Open Heavens 30 January 2015: Friday daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye - Wonderful Restoration

Topic: Wonderful Restoration [Friday January 30, 2015]

Memorise: Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. - Psalm 51:12

Read: Ezekiel 37:1-10

1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,

2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.

4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.

5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

Bible in one year: Jeremiah 16:14-18:23 and Acts 17:16-34

MESSAGE:

When the earth was in shambles in the beginning, the wonder-working God restored it by His word (Genesis 1:1-3). It is interesting to note that the Almighty does not only create, He also restores. I command the restoration power of the Almighty to come upon you today in Jesus’ Name.

Our Bible text has a narrative that described the wonderful restoration that God will give you today. It describes the wonder of the restoration of very dry bones. Ezekiel here was taken to the valley of dry bones. Dry bones of course signify a state of hopelessness and lifelessness. Thank God it was the Spirit of the Lord that carried Ezekiel to the valley of dry bones; if it were an evil spirit, he himself would have become one of them. When Ezekiel got to the valley, there was a dialogue between him and the Almighty! It is not amazing to discover that whenever God wants to perform wonders, He dialogues? He also demonstrated this character in the story of the feeding of the five thousand (Matthew 14:15-18). This character of God does not mean that He does not know what to do at any given time; He just likes fellowshipping with man. From His dialogue with Ezekiel, the wonder –working drama began.

The first lesson I will like to point out in the story is that whenever the Spirit of God is upon an individual, the fellow is empowered to do the impossible, like in the case of Ezekiel here. He was not even sure whether the dry bones could live or not. He pushed the answer back to God when God asked him if the dry bones could live. This is the second lesson we should learn. We must learn to acknowledge the sovereignty of God in all matters, no matter how pressing the need maybe or how ridiculous He may sound (1 Corinthians 1:25&27).

Whenever we acknowledge and put the sovereignty of God at the forefront, faith in the God of wonders will come. Ezekiel responded positively to the instructions God gave him concerning the dry bones. He prophesied as he was commanded, and the result was a mighty army. We can also learn from this story that without the Holy Spirit, there is nothing we can do, but with Him, all things are possible. Wherever the Spirit of God is, there is liberty, signs and wonders. Signs and wonders will be your portion this season in Jesus’ Name.  

Prayer Point: Father, please speak to my situation and restore to me all that the enemies have destroyed in my life in Jesus’ Name

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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