OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - WEDNESDAY - 16/04/2014 - WHERE ARE YOU? BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

WHERE ARE YOU?

MEMORISE

And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

Genesis 3:9

READ

Genesis 3:7-10

7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

MESSAGE

Where are you? I am convinced that this question God asked Adam long ago is still relevant today. It is not expedient to wait for God to ask you this question. Rather, as part of a self examination process, you should introspectively ask yourself this question. A sincere approach in answering this question would do you a lot of good both in this world and in eternity.

From the day of his birth, a man begins a return journey to where he is from (Ecclesiastes 12:1-7). This is why, with regard to official matters, you are not asked “how young are you?”, but rather you are asked how old you are. No matter how young you are, you are growing old day by day. Hence, God Himself is asking you: where are you now? You should therefore ask yourself regularly, ‘how far have I gone in fulfilling the purpose of my creation and salvation?’

To answer this serious question, you need to first of all answer some other questions like: “where was I yesterday?” It could be last week, last year or when you first got born-again. Next, you need to answer the question: “where am I now?” Consider Samson, who went from being a terror to the enemy to grinding corn in the prison of the enemy. Ask yourself, ‘am I going on to greater heights, winning more souls than before for Christ?’ Materially, have you moved from thirty fold, to sixty fold or to hundred fold increase? Or is your case that of moving in the reverse direction?

Are you increasing spiritually or decreasing? Are you increasing financially or decreasing? It is God’s will and it is His plan for you to grow spiritually, financially and all-round.

“Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.”

Psalm 35:27

If you are not growing, could it be that you have been eating your seed? Or maybe you are sowing sparingly (2 Corinthians 9:6)? Perhaps, because you have been defaulting in your tithe, you are now working under a divine curse (Malachi 3:8-10)? As the Lord said to His people who experienced decrease in time past, He says to you now: consider your ways (Haggai 1:5-7).

ACTION POINT

Carry out a self-evaluation and cry to God about your findings.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR

Joel 1-3; Psalm 82