Topic: God Has Substitutes [Sunday 19, February 2017]
Memorise: For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. – Acts 1:20
Read: 1 Samuel 15:16-16:1 (KJV)
15:16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
16:1 And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.
Bible in One Year: Genesis 1-2, Isaiah 41:8-20
MESSAGE:
One truth that everyone born of God must have at the back of their minds is that God has substitutes. He can therefore never be held to ransom by anyone. Whenever God decides to use a person, if that fellow does not yield to God at the time of His requisition, God will move on to use another person to fulfil His purpose. More often than not, such substitutes are better than the original recipients of God’s mandate. Such was the case with King Saul.
“And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.” – 1 Samuel 15:28
When a man feels too big to obey God’s instruction, he is not fit for God’s use. In the family of the works of the flesh, pride, stubbornness and rebellion are kinsmen, with witchcraft as their first cousin (Galatians 5:19-21). The Lord through Samuel reminded King Saul that there was nothing special about him before He made him king over Israel. King Saul himself did not see himself as qualified, yet God’s grace preferred him, despite the fact that he came from the least of the tribes of Israel (1 Samuel 9:21). This is the reason why whosoever God decides to use should not allow himself or herself get carried away by the glamour of the office he or she is occupying. The fellow should always keep in mind where he or she is coming from and what he or she used to be. God does not use the qualified; rather, He qualifies the fellow He wants to use.
When King Saul began to feel too big to obey the Lord’s commandment, he was replaced with a ready-made substitute, whom the Lord declared to be better than King Saul. My prayer for you is that you will not be replaced in the scheme of things in God’s kingdom in Jesus’ Name. Beloved, we should know that God has substitutes that can readily replace us if we fail to yield to His instructions. Never see yourself as being indispensable before God. Take heed to what the Lord Jesus Christ said concerning this in Matthew 3:9:
“And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”
Prayer Point: Father, please help me to overcome anything I am doing now that may eventually make You find a substitute for me in Your Kingdom. Please don’t replace me with anyone or anything.
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.
