Open Heaven 5 June 2024: When God Wants to Bless You
MEMORY VERSE: Genesis 22:2 “And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.”
READ: 1 Kings 17:8-16 (KJV)
8 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.
14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.
15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.
Read Yesterday’s Open Heaven Devotional here
In today’s Bible reading, Elijah came to the widow of Zarephath, who had only one meal left. The Bible says in Luke 4:25-26 that there were many widows in the land, but Elijah was only sent to her. This is because God had chosen to bless her with supernatural provision. Even though God had chosen to bless her, she needed to give something to bring the blessing into manifestation. When Elijah asked for her last meal, she could have said, “You want to take the last meal out of the mouth of a widow and her son? And you call yourself a man of God.” However, she obeyed and brought the meal to Elijah, and from that moment on, lack became a thing of the past in her family.
God is the owner of heaven and earth; He can get whatever He needs without the help of any human being. He said in Psalm 50:10-12 that if He was hungry, He could eat any of the cattle on a thousand hills because they are His. However, as great as He is, He sometimes requests that a man should give Him something. When He does this, it is because He has chosen to bless that man. God could have provided for Elijah in any way; He had been feeding him for months using birds. In (1 Kings 19:4-8), when Elijah was hungry, an angel brought food and water, so when the brook dried up, God could have sent angels to feed him. It was not Elijah that needed help, it was the widow of Zarephath; she was the one in serious need. When God decides to meet your need, I pray that you will not resist His will.
In (2 Kings 4:8-17), you will see the story of the great woman of Shunem. She saw the man of God passing by, and God moved her to invite him to eat. Elisha refused, but the Bible says that she constrained him. Something within her said, “Don’t let that man of God go until you have blessed him.” Elisha ate the meal and kept coming back for more. She kept feeding him and even built an apartment for him. Then one day, God put an end to her barrenness when Elisha prayed for her. God prompted her to do the things she did, and although they cost her money, she got what money couldn’t buy in return. May you cooperate with God on the day He decides to bless you, in Jesus’ name.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Father, please let me do what I need to do to receive my blessings, in Jesus’ name.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalms 1-8
Thank you for studying today’s Open Heaven – When God Wants to Bless You – written by Pastor Enoch Adeboye
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Open Heaven 5 June 2024
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