OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: MONDAY 25th JUNE 2018
THEME: Let Your Obedience Be Complete
HYMN 4: TRUST AND OBEY
1 When we walk with the Lord
In the light of His word,
what a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will,
he abides with us still,
and with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
2 Not a shadow can rise,
not a cloud in the skies,
but His quickly drives it away;
not a doubt or a fear,
not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
3 Not a burden we bear,
not a sorrow we share,
but our toil he doth richly repay;
not a grief or a loss,
not a frown or a cross,
but is blest if we trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
4 But we never can prove
the delights of his love
until all on the altar we lay;
for the favor he shows,
for the joy he bestows,
are for them who will trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
5 Then in fellowship sweet
we will sit at his feet,
or we’ll walk by his side in the way;
what he says we will do,
where he sends we will go;
never fear, only trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Memorise
And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. 2 Corinthians 10:6
Bible Reading: 2 Kings 5:8-14
8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house.
10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”
11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.
12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.
13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!”
14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
Message
In the Body of Christ, we often talk about how Noah found grace in the sight of God, but we hardly ever mention what the Bible says about him in Genesis 6:22
“Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.”
Noah was an obedient instrument in the hands of the Most High God, and God cherished him for that. To show the extent to which God cherishes obedience, Prophet Samuel in 1 Samuel 15:22 said:
“…Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”
Naaman’s story teaches that only complete obedience to divine instructions is rewarded. Prophet Elisha had instructed Naaman to go and wash in River Jordan seven time in order to receive healing from his leprosy. When he first heard this, he felt insulted for not being given a dignified reception, as Elisha did not even grant him face to face audience.
He also felt insulted at the simplicity of what he was asked to do and where he was asked to do it. He was instructed to wash seven times in “dirty” River Jordan. His initial response to God’s instructions is captured in 2Kings 5:12 as follows:
“Are not Ababa and Pharpa, rivers of Damascus, better than all the water of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.”
Thank God he had servants who persuaded him to do what the prophet had said. After his servants succeeded in persuading him, the result that followed shows that the pains of complete obedience pale in comparison to its benefits. 2 Kings 5:14 says
“Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”
Beloved, only after Naaman’s obedience was complete did he receive his miracle. The loss would have been great if Naaman had stopped dipping his body in the river after the fifth or sixth attempt since nothing about his situation had changed. I pray that your obedience to the word of God would be complete, and you will receive your miracle thereafter in Jesus’ Name
Prayer Point
Father, make my heart a fertile ground that is yielded to the complete obedience of divine instructions in Jesus’ Name.
Bible in one year: 1 Chronicles 6-7, Acts 17:1-15
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE