OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - MONDAY - 19/08/2013 - HE JUDGES HIS MINISTERS BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

HE JUDGES HIS MINISTERS

MEMORY VERSE

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

2 Corinthians 5:10

READ

Numbers 12:1-10

Numbers 12:1 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.

Numbers 12:2 And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it.

Numbers 12:3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)

Numbers 12:4 And the Lord spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.

Numbers 12:5 And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.

Numbers 12:6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

Numbers 12:7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.

Numbers 12:8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

Numbers 12:9 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and he departed.

Numbers 12:10 And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.

MESSAGE

Many people view wisdom from different angles. But if we were to use the fear of God as the yardstick for measuring wisdom, then you can be very certain we have quite a number of foolish people among us. Psalm 111:10 says,

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.”

Not many of us fear God – even ministers of God! We fear our bosses in our work places. We fear those who approve contracts for us. We fail to fear the One who should be our fear and dread (Isaiah 8:13). Can you believe that some ministers of God find it difficult to join the congregation in praising God? At praise or worship time, you will find some of them standing straight and looking in a sanctimonious way as if they have forgotten that the day they became ministers of God, they were placed right in God's palms. If God wants to deal with His ministers, He does not need to search for them; all He needs to do is close His hands.

Do you say you are a worker or minister and you still tell lies? Do you steal? Do you falsify reports or approve reports that you know are not true? Remember God is seeing you. Do you know that many titled orthodox ministers fear God more than we so called Pentecostals; this is why many scandals are rife in our midst than theirs. If you do not know anything about God, do know that He is a Consuming fire. He is quiet because He is so powerful. When a river is shallow, it makes a lot of noise. In Numbers 12:1-16, when Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, God summoned the three of them and asked the offenders why they were not afraid to speak against His faithful servant. God left in anger without doing anything, yet as soon as He left, Miriam was covered with leprosy. What if He had decided to do something, would Miriam have survived it? Ministers of God, God still judges His servants. Tread carefully and fear Him.

KEY POINT

Like any of God's children, ministers of God will give account to God, but God will use a higher standard for them as much is expected of them.