” hit my spirit very hard. I quickly went to the word to serve up scripture dealing with the subject and got the chills. Let the word speak to your spirit.
Today’s Prayer
Father, as we look around the world we see chaos, discord, and shortages. As we face changes proposed to create a “cultural shift” in our nation, help us not to be too quick to discard our past heritage. Instead, let us re-study the dreams, foresight, and the dedication of the founders of our nation, predicated on the Christian ethic. Give us a desire to know the truth, for fear that we indeed “perish from lack of knowledge.” Help us to search out history books written before they were “cleansed” and re-written to fit today’s scholars’ self-serving agendas. Wake us up as a nation, and as Christians to see that we need to reclaim our Godly heritage. Help us to realize that Christianity is always in danger of extinction in every generation unless it is kept viable and passed on to our youth. Oh Lord, give us courage, for it will not be easy. And guide us as we seek to know and to live within Your will. In the wonderful name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
Let’s eat.
Windows of Heaven
Opened in Judgment
Genesis 6:9-22 –
This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. Noah was the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth! “Build a large boat from cypress wood[d] and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. Leave an 18-inch opening below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side, and build three decks inside the boat—lower, middle, and upper. “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive. And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.” So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.
Man’s Sin; Closed by Unbelief
2 Kings 7:2 –
Elisha replied, “Listen to this message from the Lord! This is what the Lord says: By this time tomorrow in the markets of Samaria, five quarts of choice flour will cost only one piece of silver, and ten quarts of barley grain will cost only one piece of silver.” The officer assisting the king said to the man of God, “That couldn’t happen even if the Lord opened the windows of heaven!” But Elisha replied, “You will see it happen with your own eyes, but you won’t be able to eat any of it!”
Man’s Unbelief; Opened in Blessing
Malachi 3:6-10 –
“I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “But you ask, ‘How can we return when we have never gone away?’ “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!
Quote of the Day
Like art, like music, like so many other disciplines, prayer can only be appreciated when you actually spend time in it. Spending time with the Master will elevate your thinking. The more you pray, the more will be revealed. You will appreciate not only the greatness of prayer, but the greatness of God.
Joni Eareckson Tada
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REV. ELDER G E STERRETT
FOUNDER
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James H. Taylor Sr. – Kankakee City News has published my Daily meal message for a decade.