: MONDAY 25TH JUNE 2018: LET YOUR OBEDIENCE BE

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: MONDAY 25TH JUNE 2018
THEME: LET YOUR OBEDIENCE BE COMPLETE
MEMORISE:
And having in a readiness to revenge all
disobedience, when your obedience is
fulfilled. 2 Corinthians 10:6
READ: 2 Kings 5:8-14
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
In the Body of Christ, we often talk about
how Noah found grace in the sight of God,
but we hardly mention what the Bible says
about him in Genesis 6:22:
“Thus did Noah; according to all that God
commanded him, so did he.”
Noah was an obedient instrument in the
hands of the Most High God, and God
cherished him for that. To show the extent
to which God cherishes obedience, Prophet
Samuel in 1 Samuel 15:22 said:
“…Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt
offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the
voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better
than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of
rams.”
Naaman's story teaches that only complete
obedience to divine instructions is
rewarded. Prophet Elisha had instructed
Naaman to go and wash in River Jordan
seven times in order to receive healing from
his leprosy. When he first heard this, he felt
insulted for not being given a dignified
reception, as Elisha did not even grant him
face to face audience. He also felt insulted at
the simplicity of what he was asked to do
and where he was asked to do it. He was
instructed to wash seven times in "dirty"
River Jordan. His initial response to God's
instructions is captured in 2 Kings 5:12 as
follows:
“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.”
Thank God he had servant who persuaded
him to do what the prophet had said. After
his servant succeeded in persuading him,
the result that followed shows that the
pains of complete obedience pale in
comparison to its benefits. 2 Kings 5:14
says,
“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.”
Beloved, only after Naaman's obedience was
complete did he receive his miracle. The loss
would have been great if Naaman had
stopped dipping his body in the river after
the fifth or sixth attempt, since nothing
about his situation had changed. I pray that
your obedience to the word of God will be
complete, and you will receive your miracle
thereafter in Jesus' Name.
PRAYER POINT:
Father, make my heart a fertile ground that
is yielded to the complete obedience of
divine instructions in Jesus’ Name.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
1 Chronicles 6-7, Acts 17:1-15
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 4: TRUST AND OBEY
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
Chorus:
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
2. Not a shadow can rise,
Not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt nor a fear
Not a sigh nor a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.
3. Not a burden we bear,
Not a sorrow we share
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief nor a loss,
Not a frown nor a cross,
But is blest if we trust and obey.
4. 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.
5. 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.