Open Heaven 12 January 2022: [Wednesday] Devotional By Pastor E.A. Adeboye – Lessons From Elisha I
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Heaven 12 January 2022 TOPIC: Lessons From Elisha I
Memorise: Seest thou a man diligent in
his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men. Proverbs 22:29
READ: Kings 19:15-21 (KJV)
15 And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of
Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and
Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy
room.
17 And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael
shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha
slay.
18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have
not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
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.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 35-37
Open Heaven 12 January 2022 MESSAGE:
We can learn many lessons from the life and times of Elisha – the successor to the great Prophet Elijah. In the next few days, we shall consider some of these lessons, and we will start with ‘diligence’ today.
Read: Open Heavens 11
January 2022 – The Blessings of Commitment
For example, we see that Elisha – a prosperous farmer’s son, was working
alongside his father’s employees when Elijah met him. He could have refrained
from joining the workers, but he worked with them because he was a diligent man.
To excel physically in your endeavors, you must be diligent (Proverbs
22:19); likewise, to excel spiritually you must seek the Lord diligently
(Hebrews 11:6).
Another lesson we can learn from Elisha is ‘good leadership’. As successful
as he was, he was on the field with hirelings, ploughing in his father’s farm
(1 Kings 19:19). He was a leader by example – not a sit-at-home leader who
issues commands while he himself would not lift a finger to do anything.
Open Heaven 12 January 2022 – OPEN HEAVEN FOR TODAY
To lead is to serve, according to the injunction of our Lord Jesus Christ
in Matthew 20:27. He was diligently doing his business when he received the
call to the office of a prophet.
Children of God should not be idling away in the name of a call that could
be for a set time – they must be found busy doing legitimate business because
the Lord does not call the mediocre.
Moreover, Elisha did not allow his call to becloud his obligation of honor
to his father. He went to honor his father before resuming at his divine post
as a son of a prophet (1 Kings 19:20).
This conforms with the Scripture that says, “Honour thy father and thy
mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth
thee” – (Exodus 20:12).
It is a dangerous thing to fail in honoring our parents under the guise of
either our newfound faith or calling in the ministry.
I will forever be grateful
to God who gave me the opportunity to honor my mother while she was still alive
and I received a lifetime blessing from her. Beloved, let us take note of these
lessons as we continue to examine the life and times of Elisha the Prophet.
Open Heaven 12 January 2022 KEY POINT:
Take time to study Prophet
Elisha on your own and it will surprise you how many lessons the Holy Spirit
will teach you.
Open Heaven 12 January 2022 HYMN: DEEPER, DEEPER IN THE LOVE OF JESUS
1. Deeper, deeper in the love of Jesus
Daily let me go;
Higher, higher in the school of wisdom,
More of grace to know.
CHORUS
O deeper yet I pray,
And higher every day,
And wiser, blessed, Lord,
In Thy precious, holy Word.
2. Deeper, deeper! blessed Holy Spirit,
Take me deeper still,
Till my life is wholly lost in Jesus,
And His perfect will.
3. Deeper, deeper! tho it cost hard trials,
Deeper let me go!
Rooted in the holy love of Jesus,
Let me fruitful grow.
4. Deeper, higher, every day in Jesus,
Till all conflict past,
Finds me conqueror, and in His own image
Perfected at last.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional Lessons was written by Pastor E.A.
Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God,
one of the largest evangelical Churches kleinanzeigen in the world and also
the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.
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