Open Heaven Daily Devotional 9 April 2022
TOPIC: Wake Up (I)
MEMORISE:
But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. (Matthew 13:25)
4 David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come in very deed.
5 And David arose, and came to the place where Saul had pitched: and David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host: and Saul lay in the trench, and the people pitched round about him.
6 Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee.
7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster: but Abner and the people lay round about him.
8 Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time.
9 And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord‘s anointed, and be guiltless?
10 David said furthermore, As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish.
11 The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord‘s anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go.
12 So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul’s bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the Lord was fallen upon them.
13 Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of an hill afar off; a great space being between them:
14 And David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who art thou that criest to the king?
15 And David said to Abner, Art not thou a valiant man? and who is like to thee in Israel? wherefore then hast thou not kept thy lord the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord.
16 This thing is not good that thou hast done. As the Lord liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master, the Lord‘s anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his bolster.
Open Heaven Daily Devotional 9 April 2022 MESSAGE:
The statement, “Wake up” implies that the fellow being spoken to had been sleeping. Sleeping at the wrong time can be very dangerous while sleeping spiritually is even more dangerous. In the Bible reading for today, we learnt that King Saul slept. He was surrounded by mighty men of Israel – not ordinary soldiers, but the best in the land, and they all slept too.
While they were sleeping, David (the man they were seeking to kill) and his men came and took the sword of the king as well as his water bottle. Abishai, one of David’s men said to him, “Let me smite him just once-not twice, just once and he will be dead”. When you are sleeping, no matter how strong you are, you would be helpless and open to the attack of the enemy. That is why you must never sleep spiritually.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: – (1 Peter 5:8. The above passage says that the devil is walking around, and his only mission is to look for people that he can devour. If he gets to you and finds you sleeping spiritually, just one stroke from him can kill you.
As strong as Saul’s bodyguards were, the moment he slept, they slept too. When you sleep spiritually, you disconnect your protective covering in the spirit. The moment you stop fasting, stop praying, stop studying your Bible and you now begin to dip your hands into one little sin or the other, the protective covering that God had put over you and your family members begins to weaken, giving a chance for the enemy to attack successfully.
In Numbers 22-24, Balaam tried to curse the Israelites but could only bless them because of the protective covering that God had put over them. That covering was however, lifted when the people of Israel began to sleep spiritually. This led to a plague killing twenty-four thousand of them. Many ‘Christians’ are suffering from the oppression of the devil today because they are sleeping spiritually. Where they should be victors, they are victims. WAKE UP!
Start praying again! Start evangelising again! Runaway from those ‘little’ sins! Stop being prey to the devil! WAKE UP!
KEY POINT: Wake up from your spiritual slumber.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Kings 1-2
HYMN 6 – HO! MY COMRADES, SEE THE SIGNAL
1. Ho! my comrades! see the signal,
Waving in the sky!
Reinforcements now appearing,
Victory in nigh!
CHORUS:
“Hold the fort, for I am coming,”
Jesus signals still,
Wave the answer back to heaven,
“By Thy grace we will.”
2. See the mighty host advancing,
Satan leading on;
Mighty men around us falling,
Courage almost gone.
3. See the glorious banner waving,
Hear the trumpet blow;
In our Leader’s Name we triumph
Over every foe.
4. Fierce and long the battle rages,
But our help is near;
Onward comes our great commander,
Cheer, my comrades, cheer!
