Open Heavens Daily Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL 

DATE: WEDNESDAY MAY 3RD, 2023.

THEME: CRITERIA FOR PROMOTION 11

MEMORISE: 

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 

1 Peter 5:6 

READ: 1 Kings 19:19 21

19 So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.

20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?

21 And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.

2 Kings 2:15 

15 And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.

MESSAGE

God usually promotes the most unlikely persons (1 Corinthians 1:26-29), however, once in a while, He also decides to promote someone who has already had some achievements. Before promoting such people though, He would usually first strip them of everything they have achieved then He'll begin to promote them to a level that is far higher than where they were before. Sadly, those who are not ready to go through this process will miss out on the great promotion God has prepared for them.

When God chose Elisha to be the greatest prophet of his time, he was already a successful farmer from a well-to-do family and all of a sudden, he became homeless - an errand boy to a prophet who was in trouble with the king. God took him from his high state to a very low one and he submitted to the process.

When the Lord chose me, l was the acting Head of the Mathematics Department in University of Ilorin. I had already achieved a lot, considering my poor background and now God was saying, "Leave all that" and become a General Overseer of a Church whose total monthly income at that time was less than my salary. It was a hard decision, especially since l had just broken my family out of poverty, but thank God that l answered the call and submitted to the process. Today, God has graciously lifted me far higher than l could ever have gotten if l had held on to my academic career. Once God sees that you prefer His will to your achievements and your ambition, He will promote you.

The person who has enjoyed the highest promotion from God is Jesus Christ. He was already the Son of God before His earthly ministry. He is the Word and the Bible says that the whole earth was made by Him (John 1:3). He was already big, but when He humbled Himself not only to come to earth in human form, but even to the point of death on the cross, God promoted Him so much that, at the mention of His name, all knees in heaven, on earth and underneath the earth should bow and all tongues confess that He is Lord (Philippians 2:9-10). My advice to you today is: humble yourself before God and He will promote you in due time.

REFLECTION 

If God ask you like the Rich in Luke 18:22 to sell all that you have and follow Him, what shall be your response?

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Chronicles 13-16

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.