Open Heavens 27/5/2015 Open Heavens Daily Devotional written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

Topic: THE PRICE OF BEING A STANDARD – Wednesday May 27,
2015
Memorize:
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith
the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you -
ll Corinthians 6:17
Read: Il Corinthians 6:14-18
14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what
fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what
communion hath light with darkness?
15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he
that believeth with an infidel?
16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye
are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in
them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be
my people.
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate,
saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive
you,
18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and
daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
MESSAGE:
To become a standard or a positive reference point, there is a
price to pay. Going though the Bible, one will see that all those
who got outstanding approval from God had at least one thing in
common, which is that they stood out for God before they became
a reference point. One of such Bible heroes is Elijah. He stood out
for God on Mount Carmel. He risked being killed by the numerous
prophet of Baal whom he had challenged. As a matter of fact, he
was considered to be Public Enemy No. 1 by the ruler of his day,
Ahab (1st Kings 21:20)
Another Bible hero is Daniel. He stood out alongside three other
young Hebrew men in order to be outstanding and thus became a
standard. Several times, he risked being killed because of his
stand for goodliness. He knew his God and would not
compromise his allegiance to Him. On one occasion, a degree
forbade everybody from praying to God, but he put his life at risk
by praying. He showed that he was different from every other
person. The Bible says he did not go into hiding to pray; rather,
he opened his windows and prayed three times a day until he was
found out ( Daniel 6:10). He disobeyed the malicious decree,
which his malicious fellow presidents made King Darius to sign.
One striking thing in this story was statement of these presidents
in Daniel 6:5:
“Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this
Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his
God.”
The question is: if it becomes a crime to be faithful disciples of
Jesus Christ, will you be found guilty? It is unfortunate that
Christians are steadily losing their virtue as salt and the light in
this world of darkness. Christians are no longer setting the
standard for godly, virtuous living. They are allowing this corrupt
world to overwhelm them, failing to realise that the state of
corruption they are witnessing today was predicted in the Bible so
long ago t prepared us to meet its challenges (2nd Timothy 3:1-5).
This is the reason why in today’s Bible reading. God commands
us to come out from among evildoers, particularly false brethren.
This is part of the price of being a standard; you must stand out
and not conform to this world ( Romans 12:2). May the Lord give
you the grace to obey in Jesus Name.
Action Point:
Watch out for the evil deeds of this world and try to separate
yourself from doing them. You will soon be noticed as different,
and you will become a standard to the glory of God.
Bible in one year: ll Samuel 19:16-20:26, Mark 14:53-15:5