The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 17 December 2023 – Be The Voice In This Generation
Click HERE to Read Previous MESSAGES
TOPIC: Be The Voice In This Generation
READ: John 1:19-28(NKJV)
- Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
- He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
- And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
- Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”
- He said: “I [am] ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the LORD,” ‘ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
- Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.
- And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
- John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.
- “It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
- These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
The MESSAGE:
The Jews sent priests and Levites form Jerusalem to ask John one question: ‘Who are you?’ Notice that they were not first and foremost interested in Jesus; they were not asking John to speak about Jesus. However, John was a voice in the wilderness, sent to proclaim the coming of the Messiah. He insists that the way of the Lord be made straight. For John, it was an opportunity to bear testimony of Christ in his own time.
If you’re doing spectacular things, people will ask about you. What you do and say will always lead people to want to know who you are. Sometimes, we are asked to introduce ourselves. When that happens, what do you normally say and do? Are you aware that the way God wants men to handle things have been perverted in today’s world? Do you see the way marriage is being re-defined, in our generation? Do you notice that the world is already introducing confusion into gender? We now have men and women who are now transgender. We have ‘cross dressers’ today (men who dress like women, for example). Are you a voice for Heaven in this ‘wilderness’ of life? Are you silent when our Father’s inheritance is being swallowed up? Are you a voice for godliness today? John was a voice in his generation; what about you?. Be a voice for the Lord, who proclaims the coming of the Lord in this generation.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, make me a voice in this generation that I may proclaim your salvation.
