The theme for Open Heaven Daily Devotional June 22 2023 is Obey Your Pastor.
SCRIPTURE:And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread and in prayers. Acts 2:42.
If you have chosen someone to be your pastor, then it is only right that you obey him or her. There are many people who call me Daddy and say I am the spiritual authority over them but I know that they are only deceiving themselves because they do not obey my instructions when they are contrary to what they want.
If you don’t obey the fellow with spiritual authority over you, then you are not really under his covering. Obey your pastor so that whatever God wants to give you through him or her can get to you.
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. – (Hebrews 13:17)
A pastor’s work becomes easy when he or she has a cooperative congregation who practice what they are taught from the pulpit. When you hear a message from the altar that is in line with the word of God, do it. If I show you in the Scriptures where God says you should do that thing, then you have to obey. If you disobey the word of God from the altar, it is not really the pastor you are disobeying but the Lord who sent him.
There are many people who obey the word of God partially. They obey the Scriptures they find convenient and ignore the rest. The reason many of such people don’t get their expected results as Christians is that their obedience is not complete. Until your obedience is complete, you cannot resist the devil and see him flee. James 4:7 says you must submit to God first.
Please my beloved, don’t be stubborn like the Israelites, constantly provoking Moses to the point where he eventually got angry and took an action that caused God to prevent him from entering into the Promised land (Numbers 20:1-12). Don’t discourage or provoke your pastor; rather, encourage him or her by submitting to his or her authority (Philemon 1:21).
OPEN HEAVEN 24 JUNE 2023 ACTION POINT
Do something for your pastor today to encourage him or her for all the labour he or she exerts over you.