CAC Living Water Devotional For February 24, 2024 : Topic – MARRY WITHIN THE FOLD (III)
Read previous CAC Living Water Devotionals here
CHRIST APOSTOLIC CHURCH THE LIVING WATER (January-December, 2024)
DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
DATE: Saturday, February 24, 2024
TOPIC: MARRY WITHIN THE FOLD (III)
MEMORISE
Then his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” And Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.” But his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord—that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. (Judges 14: 3, 4)
READ : Genesis 24:1-7
[1]. Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.
[2]. So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please, put your hand under my thigh,
[3]. and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell;
[4]. but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
[5]. And the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?”
[6]. But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there.
[7]. The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.
EXPOSITION
God has been helping us in the last 3 days to bring out some very relevant scriptures as touching marrying within the fold of Christ. He/she who marries outside the Fold is like a chicken who ventures outside the mother-hen’s reach where the hawk lurks around. What becomes of it is a sorry case. This is the case of Samson who hardly lost any battle because of the divine endowment upon his life. But he failed in the battle of choosing right, marriage-wise; he disdained his godly parents’ counsel (Jdg. 14:3). He had himself to blame. Conversely, Moses was the product of the marriage of 2 Levites (Exo. 2:1-2;5:16-20). There are countless advantages to marrying within Christ’s fold. However, parents won’t be right when they insist without providing any concrete godly (biblical) justification. The fold here is Christ’s body! When you get married to someone not of Christ, it shows that you are not of Christ. Growing in Christ is not the same as attending church. It is foolishness to think you can convert an atheist, or unbeliever in marriage (2 Cor. 6:14). No one has the power to convert another person without the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit does the conviction. Don’t go outside Christ to marry!
PRAYER POINTS
1. Pray for the singles around you, that God should help them to choose right, in Jesus’ name.
2. Lord, help all Christian parents not to mislead their children in marriage.
3. Lord Jesus, open the spiritual eyes of our singles to behold wondrous things in Your law that would help them to marry within the fold.
SUGGESTED HYMN FOR TODAY:
CAC GHB: 514
1. We raise our hearts and voices
Unto our Creator
For the sake of Thy servant
In prayer and praises.
2. Joy for the love giv’n to men
And the heavenly joy
Praise for unnumber’d blessings
And love that surpass love.
3. Let their collective prayers
May be a lasting one
And let them unite in love
Let them unite in Thee.
4. Lord accomplish their prayer
And their promises made
To where their faith will ascend
And lasting joy exist.
5. Praise for the hope most glorious
That looks beyond the veil
Where faith and hope shall vanish
But love shall never fail.
Amen.
EXTRA READING FOR TODAY:
Numbers 36,
Deuteronomy 1