OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL: WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 1ST 2017

THEME: OVERFLOWING LAUGHTER.

Memorise:

And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me. Genesis 21:6

Read: 2 Kings 2:1-15

2:1 And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.

2:2 And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel.

2:3 And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.

2:4 And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho.

2:5 And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.

2:6 And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on.

2:7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan.

2:8 And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.

2:9 And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

2:10 And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.

2:11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

2:12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.

2:13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;

2:14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.

2:15 And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.

Message:

In Joshua 7, after the Israelites had defeated the people of Jericho, Joshua sent a handful of soldiers to attack Ai. Because Ai was just a little town, he expected victory without a sweat, but to his utter dismay, his people were defeated. After receiving the sad news, he fell on his face overwhelmed by shame, because defeat brings shame. The enemy would have laughed, wondering how a small city such as Ai could defeat Israel. However, while Joshua was lying before the Ark of the Covenant with his face to the ground, God told him the cause of the defeat and what to do to have victory again. Have you been defeated by a weakness or an enemy you considered too weak to bring you down? I declare to you that this is your season of laughter! The Lord will show you the way to victory today, and your laughter will begin.

Moreover, beyond laughter, there is something called overflowing laughter. In today’s Bible passage, when Elijah was about to be transported to Heaven, Elisha his servant had some unpleasant experiences everywhere he went with his master. As they visited each of the schools of the prophets, the sons of the prophets, who were students in these schools, called Elisha aside and said to him, “Daddy’s boy, everywhere daddy goes, you go with him. 

Do you know that your daddy will be going finally today, and you will have no one else to follow about? We shall soon see what will become of you.” Every time they say this, Elisha replied them saying, “I know my master is going today, but mind your own business.” After Elijah was taken to Heaven and his mantle dropped, Elisha grabbed it and smote the river like his father had done, and the River Jordan parted into two for him to go through. The sons of the prophets, who were watching from a distance, came and bowed down to him. 

They had no choice but to admit that indeed, the spirit of Elijah is now rested on him. The greatest laughter comes when your mockers become your servants. When God called me into ministry, a lot of people laughed. The greatest laughter came from my village, where they said, “Look at him - the only lecturer from this village who we thought was going to become an important personality. We knew something was wrong with him the moment he joined that church of 'Amen' and began saying 'Amen, Amen'.” Nevertheless, today, God has given me overflowing laughter. Wherever they are laughing you to scorn, the Lord will give you overflowing laughter in Jesus’ Name!

Action Point:
Pray that everyone who has been experiencing sorrow, disgrace and shame for long in your local assembly will begin to experience overflowing laughter from now on.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
James 4-5
1 Peter 1
Hosea 9

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 4: THROUGH THE LOVE OF GOD OUR SAVIOR

1. Through the love of God our Savior,
All will be well;
Free and changeless is His favor;
All, all is well.
Precious is the blood that healed us;
Perfect is the grace that sealed us;
Strong the hand stretched out to shield us;
All must be well.

2. Though we pass through tribulation,
All will be well;
Ours is such a full salvation;
All, all is well.
Happy still in God confiding,
Fruitful, if in Christ abiding,
Holy through the Spirit’s guiding,
All must be well.

3. We expect a bright tomorrow;
All will be well;
Faith can sing through days of sorrow,
All, all is well.
On our Father’s love relying,
Jesus every need supplying,
In our living, in our dying,
All must be well.