Our Daily Bread 21/5/2018
TOPIC
AND YE SHALL BE MY WITNESSES
MEMORY VERSE
Act 1:8
BIBLE TEXT
Jonah 3:1-10
God's decision to make us His witnesses is a way to bless us, just like when He asks us to give me something, even though He owns everything (Psalm 50:9-11). However, God does has to want our publicity. Just like no one needs to announce the sun. When it rises in the east, everybody can see it as far away as the west. So Jesus is the sun of righteousness (Malachi 4:2). What a great honor to be a witness of the sun of righteousness because, through this, everyone will behold the mighty grace of God upon our lives. When Elijah left his own works for the work of God. He never knew that the king would later call him "father" (1 Kings 19:19-21, 2 Kings 13:14).
How do you know the features and the duties of Christ's witnesses?
God shows us some of them in Mark 16:15-18
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
The main character of Christ's witnesses is following Him sincerely while their primary assignment is preaching the good news. The assignment is more serious than what Jonah was given because a very high price has been paid for our redemption through Christ, which we must not allow it to be in vain. Another duty is the send out demons. If we'll claim the territories for God's kingdom, we must be fully prepared to cast out demons that currently reign in such territories. When we speak in tongues, this makes us an effective mouthpiece of God. Taking up serpents as referred in Mark 16:18 simply means dealing with serpents that come in form of man, deceiving people like that of the old one. God's witnesses must stand up and destroyed such lies of the serpent with God's true message. When we do all these as Christ's witnesses, we are saving people from eternal damnation. This is our joy and goal. The question now is "Are you a Christ's Witness?", if yes "Are you effective?"
PRAYER
Father, make me an effective witness from now onward in Jesus' name