Open Heavens 24 October 2016: Monday daily devotional by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Occupying while Waiting?

Topic: Occupying while Waiting? [Monday 24, October 2016]
Memorise: And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. – Luke 19:13
 Read: Joshua 13:1-6 (KJV)
 1 Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.
 2 This is the land that yet remaineth: all the borders of the Philistines, and all Geshuri,
 3 From Sihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, and the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites:
 4 From the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that is beside the Sidonians, unto Aphek, to the borders of the Amorites:
 5 And the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Baalgad under mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath.
 6 All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon unto Misrephothmaim, and all the Sidonians, them will I drive out from before the children of Israel: only divide thou it by lot unto the Israelites for an inheritance, as I have commanded thee.
Bible in One Year: Micah 1-4, Psalms 86
 MESSAGE:
 The parables of Jesus sometimes were directed to the multitude and at some other times are directed to the disciples in particular. The parable of Jesus in the memory verse for today was directed to the disciples who were being prepared for the great commission (Mark 16:15-16). They were told to occupy till He comes.
 Sometimes we think the word “occupy” means “keep yourself busy” alone; it means more than that. We must not keep ourselves busy doing nothing substantial. To understand the import of Christ’s command in Luke 19:13 we must take a look at the Bible reading of today. The Lord gave a not too good assessment of the journey to the Promised Land under Joshua, which should be a food for thought for the Church of the 21st century.
“Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.” - Joshua 13:1
 One lesson we must quickly learn from the above scripture is that Joshua was now old and there was no more strength and energy to lead the battle against the inhabitants of the land which God had given to them. They failed to occupy the Promised Land. In the same vain, when Jesus Christ told His disciples (and us by extension), to go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature, He was actually saying that we should go and occupy the land for Him and the Kingdom of His Father. It is beyond keeping ourselves busy just for its sake. The question now is, “Are we really occupying while we await His second coming?” Another food for thought is; in our evangelistic and missionary efforts, can we say we are occupying both the geographical and spiritual landscape and atmosphere of the world? What can we show for all the money spent on missions and evangelistic efforts? Have we taken a break in our efforts to occupy the nooks and crannies of world kingdoms like the disciples of old? We must remember that our mandate is to make disciples of all nations.
 Beloved, we must not lose grounds any more. As a matter of fact, the grounds we have lost to the enemy must be taken back. Like David encouraged himself in the Lord after the raid of his barrack at Ziklag, we must summon courage to go after the enemy and recover back the Kingdoms that once belongs to the Church. The cathedrals that have been turned to bars must be brought back for the worship of the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. Christian nations that have turned secular must be revived and brought back to the light of the gospel of the Son of the Living God. May the Lord help us in Jesus’ name.
Action Point: Let us set a strategic plan to go to the “garrison” of the children of the bondwoman and take what belongs to our God back to Him because He is the God of all flesh.
Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.
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