Topic: Grace to be Passionate for the Nations [Archbishop Margaret E. Benson Idahosa] Above Only Daily Devotional 21 May 2020

Grace to be Passionate for the Nations

Luke 3:16 John answered, … he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

Obadiah 1:18 & 21 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; … ²¹ And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.

Psalms 2:8 (NKJV) Ask of me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession.

We recently studied that our possessions are nations or various fields of life, professions and spheres of influence in society, and the way we possess them is by preaching the gospel of Christ to people in these nations, so that they are reconciled to God. We have also studied about the need to raise our vision and passion from just making impact but also reconciled to God. For us to carry out this divine agenda of God, we need to be very passionate. The fie to see both the lives of men and various field of life completely reconciled to God, must burn brightly in our hearts. Our passion for this must be more than the passion with which people are going about doing evil and carrying out the devil’s will of stealing, killing and destroying many lives in these fields or nations. Our zeal must be the same as that which drove Jesus to come down to this earth to live, suffer and die for the reconciliation of all men and all things unto God.

Our second text above talks about the house of Jacob being a fire and the house of Joseph being a flame that will consume the house of Esau which will be like stubble (grass or plants). This is a symbol of how we will influence and transform the lives of many by the fire of God’s passion in us to reconcile all men to Himself. Jesus was so passionate about reconciling men to God that after He reached out to the woman by the well and she went to bring the people of her city to meet Him, His disciples brought Him food to eat but He said, “… I have food to eat that you know nothing about. Mu food,” …” is to obey the will of the one who sent me and to finish the work he gave me to do,” John 4:32 & 34 (GNB). Right now, I see Jesus baptizing you with that same fire that burned in Him to do the work of the Father.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, baptize me with the same fire and passion of Jesus to reconcile people and my entire field and nation back to you.

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