Open Heaven 17 November 2023
Open Heaven 17 November 2023 Topic: All Around Purity
Memory Verse: Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)
Bible Reading: Matthew 23:25-33 (WEB)
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness.
26 You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness.
28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the tombs of the righteous,
30 and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’
31 Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets.
32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
33 You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?
Today’s Open Heaven 17 November 2023
Our memory verse today says those that are pure in heart are blessed and they will see God.
What this scripture is saying is that if your purity is not on the inside, you cannot make heaven.
Some people will probably jump at that and say, “What matters is the inside, not the outside.”
That is untrue because whatever is on the inside will also show on the outside.
When somebody is mad, he is mad on the inside, but the evidence is seen on the outside.
Many years ago, when we had just started the Redeemed Christian Bible College, I brought some Americans to teach the students, but they began to teach my people that I was too harsh and legalistic.
They said God is only interested in what is inside the heart, not outside.
When I heard this, I knew I was in trouble and sought the face of God for wisdom to handle the situation.
Thankfully, He inspired me to buy two oranges of the same size and present to the students.
One was yellow and the other green. I asked them to choose one and they all chose the yellow one.
I asked why and they said it would be sweeter than the green one. I asked them how they came to that conclusion as we had not cut it open; they said the outside shows what is inside.
The message was passed.The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 that in the last days, there will be many people who will have a form of godliness.
You may talk and dress like a Christian, but those things don’t make you one.
Christianity is being like Jesus from the inside out. Your heart must yearn to be more and more like Him.
You must avoid sin in order to please God. It is when your heart is aligned with Christ that every other thing on the outside begins to fall in place.
You must study God’s word daily with the intention of getting to know more and more of Him. Spend quality time with Him in prayers and worship.
Tell Him you want to have an intimate relationship with Him that will change you from the inside out and you would see Him reveal Himself to you like never before.
Your Purity must start from within you, but it should also reflect on the outside.
Today’s Open Heaven 17 November 2023
Points: Father, please help we to be pure inside and outside.
Hymn: In Christ Alone