Open Heaven Daily Devotional 11 April 2022

TOPIC:  Stand Up

MEMORISE
Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the Lord said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed. 

 (Joshua 13:1)

READ: 1 Kings 13:1-25 (KJV)

Open Heaven Daily Devotional 11 April 2022  MESSAGE:

The problem with many Christians is that they are ‘seated’. They think they have arrived, so they rest earlier than they should. I have seen it happen now and again where a man or woman of God is doing so well for the Almighty God and the work of the Lord is prospering in his or her hands, then all of a sudden, the person decides to rest. No more prayers at night, no more Bible study, no more self-sacrifice.

From the story of the young prophet in our Bible reading today, we see that there are many people who God wants to take to the sun, but they get to the moon and relax. The moment a person decides to take a break from serving God and sits to rest, he or she begins to retrogress.

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In Psalm 1:1, the Bible says that a Christian doesn’t walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the way of sinners nor sit in the seat of the scornful. The Bible goes from walking, to standing, to sitting; that is retrogression. To be seated means you used to be a champion, but now you are irrelevant. In (1 Samuel 10:1), Saul was captain; in (1 Samuel 16:14), he had become irrelevant (he was seated). In Luke 15:11-19, the prodigal son was wealthy, but he rejoiced too soon and things became so bad that he sought to eat with pigs.

When we moved to the Redemption Camp, we had just a few acres of land, then we bought some more and got to about thirty acres. After this, we bought a little more and by the time we got to about a hundred acres, people came to me and said, “What do you want to do with all this land?”

The Almighty God woke me up one day and said, “What is wrong with you; are they the ones who called you? Are they the ones who brought you here?” I got up immediately. Today, the Redemption Camp in Western Nigeria alone is on about 30,000 acres of land and we have only just started.

Beloved, STAND UP! It’s not yet time to rest. You have not arrived at your destination yet, you have not reached where God is taking you to. Don’t stop praying, don’t stop working hard, don’t stop making sacrifices; God still has a lot in store for you.

Instead of Joshua to hear “Well done, my son” from God at the end of his sojourn on earth, God informed him that there was a lot he had left undone as seen in the memory verse of today. God forbid that this will be the report you get when it is your turn, in Jesus’ name.

KEY POINT: Don’t relax until you reach the point God wants to take you to.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Kings 5-7

HYMN 26 – WE ARE NEVER, NEVER WEARY OF THE GRAND OLD SONG

1. We are never, never weary of the grand old song,
Glory to God, Hallelujah!
We can sing it loud as ever, with our faith more strong,
Glory to God, Halleluyah!

CHORUS:
O, the children of the Lord have right to shout and to sing,
For the way is growing bright, and our souls are on the wings,
We are going by and by to the palace of the King,
Glory to God Halleluyah.

2. We are lost amid the rapture of redeeming love,
Glory to God, Halleluyah!
We are rising on its pinions to the hills above,
Glory to God, Halleluyah!

3. We are going to a palace that is built of gold,
Glory to God, Halleluyah!
Where the King in all His splendour we shall soon behold,
Glory to God, Halleluyah!

4. There we’ll shout redeeming mercy in a glad new song,
Glory to God, Halleluyah!
There we’ll sing the praise of Jesus with the blood washed throng,
Glory to God, Halleluyah!