Topic: No Excuse, No Exception [DCLM Daily Manna 15 August 2019 Daily Devotional by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]

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Text: Acts 8:1-8 (KJV)

1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.

6 And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

7 For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.

8 And there was great joy in that city.

Key Verse: “…And at that time there was a great persecution against the Church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles… Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:1,4).

MESSAGE:

In 1914, the British Army had approximately 710,000 men enlisted and able to fight and more than 1 million soldiers volunteered to fight in the first months of the World War I. But by mid-1915. It was apparent that not enough men were signing up to replace the casualties from the front line. In response, a scheme was launched in 1915. It involved canvassers visiting eligible men’s houses and asking them to publicly declare whether or not they would attest to join the forces. However, the survey revealed that the number of single and married men who public refused outnumbered the volunteers required to sustain Britain’s fighting forces. Subsequently, the Military Service Act was introduced in January 1916 and by March 1916, compulsory conscription for all single men aged 18-41 was in place. In May 1916, the Act was extended to include conscription for married men.

Also Read: Open Heaven 15 August 2019 – He is at the Door!

The early Church was also faced with extinction and had to resort to drastic strategies to stay afloat to win against the enemies of the gospel.

The early Church had almost lost the vision given them by Christ before ascension (Acts 1:8). But instead of nursing their wounds, these early believers seized the day by turning their persecution into opportunities to preach and reach more people as they spread out from the erstwhile comfort zone of Jerusalem.

The Gospel message is so urgent that no excuse or exception is allowed from those who ought to take it to the needy. Just as the sorrow of death, lack of comfort, etc. could not deter those who were scattered abroad from preaching the gospel, we also must never allow anything or anyone make us recoil from the responsibility to show others the way to the celestial city.

Thought For The Day: If our passion is to see God’s kingdom come, then nothing should stop the spread of the gospel!

The Bible In One Year: Job 11–15

DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.