CONFIRM NEED FIRST
October 17, 2009Bible in One Year:
Saturday, October 17, 2009
(Judg 19 - Judg 21)
Memorise: "For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened" (Matt 7:8)
Read: Mark 10:46-52
46 ¶ And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.
47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.
50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.
51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.
52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.
If God is already using you, He will want to use you in a greater way. Whatever you are doing today is a stepping stone to a much bigger, greater and higher divine assignment. For God to use you in this higher capacity, you must have conquered fear - particularly fear of death. We can learn from the Samaritan siege recorded in 2 Kings 7:1-11. Firstly, when you are tired of your suffering, the Almighty God will come to your rescue. The four lepers were tired of waiting on the same spot. They could no longer remain there. They were determined to move from where they were, even if they died in the process. It will amaze you that many people who are asking to be prospered and financially empowered are not sincere in their demands. They are not yet fed up of poverty and lack. If you are praying and fasting for a change and the individual who should benefit from that change is not truly convinced of the need for change, it may never come. Some years ago, we were praying and trusting God for a sister to be healed yet nothing happened. One day, God asked me, "Why are you praying when you have not even asked her if she really wants to be healed?" I told the Lord everybody wanted her well. Well, out of curiosity I finally asked her one day: "Sister, do you want to be well?" She replied, "No, because before the illness, my husband was not returning home after each day's work. But now that I am sick, as soon as he closes from work, he comes home". Hence, like Jesus in today's passage, confirm the need before praying.
When you are tired of your situation, it will be glaring. You will rebel against it. In 2 Kings 4:1-7, a prophet's widow was tired of persistent poverty in her family. They lived from hand to mouth while her husband was alive. He could not cope and had to borrow so much. Now he was dead, his widow stood the risk of losing her two sons to slavery. She was fed up of that state and she rebelled. At last, she became debt free and a notable oil magnate. Are you really tired of poverty, stagnancy, failure, lack, barrenness, etc.? What is the evidence that you really desire a change? Call upon Him today and He will answer. Rebel against that unpleasant event in your life and it will cease.
ACTION POINT:
Spiritual blessings are needs while most material blessings are wants. If you strive to meet the needs, the wants will be satisfied in the process.
Posted by Pastor E A Adeboye. Posted In : OCTOBER 2009
Fondly known as G.O or Daddy G.O, Pastor Adeboye became the General Overseer (G.O) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in 1981. Sheer curiosity and the search for a solution to a personal problem led Pastor Adeboye to worship at RCCG – Ebute-Metta in 1973. It was a most unlikely place of worship for a professor of Mathematics as the church had very few educated people and it lacked the comfort and grandeur of the Orthodox churches.
His desire to reach the ends of the earth is captured in this statement, “I would love to have a breakthrough to such a height that I can lend to nations and preach on every television and radio station at least one hour per day.”
