CAC LIVING WATER DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR SEPTEMBER 14, 2022 : TOPIC – PRAY FOR THOSE PERSECUTING JESUS (1)
CHRIST APOSTOLIC CHURCH THE LIVING WATER DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
DATE: Wednesday, September 14, 2022.
TOPIC: PRAY FOR THOSE PERSECUTING JESUS (1)
READ: Acts 9:1-9
[1] And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
[2] And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
[3] And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
[4] And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
[5] And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
[6] And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
[7] And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
[8] And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
[9] And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.
MEMORISE:
Concerning zeal, persecuting the church concerning the righteousness which is the law, blameless (Philippians 3:6)
EXPOSITION
He who is suffering from schizophrenia seldom agrees that he sick. The day the mentally illed looks at himself, asking what happened to him, and if people had seen him that way, he getting over the mental illness. Something similar is the situation with those who persecute Christians and Christianity in any way. They think they are doing the right thing. Saul is an example (Phil. 3:6). We shouldn’t be surprised. Jesus alerts us, Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service (Jn. 16:2b).
The overzealous Saul thought he was serving God by arresting Christ’s disciples and facilitating their murder (Acts 9:1,2). But he was wrong. Fundamentalists, religious fanatics, and terrorists have the same conviction/ideology, today. They think killing those who don’t accept their faith, including Christians, secures places for them in ‘heaven. No wonder Jesus (Lk. 23:34), Peter (Acts 3:12), and Stephen (7:60) presented those persecutors as ignorant of what they did. Even when they thought they know what they are doing, they knew not that Satan was using them to accomplish his own nefarious purposes, to their own detriment.
The reason they persecute Christ’s believers is because they have not known the Father nor His Christ (Jn. 16:3)-ignorance of the highest order! Honestly, they should be pitied in such terrible condition, like one should pity the mad man still languishing in his insanity. Like Jesus and Stephen, let us pray for them not that they should die, but that they would encounter the true Person of Christ that they are ignorantly kicking against (Acts 9:4,5). God expects such prayers, and He answers them gloriously. Why? He awaits even the worst sinner to come to Him for salvation.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Lord, help us to see sinners, including those persecuting us, the way You see them.
2. Pray that the same Power that encountered Saul on the way to Damascus should encounter persecutors of the gospel in this land.
3. Pray for mighty rush of Holy-Spirit-induced conversions among even the worst haters of the gospel globally.
HYMN FOR TODAY:
CAC GHB 431
1. Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Doth his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more
2. For Him shall endless prayer be made,
And praises throng to crown His head;
His name like sweet perfume shall rise
With every morning sacrifice.
3. People and realms of every tongue
Dwell on His love with sweetest song;
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their young hosannas to His name.
4. Blessings abound where’er He reigns;
The prisoner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest;
And all the sons of want are blest.
5. Let every creature rise, and bring
Its grateful honours to our king;
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth prolong
Amen.
EXTRA READING FOR TODAY:
Hosea 1 – 6