The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 23 October 2025 – Grace Is Available Now
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TOPIC – Grace Is Available Now
READ: Acts 15:12-22 (KJV)
12 Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.
13 And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:
14 Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.
15 And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,
16 After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:
17 That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.
18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.
22 Then pleased it the apostles and elders with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas and Silas, chief men among the brethren:
THE MESSAGE:
Today is the Feast of St. James of Jerusalem. He was the brother of our Lord (Mark 6:3), yet Jesus’ brothers didn’t initially believe in him or accept his ministry (John 7:5). James believed only after the resurrection-when, when Jesus showed himself to him. That was enough to convert him. James realized that he had been wrong all along. He later became a leader in the church at Jerusalem, so much so that Paul referred to him as a pillar of the church. God used James to do a lot for his church in Jerusalem.
James contributed a lot towards the resolution of the controversial issue at the Jerusalem Council. His leadership was steady, mature, and based on Scripture. James’ story shows what God’s grace can do in a person’s life. It can take an unbeliever and turn them into a devoted servant of the Lord as it did to James (from doubting Jesus to leading the most influential church in Jerusalem and guiding and defending God’s people with God’s Word). Are you bothered by the fact that people you love don’t believe in the Lord yet? If Jesus did it for James, He will do it for them too. Only let your knees be bent in prayer on their behalf. Pray that they will be saved while God’s grace lasts.
PRAYER:
Dear Lord, please rescue the unbelieving and the perishing by the same grace you extended to James, Amen!
