OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: MONDAY 17TH FEBRUARY 2020
THEME: THE POWER OF YOUR WORDS
MEMORISE:
Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Joel 3:10
READ: 2 Kings 4:18-37
4:18 And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.
4:19 And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother.
4:20 And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.
4:21 And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out.
4:22 And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.
4:23 And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well.
4:24 Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee.
4:25 So she went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite:
4:26 Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well.
4:27 And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me.
4:28 Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?
4:29 Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.
4:30 And the mother of the child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her.
4:31 And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.
4:32 And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.
4:33 He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD.
4:34 And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.
4:35 Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.
4:36 And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son.
4:37 Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.
MESSAGE
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof."
Proverbs 18:21
Your tongue is the most powerful part of your body. According to the Bible verse above, it can kill and as well bring to life. This is why you must be very careful how you use it. Many people don't realise how powerful the tongue is, so they kill things that should be alive in their lives and resurrect what should be dead. From now on, don't say you are poor; confess wealth. Stop saying you are sick; say you are healed. Don't speak evil about your country; speak good only. Speak positively into the lives of your children while you reject negative things. Don't refer to them as disobedient; call them obedient. Don't call them liars, thieves or prostitute; rather, always use positive words to describe them. What you say activates spirits to function; don't activate the wrong spirits in your children just because you want them to feel hurt or remorseful. Speak exactly what you want into their lives; it may be difficult, but it is worth it.
Aside from speaking into a child's life or situation, you also need to start speaking into the atmosphere. There may be no situation that you want to change with your tongue at the moment, but you can just begin to say that you and your children God has given you will live long and serve Him for the rest of your lives. You could say though a thousand may fall on your left and ten thousand on your right, not a strand of your hair will be hurt. You could also say that you will be the head and never the tail. Confess always that your tomorrow will be alright. Take a cue from the Shunamite woman in our Bible reading today. She told her husband "it shall be well" and it indeed was well with them.
Make it a habit to consistently use your tongue to speak what you want daily. Soon enough, you will see your life turn around for good and to God's glory.
ACTION POINT:
Begin to speak positive words into your life, your children's lives and every situation around you from today.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Leviticus 14-15
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 7: GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS
1. "Great is thy faithfulness"
O God my Father!
There is no shadow of turning with Thee:
Thou changest not, Thy compassion, they fail not,
As Thou has been Thou forever will be.
Chorus
"Great is Thy faithfulness!"
"Great is Thy faithfulness!"
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided -
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!
2. Summer and winter, and spring time and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
3. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
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