Daily devotional
Vivian Josiah@vivianjosiah
7 months ago
OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: SATURDAY APRIL 20TH 2024
THEME: YOUR NOON
MEMORISE: David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
2 Samuel 5:4
READ: Ecclesiastes 11:9
Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
MESSAGE
People in their noon are the ones we often call 'adults.' You will notice that Jesus Christ started His ministry at the age of 30. John the Baptist, the greatest of the Old Testament prophets (Luke 7:28), also started around the same age. Samson, by the time he killed a thousand people, was around 30 years of age. David, when he became king, was also about that age. Phillip, when he was turning Samaria around for God, was also the noon phase of his life. There is a saying: There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune, neglected, all the voyages of their lives are bound in shallows and mysteries."
The noon time is when the flood comes. If you are a pastor, around this time, there is hardly any sermon you will preach that will not be appreciated. With very little effort, the church grows, but the flood does not last forever. If you miss that flood, you will get to a stage where it would not matter how well you preach because people will say, "We've heard this before."
The noontime is probably what God was referring to when He said in Isaiah 60:1-5, "Arise, shine, for your light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you." God is smiling on your efforts. There are those who made good use of their flood and, as a result, were able to keep going when the evening came.
There was a young man whom God used to perform miracles, signs and wonders. He prospered so mightily that he reserved a presidential suite in Sheraton Hotel permanently for himself. In those days, he was always travelling with five Mercedes Benz cars. The number plates carried the name of the ministry, and each one was tagged "Ministry 1', 'Ministry 2', 'Ministry 3', and so on. After a while, however, the flood subsided. Money stopped flowing in, the cars disappeared, and the police began to look for him because of the money he was owing the hotel.
Don't misuse the flood when it comes. Be wise to use your brightest moments so well that the brightness will remain, even when the evening comes. Don't waste your resources. Don't mismanage your health and the relationships God sends your way. These are some of the things that wilI keep the brightness when the evening comes.
KEY POINT
Spend your noon time wisely; don't mismanage it.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Kings 9-10
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE
HYMN 30: WHEN WE WALK WITH THE LORD
1 When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
o Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
2 Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.
3 Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.
4 But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.
5 Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet,
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go; Never fear, only trust and obey.