The theme for Open Heaven Daily Devotional August 1 2023 is Bright Days Are Ahead.
SCRIPTURE: But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Proverbs 4:18
It doesn’t matter how low you are now, there is still hope for a great future. I have seen God lift people from the miry clay and take them to the mountaintop. Believe it or not, He will do the same for you, in Jesus’ name.
My story is proof of this; I walked barefoot for the first eighteen years of my life. I can never forget my final year in grammar school. Prize-Giving day was coming up and I was supposed to take home many prizes. Those of us in our final year were to wear white trousers and shoes but I had no trousers — white, black or red. As for shoes, I had never owned one.
I started lamenting, “God, you know I have no trousers; why did You allow me to win these prizes?” One day, a boy in the hostel asked me to help him choose which of his six trousers he should wear for the ceremony. I helped him choose one and then said, “Ermm, you know I don’t even have one to wear”. “Pick one,” he offered. Although the trouser was so big that I nearly had to pull the waistband up to my chest, I didn’t care; trousers were trousers.
Now, the next problem was shoes. It was then I remembered that I had a poor uncle somewhere who had some shoes. The pair he gave me was old, with soles made from old lorry tires. I had to practice walking in them because I had never worn shoes before in my life. However, when the Prize-Giving day finally came, I had trousers and shoes to wear to the occasion.
Even if your current situation is worse than what I have just described, I assure you that the Lord who lifted me up can do the same for you. Greater days are coming, if you trust God and lay all in His hands. I must say that God did not raise me just because He felt like doing so; He did it to show forth His own glory. He said when your light shines before men, it is so that they can glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).
If you dedicate your life to glorifying Him and are never shy to give Him glory for whatever you achieve, He will raise you, even higher than you can ever imagine.
Greater days are ahead of you, in Jesus’ name.
Open Heaven 1 August 2023 KeyPoint:
Anyone who is willing to glorify God with his or her life will experience divine lifting.