OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - SUNDAY - 20/07/2014 - THOSE GOD CALLS BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

THOSE GOD CALLS

MEMORISE

For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

1 Corinthians 1:26

READ

1 Corinthians 1:26-29

26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

MESSAGE

Who are those God calls? They are usually not the “special” type. 1 Corinthians 1:26 says:

“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:”

Those who are noble, wise, intelligent, mighty and wealthy already believe they have achieved, and so if God calls them, they may think it is because of what they possess or have achieved. If God makes use of such people, the tendency for them to arrogate God’s glory is high. This is why God specifically looks out for the foolish, weak, poor and base elements of this world. God calls the foolish to confound the wise, the weak to confound the strong and those who are nothing to confound those with reputation (1 Corinthians 1:27). How? When God picks a foolish fellow, He works on him and gives him a bit of His wisdom. Thereafter, when God brings him side by side with those the world acclaims as wise, he would be better by miles. The wisdom of such a fellow will be way out of this world. God is looking for those whose lives He would make a statement with. Can He do so with you?

In addition, God calls those who are very plain; those who understand the brevity of life. According to Ecclesiastes 12:1-7, we started a countdown to return to the dust from which we were formed the very day we were born. This is why Genesis 3:19 says,

“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

However, there are some people who are foolish, poor, and weak, yet they are unusable because they are proud and very self-willed. That is double trouble. But if God wants to use a professor or a great academician, He would have to first reduce the fellow to nothing. This was Paul’s experience. He had achieved so much in the world before He accepted Jesus Christ, and so he had to lose everything in order to be used by Him. Can God call you, or are you too big to be used by Him?

PRAYER POINT

Father, in my generation, make a positive glorious statement with my life.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR

Deuteronomy 25:5-27:26

Job 7:7-21