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 approved of their killing him. The Church Persecuted and Scattered
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.
3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there.
6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said.
7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
Bible in one year: Joshua 15 – 17, I Thessalonians
AS REVEALED BY PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE IN TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL
1. Whenever we talk about mountains, the first thing that comes to mind is a big problem.
2. 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.
3. 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).
4. 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.
5. Phillip 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 to the whole city.
6. You may never know what is in you until you come face to face with a big problem.
7. 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.
8. 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 cam 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 continued to pray. As I prayed, the one who was dead came back to life. Hallelujah!
9. Your mountains will bring you to great destiny, in Jesus’ name.
SHORT REFLECTION BY THE LIGHT POINTERS
Glory to God for another dimension of insight to mountains from today’s devotional. No wonder Apostles like Paul always rejoice in confrontation of situations that seems like mountains because of the confidence and assurance of victory. Jesus gave His troubled disciples assurance “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake. But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But not a hair of your head shall be lost.”
Luke 21:12-18. May God bless and strengthen Pastor E.A Adeboye in Jesus name.
Prayer Point
Father, please turn the mountains confronting me into stepping stones to my promotion today.
Hymn
(Tune: There shall be showers of blessing)
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.
We will soon shout Halleluyah
Because God will do new things
Sickness and sorrow will be gone
Bondage will be forgotten.
We will soon shout Halleluyah
Because God will do new things
The barren will be fruitful soon
Failure will be forgotten.
We will soon shout Halleluyah
Because God will do new things
Poverty will be forgotten
Stagnancy will soon be gone.
We will soon shout Halleluyah
Because God will do new things
To all miracles are given
There shall be celebrations
We will soon shout Halleluyah
Because God will do new things
Many will have testimonies
Of prayers answered fully
We will soon shout Halleluyah
Because God will do new things
One of us will chase a thousand
Two will conquer ten thousands.
We will soon shout Halleluyah
Because God will do new things
Songs of praises we will sing
Halleluyah to our King.
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Joesphine Ehigie
TJ