COOPERATION IS NEEDED Sunday 16 October


Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye

MEMORIZE: “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3).

READ: Matthew 25:14-19

The Godhead is the most powerful team. When powerful leaders team up to do an assignment, what a breakthrough their efforts will deliver! Were it not for the unity of the Godhead, the plan of redemption would never have seen the light of day. In God’s house, it is common to see God call a group of leaders together, headed by one of them, to enable them jointly perform an assignment. It is also common to see Satan introduce divisive tendencies in their midst, just to prevent them from getting to their goal. This is why we need to pray for the unity of our leaders in all our churches and in the body of Christ worldwide. As long as there is unity in a church, the people there would be unstoppable.

In Exodus 18:14-26, God enlarged the ministry of Moses to a point that he needed the support of able men, who could occupy various leadership positions, such as over thousands, over hundreds, over fifties and over tens. Contrary to popular opinion, the leader over thousands is not more important than the leader over tens. What God looks at is not necessarily the size under the leader but the level of faithfulness of each leader. To this end, while a faithful leader over tens will receive a reward from God, an unfaithful leader over thousands will receive judgement.

In the parable of the talents recorded in Matthew 25:14-30, it is obvious that each of us have grace and abilities given us by God for the purpose of doing His work. To get the best from your subordinates, you must respect the abilities and grace of God in their lives. In the first place, the talents are God’s property—His goods (Matt. 25:14). These are distributed according to the individual’s several abilities. God knows all His children and their individual capacity and limitations. It is therefore wrong to envy, compare or downplay the gifts of God in the life of your brother or sister. Doing so makes prayers said for such leaders ineffective; it hinders the move of the Spirit. If you are a leader indeed, you will encourage others and create a conducive environment for them to maximally contribute their quota to the work given to you.

ACTION POINT
No matter how highly placed you are, if you can humble yourself, it will be easy to be a team player. Pray for unity in your family and church.
 
Bible in One year: Exod. 1-4

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