Your sonship may not be in doubt, but it's your fellowship that determines your nativity. Work on it (Genesis 3:8-11, 24; Luke 15:11-24; Philippians 2:12).

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL DATE: FRIDAY, AUGUST 14TH, 2026 THEME: THE WEIGHT OF COVENANT I AUTHOR: PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE MEMORISE: "My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips." Psalm 89:34 READ: Genesis 17:1-8 1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, 4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. 5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. 6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. 8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. MESSAGE: In today's Bible reading, God made a covenant with Abram and promised to make him a father of many nations, then changed his name to Abraham. God never lies, so all the promises that He made to Abraham were fulfilled. Numbers 23:19 says: "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" When God makes a covenant with a person, He always fulfils His part, and this gives the fellow access to everything he or she will ever need on earth. These things include long life, prosperity, favour, blessings, joy, peace, divine health, and everything good. The devil, on the other hand, is unable to keep any covenant he makes. He breaks his promises at will because he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). People often enter into covenants with other parties to receive something from them, while also giving something in return. The real weight of a covenant, however, comes when one of the parties involved is unable to fulfil their obligations. In most cases, a heavy weight of death is the consequence for breaking a covenant. When people join secret societies, they enter into covenants. When they do not do the things they are asked to do in the group, the penalty is usually death. You might be asking yourself, "Why would anybody want to join a cult knowing that it could lead to their death?" Some people claim that they join secret societies because they need protection, while others say that it is for prosperity and other benefits. It is important to note that the devil lures them into such societies with the promise of those things, but in return, he takes their souls and destroys them. What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul (Matthew 16:26)? A soul is too heavy a weight for anyone to surrender to the devil. Beloved, do not allow the devil to tempt you into establishing an evil covenant with empty promises, and if you have entered into any covenant with hell and signed a pact with satan, Jesus can set you free if you run to Him. He will not cast away anyone who comes to Him (John 6:37). I pray that the Lord will establish His covenant of peace with you and your household, in Jesus' name. KEY POINT: Any covenant that is made with the devil is based on lies. BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Jeremiah 33-36 HYMN 11: STANDING ON THE PROMISES OF CHRIST MY KING 1 Standing on the promises of Christ my King, Through eternal ages let His praises ring, Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, Standing on the promises of God. Chorus: Standing, standing, Standing on the promises of God my Saviour; Standing, standing, I’m standing on the promises of God. 2 Standing on the promises that cannot fail, When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, By the living Word of God I shall prevail, Standing on the promises of God. 3 Standing on the promises I now can see Perfect, present cleansing in the blood for me; Standing in the liberty where Christ makes free, Standing on the promises of God. 4 Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord, Bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord, Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword, Standing on the promises of God. 5 Standing on the promises I shall not fall, List’ning every moment to the Spirit’s call. Resting in my Saviour as my All in all, Standing on the promises of God. ‎PRAYER POINTS ON TODAY'S OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL FRIDAY, 14TH AUGUST, 2026 *THE WEIGHT OF COVENANTS I* ‎ 1.Father, I worship You, The covenant keeping God. You are faithful to Your promises from generation to generation, for Your word is Yea and Amen. 2.Father, thank You for giving me a new name, from a slave to sin to a heir of Your glorious Kingdom. Thank You for the grace of adoption into sonship. 3.Father, thank You for the fulfillment of Your promises in times past; thank You because You are not a man that should lie nor repent, for You are able to do what You say. 4.Father, thank You for granting me access to long life, prosperity, favour, blessings, joy, peace, divine health and all that I will need in life to fulfill Your purpose on earth through Christ Jesus. 5.Father, please help me to fulfill my own obligations for the fulfillment of Your covenant with me. Help me not to break Your covenant with me through sin, in Jesus' name. 6.Father, please help me to do all that I need to do in living Holy and in total obedience to Your commands, so I can remain under the covering of Your covenant for me, in Jesus' name. 7.Father, please help me not to surrender my soul to the devil for protection, prosperity or for any other gains of this world, in Jesus' name. 8.Father, as many of our Youths and young adults that might have established an evil covenant with hell or signed a pact with satan please, set them free today, in Jesus' name. 9.Father, please empower all Your children to be able to resist any temptation from the devil to enter into unholy covenant at the expense of their souls, in Jesus' name. 10.Father, please establish Your covenant of peace with me and my household, in Jesus' name. 11.Father, thank You for the life of Your son, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye. ‎ Help him to remain committed to Your covenant, in Jesus' name. Bless his children (biological and spiritual). Help him to continue to produce sons and daughters to Your glory, in Jesus name ‎ ‎12.Father, please bless Your son that You have been using to prepare these prayer points, with wisdom and favour. Answer all his prayers beyond measure, and all those who have been broadcasting them, in Jesus' name. ‎ ‎13.Father, please let every challenge and temptations, hindrance and obstacles of getting these prayer points across to Your children, timely, and on daily basis be removed, in Jesus name. ‎ ‎14.Your personal petitions. ‎(Philippians 4:6) ‎ ‎15.In Jesus name I pray. ‎(John 14:13-14; 15:16) #GodBlessOurNation *These prayers have no expiry date! Please join us in prayer, irrespective of the time they get to you. Remain blessed, in Jesus’ name.

From Spots to Sanctification: The Power of the Savior Dr. Xavier Cravenwolfe, ThD Primary Scripture: Jeremiah 13:23; 2 Corinthians 5:17 Introduction: The Dilemma of the Leopard The ancient prophet Jeremiah once posed a rhetorical question that echoes through the halls of human history: "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?" The biological answer is a resounding no. A leopard is defined by its markings; they are woven into its very DNA. In the same way, we often feel trapped by the "spots" of our own nature—the recurring failures, the secret vulnerabilities, and the deep-seated struggles we carry in the quiet of our hearts. We try self-help, we try resolutions, and we try masks to hide our brokenness, but the internal spots remain. However, the Gospel introduces a divine "but." While a leopard cannot change its spots, we serve a Savior who meets us in our mess, doesn't just cover our flaws, but recreates the very heart beneath them through a personal, intimate grace. I. The Limitation of Natural Strength The first truth we must encounter is the reality of our own spiritual inertia. Left to our own devices, we are fixed in our ways, often hiding our true struggles behind a facade of strength. The Biology of Sin and Shame: Just as the leopard’s spots are part of its identity, our fallen nature and the shame that accompanies it are deeply ingrained. We are not just people who make mistakes; we are beings who feel defined by our vulnerabilities and the weight of our past. The Fatigue of Performance: Willpower and self-reform can polish our exterior, but they cannot heal the heart. Trying to change ourselves is like a leopard trying to scrub away its spots—it only leads to exhaustion and deeper frustration when the core remains unchanged. The Weight of "Cannot": We must come to the end of our own "can." Acceptance of our inability to self-sanctify is the necessary starting point for grace. II. The Intervention of the Sovereign Savior Where nature is fixed, Grace is fluid and powerful. The Savior enters our narrative not as a distant judge, but as a Companion who understands our weaknesses and offers a total internal overhaul. The Substitutionary Work: On the Cross, the Savior took on the "spots" of our sin. He who was spotless became the sacrifice so that the stained could be made clean. Radical Vulnerability and Metamorphosis: True transformation begins when we stop hiding. The word metamorphoo implies a change so profound that the old form is unrecognizable. Grace doesn't just fix our habits; it transforms our very essence, turning our deepest struggles into platforms for His power. The Power of the Blood: In the economy of God, the blood of Christ has a chemical reaction with the human soul that defies natural law—it washes the crimson stain of sin into the white purity of wool. III. The New Identity: From Sinner to Saint The final movement of this miracle is the emergence of the "New Creation." This is the practical evidence of the Savior's work—a life lived with a new heart and a new purpose. A Heart Transplant of Desire: Because the Savior changes the heart, our deepest longings begin to shift. We find ourselves released from the gravity of our old struggles, discovering a new nature that desires the things of God naturally, not out of religious obligation. The Definition of a Saint: A saint is not a person who never sinned; a saint is a sinner who has been completely claimed and recalibrated by Jesus Christ. Our identity is no longer defined by our "spots" (past failures) but by our "Sonship" (present standing). Authentic Living in the New Skin: The believer is called to "put on the new man," which means living with the freedom to be vulnerable. We no longer act like the leopard of our past because our identity is anchored in the Lamb, allowing us to face the world without masks. Conclusion: The Miracle of Change We live in a world that tells you "you are who you are," and "people never change." But the empty tomb stands as a monument against that lie. You are not a prisoner to your secret struggles, your past, or your recurring patterns of failure. The leopard is bound by its spots, but you are invited into the liberty of a heart-level transformation. Today, the Savior stands ready to do what no amount of grit or willpower can achieve. He doesn't just want to make you more "put together"; He wants to heal your heart and make you a new creation. Will you stop trying to scrub your own spots and finally surrender to the One whose grace can turn a weary sinner into a joyful saint?

Need to know. WHY THE PRODIGAL SON FED THE SWINE "So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything."- Luke 15:15–16 When Jesus told the parable of the Prodigal Son, His audience would have gasped at Luke 15:15. For a young Jewish man, taking a job feeding pigs wasn't just a tough break or a temporary career setback—it was absolute, total degradation. Under the Mosaic Law, swine were ceremonial unclean animals (Leviticus 11:7). To handle them, live among them, and crave their food meant touching the absolute bottom of spiritual, social, and cultural ruin. How did a beloved son, who started with a full inheritance and infinite potential, end up in a muddy pigpen? The job of swine feeding wasn't an accident. It was the natural destination of a specific spiritual trajectory. Distance Distorts Identity. The young son asked for his inheritance early, effectively wishing his father dead, and took off for a "far country." In that distant land, he squandered his wealth in wild living. When you distance yourself from the Father's house, you gradually lose your sense of identity. As long as the money lasted, the son thought he was the life of the party. But when the famine hit and his pockets ran dry, the world showed its true colors. The "far country" never values you as a son; it only values what you bring to the table. When your resources are gone, the world will happily assign you to the mud. Pride Prefers Self-Reliance Over Surrender. Notice what the son did when the famine struck: “He went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country.” Even in severe need, his instinct was self-preservation, not repentance. He didn't say, "I should go back to my father." He said, "I can fix this myself; I'll get a job." Sometimes God allows our self-reliance to exhaust itself. The pigpen became necessary because the son's pride was still driving the bus. He had to reach a point where his best efforts yielded nothing but swine food before he was willing to look home. Hunger Exposes False Pleasures. The text notes a heartbreaking detail: "He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything." The husk pods of the carob tree were coarse, barely digestible fodder used for livestock. Sin always promises a feast, but it leaves you desperate for literal garbage. The very things that once repulsed him were now things he envied. The swine feeding job was the ultimate mirror showing him what his choices had yielded: empty pods that could never satisfy a human soul. The Turning Point: "He Came to Himself." The story doesn't end in the mud. Verse 17 contains four of the most hopeful words in Scripture: "When he came to himself..." The pigpen served a divine purpose. It was the instrument that broke through his delusion. In the silence of the field, surrounded by unclean animals, the illusion shattered. He realized: The world's famine could not be cured by the world's jobs. Even the hired servants in his father's house had more than enough to eat. He was made for sonship, not swine feeding. The pigpen was the place where rock bottom became the solid foundation upon which he rebuilt his relationship with his father. 1. Where are you looking for fulfillment? Are you trying to satisfy a soul-hunger with "carob pods"—things that were never designed to truly feed you? 2. Are you relying on self-preservation instead of grace? Is there an area of your life where you are trying to "hire yourself out" to fix a problem, rather than bringing it to the Father in surrender? 3. Recognizing the Father’s heart: The moment the son turned around, the father ran to meet him—not with a lecture about swine, but with a robe, a ring, and a celebration. "Father, forgive me for the times I wander into distant places, seeking life outside of Your presence. Thank You that when my self-reliance fails and I find myself in the mud, You don't abandon me there. Give me the wisdom to recognize when I am trying to fill my heart with things that cannot satisfy. Grant me the humility to turn around, knowing that Your grace is always ready to welcome me home. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Holy Wit – Reflections #7 Children of God (Walking in the Light: Studies Through 1 John) Scripture References: 1 John 2:28–3:10 At the edge of a busy market stood a repair shop owned by a man named Elias. He repaired clocks, lamps, radios, and nearly anything else that could be persuaded to work again. His son Daniel grew up among drawers of screws and coils of wire, listening to his father say, “Do it properly. Someone is trusting us.” When Daniel became old enough to work beside him, people began bringing smaller jobs directly to the boy. One afternoon an elderly woman collected a repaired lamp and handed him far more money than the work had cost. She left before he noticed. No one else had seen, and the shop needed new tools. The extra money could have disappeared quietly. Daniel ran after her and returned what she had overpaid. The woman smiled. “I thought you would come,” she said. “You are Elias’s son.” That sentence pleased him, but it also carried weight. He had not become Elias’s son by returning the money. He was already his son. Yet because he bore his father’s name, people expected to see something of his father’s character in him. His conduct did not create the relationship, but it revealed the family likeness. A week later Daniel damaged a customer’s radio and tried to hide it. His father discovered the truth. Daniel did not cease to be his son, but his deceit contradicted the name he bore. Elias corrected him, made him confess, and then stood beside him while the damage was repaired. Sonship was a gift; it was not permission to behave as though he belonged to another household. John asks believers to pause before the astonishing words, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” Human beings do not climb into God’s family by moral effort. The Father bestows this love. Sinners are brought into a real relationship with Him through Christ. They are born of God, welcomed by the Father, and given a future that ends in likeness to the Son. This order matters. Righteous living is not the price of becoming a child of God. It is the fruit of having been born of Him. We are accepted through Christ, not through an impressive record of obedience. Yet the Christ who saves also transforms. Grace does not leave a person untouched, as though forgiveness were a covering placed over a life still content to serve sin. Much modern thinking treats identity as something that may be claimed without moral consequence. John refuses that idea. “Everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.” He is not teaching salvation by works, but he is teaching that the new birth produces a new direction. The Father does not make us His children because we resemble Him; He makes us His children and then begins to form His likeness in us. That likeness is not sinless perfection in this life. John has already said that anyone claiming to have no sin deceives himself, and he has directed believers to confess their sins and trust Christ their Advocate. The difference is not between people who have never sinned and people who have. It is between those who excuse sin as their settled way of life and those in whom sin has become an enemy. A child of God may fall, sometimes badly, but he cannot make peace with the fall. God’s seed remains in him. The new birth creates a holy conflict where there was once surrender. Sin brings grief, confession, repentance, and a return to obedience. The believer does not defend lawlessness as freedom or demand that God bless what His Word condemns. John also turns our eyes towards Christ’s appearing. “When He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” Redeemed creatures do not become divine. God completes His work of glorification: sin no longer clings to us, and the family resemblance is no longer partial. We shall be fitted for the presence of the pure and righteous Christ. That future hope reaches into the present: “Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” Christian hope is not dreaming about heaven while remaining comfortable with corruption. The certainty of seeing Christ produces a desire to please Him now. We confess what is unclean, turn from what feeds sinful desire, obey what God has spoken, and measure holiness by Christ rather than the lowered standards around us. John finally speaks of two families: the children of God and the children of the devil. The devil is not God’s equal; he is a created rebel whose works the Son came to destroy. Yet those who persist in lawlessness display his likeness, while those born of God increasingly display righteousness and love. The test includes both our conduct before God and our treatment of fellow believers. Claimed love for the Father that produces neither righteousness nor love for His children is not the faith John recognizes. This passage gives assurance, but not false comfort. The question is not, “Have I reached perfection?” No Christian has. The question is, “Whose likeness is being formed in me? When I sin, do I defend it or confess it? Do I desire righteousness? Do I love the brethren? Does the hope of seeing Christ make purity precious to me?” The Father’s love gives His children both a name and a destination. We are His children now, and what we shall be has not yet been fully revealed. Until that day, He keeps correcting, cleansing, and restoring us. Like Daniel in the repair shop, we do not behave well in order to earn a father. We learn to live differently because, by an astonishing manner of love, the Father has made us His own. #HolyWitReflections #GordonMcGinnis #WalkingInTheLight #1John2_28To3_10

Holy Wit – Bible Study #7 Children of God (Walking in the Light: Studies Through 1 John – 1 John 2:28–3:10) Scripture Reading (NKJV): 1 John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 1 John 2:29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. 1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 1 John 3:3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 1 John 3:4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 1 John 3:5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 1 John 3:6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. 1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 1 John 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. 1 John 3:10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. 1 John 2:28–3:10 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+2%3A28-3%3A10&version=NKJV ________________________________________ 1. Abide in Him Until He Appears John begins this section by returning to the command that closed the previous one: “abide in Him.” Abiding is not a vague spiritual feeling or a momentary experience. In the setting of 1 John, it means continuing in the apostolic truth about Christ, remaining in fellowship with Him, and refusing the deception of those who deny the Son. The Christian life is sustained by the same Christ in whom it began. John also places this perseverance under the light of Christ’s appearing. The return of Christ is not an ornament attached to Christian doctrine; it gives urgency and direction to Christian living. Those who remain in Christ may face His coming with confidence rather than shame. This confidence is not self-confidence built upon a flawless record. It rests upon Christ our Advocate and is confirmed by a life that continues in Him. A profession of faith that abandons Christ cannot provide biblical assurance. John therefore joins perseverance, assurance, and the second coming: the believer keeps abiding because Christ will appear, and because fellowship with Him makes that appearing a hope rather than a terror. 1 John 2:28 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+2%3A28&version=NKJV John 15:4–5 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15%3A4-5&version=NKJV ________________________________________ 2. Born of Him: Righteousness as Fruit, Not Root John’s reasoning in verse 29 is carefully ordered. He does not say that people become children of God by performing enough righteous deeds. He says that the practice of righteousness reveals that a person “is born of Him.” The new birth is the source; righteous conduct is its fruit. This protects the gospel from two opposite errors. Legalism treats obedience as the price of acceptance with God. Lawlessness treats grace as permission to remain unchanged. John allows neither. The righteousness of Christ is the believer’s only ground of acceptance, yet the Christ who justifies also transforms. Justification and sanctification must be distinguished, but they must never be separated. Good works do not create new life, but new life creates good works. John speaks of “practicing” righteousness because he is describing the settled direction of a life, not claiming that Christians reach sinless perfection. The question is not whether a believer ever sins; John has already said that believers must confess their sins. The question is whether righteousness has become the governing allegiance of the life. Obedience is not the purchase price of sonship. It is family resemblance. 1 John 2:29 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+2%3A29&version=NKJV Ephesians 2:8–10 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2%3A8-10&version=NKJV ________________________________________ 3. “What Manner of Love”: Children Now, Glory Yet to Come John does not merely tell believers that God loves them. He calls them to stop and consider what kind of love this is: the Father has bestowed a love that makes rebels His children. This status is not earned, imagined, or merely honorary. “Now we are children of God.” What Paul commonly describes as adoption, John often describes as being born of God. Both truths declare that salvation brings believers into a real filial relationship with the Father. The world does not recognise this identity because it did not recognise Christ. Rejection by the world is therefore not proof that God has abandoned His people; it may reflect the same spiritual blindness that rejected the Son. Yet Christian identity contains both an “already” and a “not yet.” Believers are truly God’s children now, while the fullness of what they shall be has not yet been revealed. At Christ’s appearing, they will be like Him because they will see Him as He is. John is not teaching that creatures become divine in essence. He is speaking of glorification: complete conformity to Christ in holiness, freedom from sin, and life suited to His presence. The Father’s love gives both a present name and a future destiny. 1 John 3:1–2 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+3%3A1-2&version=NKJV Romans 8:15–17, 29–30 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A15-17%2C29-30&version=NKJV ________________________________________ 4. Purifying Hope The hope of seeing Christ is not meant to produce speculation without obedience. “Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” Biblical hope is not uncertain wishing. It is confident expectation grounded in God’s promise. Because believers know where salvation is going, they begin to live now in a manner consistent with that destination. The future likeness to Christ exerts a sanctifying pressure upon the present. John’s wording also shows that sanctification involves real Christian effort. The believer purifies himself, yet he does so only because God has made him His child, given him hope, and is transforming him. Grace does not remove human responsibility; it creates and empowers it. This purification includes confession of sin, the rejection of corrupt desires, obedience to God’s Word, and a deliberate refusal to make peace with what Christ came to remove. The standard is not the surrounding culture, nor comparison with other Christians, but Christ Himself: “just as He is pure.” John gives no support to perfectionism, but neither does he leave room for comfortable stagnation. The person who expects to see the pure Christ must desire purity now. 1 John 3:3 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+3%3A3&version=NKJV Titus 2:11–14 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Titus+2%3A11-14&version=NKJV ________________________________________ 5. Sin, Lawlessness, and the Mission of the Son John now defines sin with a severity that modern thought often avoids: “sin is lawlessness.” Sin is more than weakness, poor judgment, or emotional brokenness. Those things may accompany it, but at its heart sin is resistance to the authority of God. His law reveals His holy character and rightful rule; to sin is to act as though the creature may dismiss the Creator’s command. Against this lawlessness John sets the sinless Son. Christ was manifested “to take away our sins,” and “in Him there is no sin.” Only the sinless One could bear the sins of others, and His saving purpose cannot be separated from the destruction of sin’s rule. John therefore says that the one who abides in Christ “does not sin” and that the one who sins has neither seen nor known Him. Read alone, those words might appear to teach that a Christian never commits a sin. But John has already denied sinless claims and instructed believers to confess their sins, resting in Christ their Advocate. His concern here is the continuing practice and dominion of sin. A believer may fall into sin, but cannot settle into it as an accepted way of life. Christ did not come merely to reduce sin’s consequences while leaving its authority untouched. He came to take sins away and to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:4–8 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+3%3A4-8&version=NKJV 1 John 1:8–2:2 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+1%3A8-2%3A2&version=NKJV ________________________________________ 6. God’s Seed and the Two Families Verse 9 presses the doctrine of regeneration to its moral conclusion. Whoever has been born of God does not continue in sin because God’s “seed” remains in him. John does not fully explain the image here, but its force is plain: the new birth is not a religious costume placed over an unchanged nature. God gives an enduring principle of spiritual life. The statement that the believer “cannot sin” does not mean a physical inability to commit an individual sinful act; John’s own earlier teaching rules that out. It means that the person born of God cannot live under sin as an unbroken, unrepentant, defining pattern. New birth creates a holy contradiction between the believer and the sin that still remains. John then speaks with startling clarity of two families: the children of God and the children of the devil. This is moral and spiritual lineage, not physical descent, and it does not make the devil a rival god. He is a creature and a rebel. Yet his children bear his resemblance through lawlessness, while God’s children increasingly bear the Father’s resemblance through righteousness and love. There is no morally empty Christian identity in this passage. Claims, labels, experiences, and religious language are tested by a life that practises righteousness and loves the brethren. John does not ask whether a person has achieved perfection. He asks whose character the person’s life increasingly displays. 1 John 3:9–10 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+3%3A9-10&version=NKJV John 8:42–44 (NKJV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+8%3A42-44&version=NKJV ________________________________________ Reflection Questions 1. How does abiding in Christ produce confidence concerning His appearing (1 John 2:28)? 2. Why must the practice of righteousness be understood as evidence of the new birth rather than the cause of it (1 John 2:29)? 3. What does it mean to be a child of God now, and what remains future about that identity (1 John 3:1–2)? 4. In what practical ways should the hope of seeing Christ purify a believer’s present life (1 John 3:3)? 5. How do 1 John 1:8–2:2 help us understand the statements that the person born of God “does not sin” and “cannot sin” (1 John 3:6, 9)? ________________________________________ Prayer Points 1. Thank the Father for the love by which He has made believers His children. 2. Ask for grace to abide in Christ and to await His appearing with confidence. 3. Pray that the hope of seeing Christ will produce deeper purity and obedience. 4. Ask God to expose settled patterns of sin and to strengthen righteousness and love for fellow believers. ________________________________________ For further study (NKJV): John 1:12–13 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1%3A12-13&version=NKJV Romans 6:1–14 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+6%3A1-14&version=NKJV 2 Corinthians 3:18 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+3%3A18&version=NKJV ________________________________________ #HolyWitBibleStudy #GordonMcGinnis #WalkingInTheLight #1John2_28To3_10

Who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption. Romans 9:4 ɴᴋᴊᴠ There are Christians who teach that God is finished with the nation of Israel, that the promise concerning their future blessing in the kingdom is now being fulfilled in the Church. Simply stated, their position is that God has no further plans for Israel. In his Epistle to the Romans, Paul writes a whole section (Rom. 9–11) to show that God still has a plan for His earthly people, concluding that “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (11:29). God will not go back on the promises made to them. In our verse today Paul gives the first of eight ancient, holy privileges unique to Israel, showing their special place in the purposes of God. The first privilege Paul mentions may sound familiar to us Christians: it is “the adoption.” What is the meaning of the term? The word means “sonship,” or “adoption as sons.” The same word is used for us in some of Paul’s Epistles (Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5). However, we must be very careful here. Although the word “adoption” is the same word used in connection with believers today, they are not the same thing. With Israel, the term is used in a lower sense. As a nation they had a special relationship with God: “Israel is My son, My firstborn” (Ex. 4:22). As a Father, He had formed them and called them (Isa. 64:8). Their beginning was unlike any other nation in the world. We, however, who have received the adoption, or sonship, have the “Spirit of His Son” in our hearts, crying out, “Abba Father!” (Gal. 4:6). Israel of old did not possess this, even genuine saints among them. This is our privilege today! Brian Reynolds Abba, Father, thus we call Thee, (Hallowed name!) from day to day. ’Tis Thy children’s right to know Thee,None but children, Abba say. R. Hawker https://gbv-online.org/calendar/773/date/2026-07-14

#DAILY LIGHT THE EARTH: A WITNESS YOU NEVER KNEW EXISTED! 🚨 ​Grace, peace, and the uncompromising, flesh-crucifying fire of the Holy Ghost to the Saints, the territorial commanders, and the true disciples of Jesus Christ! ​Today, the Spirit of the Lord is unveiling a terrifying spiritual mystery that the modern Church has completely ignored. We have been taught to bind demons, we have been taught to rebuke the devil, but we are completely blind to the silent, ancient witness standing right beneath our feet! We treat the earth as mere dirt, a dead stage for our daily activities, completely oblivious to the fact that the geography you walk upon is a living, spiritual recorder! ​Hear me by the Spirit: The earth is not deaf. The earth is not blind. The earth has a memory, and it has been subpoenaed by the Almighty as a witness in the courtroom of Heaven! ​Let us open the surgical book of the Spirit and dissect the terrifying anatomy of the Earth as a spiritual witness. ​The Courtroom of the Cosmos (Deuteronomy 30:19) ​When God establishes a covenant, He does not just whisper it in secret; He summons the cosmos to record it. Look at the terrifying magnitude of Moses’ declaration to Israel: ​"I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life..." — Deuteronomy 30:19 (NKJV) ​Why the earth? Because the earth registers the spiritual weight of your decisions! You think your secret sins are hidden because no human being saw them in your bedroom, in your office, or in that hotel room. But God says, "I have called the floorboards, I have called the soil, I have called the very geography of that room to bear witness against your rebellion!" ​The Earth Hears the Cry of Blood and Sin (Genesis 4:10-11) ​When Cain killed Abel, he buried him in the dirt. He wiped his hands, looked around, and thought, "No one saw it. I am in the clear." But look at the devastating response of the Sovereign God: ​"The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand." ​Beloved, the earth has a mouth! The earth has a voice! What have you buried in the soil of your past? What hidden compromises, what abortions of destiny, what secret betrayals have you swept under the rug? You cannot hide your iniquity from the very ground you walk on! ​When a generation gives itself over to sexual perversion, idolatry, and rebellion, the land itself becomes violently ill. Leviticus 18:28 warns that the land will actually "vomit you out" if you defile it! Your failure to prosper in a city, your constant battling with barrenness in a territory, might not be a demonic attack—it might be the earth rejecting you because of your unrepented compromise! ​The Groaning for True Sonship (Romans 8:19) ​But there is a flip side to this mystery. The earth is not just a witness against the wicked; it is desperately waiting to collaborate with the righteous! ​"For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God." — Romans 8:19 (NKJV) ​The earth is frustrated! The soil, the systems, the economies, the territories are groaning in agony because they are tired of being ruled by carnal men, corrupt politicians, and powerless, religious churchgoers! The earth is waiting for true apostolic, prophetic sons and daughters to manifest! ​When a true son of God—cleansed by the Blood, dead to the flesh, and walking in uncompromising obedience—steps onto a piece of geography, the earth recognizes the authority of its Creator inside that vessel. The earth will yield its hidden riches to you! The earth will swallow your enemies (Numbers 16:32)! The earth will fight for the Remnant! ​The Prophetic Verdict: Speak to the Earth! ​It is time to stop walking through your city like a spiritual tourist! You must repent for defiling your territory with your secret sins, and you must begin to command the geography around you. ​When you step into your office, when you walk into your neighborhood, you must prophesy: "O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord!" (Jeremiah 22:29). You must silence the negative witness of your past by the Blood of Jesus and command the ground to yield its harvest to the mandate of God on your life! A Prayer of Territorial Cleansing and Apostolic Dominion 🙏 ​"Lord God Almighty, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, I fall on my face and I repent! I repent for living in spiritual blindness. I repent for treating the earth as a dead thing while it was recording my compromises. Father, I plead the speaking Blood of Jesus Christ over the geography of my life! Let the Blood silence every negative witness crying out against me from the ground. I repent for the secret sins I tried to bury. Cleanse my foundation! Today, I take my place as a manifested son/daughter of the Most High. I command the earth, the territory, and the systems around me to align with the Word of the Lord! Let the ground I walk on reject wickedness and yield its prophetic increase. In the terrifying, holy, and uncompromising name of Jesus Christ, Amen!" If the Holy Ghost just opened your eyes to this terrifying mystery, and you are making a violent decision to cleanse your foundation and command your territory today, type "AMEN" in the comments right now as a public seal of your awakening! 🔥 #THE SON OF LIGHT

Sonship gives staying power. Understanding your identity as a child of God gives you the strength to endure trials, remain steadfast, and overcome life's challenges. When you are rooted in the revelation of sonship, your confidence is anchored in God's love rather than in changing circumstances. This identity produces resilience, spiritual stability, and the courage to remain faithful through every season. Do you agree with this message? Why or why not? #sonship #identityinChrist #childofGod #spiritual strength, perseverance #faith #christian living https://youtube.com/shorts/S2UqXeh63dk?si=S0TVxI9uT6ivYjUf

DAY 57 ​WELCOME TO OUR DAILY DEVOTIONAL BIBLE STUDY SERIES: WHEN SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY SPEAKS, AND GOD SAID!!! ​TODAY TOPIC: "SELF" THE SLAVE MASTER: ACTIVATING YOUR VICTORY TO TRUE FREEDOM IN CHRIST JESUS. ​MAIN TEXT: Romans 7:22-24 (KJV) "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" ​CROSS REFERENCE TEXT: ​Galatians 2:20; ​Romans 8:13; ​Colossians 3:3-5; ​1 Corinthians 15:31 INTRODUCTION TO THE MESSAGE OF TODAY.. ​Hear the alarm of the Spirit! The greatest tragedy of the Fall in Eden was not merely the loss of a geographic paradise; it was the catastrophic erasure of the soul’s true identity. When the Soul person in the man of the Flesh disconnected himself from the Sovereign Authority of God, the inner consciousness of who he truly was, was plunged into moral and spiritual darkness, and a tyrannical usurper took the throne: "SELF." ​In the raw, uncompromising fire of the old-time holiness faith, we must confront the most dangerous adversary to your sonship. The worst Satan plaguing humanity, especially the Forged Sons of the Kingdom, is not the devil hiding in the shadows; it is the tyrant within! Since Eden, the outer clay house, this lifeless, mortal body of flesh, has been elevated to the status of a god. The true Soul person has been enslaved, bowing down in servitude, worshipping the Mortal flesh, and falsely believing that this clay house is his true self. Awake, O sleeper! You are not a body with a Soul; you are a Soul who possesses a Spirit, otherwise called a "conscience", temporarily housed in a clay made body house ! Until the tyrant of "Self" is dragged to the executioner's block of the Cross, your allotted victory in Christ Jesus will remain dormant. The battle lines are drawn inside your own members! ​MAIN MESSAGE. ​The revelation of this truth will shake the very foundations of hell: "Self" is Satan’s surrogate on earth. The enemy does not need to overtly possess a man if he can successfully enthrone "Self" in the temple of the person Mind. By ruling through the flesh, Satan maintains his grip on the human domain, placing the soul-person at devastating risk of eternal separation from the Father. ​Look back at the tragedy of the Garden. It was this newly crowned Tyrant—Self, inflated with pride, ego, and arrogance—that walked the Soul-person right out of the glorious presence of God. "Self" rejected the provided abundance of Eden, choosing instead the curse of hard Labour, sweat, and thorns. It drove humanity from the realm of the Known (intimacy with the Creator) into the desolate wastelands of the Unknown. Why? Because the exiled Soul person lost its sense of individuality, purpose, and meaning. ​To cope with this agonising emptiness, the enslaved Soul began a fruitless, agonising search for fulfillment in material things, vainly trying to satisfy the insatiable appetites of the mortal flesh. We chase wealth, status, and earthly pleasures, trying to dress up a corpse, mistakenly believing that if we can just satisfy the flesh, the Soul will find peace. What a catastrophic deception! ​But thanks be unto the Sovereign God! You are a redeem Son, and you have been given the weapon of Faith in Christ Jesus! The Cross is not merely a historical event; it is the instrument of your emancipation. Christ did not just die for your sins; He died to put the tyrant of "Self" to death within, restore your Will power and Choice. You must actively reckon yourself dead to the flesh. You must activate your victory by commanding the Soul-person to rise from the ashes of false identity and take its rightful seat in the heavenly places. When the slave master within is subdued by the fire of the Holy Ghost, only then will your quest for purpose, meaning, and true dominion cease to be a mirage and become your living rreality... ​THE USURPATION OF THE CLAY HOUSE (Cross Reference: Romans 7:23) The flesh is a militant force ("warring against the law of my mind") that seeks to keep the true inward man in a state of permanent captivity and blindness. ​SATAN'S SURROGATE: The Carnal Mind (Cross Reference: Romans 8:7) "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God." The tyrant of Self does not merely struggle with God's law; it is inherently programmed to rebel against it as an agent of the enemy. ​THE CROSS: The Weapon of Emancipation (Cross Reference: Galatians 2:20) "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." The only cure for the tyrant of Self is crucifixion. It cannot be negotiated with; it must be executed. ​REFLECTION QUESTIONS. ​In what areas of your daily life are you still worshipping the " Mortal clay house," prioritising the demands of the flesh over the dictates of the Spirit? ​Have you recognised "Self" the Tyrant clothed with pride, ego, and the need for earthly validation etc as Satan's surrogate operating within your own members? ​Are you actively using the weapon of faith to enforce the death of Self, or are you trying to reform a flesh that God has already condemned to the Cross? ​LIFE APPLICATION. ​Today, you must declare martial law against the tyrant within! When your ego is offended, when your flesh demands a sinful indulgence, or when pride seeks to make you defensive, stop immediately. Speak directly to the flesh and say, "You are a deposed tyrant, and you have no authority here! I am crucified with Christ!" Stop seeking your identity in material accumulations or the praises of men. Reclaim your true sense of individuality as a resurrected spirit-being. Deny the flesh its daily food of pride and feed your inward man with the fire of the Word. ​FURTHER STUDY REFERENCES ​Romans 6:6-11; ​Ephesians 4:22-24; ​Philippians 3:3; ​Luke 9:23. CONCLUSION. ​Beloved, the allotted victory of Christ Jesus is absolute, but it must be activated on the battlefield of your own Soul. The tragedy of modern Christianity is that we are trying to defeat devils in the heavenlies while surrendering to the tyrant in our own earthly bodies. You cannot exercise true dominion over the earth if you are still a slave to your own mortal clay house! ​The restoration of the Forged Son requires the absolute dethronement of Self. When God's conscious presence is re-enthroned in the center of your being, the mirage of earthly striving vanishes. You step back into the abundance of Eden, not as a geographical place, but as a spiritual posture. Stand tall in your true, resurrected identity. The slave master is dead, the chains are broken, and the Sovereign Authority of the Almighty now courses through your veins! ​PRAYER POINTS: ​O Sovereign Fire of God, I drag the tyrant of "Self" to the Cross today; I decree that the flesh and its arrogant appetites have no dominion over my soul! ​I renounce the surrogate of Satan operating through my ego and pride; I command my true spiritual identity to awaken and take the throne of my life in the Name of Jesus! ​Lord, destroy every mirage of worldly fulfillment in my life; let my soul find its absolute meaning, purpose, and peace only in Your conscious presence! ​ PASTORAL CLOSING PRAYER FOR READERS. Lord, I pray for every reader of this devotion. Let a holy revolution erupt in their Souls! Give them the grace to overthrow the tyranny of the flesh and awaken to their true Sense of identity as sons of the Kingdom. Sustain every readers spiritual stamina, deepen their insight, and let this devotion mark the beginning of a generation that walks in absolute freedom from the enemy within! In the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ! Amen! ​BENEDICTION.​ Now may the Sovereign God, who delivered you from the kingdom of darkness and the tyranny of the flesh, establish your true identity in Christ. May you walk out of the slavery of the clay house and step into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. May the grace to carry your cross daily and manifest the resurrected life be yours now and forevermore in Jesus Christ mighty name. Amen and Amen! GET IN TOUCH: Ago King Paul Evang. WhatsApp: +234 90 63 84 57 48, 070 540 111 99. Life Changers Ministry aka Living Ready Gospel Church, Grace Assembly, Ilorin, Kwara state Nigeria. Email: Godisnotanoptionjhn15v5[gmail].com.