The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 13 December 2023 – TOPIC: SIGNS OF THE TIME
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TOPIC: SIGNS OF THE TIME
16:1. Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.
16:2. He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘[It will be] fair weather, for the sky is red’;
16:3. “and in the morning, ‘[It will be] foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot [discern] the signs of the times.
16:4. “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed.
16:5. Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.
16:6. Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”
16:7. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “[It is] because we have taken no bread.”
16:8. But Jesus, being aware of [it,] said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?
16:9. “Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?
16:10. “Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?
16:11. “How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? — [but] to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
16:12. Then they understood that He did not tell [them] to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
THE MESSAGE::
“Mum is sick and has been diagnosed with cancer.” Those words from my sister cut through to my heart. As I prayed, it dawned on me that she must be in her ‘last days’; being in her eighties, I knew the end was near. My wife and I caught the next available flight to Lagos with one thing uppermost in our hearts: Go and ensure her salvation. We were able to pray with her. Thank God we did; she went home soon afterwards.
The Pharisees and Sadducees knew how to interpret “the appearance of the sky”, but could not interpret the sings of the times (verse 3). In a sense, Jesus was disappointed that they could not correctly interpret the Scriptures concerning Him and the time of the visitation of Israel.
Also Read: Open Heaven 13 December 2023 – DANGERS OF FAME
We are expected to be like the sons of Issachar who understood the signs of the times and knew what Israel ought to do. A proper understanding of the times we are living in should tell us that we are in the last days. This should come with a sense of responsibility in relation to the gospel. For one, there should be a higher sense of urgency in proclaiming the gospel and seeking to reach the unsaved. Second, we should be more careful with our own lives, knowing that in the last days, iniquity shall abound and the love of many shall wax cold. Are you getting cold?
PRAYER: Lord, help me to live with the consciousness of eternity in view.
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