*📖📖OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL GUIDE*

*DATE: MONDAY JULY 29TH 2024*

*THEME: YOUR PHONE VS YOUR BIBLE*

MEMORISE:
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exodus 20:3

READ: Exodus 20:3-6

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

MESSAGE
Today's cell phones are extremely effective; with them, you can communicate with anybody in the world.

Despite this being a positive thing, you must be careful not to live under your phone's
influence. You must not get addicted to your phone or live by it because Jesus said that man is to live by every word that comes out of God's mouth (Matthew 4:4).

Your Bible is what you must be addicted to and live by, not your phone. If you are not conscious of this, your phone may easily replace the word of God in your life, and this is quite dangerous because the Bible says that our God is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14).


When you wake up in the morning, do you pickup your phone first or your Bible? You may say that you pick up your phone to check the time, but really, do you study the apps on your phone first or the verses in your Bible? Throughout the day, what do you have more on your mind, what you saw on your phone or what you read in the Bible? You are to meditate on God's word day and night, not on social media feeds and reels.

When you want to start a conversation with your friend in your DM, what interesting thing do you start with, a funny meme or a Scripture? Ephesians 5:19 says that we are to speak to each other in psalms and hymns, but many no longer have such conversations; it is all about celebrity gossip and memes.

Can you see that there is a need to repent if your heart has been drawn away from God for so long without you knowing it? It is time to return to God's word and become addicted to it again. It is time to begin to study the word first thing in the morning and last thing at night every day.

If your heart has been drawn away from God, to bring your heart back to God's word, you will have to exercise a lot of self-control. You must take decisive actions and stick with them. For example, decide to charge your phone far from you and put your Bible beside vour pillow at bedtime.

This way, you will read it before you sleep and pick it up when you wake up. You may need to delete some apps that you are addicted to. The time spent on them can be put to better use in prayers and the study of the word of God.

KEY POINT
Don't allow your phone to become the devil's weapon against your spiritual life.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Isaiah 53-56

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE

HYMN 23: 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.

*📖📖OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL GUIDE*

*DATE: TUESDAY JULY 30TH 2024*

*THEME: COMFORT VS FELLOWSHIP*

MEMORISE:
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Matthew 18:20

READ: Hebrews 10:24-25

24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

MESSAGE
Today, I want you to consider very well the choice of deciding to stay at home and watch services online over attending physically.

Today's Bible text clearly states that you are not to forsake the fellowshipping together of breth ren. Therefore, if you choose to attend a service online when you can very well attend that service physically, you are forsaking the fellowshipping together with brethren for your comfort.

Due to your preference for comfort over fellowship, many things might follow. Some of these may include picking up phone calls or browsing social media while the service is going on. Also, you might be eating and drinking when you should be concentrating on receiving the bread of life from heaven.

In that state, it is easy to welcome distractions from visitors who knock on your door and even things that you suddenly remember that you ought to have done. These things will take your mind completely off the service and make you miss out on what God is doing at that moment.

On the other hand, if you are present at a service physically, there will be little or no distractions because almost everybody around you will be focused on God.

They will be praying or worshipping God fervently, and the environment around you will be charged; that fire will kindle your own fire
too. This is not the same as watching a service on TV. Tell me, if you put on your TV and a TV station is showinga house that is burning, will you feel the heat in your house?

Except there is absolutely no way to attend a physical service, either due to distance or other challenges, you cannot get the same impact from the service by watching it at home.

God sees your heart; He knows when you are choosing comfort over fellowship with the brethren. He is the one who said that you should not forsake the fellowshipping together of the brethren, so He will not encourage you to disobey Him.


There is always a
difference between someone watching God move and someone being a part of the move of God.

KEY POINT
Never choose comfort over fellowshipping physically with other believers.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Isaiah 57-59

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE

HYMN 15: PASS ME NOT O GENTLE SAVIOUR

1 Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
Hear my humble cry,
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

Refrain:

Savior, Savior,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

2 Let me at a throne of mercy
Find a sweet relief;
Kneeling there in deep contrition,
Help my unbelief.

[Refrain]

3 Trusting only in Thy merit,
Would I seek Thy face;
Heal my wounded, broken spirit,
Save me by Thy grace.

[Refrain]

4 Thou the Spring of all my comfort,
More than life to me,
Whom have I on earth beside Thee?
Whom in heav'n but Thee?

[Refrain

Hello everyone,

I'm pleased to announce that those who were unable to log into Itakun after the Cowrium Mad-O Ecosystem Server decentralization can now do so.

During the complex process a few months ago, we encountered some technical issues that led to the unfortunate situation. However, the system is now fully operational, although a few pictures might still be missing.

This decentralization of the Cowrium Mad-O SERVER is unprecedented and deserves commendation. A major advantage is that it will prevent unforeseen shutdowns like the recent global system outage by Microsoft.

Let's log into our accounts now to connect, share, network, and earn as we socialize. If you haven't registered on Itakun yet, please sign up today by visiting itakun.net or download our app on the Play Store - Itakun Lite.

Itakun - Redefining Standards!

InService,
Emmanuel Haastrup (Ceah)
Chief Conductor, #Cowrium / #Itakun