Open Heaven 25 February 2021 Thursday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Dangers Of Alcohol I
Click HERE for Previous Open Heaven Devotional
OPEN HEAVEN 25 FEBRUARY 2021 TOPIC: Dangers Of Alcohol I
MEMORISE: 29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? 30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. – Proverbs 23:29-30
READ: Proverbs 23:29-35 (KJV)
29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Exodus 11-13
Open Heaven 25 February 2021 MESSAGE:
Many people have argued about whether it is right for a Christian to drink alcohol or not. Some say it is okay to drink but not to drink too much. However, that is not what my Bible says. The Bible says that you should not even look at alcohol no matter how alluring it might seem to you.
“31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. 32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.” – Proverbs 23:31-32
Also See: OPEN HEAVEN 24 FEBRUARY 2021 – PERSEVERANCE
You see, the Bible says if you as much as look at alcohol, it will eventually bite you like a serpent. I think that alone should be enough to make you stay away from alcohol.
No alcoholic can make it to heaven. How do I know? It is there in our Bible reading for today – Proverbs 23:33:
“Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.”
Anyone who takes alcohol will behold strange women and their heart will utter perverse things. Can someone who lusts after strange women make it to heaven? Can a person whose heart is full of perverse things go to heaven? The answer is no, so someone who drinks alcohol cannot be serious about making heaven.
Stop taking alcohol. You cannot control the influence of alcohol; it rules over whoever takes it. However, not only will it rule over the fellow, it will also bring evil to the person. A number of evil things amongst several others that could befall an alcoholic are listed in our Bible reading for today. The alcoholic will have woes, that is, curses. An alcoholic will have sorrows, in other words, such a person will be depressed. A person who takes alcohol will have contentions, that is, he or she will always be fighting one thing or the other. People who take alcohol will have babblings: complaints upon complaints. They will have wounds without cause – wounds to their lives and aspirations. They will have redness of eyes, which reflects a violent heart. I could go on and on.
Certainly, no bottle of beer, wine or liquor is worth any of the evils mentioned above.
Beloved, abstain from all appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22).
Open Heaven 25 February 2021 ACTION POINT:
Don’t drink any form of alcohol and if you know anyone who does, show them the message for today.
Open Heaven 25 February 2021 HYMN 24: Take My Life, And Let It Be
1. Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord to Thee;
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
2. Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love;
Take my feet, and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee,
Swift and beautiful for Thee.
3. Take my voice and let me sing
Always, only, for my King;
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee,
Filled with messages from Thee.
4. Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose,
Every power as Thou shalt choose.
5. Take my will and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine:
Take my heart, it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne,
It shall be Thy royal throne.
6. Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store;
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee,
Ever, only, all for Thee.
Also See: Click HERE to read RCCG Fasting and Prayer Points 2021
Open Heavens 2021 Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC.
Flatimes Notice Board: Until you are born again, God ever abiding presence will never be with you. You must be born again to enjoy continuous victory. Please say the displayed prayer below in faith:
Lord Jesus, come into my life. I accept You as my Lord and Personal Saviour. I believe in my heart You died and rose from the dead to save me. Thank You Lord for saving me, in Jesus name Amen.
If you just prayed the prayer of salvation online please send your testimonies and prayer request to info@rccg.org, +234-1-8447340, +234-0-7098213112.
Please I want to ask a question or make a comment on the OPEN HEAVENS for yesterday 25th and it’s like today is also a follow up on yesterday’s instructions.
Every matured and responsible person must and do know that anything done in excess or to level beyond ones capacity to coop with is bad. And I think and understand that what the bible teaches on this issue of alcohol is that people should have a controlled and moderate attitude to the drinking and usage of alcohol . But the way presented this topic or the explanations you gave about it is that we or Chritians should not touch, drink or even look at alcohol in any form at all no matter what. I think there is something wrong with this explanations by your goodself. Taking my points from the events recorded in the bible about the Activities of Jesus and his followers . Please pardon my inability to quote the exact books and chapters and verses in the bible but you know it.
The very first miracle Jesus performed after his baptism at the Jordan was in a wedding ceremony in Cana of Galilee at the promptoings of his mother Mary who was also invited to the ceremony. At the middle of the event when people have not even started drinking, the whole drinks or wine provided by the celebrant finished completely. This situation almost became an embarrassment and shame to the celebrant. Mother Mary being a highly respected person in their midst sences the imminent shame and disgrace it will pose to the celebrant quietly went to Jesus and humbly requested him to do something to save the celebrant the shame that will be theirs if nothing was done. Jesus looked at her and said woman my time is not due yet. Obviously Mary knew her son better than anybody else and knew that he will not deny her any good intentioned request. Mary simply walked out and instructed the master of ceremony and the ushers and servant that they should carry out whatever instructions he gave them forthwith. And when they met him , he simply instructed them to fill all the pots and large containers for wine with water. They quickly obeyed and did as he instructed. He after having prayed to his father secretly now told the servants to take some of the drinks and serve the master of ceremony. On testing it he querried the celebrant on why he hid the best drinks and waited till most people got almost drunk with the poor quality drinks only to bring out the best drinks towards the end of the ceremony. When the secrete was explained to him he could not say anymore than to praise God for Jesus sake. We were also told in the bible that on the occation of the last super before his death, he Jesus had consecrated bread and wine and gave them to his disciples urging them to eat and drink for the bread is now his body and the drink is now his blood which will be shared for mankind for the remission of sins. He even went on to instruct that they should continue to practice this for his remembrance even after his death, resurrection and assertion into heaven. And we as Christian’s irrespective of whatever denomination you subscribe to has continued this practice till tomorrow and till the end of times. And in one of the letters of Apostle Paul to his junior colleague Timothy who was younger and a bit sickly. He Paul had admonished Timothy not to drink water all the time because of his –Timothys frequent stomach problems. Here Paul was clearly advising Timothy to sometimes take some wines for its medicinal values. No argument about that. Okay and finally while Jesus was hanging on the cross before he breathed last, He exclaimed loudly that he was thirsty. The Roman crucified put some wine in a sponge and raised it to his mouth. We are told that He tasted it and then spit out some before he finally shouted “It is Finished” Let’s limit ourselves to these four Occations where the use of wine were clearly stated particularly where Jesus was directly involved., they never said the wines they used was soft drinks or fruit juice or coke and fanta.. And by the English explanations anything called wine must have some element of Alcohol in it otherwise it cannot be called wine.. Wine is wine and water is water and there is no ambiguity and each of them has their various capacity and functions where they are necessary to be used and were used as such in the degree and manner that the occation demanded. And nobody condemned these occasional uses as sinful practice. Then why should anybody try to confuse the people that even to look at a drink or touch it and not even to drink it is a sinful practice. If you said take it in moderate quantity within the limits of individuals capacity we can understand that. But to put a blanket ban on an item of entertainment which Jesus himself brought about at the instance of his beloved mother, that will be direct contradiction of what Jesus preaches and stands for.. we know that practically not everybody’s body chemistry can accommodate certain chemical compounds into our systems. Some can accommodate while others cannot. Even the normal everyday food we eat , the same type of food cannot be eaten by everybody generally.Its an individual thing. If your body chemistry accepts a certain type of food take it with fate and thaks to our God for providing it. If your own body chemistry does not accept it then leave it and take what is good for your body and person. Dont force yourself to eat what others are eating just to keep with the Joneses. And dont turn round to criticize those who eat and make the look guilty because you personally as an individual cannot take it. I think there is something wrong in this part of your sermons. Please kindly look at it again. Remain blessed.