OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - MONDAY - 17/2/2014 - DIVINE CHAMPION II BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

DIVINE CHAMPION II

MEMORISE

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

READ

Isaiah 40:28-31

Isa 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

Isa 40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

Isa 40:30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

Isa 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

MESSAGE

Yesterday we discovered that our Lord Jesus Christ is the number one champion and that He makes His people champions. We saw also that a divine champion is a person raised up and supported by God.

One attribute of a champion is strength. The divine champion is one who receives divine strengthening. 1 Samuel 2:9 says by strength (i.e. human ability) shall no man prevail. The required divine strength for success, achievement, getting to the top etc is supplied to the divine champion by God. Hannah, who by inspiration of the Holy Spirit proclaimed those words in prayers, had that experience. She became a champion by divine strengthening. She received strength to put an end to her barrenness, thus her shame and reproach were taken away. Every barren child of God using this devotional right now, today marks that turning point in the story of your life; the strength for conception comes into you right now in Jesus’ Name. Having delivered our first three children by caesarean section, by this same divine strengthening, my wife safely delivered our fourth child by herself contrary to the expert’s opinion. The Lord who did it for us will do it for you.

By the time divine strength came upon Elijah the divine champion, He ran on foot ahead of the king’s chariot to the city of Jezreel (1 Kings18:46). Thus, the divine champion is always physically strong in his body - no room for sickness at all. Though it was by divine ability that David tore both the lion and the bear while shepherding his father’s flock, he would not have been a sickly fellow to be in the wilderness looking after the animals. Likewise, though God was the one behind his killing of the giant Goliath with a catapult, he would no doubt have been healthy in his body to be strong enough to pull the catapult string. Jesus our Master is the number one divine champion; we can only be divine champions because He is. There is no one occasion recorded where he was having a simple headache. Therefore, we His champions have no business being sick. Rather, what Jesus was doing is what we are meant to be doing also, i.e. giving health to the sick (Acts 10:38).

PRAYER POINT

Father, make me a divine champion full of the anointing, and give me a strong sickness-free body for your service.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR

Isaiah 49-51;

 Psalm 40:1-10