OPEN HEAVENS 2023 PRAYER

OPEN HEAVENS 2023 DEVOTIONAL

DATE: MONDAY, MARCH 6TH, 2023

TOPIC: DIVINE PROMOTION 2

MEMORISE:
“And David said unto Michal, it was before the LORD, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel: therefore will I play before the LORD.” (2 Samuel 6:21)

READ: 2 Samuel 6:20-23 (KJV)

20 Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself!

21 And David said unto Michal, It was before the Lord, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel: therefore will I play before the Lord.

22 And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour.

23 Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.

MESSAGE:

Beyond the willingness to do the Lord’s will, another thing we notice about people who God promotes is that they are very humble. They don’t regard themselves more highly than they ought. In today’s Bible reading, we see the same trait in Michal as was in her father, because just like Saul, she cared too much about what the people thought, whereas David’s focus was on giving praise to the Lord who made him king. If you can be humble enough to praise God in whatever way you can in front of people, if you don’t think too highly of yourself, He will keep promoting you.

As far as God is concerned, the one who should be at the top should be able to wash the feet of his subordinates, not one who wants everyone to see and regard him as above them all. Mark 10:44 says, “And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.”

When you are full of pride, God will resist you rather than lift you (James 4:6). If you really want to experience divine promotion, you must humble yourself before the Lord.

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.-(1 Peter 5:6).

Furthermore, James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”

One day, God showed me a vision of two graphs. The graphs look like two mountains with a valley in between them. He asked me where I was on the graph, “Top or bottom?”. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, I replied “The bottom”, knowing that from there, He could then lift me. The Lord then said to me, “If you want to go to the top, then you have to be humble; you have to remove the titles ‘Reverend Doctor’ from your name and simply be called ‘Pastor’”. I did that and since then, I have been enjoying divine promotion. If you would choose to be truly humble, the only way to go would be higher.

KEY POINT:
God promotes the humble.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Joshua 5-7

HYMNAL:
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.

REFRAIN:
Trust and obey!
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey.

2. But we never can prove
The delights of His love,
Until all on the altar we lay,
For the favour He shows,
And the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

3. 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.