OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE : FRIDAY 21ST AUGUST 2015
THEME : RENEWED BY A LITTLE CAKE
Memorize:
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. 1 Kings 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.
Message
God uses those who make themselves available for Him. This season, may He find you available and use you to fulfill 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.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR : GENESIS 31:1-32:21 and JOHN 17:20-18:14
AUTHOR : Pst E. A ADEBOYE
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