Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye
Memorise: Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into
his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Psalms 100:4
READ: Luke 9:28-36
Going by the experience of Jesus on the mount of
Transfiguration, prayer is a key to encountering God’s glory, just as God can
reach out to man, so also can man reach the invisible God in the place of
fervent prayer, to the point of physical clothes changing form. Have you used
this tool to access your desired change? To get the kind of result recorded in
Luke 9:29, the Lord Jesus Christ first separated Himself from private and
public ministry. His ministry entailed privately counselling a number of people
and mentoring his disciples while ministering to lots more publicly, but He set
all these aside temporarily in order to access a higher level of God’s
presence. If you want God’s glory to transform you, you must be prepared to pay
the price the Lord paid. A worker or minister, who cannot set aside all
spiritual assignments in order to access God’s glory through fervent prayers,
will soon meet with failure on these same assignments. It is wisdom to access
His glory before embarking on or continuing a given task. Reaching for more of
His glory amounts to telling God you cannot do it on your own, and showing Him
how much you need Him. The one who does not care to reach for more of His glory
is professing self-sufficiency.
Another lesson from today’s Bible reading is that there is
no short cut into His glory. Some people think they can decree their way into
His presence. Not so fast! Even our Lord Jesus Christ did not experience the
transfiguration out of a simple command but out of intense prayer. There are
things simple commands cannot fetch you. If you like give your orders on such
issues, you will be ignored. A simple decree cannot usher you into God’s
glorious presence but intense prayers or quality worship can. In any case, are
you satisfied with the foretaste of His presence? Step up on your prayer life
today, have quality time to praise Him, worship the Lord and thank Him. You can
just stay in His presence not asking, but just worshipping Him. This season you
will encounter His glory that will transform your life in Jesus name!
KEY POINT:
There are many things you can command but the glory of His
presence is not one of them. People create the gods they serve but our God
created us to serve Him.
Bible in one year: Numbers 15-17
God bless you
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