Topic: Grace to Promote God’s Agenda Always  [Church of God Mission International] Above Only Daily Devotional 30 August 2021

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Above Only Daily Devotional

By: Archbishop M E Benson Idahosa

MONDAY AUGUST 30

Grace to Promote God’s Agenda Always

Like 22:31-32, 41-42, Luke 9:54

….Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat : But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not : and when thou art converted , strengthen thy brethren. *And he was withdrawn from them ….and kneeled down, and prayed saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine , be done. *And when his disciples…saw this , they said, Lord , wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?

In our text above, Jesus models (in three different scenarios ) His commitment and ours to promoting God’s agenda . Choosing not to focus on how hurtful the impending betrayal would be, Jesus prayed for Peter even though He knew that Peter was going to deny Him three times. Rather , He focused on the restoration of Peter’s soul and how Peter could continue fulfilling God’s will and purpose for his life

When a certain village rejected Jesus and His disciples, His disciples, His disciples wanted to call down fire on them as Elijah did. Even though that might have seemed a good punishment, that was not God’s will and agenda for the lives of the inhabitants of that village.
Jesus rebuked His disciples. He reminded them that they are of a different Spirit and that He did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.

Finally, although the Garden of Gethsemane was very tough for Jesus, in prayer, He yielded His will to the will of God the Father. He elevated God’s purpose above His comfort and pleasure.
Prayer is one of the ways that we both discover and promote God’s agenda. Love, humility, selflessness , self-control and the willingness to make sacrifices are also very important virtues that will help us promote God’s agenda always. To do so, we need the leading, empowerment and fruit of the Spirit ( Galatians 5:16, 22-23 ), our Helper. We cannot promote God’s agenda in our own power or might but by the Spirit of the Lord.
It was by the power of the Spirit that Jesus offered Himself without spot to God ( Hebrew 9:14 ).

Prayer:
Dear Father, I desire to promote your agenda always. Help me by Your Spirit to be prayerful, loving, humble, selfless , self-controlled and sacrificial.

Bible In One Year Reading Plan
Job 34:1-36:33, 2 Corinthians 4:1-12, Psalm 44:1-8 & Proverbs 22:10-12