STILL MANIFESTING- Daily devotional with Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Gal. 4-6


STILL MANIFESTING

Saturday, June 25, 2011

MEMORIZE: “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” (2 Cor. 4:10).

READ: 2 Corinthians 4:8-12

Through the lives of His children, God tries to reveal Himself to the world. Such revelation may fall either under God's goodness or severity (Romans 11:22). This is why you must be extremely careful about what God wants to use your life to show the world. For instance, God used David to reveal His super abundance.

While studying Psalm 23:5, I asked God, “Why the waste? Why did you not stop when the cup became full with oil?” He said He just wanted to show David that there is still plenty of oil left where the oil was coming from.

May God use you to reveal His super abundance this season. Let us consider another Bible character - Elijah. God wanted to show the world through Elijah that He is a prayer answering God (1 Kings 18:213-9). After about two minutes of prayer, fire fell from Heaven. As long as there are no obstructions to a life of sacrifice and holiness, you can always get answers to your prayers. He can even answer your unsaid prayers - mere wishes which were not voiced out.

Sometime ago, during our Lets-Go-A–Fishing program, I was going in company of my children when we ran into a notice, 'Turkey for sale'. I told my children we had never had turkey for Christmas, except chicken. By the time we returned home, there were three turkeys waiting even when I did not pray for them.

At Ebute Metta (Lagos, Nigeria), I shared the testimony in church and by the time we got home, they had increased to seven! As you align your desires with God's and please Him, He will give you even your unvoiced requests.

What of Daniel? What people commonly say of him is how he came out of the lions den alive but they appear to not know the main issue. God's purpose was to reveal Himself through Daniel as the All-wise God, hence, Daniel could interpret the dream that the dreamers had even forgotten, as well as hand writing on the wall.

Even today, God wants someone through whom He can manifest a higher level of wisdom. Can He choose you for such an assignment? There are levels of God's manifestation. In whatever way He has manifested Himself before in the life of an individual, He can repeat it at the same level, or modify it, depending on the level of cooperation of the seeker.

How ready are you to cooperate with the Almighty God for a higher manifestation of His power, or wisdom, in your life?

PRAYER POINT: Father, as I serve You this season, grant my prayers and desires, even those unsaid.

Soul winning is to be sustained- Daily devotional with Pastor E.A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Gal. 1-3
SOUL-WINNING IS TO BE SUSTAINED Friday, June 24, 2011
MEMORIZE: “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” (Prov.11:30). READ: Proverb 11:27-30 You can know a wise fellow by his willingness and ability to serve God till his last breath. The hands of the wise remain on the plough till the end. Although many start a race, not all get to the finishing line. Part of wisdom is to endure to the end so that you can see the end of what you started. Our Christian race starts on earth but finishes in Heaven. May you not tire until you see the end of your Christian journey! The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise” (Prov.11:30).Another mark of a wise fellow is continuous soul “winning. It is good to win souls, but stopping after a few is not wisdom. The wise fellow is the one who never stops winning souls. Some Christians were regularly winning souls when they were not ordained ministers. After they were ordained, they decided they had outgrown soul-winning. How wrong! Why were you anointed if not to make you more effective in soul-winning? Some pastors, particularly senior pastors, cannot recall when last they spoke to and led a sinner to Christ one on one. This is one reason ordinary workers who are committed to evangelism may earn greater rewards in Heaven than some senior pastors. God never planned that attaining an ecclesiastical position will become a hindrance to effective soul winning. As far as He is concerned, soul winning is for the wise. The week or month you win souls, you are adjudged wise. The week or month you don't win souls, you are adjudged foolish. Moreover, there are Christians who won souls in their youth but stopped after they became elders. To such believers, age is a good reason to be unfruitful. But Psalm 92:14 says, “They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing”. It is wisdom to continue to win souls even as you grow older. Naturally, when you become an elder, one thing you will be praying for is to see your grandchildren. An elder who has no grandchild feels he or she has failed as an elder. The quest to see such a bundle of joy makes such elders to force their children into marriage. When the grand child arrives, the grandparents will be full of joy. Do you know that having converts in your old age brings greater joy and dividends to the soul winner? If you don't believe it, try it today. Become an incurable soul winner. Ask God for the grace. KEY POINT: Some die fornicating, some die stealing, some die eating, some die sleeping. One great way to die is to die winning souls.