Open Heavens 2016: Saturday January 2, Daily Devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Day Two Miracle

Saturday January 2

HYMN 1;

Hymn 1

How Great Thou Art (O Lord My God)

Verse 1:
O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Chorus:
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!

Verse 2:
When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Chorus

Verse 3:
And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Chorus

Verse 4:
When Christ shall come, with shout of acclaimation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim, "My God, how great Thou art!"

Chorus


                                              

DAY TWO MIRACLE

Memorise: 
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

Read: Genesis 1:6-8

6  And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7  And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8  And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Message
The Word of God has creative powers. According to our Bible reading of today, the power in the Word of God created space where there was none. It seemed like there was no space for further creation and the Almighty God wanted to create what now constitutes the present day universe. So the Word created the space (firmament) between the water and dry land for further creation. The Bible says:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."
John 1:1-3

There are lots of lessons we could learn from this creation story: The Word of God, when allowed to do His work, will always make a way where there is no way and a space where there seemed to be no space. When the Israelites got to the Red Sea and it seemed like they were stuck between the hosts of Pharaoh and the Sea, the Lord, through Moses, told them to move on. It takes faith in God to obey such a command, thank God they did and their obedience paid off, because the Word made an expressway for them to pass through:
"And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:  But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the mist of the sea."
Exodus 14:15-16

Another lesson to be learnt here is; people of God should always talk to God about their challenges. Moses did this effectively and God spoke at every given time, he became a problem solver because he heard from God always. Also, when God speaks, a miracle is potentially performed, but its ultimate manifestation is dependent on human agents. We short-change ourselves of miracles when we fail to heed the Word of God. We should not forget our positions in the Created Order i.e. Image of God. It was Moses who divided the sea not God, though under the influence of God's Word. The Word empowered the process by decree, "...and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the mist of the sea." Settled! My prayer for you is that, as you obey the Word of God this year, you will begin to do the impossible in Jesus' name.



Action Point:
Examine your life and see if there are ways in which you have not been taking heed to God's Word.