PREVENTING SUNSET- Open heavens daily devotional by Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Ezek 12-14
PREVENTING SUNSET Monday, October 04, 2010
MEMORIZE: “But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him” (1 Sam. 16:14) READ: 1 Samuel 15:22-23 Paul was progressively humble. He started out by boasting about his achievements but ended up saying he was chief of sinners. That is humility at great depth! However, it is possible to experience a negative progressive descent. King Saul is a befitting example here. He climbed the ladder right to the top and became king. But at some point, when it appeared he had suddenly become too big for God, he began a descent which started with rejection (1 Sam.15:22-23). This was followed by his replacement while still in power (1 Sam. 16:13). God always has a substitute for anyone in position of authority.  He can never be taken unawares. The memory of this should keep any sane believer from pride. If you have been rejected but yet to be replaced, there is still hope for your restoration. Immediately repent, and restitute your ways. After Nebuchadnezzar descended the ladder for seven years, God still reserved his throne for him. When he repented, the Lord restored him. Have you descended the ladder of grace into grass? May you still find a place for repentance in Jesus’ Name. If you compare king Nebuchadnezzar’s descent with king Saul’s, the former was better.  At least he could still repent even as a wild beast. But as king Saul declined, an evil spirit troubled him (1 Sam. 16:14). In his state of madness, he could not possibly think of repentance! He descended further down the ladder to a point that he who once passed a decree of death on witches in the land, went to consult a witch desiring to know the future. Finally, he committed suicide.  His descent was step-by-step but was total! Most great men who fell did not fall suddenly.  It happened little by little. The presence of a ladder shows that there could be an upward or downward turn. An upward turn refers to the possibility of a sunrise while a downward turn talks of a sunset. After healing a man who had been sick for 38 years, the Lord warned him against a possible sunset. Are your actions bringing you sunset or sunrise? Be careful! Whenever you observe a pause in your climb, find out the cause, correct it and move on. You must not tolerate any slight decline!  It could be the beginning of an endless fall!  (N.B Be a part of the future support www.10millionexercisebooks.com project today. A non-profit christian initiative towards the eradication of illiteracy.) ACTION POINT: While you may recover from certain falls, some others are total. Ask God to keep you from a fall you can never recover from.