OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - SUNDAY - 17/11/2013 - NOT RESTING TIME BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

NOT RESTING TIME

MEMORY VERSE

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:58

READ

1 Kings 13:1-10

1 Kings 13:1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

1 Kings 13:2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saiththeLord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.

1 Kings 13:3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.

1 Kings 13:4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.

1 Kings 13:5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.

1 Kings 13:6 And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.

1 Kings 13:7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.

1 Kings 13:8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:

1 Kings 13:9 For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.

1 Kings 13:10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.

MESSAGE

God has a plan for each of His own. Unfortunately, many children of God are mortgaging their destinies today. As promising as some may be in their walk with God, they may carry some spiritual contraband with them, such as idolisation of blessings or believe that they are okay as they are. Nothing grieves God's heart as much as seeing the children He loves fall short of His plan and provision for them. In John 10:10, He expressly declared His purpose of coming to give you not just life but life in abundance. He wants you to succeed. He wants you to reach the top and become the best. He detests you stopping before reaching the top.

Anything that holds you down from reaching the top is obviously one of Satan's bondages. Afraid that you might get to the top, Satan will do everything possible to stop you by making you to rest when you have not reached your goal. In 1 Kings 13:1-32, God sent a young prophet on a mission. He was asked to go and deliver a prophecy to a particular town. To show the gravity of the offence of that town, he was instructed not to eat, drink or take any honorarium from there. He was told to return home by another route on delivery of the message. If he had followed that instruction strictly, he would not have failed. But after delivering the message backed up by the miraculous, he took a different way home and decided to rest on the way and the devil caught up with him. One of our greatest problems today is spiritual slumber. We believe we have already arrived and as a result shut the gate of progress against ourselves. God wants you to be an eagle but you are already celebrating as an eaglet. Your destiny is not where you are presently, so you cannot afford to rest. When you rest prematurely you will surely get into trouble. While David rested in the palace at the time of war, he fell into a pit of sin. Are you resting after a major breakthrough? Stop! Arise and get on your beat. Be watchful!

KEY POINT

If you refuse to sleep spiritually, the forces of darkness will find it an uphill task catching up with you.