THE BENEFITS OF MOUNTAINS: OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL, 10 APRIL 2018

THEME: THE BENEFITS OF MOUNTAINS

MEMORISE:
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: Isaiah 40:4

READ: Acts 8:1-8
1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.

6 And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

7 For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.

8 And there was great joy in that city.

MESSAGE:
Whenever we talk about mountains, the first thing that comes to mind is a big problem. However, mountains can be useful. Do you realise that mountains can be God's own way of advertising you? For example, the people of Israel didn't know who David was until Goliath came on the scene and propelled him into limelight.

Mountains, in the form of a big problem, can also be God's own way of asking you to come closer to Him. A good example of this is found in Acts 12.

When King Herod killed James, the Church didn't do anything about it, but when he grabbed Peter, the Church suddenly realised that if they did not do something about the opposition from the powers that be, they would all be dead soon. As a result, they prayed to God without ceasing until He did something about the situation (Acts 12:5).

A mountain can help you discover your potential. You may never discover your calling or the substance of your character until you are faced with big problems. Philip didn't know he was to be an evangelist; he thought he was doing just fine as a deacon. However, he discovered his calling as an evangelist after the devil moved Saul of Tarsus to begin to throw Christians into prison and his friend, Stephen, was killed.

He fled to Samaria where he served as an evangelist, and he brought great joy into the city? You may never know what is in you until you come face to face with a big problem. The most important thing about mountains is that the size of your mountain determines the size of your destiny: the bigger the mountain, the bigger your destiny.

Whenever the annual convention of our church is very close, our parishes send volunteers to clean up the Redemption Camp. One day, I was going round inspecting different parts of the camp from morning till evening. When it was evening, I was very tired and so I called my family together for prayer so that I could retire to bed.

I prayed a very short prayer, went to bed and fell asleep immediately. As soon as I fell asleep, my wife came and woke me up. I said to her, "Oh woman, leave me alone; I'm tired!" She replied, "One of the volunteers that came from your village is dead!" Hearing this, all my tiredness disappeared and I got up in a hurry.

I quickly gathered the prayer warriors for a serious prayer session. After about an hour, God said to me, "I thought you said you were tired?" He then instructed me to dismiss the prayer warriors, because I was the one He wanted to speak with. I released the prayer warriors and continue to pray. As I prayed, the one who was dead came back to life.

Hallelujah! Your mountains will bring you to your great destiny, in Jesus' Name.

PRAYER POINT:
Father, please turn the mountains confronting me into stepping stones to my promotion today.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Joshua 15-17, 1 Thessalonians 5.

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 6: A NEW THING
(Tune: There shall be showers of Blessing)

1. We will soon shout Halleluyah
Because GOD will do new things
Sinners will soon be forgiven
Prodigals will come home soon.

Chorus:
Shout Halleluyah
Because God will do new things
Rivers in desert now flowing
Halleluyah to our king.

2. We will soon shout Halleluyah
Because God will do new things
Sickness and sorrow will be gone
Bondage will be forgotten.

3. We will soon shout Halleluyah
Because God will do new things
The barren will be fruitful soon
Failure will be forgotten

4. We will soon shout Halleluyah
Because God will do new things
Poverty will be forgotten
Stagnancy will soon be gone.

5. We will soon shout Hallelujah
Because God will do new things
To all miracles are given
There shall be celebrations

6. We will soon shout Halleluyah
Because God will do new things
Many will have testimonies
Of prayers answered fully

7. We will soon shout Halleluyah
Because God will do new things
One of us will chase a thousand
Two will conquer ten thousand.

8. We will soon shout Halleluyah
Because God will do new things
Songs of praises we will sing
Halleluyah to our King.