OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL-TUESDAY-12/01/2016-GENUNIE
PRAISE AND WORSHIP: A PATH TO PROSPERITY-BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE
The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with
it. Proverbs 10:22
2nd Chronicles 20:24-26
24 And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the
wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies
fallen to the earth, and none escaped.
25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take
away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the
dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more
than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil,
it was so much.
26 And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in
the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the Lord: therefore the name of
the same place was called, the valley of Berachah, unto this day.
KJV
MESSAGE
Yesterday, we considered genuine praise and
worship as a path to victory, today we want to consider prosperity; the genuine
praise and worship.
“And when Jehoshaphat and his people
came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance
both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off
for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in
gathering of the soil, it was so much.”
2nd Chronicles 20:25
When God tells you that He would prosper
you, don’t insult Him by asking “how?” This is because while you do not have
one way that can lead you to your prosperity, God has uncountable ways. All you
need is to believe and obey Him (John 11:40). Is it not amazing, if not unusual,
for the soldiers in our bible reading to go to battle with precious jewels and
costly outfits as if they were going for wedding ceremonies? The reason for
this was that God had determined to bless His people, because He knew from the
onset that His people would praise and bless the beauty of His holiness, so He
prepared their compensation beforehand! Another lesson we must learn from this
story is that our praise and worship must be Holy Spirit inspired; it must not
be offered from our carnal man. The way we sometimes sing God’s praise confirms
that these songs are carnally motivated; not seasoned with grace. It would have
been acceptable if we were singing it to praise men like secular musicians do.
Unfortunately, the One we claim to be praising is a Spirit; He knows
everything.
“But the hour cometh and now is when the
true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the
Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him
must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
John 4:23-24
Moreover, the Almighty demands our praise
and worship of Him. He is also prepared to bless our obedience to this divine
mandate. In other words, if we deny Him the praise that He is worthy of, He
will also deny us the prosperity that we can so easily get. I once visited a
relation with the aim of blessing him with a certain amount of money, but
changed my mind because he failed to give me a modest hospitality according to
our custom. When I left his house, I used about 5% of the money I should have
given him to buy the soft drink he should have entertained me with. He lost
100% because he did not host me with 5%. Let us cultivate the habit of giving
God abundant praise and worship and He will bless us with abundant prosperity.
Action Point
Throughout today, worship God in truth, in spirit and in holiness as you
go about your daily business.
Bible in one
year:
Deuteronomy
4:32-6:25, Job 2:7-3:2
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