OPEN HEAVEN FOR TEENS SATURDAY 22ND OF APRIL 2023

DATE: SATURDAY 22ND OF APRIL, 2023

MEMORISE: He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it. Proverbs 11:26

READ: Judges 9:16-24

[16]Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands;

[17](For my father fought for you, and adventured his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian:

[18]And ye are risen up against my father’s house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother;)

[19]If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you:

[20]But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.

[21]And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

[22]When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,

[23]Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:

[24]That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them; and upon the men of Shechem, which aided him in the killing of his brethren.

One day, an old man met a bubbling young man on his way to the farm. The old man was frail bent and needed a walking stick to move around. On seeing the old man, the young man began to laugh at him, then, the old man asked why he was laughing. “Why shouldn’t I laugh? What can you do?” the young man asked. The old man replied, “I know I am too feeble to run after you or fight you, but the basket is never satisfied with water”, and he went his way. Almost immediately, the young man developed an unquenchable thirst. At the first hut he stopped at to ask for water, the people discerned that something was wrong. The young man narrated his encounter with the old man and what he had said to him. After narrating his ordeal, they accompanied him to search for the old man. They found him and begged for his forgiveness. The old man accepted and said, “Alright, from now on, you cease to be the basket and you will begin to have satisfaction.” That was the end of the young man’s strange thirst.

Beloved, do everything possible not to be cursed by God or man. If the curse from a fellow man can be disastrous, how much more a curse from God?

Do everything not to be cursed by man or God

1. Just as I am, without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me

And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,

Oh Lamb of God I come, I come.

2. Just as I am, and waiting not

To rid my soul of one dark blot

To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot

Oh Lamb of God I come, I come.

3. Just as I am though tossed about,

With many a conflict, many a doubt,

Fighting’s and fears within, without,

Oh Lamb of God I come, I come.

4. Just as I am poor, wretched, blind,

Sight, riches, healing of the mind

Yea, all I need, in Thee to find

Oh Lamb of God I come, I come.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Kings 11-13

AUTHORS: PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE, PASTOR MRS FOLU ADEBOYE