Open Heaven 22 May 2018: [Tuesday] Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye
Exercising Your Delegated Authority
EXERCISING YOUR DELEGATED AUTHORITY – Tuesday May 22nd 2018
Memorise: And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. Exodus 14:15
Read: Exodus 14:10-16
10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.
11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.
13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more forever.
14 The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
15 And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:
16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
Read: Luke 10:19
19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Bible in one year: 2nd Samuel 19-20, 1st John 2:7-27, Hymnal: Sing hymn 16
Message:-
It is one thing to be given authority, and it is another thing to exercise the authority delegated. Some Christians are suffering today because they do not exercise the divine authority given to them as children of God. Some children of God are like Moses in today’s Bible reading, crying helplessly at the Red Sea with the army of Pharaoh fast approaching. The children of Israel also did not help matters because they murmured against his leadership at this critical point. The perfect storm faced by Moses at the Red Sea made him forget who he was and the enormous power of God had vested in him. In Exodus 7:1, God had told him:

“And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.”

Unfortunately, either Moses forgot this or his mind could not grasp the extent of its meaning. Although crying to God is not wrong by itself, there is time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1). This was not the time for Moses to cry; rather, it was a time for him to exercise the authority given to him by God. Nevertheless, God graciously reminded Moses that the authority to deal with the situation was already at his disposal. In Exodus 14:15-16, God said to him:

….Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.”