Open Heavens 27 July 2015: Monday daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Stagnancy Is Not Your Portion

Topic: Stagnancy Is Not Your Portion [Monday July 27, 2015]

Memorise: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. - Deuteronomy 28:2

Read: John 5:2-9 (KJV)

2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

Bible In One Year: Ezra 4:1-6:12; John 5:19-47

MESSAGE:

On the 20th of July, we looked at the states of progress represented by retrogression and repression. One lesson we must learn is that sometimes, repressive forces are not necessarily interested in taking over the harvest of their victims; rather, all they want to do is to ensure that all the labour and efforts of their victims are wasted, so that they can mock and laugh them to scorn (Judges 6:3-16). Every repressive force seen and unseen that is interested in wasting all your honest efforts shall be destroyed by the fire of the Holy Ghost in Jesus' Name.

Moreover, another state of progress is stagnation. This is a state of standstill. In this state, there is no forward or upward movement. The fellow operating in this state remains on the same spot in spite of his or her efforts. In a situation of stagnancy, effort does not count, because it appears there is some invisible rope tying the victim to the same spot. In our Bible reading, we read about a man who was sick for 38 years. This man was operating in a state of stagnancy. He was at the pool of Bethesda waiting for an angel to stir up the water. He was waiting for a once-a-year miracle available to just one person. The unfortunate thing is that he was not alone. There was a crowd also waiting to take this same chance. As a result, he kept on waiting for several years!

There are some people who are so full of hope at the beginning of a year, but at the end of that year, they realise that they are still at the same spot. When I was schooling at the University of Lagos, there was a particular student who had been there for eight years, but he never went beyond year one. He kept changing from one faculty to the other and from one department to another. We met him there and left him there. Have you been stagnant? Are all your efforts futile? Have you been so long on the same spot? The Lord will intervene in your situation today! The Lord will turn things around for your good. I rebuke every force keeping you on the same spot. Whatever is tying you down is destroyed now. That miracle that your stagnant situation is trying to deny you is released to you now in Jesus' Name.

Prayer Point: I command every spirit of stagnancy keeping me and my family on the same spot, in the Name of Jesus Christ, pack your load and leave now!

Open Heavens 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.

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