Open Heavens Daily Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL

DATE: SUNDAY FEBRUARY 18TH, 2024.

THEME: ARE YOU RELEVANT?

MEMORISE: 

And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parrmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

Acts 6:5

READ: John 15:1-6 

1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

MESSAGE

There are different kinds of people in the church workforce today. Some are so relevant to the work of God that if they are absent on a service day, everyone will notice. There are some other people, however, who hardly do anything, even in the department

where they claim to function. Worse still, there are people who are members of the workforce on paper, but physically, they are nowhere to be found. They hardly attend workers' meetings not to talk of actually working for God. I don't know which of these categories you belong to, but if you are not so active that people can easily notice your absence, then you need to do better.

The first set of church workers in the Bible were the seven deacons mentioned in Acts 6:5. Phillip was one of them, and in Acts 21:8, he had become someone referred to as the evangelist. The Bible specifically referred to him as 'the evangelist', which means that there might have been 'an evangelist', or 'some evangelists', but he was 'the evangelist'. Furthermore, the passage referred to him as being one of the seven to remind us that he was one of seven deacons that were chosen. However, asides Stephen and Phillip, we never heard of the rest.

One of my grandchildren once asked me, "Grarndpa, do you know the Bible very well?" I said, "Yes" then she asked, "Who is Prochorus?" I said, "I don't know him". She said, "What about Timon?" I said, "You mean Simon?" She said, "No, Timon". I replied, "l don't know Timon either." Then she said, "Prochorus and Timon were ordained along with Stephen and Phillip as deacons." I said, "ls that so? God have mercy on Prochorus. I know Stephen, I know Phillip, but this Prochorus fellow, what did he do that is Worthy of note?" In the same vein, when your name is mentioned in your local assembly, can people recognize the things you do that are worthy of note?

This is not to say that you must go around trying to show everyone that you are working. However, your impact must be felt in the department where you choose to work. For example, if you are in the sanitation department, everyone must know that if you are around, the church is always sparkling clean. Make so much impact that it is impossible to deny your relevance in the house of God.

REFLECTION

How impactful have you been in your local assembly?

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Numbers 27-29

AUTHOR: PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 4: TO THE WORK, TO THE WORK

1 To the work! to the work! we are servants of God,

Let us follow the path that our Master has trod;

With the balm of His counsel our strength to renew,

Let us do with our might what our hands find to do.

Refrain:

Toiling on, toiling on,

Toiling on, toiling on:

Let us hope, let us watch,

And labor till the Master comes.

2 To the work! to the work! let the hungry be fed;

To the fountain of life let the weary be led;

In the cross and its banner our glory shall be,

While we herald the tidings, "Salvation is free!" 

3 To the work! to the work! there is labor for all;

For the kingdom of darkness and error shall fall;

And the name of Jehovah exalted shall be,

In the loud-swelling chorus, "Salvation is free!" 

4 To the work! to the work! in the strength of the Lord,

And a robe and a crown shall our labor reward;

When the home of the faithful our dwelling shall be,

And we shout with the ransomed, "Salvation is free!"