Open Heaven 21 October 2023
Open Heaven 21 October 2023 Topic: Topic: You Must Grow Spiritually III
Memory Verse: Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. (Matthew 10:8)
Bible Reading: Mark 16:15-18 (WEB)
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to the whole creation.
16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned.
17 These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages;
18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Today’s Open Heaven 21 October 2023
Message: As a child matures, he or she would get to the point when the parents can hand over some of their duties to him or her.
In the same vein, as we mature in Christ, we are to start doing the works of Christ. That is why Jesus said in John 14:12 that we are to do the works that He did and indeed, greater works.
Jesus was a teacher of the word. Apostle Paul said in Hebrews 5:12: “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers,
ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
” There comes a time in the life of a Christian when he or she ought to have started teaching others the gospel of Christ. Many believers don’t get to this level because they only read their Bibles rather than study deeply.
When you read, you read to be informed, but when you study, you study to be transformed. It is after you are transformed by the word that you begin to long to see that same transformation in others,
and that longing pushes you to start teaching it. There are those who have memorised the longest chapter in the Bible, but they cannot teach the simple doctrines of faith because the word hasn’t transformed them.
Don’t just read the Bible, study it. When you experience the transforming power of the word, you will be eager to start teaching it too.
Another work that Jesus did which we are also expected to do, is the working of miracles. Miracles are not the exclusive reserve of Pastors only; they are for all Christians.
Jesus said in Mark 1 6:1 7, “These signs shall follow them that believe”. As long as you are a child of God, when someone is sick around you, you are to lay hands on them so that they can recover.
Many Christians don’t do this because while they have been in the faith for long, they have not been deliberate about their spiritual growth.
Such people don’t spend quality time in God’s presence, praying, studying His word and seeking His anointing.
You must be deliberate about your spiritual growth because our Lord Jesus Christ expects you to grow in Him and perform greater works than He did during His earthly ministry.
Today’s Open Heaven 21 October 2023
Points: Jesus expects you to do the works he did, and greater works indeed.