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Open Heaven For Today 2023 Wednesday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Criteria For Promotion II
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TOPIC: Criteria For Promotion II
MEMORISE: “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:” – 1 Peter 5:6 (KJV)
READ: 1 Kings 19:19-21, 2 Kings 2:15 (KJV)
1 Kings 19:19-21;
19 So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.
20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?
21 And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.
2 Kings 2:15;
15 And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Chronicles 13-16
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE:
God usually promotes the most unlikely persons (1 Corinthians 1:26-29), however, once in a while, He also decides to promote someone who has already had some achievements. Before promoting such people though, He would usually first grip them of everything they have achieved then He’ll begin to promote them to a level that is far higher than where they were before. Sadly, those who are not ready to go through this process will miss out on the great promotion God has prepared for them.
When God chose Elisha to be the greatest prophet of his time, he was already a successful farmer from a well-to-do family and all of a sudden, he became homeless – an errand boy to a prophet who was in trouble with the king. God took him from his high state to a very low one and he submitted to the process.
When the Lord chose me, I was the acting Head of the Mathematics Department in University of Ilorin. I had already achieved a lot, considering my poor background and now God was saying, “Leave all that” to become the General Overseer of a Church whose total monthly income at that time was less than my salary. It was a hard decision, especially since I had just broken my family out of poverty, but thank God that I answered the call and submitted to the process. Today, God has graciously lifted me far higher than I could ever have gotten if I had held on to my academic career. Once God sees that you prefer His will to your achievements and your ambition, He will promote you.
The person who has enjoyed the highest promotion from God is Jesus Christ. He was already the Son of God before His earthly ministry. He is the Word and the Bible says that the whole earth was made by Him (John 1:3). He was already big, but when He humbled Himself not only to come to earth in human form, but even to the point of death on the cross, God promoted Him so much that, at the mention of His name, all knees in heaven, on earth and underneath the earth should bow and all tongues confess that He is Lord (Philippians 2:9-10). My advice to you today is: humble yourself before God and He will promote you in due time.
REFLECTION:
If God asks you like the rich man in Luke 18:22 to sell all that you have and follow Him, what will be your response?
HYMN 7: I Am Thine O Lord
1 I am Thine, O Lord
I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee.
Refrain:
Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.
2 Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord
By the power of grace divine
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.
3 Oh, the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God
I commune as friend with friend!
4 There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with Thee.
Open Heavens 2023 Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC. Open Heaven for Today 2023
TOPIC: Criteria For Promotion I
MEMORISE: “Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:” – Jeremiah 9:23(KJV)
READ: 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (KJV)
26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Chronicles 10-12
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE:
I have come to discover from my walk with God that He usually promotes the most unlikely people. Our Bible reading for today tells us that the people who qualify for God’s promotion are usually those considered foolish, weak, little and unimportant. These are the kind of people God usually lifts up because He does not want anyone to take His glory. He does not want anyone thinking it was their achievements that made God choose them for promotion.
God chose Saul as the first king of Israel, even though the young man considered himself unworthy (1 Samuel 9:21).
When Saul disobeyed and God wanted to promote someone else to his position, He sent Samuel to anoint one of Jesse’s sons. When Samuel asked Jesse to bring all his sons, David was not summoned because he was considered the least important among his sons. Jesse obviously thought there was absolutely no way David could be chosen as king, but that was exactly the fellow that God chose. God does not choose those who think they are wise, He chooses the foolish. The moment you think you are the best man for the job, God actually sees you as the worst. You cannot succeed at any divine assignment by your own power and might but only by His Spirit (Zechariah 4:6).
Anytime I travel and have the opportunity to speak with ministers in any nation, they always have one thing that they want me to address and that is the lack of unity amongst them. I often explain to them that the challenge is not that they do not want to be united; rather, it is a question of who will be the leader once they are united? I often go further to say, “If you realise that God usually chooses the foolish one to be the head, you won’t want to be that fellow, because being the head makes it obvious to everyone that you must be the most foolish of them all!”.
Beloved, if you realise that God will only choose the weak, the base, then you won’t struggle for positions. Keep doing exploits from whatever position you find yourself and rely completely on God as your source of help and direction. In due course, He will promote you far beyond your expectations.
KEY POINT:
Don’t lobby for any position; dedicate yourself to doing the will of God and He will promote you at the right time.
HYMN 23: Take My Life, And Let It Be
1 Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord to Thee;
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in endless praise,
Let them flow in endless praise.
2 Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love;
Take my feet, and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee,
Swift and beautiful for Thee.
3 Take my voice and let me sing
Always, only, for my King;
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee,
Filled with messages from Thee.
4 Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose,
Every power as Thou shalt choose.
5 Take my will and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine:
Take my heart, it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne,
It shall be Thy royal throne.
6 Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store;
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee,
Ever, only, all for Thee.
Open Heavens 2023 Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC. Open Heaven for Today 2023
TOPIC: God Can Promote Anyone
MEMORISE: “7 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; 8 That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.” – Psalm 113:7-8 (KJV)
READ: Psalm 75:5-7 (KJV)
5 Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.
6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
7 But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Chronicles 7-9
Open Heaven For Today 2023 MESSAGE:
Our Bible reading says clearly that God is the One who promotes. God alone is the One who promotes – no other person can, not even the so-called godfathers. Striving for positions and receiving titles do not amount to being promoted. Saul still had the title ‘king’ for several years after God had already rejected him and anointed David in his place. This was why he was helpless before Goliath while David who had been anointed to take his place defeated the giant. When you read 1 Samuel 18:7, you see from the song of the women and children that they had a higher regard for David than Saul even though Saul was still considered the king.
Now that it is clear that God is the one who promotes, the next question is: Who are the people that God usually chooses for promotion? 1 Samuel 2:7-8 says:
The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. 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.
God can pick up a beggar from the dunghill and begin to promote him until he starts dining with kings. God can promote anyone and my prayer for you today is that your promotion will come rapidly, in Jesus’ name. No one is out of reach for divine promotion. No matter how low you are now, God can still promote you to a place so high that it would beat the imagination of the whole world when they hear your story. If you want God to promote you, you must be one person that He is sure will do His will when you get promoted.
And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. – Acts 13:22
Can God count on you to fulfil His will after He has promoted you? If your answer is ‘yes’ then get ready for a divinely arranged promotion.
REFLECTION:
Do you do the will of God always?
HYMN 26: There Shall Be Showers Of Blessing
1 There shall be showers of blessing:
This is the promise of love;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
Sent from the Saviour above.
Refrain:
Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need;
Mercy-drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead.
2 There shall be showers of blessing:
Precious reviving again;
Over the hills and the valleys,
Sound of abundance of rain.
3 There shall be showers of blessing:
Send them upon us, Oh Lord!
Grant to us now a refreshing;
Come and now honour Thy Word.
4 There shall be showers of blessing:
Oh, that today they might fall,
Now, as to God, we’re confessing,
Now as on Jesus we call!
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