AFRAID OF DOUBLE PORTION?: OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL, 19TH JULY 2018

MEMORISE:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. John 14:12

READ:     2 Kings 2:1-15

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 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.

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.

4 And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORDhath 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.
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.

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.

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

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.

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.



Luke 7:20-22

20 When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?

21 And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight.

22 Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.

MESSAGE

In the context of today’s memory verse , the prospect of processing a double portion anointing or doing “greater works” is somewhat scary and considered impossible by many. However, a prayerful consideration of the Master’s words in this verse will immediately highlight an important difference between Elisha’s experience and the Lord’s revelation here.

In 2 Kings 2:9, Elisha’s request was, “let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me”. The focus here is “thy spirit”, referring to Elijah’s anointing in contrast, the Lord’s focus in John 14:12 in not on having a greater portion of the His anointing (which may be virtually impossible to bestow on mortal flesh for many reasons), but rather on doing His works.

We carry out the works of Jesus by gaining access to His anointing through His Name (Acts 3:16). Therefore, we don’t need a huge amount of our anointing to do greater works spoken of in John 14:12; we only need to call on Jesus by faith to gain access to His unlimited power, which is an anointing without measure (John 3:34). No wonder Jesus in Matthew 17:20 said:

“…….If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

Therefore, you should throw away every form of fear, doubt and unbelief in response to Jesus’ call to do greater works than He did.

Our Lord Jesus Christ was quite conscious of the weight of His words in John 14:12, and for this reason, He started His statement with emphasis, saying “verily, verily, I say unto you”. When Jesus declared that His disciples would do greater works than he did, He meant that their works would have greater reach and impact on the wider world than His.

He was not merely referring to miracles, signs and wonders, but all aspects of what God had planned to do by the power of the Holy Ghost. Part of the greater works involves taking the gospel beyond Jerusalem to all parts of the world. It also involves miracles, sign and wonders of salvation, healing, deliverance, raising the dead and destroying the works of darkness wherever we go.

I therefore challenge you to recognize Jesus as the Miracle-Worker and see what He will do through you. The Lord does not expect you to do any of His works with your own power. In John 14:14 He said:
 “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”

So, whenever you are faced with impossible situations in your life and in the lives of others, all you need to do is to call on the Name of Jesus. From today, whatever you decree on earth will be granted in heaven in Jesus’ Name.

PRAYER POINT:

Father, please give me the grace to do greater works through the Name of Jesus.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Chronicles 34

Matthew 4:1-22

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 2: I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR

1. I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

o Refrain:
I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
Oh, bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.

2. I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their pow’r when Thou art nigh.

3. I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.

4. I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.

5. I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;
Oh, make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son.