Open Heavens 2014: Tuesday December 9, daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye - What to Do to Get the Best

Topic: What to Do to Get the Best [Tuesday December 9, 2014]

Memorise: But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:19

Read: Philippians 4:15-17

4:15 Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. 

4:16 For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.

4:17 Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.

MESSAGE:

One of the qualities which earned Elisha greatness is hard work. Even if God decides to bless you today, there is a level you may never get to if you are lazy. Those who want extraordinary blessings must be prepared to work extraordinarily hard. The Bible in Proverbs 22:29 says,

“Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.”

Elisha was busy working hard. He did not lie down lazily to command his father’s labourers to work their fingers to the bone for him. He was working alongside his father’s labourers (1 Kings 19:19).

Anyone who desires divine breakthrough must be ready to put up with hard work. All the disciples of Jesus were hard working. He met each one of them on duty when He called them. Peter was a regular and skilful fisherman before the Lord called him. Matthew was at his work of tax collection when the Lord called him. Christianity does not excuse anyone from hard work. I had a good number of friends when I became a believer. Some of them were so lazy that they went about talking big without preparing for hard work. We were all taught the principles of faith and positive confession, but I knew that achieving greatness in life goes beyond mere confessions. My friends cultivated the habit of saying: “I am the head and not the tail: I shall prosper and lend to nations, I will never borrow” etc.

They made such confessions without any corresponding hard work to back them up. Some of them spent five years making confessions like “I am a millionaire and I possess a good car by faith”. At the end of the day, they remained as poor as they were at the beginning of their confessions. If you refuse to work and you go about confessing that you have claimed the car of your dreams by faith, the only car you will end up with will be your two legs.

Another quality which earned Elisha greatness is generosity. Immediately he was called, he prepared a feast and fed his people (1 Kings 19:21). The Bible in Proverbs 11:24 says,

“There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.”

You must learn how to work hard and give generously if you really want to be great in life.

What qualified the Philippians for God’s supplies in Philippians 4:19 is found in Philippians 4:15-17. God will bless you beyond your wildest dreams this season in Jesus’ Name. However, work hard and give generously to God’s work and the needy in your neighbourhood.

Prayer Point: Father, give me the strength to work hard and the seed to sow into your kingdom and into the life of the needy. Bless me beyond what I can ever imagine in Jesus’ Name.

Bible in a Year: Ezra 6:13-8:23

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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