Open Heavens Daily Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL 

DATE: SATURDAY JUNE 17TH, 2023.

THEME: TIME AND OPPORTUNITIES

MEMORISE: 

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. 

Psalms 90:12

READ: Proverbs 3:5 -7

5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

MESSAGE

Time is quite a difficult concept to define. One very simple way to describe it is that it is a river that constantly flows. It keeps flowing in a certain direction and carries everyone along with it. No matter what you are doing, time keeps flowing on. Therefore, when you don't do what you are supposed to at the right time, not only would you have wasted a part of your time on earth, but a part of your life also. This is why you cannot afford to be lazy.

One of the things you must understand about the river called time is that it is carrying you on, it is constantly throwing opportunities at you. It carries you through this opportunities from the day you were born until the day you die. As you flow, you go from one place to another and come across one or another. Each person or place comes as an opportunity. If you don't grab it when you are there, you may miss it forever as the river doesn't flow backwards. When you understand this about time, you will realize that what decides if you will be successful is your ability to identify and make use of opportunities (Ecclesiastes 9:11).

The river called time has boundaries on both sides and you are usually in the middle. Occasionally, when God really loves you, He brings you in contact with the right person and tells you to follow him or her. If you are wise enough to obey Him without questions, then you will arrive at your God-ordained destiny. This is what happened to me when l met my Father-in-the-Lord-Pa Akindayomi. I had a Ph.D. in Mathematics which was a big deal back then. My Father-in-the-Lord could not even read or write. He could only read the Bible because of a God-given ability, yet God said l should submit to and follow him. Eventually, when he was going to be with the Lord, he wrote in his will that l should take over the leadership of the Church. My salary at the time was more than the income of the entire Church, but l obeyed. That is how the river of time brought me to where am now.

If you want to fulfil your destiny, rely on God to show you the opportunities hidden in the people you meet and places you go, so that you will arrive at your expected end.

PRAYER POINT

Father, please don't let me ever miss my opportunities in life in Jesus name.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalm 69-72

AUTHOR: PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 30: WHEN WE WALK WITH THE LORD 

1 When we walk with the Lord 

in the light of his word, 

what a glory he sheds on our way! 

While we do his good will, 

he abides with us still, 

and with all who will trust and obey. 

Refrain:

Trust and obey, for there's no other way 

to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. 

2 Not a burden we bear, 

not a sorrow we share, 

but our toil he doth richly repay; 

not a grief or a loss, 

not a frown or a cross, 

but is blest if we trust and obey. 

3 But we never can prove 

the delights of his love 

until all on the altar we lay; 

for the favor he shows, 

for the joy he bestows, 

are for them who will trust and obey. 

4 Then in fellowship sweet 

we will sit at his feet, 

or we'll walk by his side in the way; 

what he says we will do, 

where he sends we will go; 

never fear, only trust and obey.