DAILY DEVOTIONAL OF THECHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)DATE: SATURDAY, MARCH 09, 2024TOPIC: THE WORD THAT OVERCOMES DEATHREAD: JOHN 8: 48-59 (NKJV)8:48. Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”8:49. Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.8:50. “And I do not seek My [own] glory; there is One who seeks and judges.8:51. “Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.”8:52. Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’8:53. “Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Whom do You make Yourself out to be?”8:54. Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.8:55. “Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.8:56. “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw [it] and was glad.”8:57. Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”8:58. Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”8:59. Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.THE MESSAGE:In our text, the Jews contended with Jesus for claiming to come from God. They labelled Him a Samaritan that was possessed of the devil. They found it very difficult to believe in Christ because they did not understand the mystery of the word of God that Jesus is God Himself. The Bible says in I Corinthians 2: 17-19 that natural men cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolish to them. We need the spirit of God to teach us to understand the things of God.Jesus is the Word of God; He is the one who overcame death and has given us the grace to cross over from death to life (John 5: 24). He often said in His word that whoever lived and believed in Him shall not die (John 11: 16). Jesus has promised us His children in John 11: 26 that if we believe in Him, we will not die. Let us put our trust in the Lord and believe His word that we will not partake in the second death which is eternal death, but we have the grace to live eternally with Him after the first death, which is physical death which serves as a passage for us to eternity.PRAYER: Dear Lord, grant me the grace to live eternally with You after this life in Jesus’ name