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Open Heaven May 16 2018 – Hospitable?
Memory Verse for Open Heaven May 16 2018
The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
Proverbs 11:25
Open Heaven May 16 2018
Bible Reading: 2 Kings 4:8-17 (NIV)
The Shunammite’s Son Restored to Life
8 One day Elisha went to Shunem. And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat.
9 She said to her husband, “I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God.
10 Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.”
11 One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there.
12 He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.” So he called her, and she stood before him.
13 Elisha said to him, “Tell her, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’ ”She replied, “I have a home among my own people.”
14 “What can be done for her?” Elisha asked. Gehazi said, “She has no son, and her husband is old.”
15 Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway.
16 “About this time next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.” “No, my lord!” she objected. “Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!”
17 But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.
Open Heaven May 16 2018
Bible in one year: 2 Samuel 7-9, 1 Peter 3:8-4:11
Open Heaven May 16 2018 Message
Hospitality is the act of generosity and friendship shown towards strangers , and it includes the responsibility of protecting the interest of those received as guests. God admonishes His children to be hospitable as part of our duty to others and in gratitude for the salvation, favour and mercy we have received from Him ( Exodus 22:21).
Several passages of scripture emphasise hospitality as a godly virtue ( Romans 12:13, 1 Peter 4:9). Hebrews 13:2 says
“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”
Furthermore, the Bible mentions hospitality as one of the preconditions for becoming a leader in the church (1 Timothy 3:2). Hospitality has played a very important role in the Redeemed Christian Church of God right from its very beginning. It forms part of our core beliefs and practices.
Open Heaven 18 May 2018
We teach that you don’t to be rich to look after visitors. You can entertain four people with a single orange by slicing it into four parts and presenting it nicely on a decent plate with glasses of water. May you receive the true spirit of hospitality today in Jesus’ name
Open Heaven May 16 2018
The Bible admonishes that since we naturally desire to receive hospitality from others, we should show it to others well. The Lord in Matthew 7:12 says,
“All things whatsoever yo would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.”
Even when describing the type of fast that God finds acceptable, the Holy spirit in Isaiah 58:7b said :
“Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast our to thy house?”
Deuteronomy 26:12 also speaks about feeding the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. All these verses of the scripture show that we are duty-bound as children of God to provide for the needs of these classes of people regularly. Open Heaven 19 May 2018
More importantly, Jesus clearly teaches that hospitality is going to be a major criterion that will be used to separate the sheep from the goat on the last day (Matthew 25:33-35). This means that it will be practically impossible for anyone to enter heaven without being hospitable. Open Heaven May 17 2018
Jesus expects every Christian to love their neighbour as themselves. He expects us to use hospitality as a tool to spread the love of God and the good news of the gospel all over the world. I pray that you will yield yourself an instrument of spreading God’s love everywhere through hospitality in Jesus’ name
Open Heaven May 16 2018 Action point
Think of how you can use hospitality to spread the love of God and thr message of the gospel in your locality. Draw up a plan and implement it.
Open Heaven May 16 2018
Hymn 12: How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds
Verse 1
In a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.
Verse 2:
It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubled breast;
’Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary, rest.
Verse 3:
Jesus! My Shepherd, Husband, Friend,
O Prophet, Priest and King,
My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
Accept the praise I bring.
Verse 4:
Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought;
But when I see Thee as Thou art,
I’ll praise Thee as I ought.
Verse 5:
Till then I would Thy love proclaim
With every fleeting breath,
And may the music of Thy Name
Refresh my soul in death!
