- Open heavens devotional by Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: James 3-5
HEALTHY LIMITS Thursday, July 29, 2010
MEMORIZE: “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9) READ: 2 Cor. 12:1-10 There is a greater awareness of fundamental human rights across the world today. As a result, many people desire to be free. Freedom is wonderful but it must be qualified lest what was meant to be a blessing becomes a curse in disguise. The prodigal son felt he needed to be free from his father.  He felt constrained so he took the next option, asked for his share of the inheritance and went on a spending spree to a far country. Do you feel constrained where you are? Do not break free if that ‘freedom’ will take you into another form of bondage. Some young ministers and pastors find it difficult to learn under senior pastors.  They feel there are too many bottlenecks and want to be free. They do not want a situation where they will be accountable to somebody: they want to be free so they leave to start their ministries. Like the prodigal son, they would soon find themselves in a greater bondage. The greatest bondage anyone can be in is to be without control, check or rules. You would become enslaved to your desires! In Isaiah 30:1-3, God warns against seeking for what appears like freedom but is really not. When you try to resist the constraints God has allowed in your path, you will end up with your idea of freedom. After this ‘freedom’ comes sinful pleasure. Hebrews 11:25 says even when Moses was faced with a similar situation, he preferred to allow the constraints that brought momentary limitations on him than enjoy the sinful pleasure such freedom could offer him. Pleasure could be godly or sinful. According to Proverbs 9:17-18, sinful pleasure moves an individual from sweetness to bitterness, and from life to hell. After such freedom comes losses and destruction (Proverbs 13:20). Shame follows after this. When a branch is separated from the stem, the leaves will still be green for a while because of the little food that was stored in the branch. But after this is exhausted and there is no hope for further food supplies, the leaves will wither.  Some up and coming ministers have been misled by their fans and admirers who asked them to leave their church, to start theirs. But after a while, the green leaves will wither.  Shame will result. Are you removing the constraints? Stop! Let the purpose of the constraints  be accomplished in your life. Paul’s constraints kept him humble.  Make the best of such constraints. ACTION POINT: If you are in God’s will, He allows the good, the bad and the ugly to work for your good.  Running from what God has allowed doesn’t help the runner.