Open Heavens Daily Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL 

DATE: TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 5TH, 2023.

THEME: ENLARGE

MEMORISE: 

Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; 

Isaiah 54:2 

READ: Isaiah 54:2 

2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;

3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.

5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

MESSAGE

To enlarge means to make bigger, implying that anytime there is enlargement, there must be two important factors involved - the object to be enlarged and the fellow who is going to be the enlarger. You are the one to be enlarged and the enlarger is the One spoken about in Genesis 1:28: "And God blessed them and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."

The Scripture above didn't say, "Be fruitful and increase", but rather, "Be fruitful  and multiply". This implies that if you are truly fruitful, then you will multiply; that is the true meaning of fruitfulness. God is not interested in addition, but rather, multiplication. You must seek to multiply over and over again.

Why then are many people, including Christians satisfied with the status quo? Some are satisfied with getting a little increase in their salary every two years, some pastors are satisfied with just sitting over one parish of their Church with the same number of people for several years. This is as good as a taboo, especially when you consider the status of the Person who said, "Be fruitful and multiply". There is a popular saying that goes thus: "Garbage in, garbage out". Your current results are a reflection of the work you have been putting in. If you really want to multiply, then you must multiply your effort too; you must multiply everything you have been doing in order to get the desired results. If you can do this, you would soon realise that your results have also multiplied.

Multiplication is in levels; some people will multiply thirty-fold, some sixty-fold and some a hundred-fold and so on. Multiply your input in proportion to how much increase you desire in your output. Multiply your input in prayers, in work, in study, in giving and so on. Just before the Lekki '98 crusade where we had the largest religious gathering in the world at the time, l told my partners that if l thought l had fasted before, l was only joking because for the result we were trusting God for in that programme, l needed to fast far more than before. Luke 6:38 says that it is with the same measure that you have given that it will also be given to you.

REFLECTION

Are you really fulfilling the mandate of God for you to be fruitful and multiply  in all areas of your life?

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ezekiel 36-38

AUTHOR: PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 26: THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSINGS 

1 There shall be showers of blessing:

 This is the promise of love;

There shall be seasons refreshing,

 Sent from the Savior above.

Refrain

Showers of blessing,

 Showers of blessing we need;

Mercy-drops round us are falling,

 But for the showers we plead.

2 There shall be showers of blessing—

  Precious reviving again;

Over the hills and the valleys,

  Sound of abundance of rain.

3 There shall be showers of blessing;

  Send them upon us, O Lord!

Grant to us now a refreshing;

  Come, and now honor Thy Word.

4 There shall be showers of blessing;

  O that today they might fall,

Now as to God we’re confessing,

  Now as on Jesus we call!

5 There shall be showers of blessing,

  If we but trust and obey;

There shall be seasons refreshing,

  If we let God have His way.