Open Heavens Daily Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL 

DATE: SUNDAY MARCH 5TH, 2023.

THEME: DIVINE PROMOTION I

MEMORISE: 

And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. 

Acts  13:22 

READ: 2 Samuel 6:20 -22

20 Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself!

21 And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel: therefore will I play before the LORD.

22 And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour.

MESSAGE

1 Samuel 2:7-8 tells us that God can make one fellow poor and another rich, He can bring one down and raise another. He can lift a beggar out of dust and keep on promoting him until he is sitting among princes. Psalm 75:7 says further, "But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another."

What does God look for in the people He promotes? The first thing according to our memory verse, is a willingness to do His will. Once He finds out that you are the kind of fellow who always wants to do His will, then He will mark you out for promotion. If He sees how passionate you are about lifting His name above every other name, He will lift you. This is the kind of heart that David had; it was this passion that made him confront Goliath when he heard the giant defiling the name of the Lord.

And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, what shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?

1 Samuel 17:26

In 1 Samuel 17: 45-47, David said that the fight belonged to God. He wasn't fighting for his own accolades; he was fighting for the glory of God. How passionate are you about the will of God being done in your life and around you?

Once in a while, a fellow could start out pursuing the Lord's will, so He promotes him or her, but then along the line, the person could get carried away with power that he or she is no longer pursuing the Lord's will. The Lord responds by demoting such a fellow immediately and disgracefully, as we see in the story of King Saul in 1 Samuel 15:23. 

Today when people talk of King Saul, they use him as a bad example. You can hardly find any good thing to say about him. That is the lot of those who, after being promoted by God begin to do their own will rather than His.

REFLECTION 

Within your sphere of influence, do you pursue God's will or your own agenda?

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Joshua 1-4

AUTHOR: PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE 

HYMN 7: I AM THINE O LORD

1 I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,

And it told Thy love to me;

But I long to rise in the arms of faith,

And be closer drawn to Thee.

Refrain:

Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,

To the cross where Thou hast died;

Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,

To Thy precious, bleeding side.

2 Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,

By the pow’r of grace divine;

Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,

And my will be lost in Thine.

3 O the pure delight of a single hour

That before Thy throne I spend,

When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God,

I commune as friend with friend!

4 There are depths of love that I yet may know

Ere Thee face to face I see;

There are heights of joy that I yet may reach

Ere I rest in peace with Thee.