Open Heavens 2014: Monday December 22, daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye - Forsaking All to Gain All

Topic: Forsaking All to Gain All [Monday December 22, 2014]

Memorise: And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. - 1 Kings 17:15

Read: Mark 10:28-30

10:28 Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. 

10:29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,

10:30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

MESSAGE:

Elisha was the son of a wealthy farmer (1 Kings 19:19). He was unlike Elijah the son of a nobody, whose father’s name was not even mentioned in the Bible (1 Kings 17:1). Yet, Elisha followed this materially poor but spiritually rich prophet of Yahweh. When a fellow is called to forsake the business world to do spiritual work, he or she may not know the glory that is waiting for him or her.

When Elisha forsook the flourishing farming business of his father, little did he know that kings will later call him “father” (2 Kings 6:21). In the text of today’s scripture reading, we read of how Jesus assured His disciples that their sacrificial living shall be rewarded in a hundredfold here and hereafter. As a result of the demand of God for my service on a full time basis, I had to leave the university campus where I had a duplex with a servant quarters to myself, to live in a very small “boys’ quarters” in Mushin, a poor Lagos neighbourhood. The apartment was obviously too small for me and my entire family. So, I asked God to give me a bigger house in other to give my family minimum comfort. The Lord then told me that I should not be asking for a house because He was preparing a city for me. Today, the Redemption Camp is the beginning of the fulfilment of the promised city. The city is still being awaited, because my Father in heaven said that we have not seen anything yet.

Whenever God wants to bless an individual, he sets the fellow up for the blessing. For example, when God wanted to bless Abraham, he set him up by asking Abraham to give him his only son Isaac as a burnt offering. The end of the whole drama was that after Abraham proved his love for God, God restrained him from killing his son and then swore that he would bless him and that through Abraham, the whole families of the earth shall be blessed. Abraham was not only blessed, he became a blessing (Genesis 22:15-18). Also, when the widow of Zarephath was to be blessed, she was set up by the demand of Prophet Elijah. He asked her to first prepare him a meal before hers, even though there was only one meal left in the house. The widow gave all to gain all, as she and her son were fed for about three and half years of famine (1 Kings 17:10-16). This principle is still at work today. If the children of God can learn from the experience of the people of old and trust God to the point of not withholding from God whatever he ask us to surrender to Him, then this principle will work for us. As you begin to surrender totally to God from today, you will always have more than you bargain for in Jesus’ Name.

Action Point: What is God demanding from you? Give it to Him and you will receive pleasant surprises.

Bible in a Year: Acts 8-9

Open Heavens Daily Devotional 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.

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