OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - MONDAY- 29/09/2014 - THE NEXT LEVEL BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

THE NEXT LEVEL

Memorise

And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Matthew 23:12

Read

Psalm 40:1-3

1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.

Message

The world operates at various levels, so do the people living in it. When we talk about health, there are those who are healthy, there are those who are sick, there are those who are seriously sick and there are those who are dying. When we talk about wealth, there is the destitute, the poor, the comfortable, the rich, the very rich, the wealthy, and the flourishing. The flourishing are those who according to the Bible, can afford to lend to nations. There are also those who have such abundance that it is difficult to imagine. In 2 Chronicles 1:15, we read that in the days of Solomon, silver and gold were like stones. When we talk about joy, there are also various levels of joy: there are those who are sad, there are sympathisers, there are those who have joy and those with great joy, there is the fullness of joy available in the presence of God (Psalm 16:11), and then there is “joy unspeakable” (1 Peter 1:8). Similarly, there are various levels of victory. There is victory obtained from a fight, there is victory obtained without a fight, there is a victory where the enemy miraculously disappears. Then, Psalm 23:5 reveals another dimension of victory:

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”

There is nothing as glorious as rejoicing before incapacitated enemies while they watch.

We have seen that there are different levels with respect to different things in this world, and that everyone is at one level or the other. It doesn’t matter what your current level is, there is a higher level you can go to. The question you should therefore ask yourself is: “How do I move to the next level?” There are three possible scenarios you may encounter when trying to move from one level to another. First, you may try to move to the next level unassisted. Secondly, you may move to the next level assisted. In the third scenario, you may be resisted while trying to move to the next level. Those trying to move to the next level unassisted will face problems because you need a hand to help you up. You need Jesus to get to the next level, and He is ready to help you if you will surrender your life to Him. If God decides to assist you, He can take you from the prison to the throne in one night as He did for Joseph in the Bible. If you get assistance from the devil, you will pay dearly for it. But when God is the one assisting you, the sky is not your limit; you will go beyond the sky. Thus, surrender your life to Christ now so that He can take you to the next level.

Action Point

Think of the next level you will attain to make stagnation become history in your life; then call on the Name of Jesus for divine assistance.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR

1 Samuel 6:1-8:18

Proverbs 3:28-4:9