ESOCS Devotional 31 July 2023
MEMORY VERSE: “And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.” Luke 9:2 KJV
TEXT: LUKE 9:1-9 (KJV)
Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.
2 And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.
3 And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece.
4 And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart.
5 And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.
6 And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.
7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him: and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John was risen from the dead;
8 And of some, that Elias had appeared; and of others, that one of the old prophets was risen again.
9 And Herod said, John have I beheaded: but who is this, of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him.
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
When the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is eminent. This appears to be the case with many people holding the microphone and standing in various pulpits across the churches and denominations. It is worrisome to note that many possibly do not understand the essence of their assignment or have drifted from the original purpose for the pursuit of frivolities of the world.
Jesus Christ while commissioning the twelve disciples according to our text clearly sent them out for two basic reasons as follows:
- PREACH: They were sent to preach the kingdom of God, preach the good news of the gospel, preach the glad tidings of salvation, preach the impact of Christ’s death and resurrection, and preach the message of eternity. They were sent to preach love and unity amongst brethren, preach peace to the world, preach the message of hope and comfort, preach righteousness and holiness and preach justice, equity and service to humanity.
Beloved, we are not sent to castigate, condemn and destroy one another. Our mission is not towards competitive jealousy. You did not mount the pulpit to promote yourself or intimidate others. Seize every opportunity you have on the pulpit to preach the gospel. Remember, we have an eternal message to preach but we don’t have eternity to preach it. Make quality sense on time. Do not waste God’s time and the people’s time whenever you mount the pulpit. More so, preach the gospel on the way, inside the vehicle, in your office, market place and neighbourhood. Importantly, preach it with your life and character.
- HEAL: The society is filled with all manner of people. There are those whose lives are shattered, battered and scattered. There are disgruntled, frustrated, depressed and reproached people in the world. Some existing are practically oppressed, intimidated and made to live in fear. There are several others who are sick in mind, body and finance. It is for these set of people that the pulpit exist, so that they can be pulled out of the pit. Beloved, God sent us to bring healing to the people. Show care and compassion to the people and give them a listening ear. Encourage and comfort them, Leave them better in mind, health and finance than you met them. As much as you can, heal their wounds including emotional challenge. Hear this, when we all commit ourselves to the healing of the people, we will have a better church and a wonderful world to live in.
- Commit yourself to the healing of everyone you encounter.
- Father, thank you for sending us as your ambassadors; give us the grace to preach the gospel and ensure the healing of the people, in the name of Jesus, Amen.
FURTHER READING: Judges 9:1-21; Nehemiah 4:1-14; Acts 24:1-23
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ESOCS Devotional 30 July 2023
