OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - THURSDAY - 28/11/2013 - GROWING BY THE SPIRIT BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

GROWING BY THE SPIRIT

MEMORY VERSE

Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

Acts 2:41

READ

Acts 4:1-4

Acts 4:1 And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them,

Acts 4:2 Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

Acts 4:3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide.

Acts 4:4 Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.

MESSAGE

To enjoy rapid growth, the church needs the supernatural. Doing evangelism without the assistance of the supernatural will entail a lot of struggling. Sometimes, it is not as if we do not want to evangelize; we want to but have tried and perhaps failed. When I became the General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, I desired the growth of the church so much that I tried every legitimate strategy I could to achieve that goal. I attended several church growth seminars including going twice to Korea because I heard that David Yongi Cho's church was experiencing exponential growth. I also invited local and international speakers to our church. When such great men of God came, the crowd would come, but as soon as they left, the people would also disappear. While crying to God one day, He told me to stop running here and there. He asked me to run to Him and ask for the supernatural, because without it most people will not believe. As we obeyed, the Lord began to show forth His signs and wonders and within a short while, we realized how easily the Holy Ghost could multiply anything including the crowd.

The One who performed the miracle in 2 Kings 4:1-7 is still on the throne. Do you know that for three and a half years Peter could not catch a fish, but when the Holy Spirit descended on him, with one sermon he won 3000 souls? That would take some people between 300 and 3000 sermons to achieve. The Holy Spirit is the one who grows the church. When He is present in your life, He can give your messages greater mileage. A single sentence or word that is backed up by the anointing of the Holy Spirit can achieve a lot more than hours of sermons. The mass media is a platform for communication as much as word of mouth is. But if you use the mass media to disseminate information, you will be able to reach a wider audience more easily and quicker than if you were to speak one on one to people. In the same way, the fellow who is full of the Holy Spirit operates on a higher platform than the one who is not. To grow your church, house fellowship or group, do you rely on the Holy Spirit?

KEY POINT

You cannot truly grow the church of God except by the Spirit of God. Ask for a greater outpouring of God's Spirit upon His church worldwide.