Open Heaven 24 February 2024: A Call to Tenacity
MEMORISE: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; Romans 4:20
BIBLE READING: Genesis 37:6-28 (KJV)
And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
12 And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.
13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.
14 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?
16 And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.
17 And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.
18 And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
21 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.
22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.
23 And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;
24 And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
25 And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?
27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.
28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
Genesis 41:39-44
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:
40 Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
41 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
42 And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;
43 And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.
44 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.
Read Yesterday’s Open Heaven Devotional here
When I studied those who had gone ahead of me in ministry, I discovered that many of them got promises from God concerning the assignment He called them to do.
For a long time, however, their situation did not look like the promises they received, yet, they kept doing the work and, after some time, saw God fulfil His promise.
When God calls you for an assignment, He will show you the exciting end results.
However, when you begin to walk in that calling, you will start to see tough situations that you must go through to get the results He promised.
Joseph had dreams about his brothers and parents bowing to him.
That was exciting, but for those dreams to come topass, he had to be sold into slavery, be lied against, and be thrown in prison.
Nonetheless, he remained steadfast, believing that one day, what God showed him will come to pass – and it did come to pass.
Beloved, if God has called you to an assignment and has made some promises to you, and yet things are not looking like what He has said, you are in good company.
Everyone who ever received a call from God also went through this, but only those who were tenacious enough to stay the course succeeded.
When God called me to full-time ministry, one of the promises He made to me was that I will lead a mighty endtime army for Him.
At that time, the church was very small.
I thought He will grow the church quickly to build that army, but we would increase by two members in one week and reduce by four the next week.
I held seminars, fasted, prayed, and did everything I knew to do but the church did not grow.
I had left my well-paying job to answer God’s call, so I became a laughing stock to my friends at the university because they thought I was crazy to have made that decision.
Nothing seemed to be working, but I kept at it. I did not compromise on my faith and I did not stop trusting God.
Today, The Redeemed Christian Church of God is in over 190 nations of the world and we can indeed say that it is a mighty end-timearmy.
Like Joseph, don’t compromise in times of trials; keep pressing on and you will see God’s promises come to pass.
REFLECTION: Father, help me to hold firmly to Your promises. Help me to hold on to You until the very end, in Jesus’ name.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Deuteronomy 9-11
Thank you for studying today’s Open Heaven – A Call to Tenacity – written by Pastor Enoch Adeboye
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Open Heaven 24 February 2024
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