Above Only Daily Devotional june 24 2019 By Archbishop Margaret E. Benson Idahosa Topic: Run With the Zeal and Passion of Christ

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John 9:4-5 (NIV) As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

John 4:33-34 (NIV) Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”

Mark 1:35 (NIV) Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Jesus was both passionate and hardworking. He woke up long before it was day break to spend quality time with the Father. During the day, He worked and passionately obeyed everything that God the Father required Him to do. He was not idle, slothful or lazy. He diligently went about using God’s power to do good and to heal people, Acts 10:38. In just three and a half years, He accomplished exploits that the world can never recover from. He preached the gospel, trained His disciples, loved and touched the sick, broken, hungry and afflicted. He took responsibility for ensuring that God’s will was done and that God’s power was manifested.

His joy and satisfaction came from doing God’s will and completing it. This same grace that was on Christ is upon us and Jesus has sent us into the world in the same way God the Father sent Him. God wants us to manifest this same glory and zeal of Christ. He wants us to run with the same zeal and passion Christ had for obeying Him and doing His will. We can only do this by focusing on Jesus. Hebrews 12:2-3 (GNB) says, “let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God’s throne. Think of what he went through; how he put up with so much hatred from sinners! So do not let yourselves become discouraged and give up.”

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, as I keep my eyes on Jesus, I know that the grace to run with His zeal and passion is filling me right now.

Bible in one year reading plan: Job 1-2, Acts 7:22-43