ENDURING PERSECUTION

 ANCHOR OF LIFE DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE  for Friday, 26TH AUGUST, 2022.

Author: PASTOR DR. SAMUEL AYORINDE - General Overseer

Topic: ENDURING PERSECUTION

MEMORIZE: "Shall evil be repaid for good? For they have dug a pit for my life. Remember that I stood before You To speak good for them, To turn away Your wrath from them." (Jeremiah 18:20).

SCRIPTURE READING: Jeremiah 18:18-23.

"¹⁸ Then they said, "Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words."

¹⁹ Give heed to me, O Lord, And listen to the voice of those who contend with me!

²⁰ Shall evil be repaid for good? For they have dug a pit for my life. Remember that I stood before You To speak good for them, To turn away Your wrath from them.

²¹ Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, And pour out their blood By the force of the sword; Let their wives become widows And bereaved of their children. Let their men be put to death, Their young men be slain By the sword in battle.

²² Let a cry be heard from their houses, When You bring a troop suddenly upon them; For they have dug a pit to take me, And hidden snares for my feet.

²³ Yet, Lord, You know all their counsel Which is against me, to slay me. Provide no atonement for their iniquity, Nor blot out their sin from Your sight; But let them be overthrown before You. Deal thus with them In the time of Your anger."

EXPOSITION:

The poor mother of a boy had prepared the only food left at home for the child as he got ready to go to school. On noticing that there was nothing else for the mother to eat, the boy started crying out of compassion for his mother. Meanwhile, as he could not explain why he was crying, the mother misunderstood it for ingratitude and started to beat him. When he came back from school, he was able to explain to the mother while he cried that morning. She hugged him and  for his forgiveness.asked

Jeremiah was also often misunderstood for his messages of judgement from God which he must deliver to his people. But he had concern and sympathy for their well-being and continued preservation. Meanwhile, his people whose good he sought, misread him and buffeted him with imprisonment, starvation and threats of death. He cried to God for retributive judgement against those persecutors.

While vengeful prayers were common under the Old Testament dispensation, it is no longer so in the New. Christ, our perfect example, did not only teach His followers to love their enemies but also to pray for them (Luke 23:34). Steven also prayed for those who stoned him, which led to the salvation of Paul the apostle. Truly, persecution can at times overstretch the patience of the believer. But he is ordered to rejoice because of the future glory that awaits him (Revelation 2:10).

Are you suffering persecution today for Christ's sake? Cheer up, and look unto Him, "who for joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame..." Sooner or later, you will be with Him in glory if you do not give up.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Persecution may be fierce, but he that endures shall be saved.

PRAYER POINT: Lord, help your Church to endure persecution without compromising our faith in you in Jesus name. 

DAILY BIBLE READING IN A YEAR – Jeremiah 31-34.

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