OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL. FRIDAY AUGUST 21 2015.
THEME : RENEWED BY A LITTLE CAKE.
MEMORISE : And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and
touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for
thee. 1KINGS 19 : 7.
READ : JOHN 6 : 5 – 13.
5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him,
he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for
them, that every one of them may take a little.
8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him,
9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but
what are they among so many?
10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down Now there was much grass in the
place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to
the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the
fishes as much as they would.
12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments
that remain, that nothing be lost.
13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the
fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them
that had eaten.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR : GENESIS 31 : 1 – 32 : 21 AND JOHN 17 : 20 – 18 : 14.
MESSAGE
God uses those who make themselves available for Him. This season, may He
find you available and use you to fulfil His good purpose in Jesus’ Name. In
today’s Bible reading, when Jesus wanted to feed the crowd that came to listen
to Him, there was no food with which to carry out this assignment. His
disciples suggested that the people be sent away to take care of themselves,
but the Lord disagreed and asked them to sit them down. A little boy
volunteered his food, and the Lord used it to feed the crowd. This story is one
of the wonders of the Bible to me. If you give some biscuits, sweets or
chocolate to a little boy, and you then ask him to give you a little out of it,
what do you think will happen? He will most likely put the biscuit or sweet
behind his back and give you a stare that tells you not to come near what is his,
especially if he is hungry.
When the boy in our Bible reading left home, his parents packed him some lunch,
but when someone told him that Jesus needed his meal, he immediately released
it. May all our children never hold back from God what He has provided for them
in Jesus’ Name.
Many years ago, I woke up one morning at the Redemption Camp feeling
depressed (believe it or not, this can happen to any man of God). I had prayed
all night, and had been fasting for days. I asked myself why I was virtually
trying to kill myself praying, fasting and doing night vigils, while the very
people I was doing all these for never cared about me. It was always about
them. Each time they saw me, they would come with requests: “Daddy pray for
us”, “Daddy do this” and “Daddy do that”.
Those who were a bit nice would say, “Daddy, make sure you take some rest,
but solve my problem first.” When praying for me, they would say, “May God
preserve you for us.” Why should I kill myself over people who were only
interested in using me to reach their goals? In that state, I slept off as I laid
my head on the table. By the time I woke up, a little girl who had come with her
parents all the way from Victoria Island, Lagos, was standing by my side.
“Daddy”, she said, “I don’t know the voice of God, but this morning when I woke
up, God asked me to take this little cake to you. I know it cannot be the devil,
because he would never ask me to give my cake to a pastor.” As she was
leaving, God said to me, “I thought you said nobody cares?” With that, I
snapped out of depression and was on fire again. Are you just using your
pastor? In what way have you encouraged him or her?
PRAYER POINT :
Sweet Holy Spirit, comfort all ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ who are
on the verge of discouragement or depression.
# AUTHOR_Pst_E_A_ADEBOYE .
touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for
thee. 1KINGS 19 : 7.
READ : JOHN 6 : 5 – 13.
5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him,
he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for
them, that every one of them may take a little.
8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him,
9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but
what are they among so many?
10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down Now there was much grass in the
place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to
the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the
fishes as much as they would.
12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments
that remain, that nothing be lost.
13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the
fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them
that had eaten.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR : GENESIS 31 : 1 – 32 : 21 AND JOHN 17 : 20 – 18 : 14.
MESSAGE
God uses those who make themselves available for Him. This season, may He
find you available and use you to fulfil His good purpose in Jesus’ Name. In
today’s Bible reading, when Jesus wanted to feed the crowd that came to listen
to Him, there was no food with which to carry out this assignment. His
disciples suggested that the people be sent away to take care of themselves,
but the Lord disagreed and asked them to sit them down. A little boy
volunteered his food, and the Lord used it to feed the crowd. This story is one
of the wonders of the Bible to me. If you give some biscuits, sweets or
chocolate to a little boy, and you then ask him to give you a little out of it,
what do you think will happen? He will most likely put the biscuit or sweet
behind his back and give you a stare that tells you not to come near what is his,
especially if he is hungry.
When the boy in our Bible reading left home, his parents packed him some lunch,
but when someone told him that Jesus needed his meal, he immediately released
it. May all our children never hold back from God what He has provided for them
in Jesus’ Name.
Many years ago, I woke up one morning at the Redemption Camp feeling
depressed (believe it or not, this can happen to any man of God). I had prayed
all night, and had been fasting for days. I asked myself why I was virtually
trying to kill myself praying, fasting and doing night vigils, while the very
people I was doing all these for never cared about me. It was always about
them. Each time they saw me, they would come with requests: “Daddy pray for
us”, “Daddy do this” and “Daddy do that”.
Those who were a bit nice would say, “Daddy, make sure you take some rest,
but solve my problem first.” When praying for me, they would say, “May God
preserve you for us.” Why should I kill myself over people who were only
interested in using me to reach their goals? In that state, I slept off as I laid
my head on the table. By the time I woke up, a little girl who had come with her
parents all the way from Victoria Island, Lagos, was standing by my side.
“Daddy”, she said, “I don’t know the voice of God, but this morning when I woke
up, God asked me to take this little cake to you. I know it cannot be the devil,
because he would never ask me to give my cake to a pastor.” As she was
leaving, God said to me, “I thought you said nobody cares?” With that, I
snapped out of depression and was on fire again. Are you just using your
pastor? In what way have you encouraged him or her?
PRAYER POINT :
Sweet Holy Spirit, comfort all ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ who are
on the verge of discouragement or depression.
# AUTHOR_Pst_E_A_ADEBOYE .
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