Open Heaven 1 February 2023 Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – WATCH THAT INTIMACY II 

Click HERE for Previous Open Heaven Devotional

Open Heavens 2023
Date: 2023-02-02
Topic: WATCH THAT INTIMACY II

Memory Verse: Psalm 41:9 – Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
Bible Reading: Micah 7:1-7

Message: Today, I want to share with you a secret that took many great men and women a long time and a lot of pain to learn: it is that you must be very careful who you bring close to you. Most of the people who parade themselves as friends are not genuine. For some of them, they had ulterior motives from the beginning of your friendship while for many others, the moment things get a little tough, they betray your friendship. Only a few, and I mean a tiny little number of people can be called real friends.

The information you let out to someone can never be retrieved, so you have to be careful what you tell your ‘friends’. When I joined The Redeemed Christian Church of God, I became very close to two brothers. One day, God revealed to me that one of them is not a real friend, but a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I confronted him about it and he strongly denied being a fake friend to me. A few years later, when I became General Overseer, I was going to discuss my new role with him when he opened up and told me that he had hated me from the day I came into the Church. Many of us have had similar betrayals; unfortunately, not everyone learns from their experiences.

Your real friends are those who are happy when you are happy and sad when you are sad. When the soldiers came to arrest the Lord Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane (John 18: 1-10), Peter drew a sword and tried to defend Jesus. How can one man stand against several armed soldiers? He faced them as if it were he they had come to take. That is a friend. Judas on the other hand in John 12:3-6 showed that he only cared about himself and not Jesus. When he saw a woman pouring expensive ointment on Jesus, he should have been happy to see his friend being celebrated that much, but instead, he complained and tried to stop the woman from worshipping Him. That is not a true friend. You need to watch out for these things over a long period of time with the help of the Holy Ghost, to sift out who your true friends are.

Hymn: I’ve Found A Friend In Jesus
Points: Be careful who you bring close to you.
Bible in one year: Leviticus 16, Leviticus 17, Leviticus 18

Title: I’ve Found a Friend in Jesus.
Chorus: He’s the Lily of the Valley,
the Bright and Morning Star,
He’s the Fairest
of ten thousand to my soul..

  1. I've found a friend in Jesus, 

He’s everything to me.
He’s the fairest
of ten thousand to my soul;
The lily of the Valley,
in Him alone I see
All I need to cleanse
and make me fully whole.
In sorrow He’s my comfort,
in trouble He’s my stay,
He tells me every care
on Him to roll: (Hallelujah!)

  2. He all my griefs has taken,

and all my sorrows borne;
In temptation He’s my strong
and mighty tower;
I have all for Him forsaken,
and all my Idols torn,
From my heart, and now
He keeps me by His power.
Though all the world forsake me,
and Satan tempt me sore,
Through Jesus I shall safely
reach the goal, (Hallelujah!)

  3. He'll never, never leave me,

nor yet forsake me here,
While I live by faith,
and do His blessed will;
A wall of fire about me,
I’ve nothing now to fear;
With His manna,
He my hungry soul shall fill.
Then sweeping up to glory,
to see His blessed face,
Where rivers of delight
shall ever roll! (Hallelujah!).

Open Heavens 2023 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.

ALSO READ: CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW US ON TWITTER ⊗ OPEN HEAVEN ⊗ JOEL OSTEEN DEVOTIONAL⊗ ABOVE ONLY ⊗ OUR DAILY BREAD ⊗ SEEDS OF DESTINY ⊗ JOYCE MEYER DEVOTIONAL ⊗ RHAPSODY OF REALITIES ⊗ JOHN HAGEE ⊗ MFM DAILY DEVOTIONAL ⊗ DCLM DAILY MANNA ⊗ JOHN PIPER DEVOTIONAL ⊗ UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST