Topic: REFUSE TO BE STOPPED – Bishop Mike Okonkwo Devotional 12 September 2021 [The Redeemed Evangelical Mission]
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REFUSE TO BE STOPPED
“And many charged him that he should hold his peace; but he cried the more a great deal; thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” Mark 10:48 KJV
Our text tells us of Blind Bartimeus who refused to be stopped when the multitude told him to shut his mouth. The man must have reasoned that he had been there many years as a blind man and they didn’t help him. Now he had seen an opportunity and didn’t want to miss out on it. So, he shouted the more. His zeal, intensity and commitment made Jesus to stop. Jesus turned to the same people who were shouting at Bartimeus to bring him and that was how Blind Bartimeus received his sight.
Paul was a man who refused to let his fire go down. When the people asked Paul why he was so passionate, he answered: “But by the grace of God I am what I am…” (1 Corinthians 15:10 NKJV). The grace of God spurred him to serve more than the rest of the people. Paul recognized that he was a murderer. He sat down when Stephen was being stoned and gave his endorsement. Yet, grace found him from nowhere. So, how can you tell him not to serve when this grace and chance was given to him? Why should anyone beg you to serve or to be early to church?
You should be more passionate about God than your job. Some people are more afraid of man than God. They must be in the office early to sign the register, yet when it comes to God, they pick and choose. If you are truly passionate for God, no one would tell you what to do and what not to. Anytime I am preparing to minister, whether in my home church or anywhere else, whether to thousands or to ten people, there is agitation in my spirit. It is like a pregnancy until I deliver it. I don’t have enough sleep because something is moving and when it is delivered, then I have rest. That is how it works when you have intensity for God!
Further Reading: Mark 10:46-52
Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Proverbs 13-15; Evening- 2 Corinthians 5