OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: TUESDAY OCTOBER 10TH, 2023.
TOPIC: THE WAY UPWARD I
MEMORISE:
But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
Psalm 3:3
READ:
1 SAMUEL 2:7-9
7 The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.
8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and he hath set the world upon them.
9 He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.
MESSAGE:
Jesus is The Way upward. He said in John 12:32: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." Jesus is always drawing people upward. Believe me honestly, the only person who can truly promote you is Jesus Christ. If you don't believe me, read Psalm 75:6-7:
For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.
God is the promoter. If man lifts you, man will bring you down. In any case, man is limited in many ways. A man may want to lift you with his position, but what if he gets fired before he fulfils his promise? Who even told you that the fellow would be alive by the time you need his help? The only One who can guarantee your upward movement is God. That is why He is the only real way upward.
When I was to turn 40 years old, I had a vision where God showed me two graphs. In mathematics, we call them parabolas. One was a head-up parabola, and the other was a head-down parabola. At the turning point of each of these parabolas was written 40. I knew clearly that this was referring to my 40th birthday. The Lord then asked me, 'Which of these graphs do you prefer?" I chose the head-down parabola because it meant that at 40 years old, I would be at my lowest point and from there on, it would be upward movement as opposed to the other graph, which implied that I was at my highest point at 40. The Lord then said that if I wanted Him to keep promoting me, I had to let go of all my big titles and simply be addressed as 'Pastor'. True to His word, since then, I have been going upwards.
Humility is key for anyone who wants Jesus to lift him or her higher. The Bible says:
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.
1 Peter 5:6
If you want God to promote you beyond your peers, you must surrender your life to Jesus Christ and emulate His humility.
KEY POINT:
Jesus is the way upward, but He only lifts the humble.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
MATTHEW 23-24
AUTHOR: PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 5 BLESSED ASSURANCE
1. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
Chorus:
This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Saviour all the day long
This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Saviour all the day long.
2. Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight,
Angels descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
3. Perfect submission, all is at rest
I in my Saviour am happy and blessed
Watching and waiting, looking above
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
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