The Light of Life Daily Devotional

WEDNESDAY, 18th May 2022 

TOPIC: PAUL SUFFERS GLADLY

FOR READING & MEDITATION:  Acts 21:8-14; Romans 5:3-4.

8. The next day we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven men who had been chosen to distribute food. 

9. He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy. 

10. Several days later a man named Agabus, who also had the gift of prophecy, arrived from Judea. 

11. He came over, took Paul’s belt, and bound his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, “The Holy Spirit declares, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.’” 

12. When we heard this, we and the local believers all begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 

13. But he said, “Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.” 

14. When it was clear that we couldn’t persuade him, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

Rom 5

3. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 

4. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.

MEDITATE 

The early apostles were determined to propagate the gospel despite the stiff opposition and persecution from the religious leaders of their day. Instead of give up, they seized the opportunity of their trials to preach the gospel to the world of their day.

From our text today we see how even the strong warning of a seasoned prophet like Agabus, could not stop Paul from his determination to advance the course of Christ by going to Jerusalem. I want you to know that this was not the first time Paul heard this warning. In Acts 20:17-24, we find that when he landed at Miletus, He made the elders of the church at Ephesus to know how that the Holy Spirit has told in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead of him. But as far as he was concern; “Life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assign me by the Lord Jesus; the work of telling others the Good News about God's mighty kindness and love".

The questions we should be asking ourselves at this point are: Are these people real human beings like us? Do they have our kind of feelings, desires and concerns? How come they lived this kind of live? How could they have abandoned all things just to live for the glory of God alone? Is it the same Christianity we know today that they practiced or are we practicing a different kind of Christianity?  

From the list of some of the things that Apostle Paul suffered because of Christ in 2 Corinthians 11:23-33, we see how he was given hard labour, was beaten with stripes and rod,  was imprisoned, was threatened with death often, and was stoned. How he suffered shipwreck, he experienced weariness, pains, hunger and thirst.

Yet the most amazing aspect of this experience is that he said, suffering doesn't border me, rather what borders me most is the care of all the churches. May the advancement of the church and God's kingdom be our concern!  May we come to that level of Christian maturity to say like Apostle Paul, “I glory in my affliction?” 

When this is the case, we will receive God's help through the flow of His grace in and through our lives.

VERSE OF THE DAY: “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us-they help us learn to be patient” (Romans 5:3-4 TLB).

QUOTE: “Life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assign me by the Lord Jesus”.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to develop a matured Christian life, in Jesus' name. Amen