ESOCS Devotional 17 October
TEXT: ACTS 23:12-35 KJV
MEMORY VERSE: “Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake .” Isaiah 4:15 KJV
A man of God once said that the moment an individual takes it upon himself to work wholly and devotedly with Christ, under the leading of the Holy Spirit, the ruler of darkness would dispatch over a thousand demonic agents to ensure they bring him down. Such was the case of St. Paul. Satan continued to work against Paul from the beginning of his conversion.
In our text today, a group of more than forty radical Jews bound themselves together with an oath to slay Paul by an ambush (vs. 21, 30). They even vowed – in their desperation, to neither eat nor drink until they had carried out their devilish mission. Though these men formed this conspiracy on their own, to perfect their enterprise, they had to co-opt the Chief Priest and the elders, who also consented to the nefarious plot.
The religious leaders’ and the Sanhedrin’s part was to request the military commander to have Paul brought down to the council, while they (the plotters) laid in wait to assassinate Paul. What a wicked conspiracy.
Read yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
But God was providentially watching over Paul (through the ears of his sister’s son). Therefore, dear child of God, fear not, only match on in good works, for “no weapon formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn” (Isaiah 54:17).
CHALLENGES
- When Jeremiah was thrown into a dungeon (Jer. 38: 6, 11), God was there with him; when Daniel was thrown to the lions (Daniel 6:16), God was there with him; and when the three Hebrew young men were cast into the fiery furnace, the Son of Man was also their companion right inside the fire (Daniel 3: 19-25). That same God is still alive today. Why are you afraid?
PRAYER POINT
- God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, please be thou my God as well. Amen.
FURTHER READING: 2 Kings 16:10-20; 17:1-15; Galatians 5:13-26; 6:1-11
Thank you for reading the ESOCS Devotional today. Please share and follow us on all our platforms to contribute to the spread of the Gospel.
ESOCS Devotional 17 October
