Open Heavens Devotional: THURSDAY- 01/01/2015

📖📖📖 Open Heavens Devotional 📖📖📖 By Pastor E.A. ADEBOYE Date:- Wednesday August 5 2015 Topic:- ASK, DON'T TAKE Memorise: Whoso robbeth his  father or his mother,  and saith, It is no  transgression; the same  is the companion of a  destroyer. Proverbs 28:24 Read: Matthew 7:7-12 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! The Golden Rule 12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Bible in one year: Esther 1-3 John 8:48-9:12 Message: It is common for people to rebrand a particular evil act  by giving it a more tolerable name. They do this so that  the full weight of that evil act is not felt by their conscience. However, rebranding prostitutes as  commercial sex workers or calling sexually transmitted  diseases "gentleman's disease" does not change them  from being what they are before God. In the same vein,  describing stealing as "taking" does not stop it from being  an evil act. Anything you take without the permission of its  rightful owner, especially with the intent of keeping it, is  stealing, irrespective of who you took it from. If you take  something with the consent of the owner under a mutual  understanding not to return it, you can call it a gift. If there  is a mutual agreement that the item is to be returned, that  is borrowing. Do you know that many items have moved  from being borrowed to being stolen, because the one  who borrowed the item has failed to return it? If you have  treated any item like that, you are a thief. Return the item  to its owner today. It's a pity that some people do not know the difference  between gifts and borrowed items on the one hand and  stolen items on the other hand. One area where people  commonly flout such rules is in family relationships. Some  children take it for granted that because something  belongs to their parents, they are free to take it without  their permission. Also, spouses take advantage of each  other in this area. The wife may say since the money  belongs to her husband, and what is his is also hers, she  can take his things whenever she likes without his consent  and without feeling guilty. If you have not deliberately  discussed this and jointly agreed that it should be so, your  action can amount to stealing. God expects you to live  with a sense of accountability, responsibility and honesty.  The reason some people steal from their spouses, parents or children is because they know that if they ask for the  Item, their request would be turned down. If you want  Something that belongs to your spouse or family member,  Simply ask. If the fellow turns down the request, pray to  God to touch his or her heart, then go and ask again and  again. Never take something unless you have the approval  of the owner to do so. Otherwise, you are a thief, and no  thief will enter Heaven. Action Point: Cultivate the habit of  seeking permission before  taking or using whatever  belongs to others.