The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 10 February 2020 – TOPIC: PRISONERS FOR CHRIST

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DATE: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020
TOPIC: PRISONERS FOR CHRIST
READ: EPHESIANS 3:1-13 (NKJV)

1. For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles —
2. if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you,
3. how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already,
4. by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ),
5. which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:
6. that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,
7. of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.
8. To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
9. and to make all see what [is] the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;
10. to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly [places,]
11. according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,
12. in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.
13. Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

THE MESSAGE:

Apostle Paul gives a concise account of his ministry in the verses of today’s passage. It is very important that we appreciate that his labelling himself a ‘prisoner’ is not in the negative sense as is usually associated with the word. Anyone who is imprisoned is often viewed as one who has committed a crime. It is rather an expression of commitment to a course or role from which he wishes not to escape, no matter what it cost him. For this, he prayed the Christians at Ephesus not to be dismayed or discouraged by his sufferings.

To discharge our ministries effectively and successfully, we need to have a good understanding (verse 4) of the contents of the gospel and our specific roles in sharing it. It is very pertinent that we realise that in this ministry, we are nothing but servants and privileged carriers of the mystery of Christ. Anyone who must make his mark needs to know that executing this task requires the grace of God (verse 7). Leaning on the grace of God boosts our confidence and enhances our availability. Mention is to be made of God’s special disposition towards all who are of the ‘lowly estate’ (verse 8),that is, humility. Can we therefore like Apostle Paul, count ourselves as both prisoners ‘for’ and ‘of’ Christ?

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I yield myself totally to You as a prisoner for the sake of the gospel. Grant me a perfect understanding of my specific role in sharing this gospel, Amen!