OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL THURSDAY, JANUARY 4 2024.

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL  THURSDAY, JANUARY 4 2024.

THEME:  NEW YEAR RESOLUTION III

*MEMORISE:*

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

James 4:10

*BIBLE READING: 2 KINGS 5:1-14*

1 Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the 

LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.

2 And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife.

3 And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.

4 And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.

5 And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.

6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent

Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.

7 And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.

8 And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.

10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.

11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.

13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

*MESSAGE:*

This year, I have decided that I will humble myself more than ever before. I will ask anyone who can assist me for help, irrespective of their status.

Many people do not have a problem with asking for help from someone who is 'superior' to them, but a lot find it difficult to seek for help from people they consider to be beneath them. This sort of attitude rob many people of their blessings.

When I was in secondary school, I was good at Mathematics and other subjects, but I knew that I  needed extra coaching to pass the English Language. In those days, it didn't matter how brilliant you were; if you passed all other subjects and failed the English

Language, you'd be considered a failure. I asked a junior of mine who was born in England and had a very good command of English Language to teach me, and I got an A! He can boast today that he taught me, but it wouldn't matter because I already have my certificate. This year, don't let pride hold you back from the help you can get to fulfil your destiny.

Unfortunately, however, many proud people don't know that they are proud. Some of them even boast about their pride and give it fancy námes like self esteem, self-confidence and so on.

Beloved, any level of self-esteem that makes people afraid to approach you is pride. Someone may know the solution to your problem, but because of how you carry yourself as if you own the world, he or she may not approach you with the solution. You need to humble yourself, smile more, speak warmly to people, and make it easy for them to speak to you.

In our Bible reading for today, we can learn a lot from Naaman and his wife. First, his wife was approachable, and the maid was able to talk to her about her husband's embarrassing problem. Also, when Naaman got to Elisha's place and got angry that Elisha did not come out to pray for him, it was one of his servants who advised him, and he heeded the advice. The cure to Naaman's leprosy was tied to people that were considered inferior to him; thank God he was humble enough to listen to them.

This year, make it your resolution to humble yourself more than ever before. Remember, God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).

*KEY POINT*

The solution to your problem may be with Someone of a lower status than you. Humble yourself to get that help.

*BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:*

Genesis 13-17

*AUTHOR:*

PASTOR E. A ADEBOYE

*HYMN 28: GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH*

1  Guide me, O thou  great Jehovah

pilgrim through this barren land;

I am weak, but you are mighty;

hold me with your powerful hand.

Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,

feed me now and evermore,

feed me now and evermore.

2 Open now the crystal fountain,

where the healing waters flow.

Let the fire and cloudy pillar

lead me all my journey through.

Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,

ever be my strength and shield,

ever be my strength and shield.

3 When I tread the verge of Jordan,

bid my anxious fears subside.

Death of death, and hell's Destruction,

land me safe on Canaan's side.

Songs of praises, songs of praises

I will ever sing to you,

I will ever sing to you.