MEMORISE: “Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord, and he said, Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?” – 2 Samuel 7:18 (KJV)
READ: Luke 1:46-55 (KJV)
46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
54 He hath helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;
55 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Deuteronomy 16-19
MESSAGE
One negative trait I have seen in many ministers of God is pride. Once God calls and equips them with gifts for the calling, they begin to think that they are special. The opposite is the case, however, because (1 Corinthians 1:27) says that God calls the weak, the foolish, and those that are nought. When God calls you for an assignment, you must be extremely grateful to Him for the privilege of being called and for every single achievement as you walk in your calling because, without Him, you can do nothing (John 15:5).
As I mentioned earlier in this series, I studied people who were called before me and who succeeded in their callings.
One of them was Apostle Paul; He was an academic like me before he was called by God. I noticed that Paul was always grateful to God. He wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:18:
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
In our Bible reading today, we see how grateful Mary was for being chosen to give birth to our Saviour Jesus Christ and she succeeded in her calling.
If you really want to succeed in your calling, then you must be grateful to God always. I don’t know about you, but I can never forget how good God has been to me.
We had just finished a service in a foreign country one day and God really moved in that service, many souls got saved and there were all kinds of miracles. On my way back to the hotel, I discussed the great things that happened in the service with those that were with me. When we arrived, the fellow sitting in the front seat of the car opened the door to get down and as he slammed the door shut, my finger got caught in the door frame. Up until today, I have no idea of how my finger got caught in the doorframe. I cried out in pain and everyone rallied around me saying, “Sorry”. As I went upstairs, I asked God, “Lord, why did you let this happen to me?” He said, “You were talking about all the great things I did in the service and you didn’t even turn to Me to say, ‘Thank you Lord.’” I realised my error, apologised and thanked Him. By the time I got to my room, the pain had completely disappeared.
God is watching to see if you will be grateful or not. He will warn you once or twice if you are ungrateful. If you refuse to heed His warnings, He will withdraw His support and that will be dangerous.
ACTION POINT:
Begin to thank God for all the things He has done for you, especially in the course of fulfilling your calling.
Open Heavens 2024 Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries.
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