Open Heavens Daily Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL 

DATE: FRIDAY, MARCH 8TH, 2024.

TOPIC: THE ANOINTED MUST WORK HARD

MEMORISE:

“But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” 

(John 5:17)

READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 15:10 (KJV)

  But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

MESSAGE:

Many people see the anointed and envy them; they also want to be able to lay hands on the sick and have them recover. The anointing to heal the sick is, however, available to every believer. Mark 16:17-18 says that if you are a believer, some signs will follow you, and this includes healing the sick. When you, however, study Matthew 8:14-18, you will see that the moment you have the healing gift, crowds will come. Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law, and then, in the evening, they brought all those who were sick and demon-possessed. The news spread so much that many people came to Him for healing.

If you want to be able to lay hands on the sick for their healing, you must be ready for hard work - you will preach, heal, and comfort the brokenhearted. If anyone is in any form of trouble, they will call on you. You will also have to set the captives free, so demon-possessed people will be paying you constant visits, and according to Ephesians 6:12, casting out demons involves spiritual wrestling. Spiritual wrestling is not for the lazy, so if you want to be anointed, you cannot afford to be lazy. The Lord Jesus had the anointing(Acts 10:38), but in Mark 6:31, He had to tell the disciples, “Let us take a break,” because He became so busy that there wasn’t enough time to even eat. If you really want to be anointed, you must be ready to work. I am not saying this to frighten you, I am saying it to get you prepared because someone reading this devotional now is going to get powerfully anointed soon, in Jesus’ name.

Many years ago, I read (1 Corinthians 12:31) which says:

But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

I realised God approves for His children to be covetous of the best spiritual gifts, so I told God, “Lord, I want double the anointing on Elisha, Paul, Peter, and Jesus when He was on earth. Add everything together and then double it again.” God responded, “You are asking for a dangerous thing; people won’t let you rest.” I said, “I don’t mind.” How forward we can be sometimes. I now have a better understanding of His warning. If you really desire to be anointed, pray the prayer point for today with all your heart.

PRAYER POINT:

Father, I am ready to do Your work in any part of the world You send me to. Please empower me to do the work today.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: JOSHUA 14-17

AUTHOR PASTOR E A ADEBOYE 

HYMNAL: 4 - TO THE WORK! TO THE WORK! WE ARE SERVANTS OF GOD 

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

Let us follow the path that our Master has trod;

With the might of His power our strength to renew,

Let us do by His grace what He calls us to do.

  Work for Him by His grace;

Work thru Him for His praise;

Work with Him all the days;

  And work in Him in many ways.

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

To the fountain of life let the thirsty be led;

In the cross and its vict’ry our glory shall be,

While we herald the tidings, “Salvation is free!”

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

By the pow’r of His Name, with the light of His Word,

All the slaves of the darkness of Satan set free

And His riches of grace in His glory we’ll see.