OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - THURSDAY- 07/08/2014 - SURE PATHS TO GREATNESS BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

SURE PATHS TO GREATNESS

MEMORISE

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.

Psalm 48:1

READ

Ephesians 1:17-21

17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

MESSAGE

Greatness means largeness in size. It means to be pre-eminent, imposing, grand, distinguished in importance and remarkable in ability, character, achievement and of course the anointing. Without doubt, our God is a great God. The greatness of our God is manifested through His Names, His creations, His wondrous acts, His love, through His Son Jesus and through us His children. Are you a child of God? You are destined for greatness because God created you in His image and commanded you through His word to be great (Genesis 1:26). Don’t under-estimate yourself. You were created to multiply and to dominate. Your calling has to do with greatness. You are not ordinary (Psalm 139:14). God has done all that is needed for you to be great. He even used His only begotten Son Jesus to pay the price for your greatness.

It must be understood that every form of greatness begins in a small way. Great men like Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, David, Paul the Apostle and our Lord Jesus Christ had humble beginnings. Job 8:7 says:

“Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.”

Every child of God should be guided by the motto: “It is not over until it is over”. I believe that it cannot be over until I am fully blessed and truly great (1 John 3:2). Abraham, Isaac, Joseph and David travelled on a particular path to greatness in their respective lives. They manifested some character, attributes or traits that ensured greatness in their lifetimes. The first of such attributes is dreams. God revealed greatness to Abraham and Joseph through dreams before they became great. Whereas Abraham saw innumerable stars which were to represent his children, Joseph dreamt and saw sheaves, the sun, moon and eleven stars making obeisance to him. At the time they dreamt those dreams, there was absolutely no indication that they were going to be great men. What are your dreams? Dreams are the driving force behind greatness. Greatness involves dreaming big. The most distinguishable difference between small or unsuccessful people and great or successful people is that great people are motivated by dreams which are beyond their capacity to fulfil. Though out of their reach, they believe that if they work hard enough, they will someday hold their dreams in their hands. Dreams motivate you into action. What you see in your dream, you become. Unsuccessful people are motivated by today. They are not “tomorrow thinkers.” Who are you? Are you a today or a tomorrow thinker? Vision and dreams are the sure paths to greatness.

KEY POINT

A dream encourages you to pay some price now and reap the reward later.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR

Mark 3:13-5:20

Job 17:6-18:4