Daily Devotion: Joy is Coming.
MEMORISE:
For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Psalm 30:5
READ: 1 Peter 1:3-8
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
MESSAGE
Perhaps, the most sorrowful period of my life was when my wife was pregnant with our fourth child. Before we met the Lord, we had three children, all delivered through caesarean sections.
We had decided not to have any more because the doctors said she couldn’t have a natural delivery and further surgeries may not have been safe. We became born again and one day, we came across Luke 1:37: “ For with God nothing shall be impossible.” These words gave us the assurance to have another baby.
Throughout the pregnancy, we didn’t see any doctor. Some of our friends were quite apprehensive. They said my wife could bleed to death during labor because she could rupture any of the three points where she had been sutured during her previous deliveries. I kept saying “No, that is not written in my Bible.”
On the delivery date, she labored for several hours to no avail. Then the second and third day passed and the baby was still not born. I was becoming really tense.
On the third day, the devil whispered to me very clearly “Stupid man, you claim to have a Ph.D, fool, your wife is going to die tonight and you will see what her relatives will do to you.” Suddenly, a holy anger rose up within me and I said “Listen devil, if my wife dies tonight, I will seek permission from the General Overseer to preach on Sunday, and the first thing I will say is there is nothing that my God cannot do.”
Immediate after, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit strongly with me and I began to pray. Not long after, I heard the cry of a baby.
My wife was the only one at the maternity so it could only have been ours. After a short while, my Father-in-the-Lord, who had been with us all through, came out of the maternity and told me “Baba aburo (father of a newborn), go and say hello to your wife.” My joy knew no bounds.
Indeed, weeping may endure for a night, but joy surely will come in the morning (Psalm 30:5). Dear reader, hold on to the word of God, keep confessing it, shut the devil up in times of discouragement and very soon your joy will become full in the mighty name of Jesus.
KEY POINT:
Do not despair. Hold fast to the word of God, your joy will surely come.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Exodus 30-32
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 21: NOW THANK WE ALL OUR GOD.
1. There shall be showers of blessing:
This is the promise of love;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
Sent from the Savior above.
o Refrain:
Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need:
Mercy-drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead.
2. There shall be showers of blessing,
Precious reviving again;
Over the hills and the valleys,
Sound of abundance of rain.
3. There shall be showers of blessing;
Send them upon us, O Lord;
Grant to us now a refreshing,
Come, and now honor Thy Word.
4. There shall be showers of blessing:
Oh, that today they might fall,
Now as to God we’re confessing,
Now as on Jesus we call!
5. There shall be showers of blessing,
If we but trust and obey;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
If we let God have His way.