OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - WEDNESDAY- 15/1/2014 - THE DAY OF GOD’S MERCY BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

THE DAY OF GOD’S MERCY

MEMORISE

For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

Romans 9:15

READ

1 Samuel 16:11-12

1 Samuel 16:11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.

1 Samuel 16:12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

MESSAGE

The day that David was preferred above his brothers could best be described as a day of God’s mercy. While he was in the wilderness looking after his father’s flock, he never dreamt that he could become a king. There was no king in his family, and in any case, King Saul was still alive. David was not the son of King Saul, so it could not have crossed his mind that he could ever be king. He never prayed for it. In the case of Elisha in 1 Kings 19:19-21, he was busy working on the farm when the Almighty God graciously told him that he had obtained mercy from Him. He became the son of a prophet. In the story of Gideon in Judges 6:11-16, the Bible tells us that Gideon was by the winepress working, and the Almighty God met him there. You may be working in a factory and God may meet you there. When your day comes, nothing can stop it. In the case of Moses in Exodus 3:1-10, the Bible says Moses was at the backside of the desert where you wouldn’t even think of looking for a deliverer. You may live in a village that is not even on the map but God can pick you up from there. You may be a servant like Joshua - the servant of Moses, who was in deep sorrow in a tent because his master had just died. God met him there and said he was to replace Moses. Joshua trembled but God said He would be with him just as He was with Moses (Joshua 1:2&5).

David woke up a shepherd boy and by the time he went to bed, he was a king. Today may be your day. It may be the day that you will get answers to all your prayers. All you need to do is to worship God and let your destiny be fulfilled. You must however remember that the day came for Gehazi too. He was a servant of a man of God and he was a very crooked one. He must have been playing some pranks and God must have been watching him. One day, his day came. He ran after Naaman and got something. He got leprosy. Do not let today be your day of destruction. If you are still in sin, let today be your day of salvation as it is written in 2 Corinthians 6:2:

“For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

The mercy of God is pleading with someone reading this devotional today: stop arguing with God, repent of your sins; stop that extra-marital affair; stop that fraudulent practice; that the day of God’s mercy may come speedily. It may even be today.

ACTION POINT

Think of those things the Holy Spirit has been warning you against; stop doing them and turn a new leaf so that today would be your day of experiencing God’s mercy.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR

Galatians 4-6;

 Psalm 18:1-19