No Mighty Works There

MY DAILY COVENANT WITH GOD DEVOTIONAL

Devotion for Wednesday January 25, 2017

Topic: No Mighty Works There

Text: Matthew 13:53 – 58     

The people of Jesus’ hometown had known Him since He was a child and were acquainted with his family. They saw him grew up, go to places with His mother, Mary. They saw him with Joseph in his carpentry workshop. They were too familiar with Him to have believed where he got the powers He was displaying. They could not bring themselves to believe in His message.

Jesus Christ came to them as a prophet, who challenged them to respond to unpopular spiritual truth. Jesus was almost thirty years old before He began His public teaching ministry, and He was not trained as a rabbi. For the years before that, He had been at home, learning carpentry from his father, Joseph. These made them wonder how He could so much do the things He did without formal training.

They did not listen to the timeless message He was preaching because they could not see beyond the man. Their familiarity with Jesus blinded them to the spirit in Him. Jesus did few miracles there “because of their unbelief.”

Unbelief blinds people to the truth and robs them of hope of salvation and deliverance. Over familiarity is the problem with so many Christians today. Because they can preach and teach the word of God, they find it had to submit to other teachers of the gospel too. At conferences and seminars, you will see them loitering about when the message is going on just because they are preachers also. Most times we don’t belief what other preachers can offer. Such spirit is pure manifestation of pride. This is a way Satan robs us the blessings of God in the church activities and programmes.

How does your faith measure up? Do you believe God to do that thing bothering you? If you can’t see God’s work, perhaps it is because of your unbelief. Today, believe, ask God for a mighty work in your life, and expect Him to act. Look unto God with the eyes of faith and you will certainly see Him working in your favour.

Food for Thought: Familiarity breeds contempt

Memory verse: Matthew 13 verse 58 - And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.

Prayer: God, help me not to be too familiar with you that I despise your words and lose my miracles in Jesus name, Amen.

Why Stand Aloof, O Lord? Devotion for Tuesday February 9, 2016

Why Stand Aloof, O Lord? Devotion for Tuesday February 9, 2016

Text: Psalm 10:1 – 11                Memory verse: v 1

When God withdraws His grace from us and trouble comes, it is usually very severe. Most times, we stand afar off from God by our unbelief, fear, etc and then complain that God stands afar from us. God is represented here as standing at some distance, seeing the oppression of His people, and yet apparently feels unconcerned about it. The Psalmist went further to complain about wicked people (10:2–11). The sinner proudly glories in his power and success. They do not call upon God nor seek His guidance (10:4).

As soon as affliction comes to us, we think God should help us, but it may not always His due time. Sometimes, when He has not acted, we, like the Psalmist here, will start querying God for being aloof and inconsiderate. It is not always so. God has His timing for everything. He does not respond to our call because our tears are much or the severity of our problem. Isa 59:1, 2 give us insight into why it will look as if God is standing aloof. However, God’s concern for us far outweighs all our worries and cares. We should not just assume that He is standing afar. We should go to Him and ask. He will certainly answer us. He was not complaining but simply asking God to hurry to His aid. It is during those times when we feel most alone or oppressed that we need to keep praying, telling God about our troubles.

Food for Thought: Are you sure that you are not the one standing afar from God with your unbelief?

Prayer: God, draw me closer to yourself so that I will not have reason to accuse you of being far from me.