09/08/2026
OPEN HEAVENS 2026 DEVOTIONAL
DATE: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 08, 2026
TOPIC: FROM STEADY PROMOTION TO EXTRAORDINARY PROMOTION
MEMORISE:
Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. - (Psalm 37:3)
READ: Genesis 26:1-14 (KJV)
“There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar. Then the Lord appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, “She is my sister”; for he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” because he thought, “lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold.” Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’ ” And Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.” So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.” Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him.”
Genesis 26:1-14 NKJV
MESSAGE:
Steady promotion happens when, if nothing goes wrong, and a fellow works diligently, he or she progresses to the next stage. After that, the fellow moves on to the next stage and continues to progress steadily. A great example of steady promotion can be seen in the case of Isaac in our Bible reading for today. There was a famine in the land, and things were really difficult. However, he obeyed God's instruction not to relocate, sowed in the land, and reaped a hundredfold return. He did not stop there; rather, he kept sowing and reaping until he waxed great. Things continued to progress steadily for him until he attained a very great height.
Steady promotions are good because they represent a slow but steady ascent. Those who experience steady promotion move predictably from point A to B, to C, and then to point D. The challenge with steady promotion, however, is that it only increases by addition, while extraordinary promotion increases by multiplication. For example, when you keep adding 2 and 2, you will need to add a lot of 2s before you can get to 2,000, while on the other hand, if you were multiplying, you would arrive at 2,000 a lot faster.
God desires for His children to progress from the realm of 'steady promotion' to that of 'extraordinary promotion' where they will experience exponential liftings that will cause people to marvel. For example, Joshua experienced steady promotion from serving as a servant to Moses (Exodus 33:11) to becoming a spy for Israel (Numbers 13:1-16). Later on, he experienced an extraordinary promotion and became Moses' appointed successor (Numbers 27:18-21) before eventually becoming the Commander of Israel (Joshua 1).
God does not just want you to have life; He wants you to have it abundantly (John 10:10). He wants you to have much more than you currently do, and He wants to make you a thousand times more than you currently are (Deuteronomy 1:11). When something jumps from one to one thousand, it is no longer operating under natural laws of progression; rather, it is operating by exponential or supernatural laws. This is the pattern that God wants your promotion to follow.
Beloved, my prayer for you is that you will begin to experience rapid and accelerated extraordinary promotions in all areas of your life, starting from today, in Jesus' name.
KEY POINT:
Steady promotions are good, but God desires that you also experience extraordinary promotions.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Ezekiel 44-46
HYMNAL:
HYMN 20 - I'M PRESSING ON THE UPWARD WAY
1. I'm pressing on the upward way,
New heights I'm gaining everyday;
Still praying as I onward bound
"Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
CHORUS:
Lord, lift me up and let me stand,
By faith, on Heaven's table-land;
Where love, and joy, and light abound,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
2. My heart has no desire to stay
Where doubts arise, and fears dismay;
Though some may dwell where these abound,
My constant aim is higher ground.
3. Beyond the mist I fain would rise,
To rest beneath unclouded skies,
Above earth's turmoil peace is found
By those who dwell on higher ground.
4. I long to scale the utmost height,
Though rough the way, and hard the fight,
My song, while climbing, shall resound
Lord, lead me on to higher ground.
5. Lord, lead me up the mountain side
I dare not climb without my Guide;
And, heaven gained, I'll gaze around,
With grateful heart from higher ground.
