STUDY TO SHOW YOURSELF APPROVED

THE DAILY FOUNTAIN DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE OF THE CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)

DATE: SATURDAY, 1ST JULY, 2023 

TOPIC: STUDY TO SHOW YOURSELF APPROVED

TEXT: ACTS 7:1-35

1. Then the high priest said, "Are these things so?"

2. And he said, "Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,

3. "and said to him, 'Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.'

4. "Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell.

5.  "And [God] gave him no inheritance in it, not even [enough] to set his foot on. But even when [Abraham] had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him.

6.  "But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress [them] four hundred years.

7.  'And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,' said God, 'and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.'

8.  "Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so [Abraham] begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac [begot] Jacob, and Jacob [begot] the twelve patriarchs.

9.  " And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him

10.  "and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

11.  "Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance.

12.  "But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.

13.  "And the second [time] Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to the Pharaoh.

14.  "Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to [him,] seventy-five people.

15.  "So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers.

16.  "And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, [the father] of Shechem.

17.  " But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt

18.  "till another king arose who did not know Joseph.

19.  "This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live.

20.  "At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father's house for three months.

21.  "But when he was set out, Pharaoh's daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son.

22.  "And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.

23.  "Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.

24.  "And seeing one of [them] suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian.

25.  "For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.

26.  "And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and [tried to] reconcile them, saying, 'Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?'

27.  "But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

28.  'Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?'

29.  "Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.

30.  "And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai.

31.  "When Moses saw [it,] he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him,

32. saying, ‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look. 

33. ‘Then the Lord said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. 

34. I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.” ’

35. “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. 

36. He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

MESSAGE: 

Stephen was before the great Council, indicted for blasphemy. The witnesses swore against him that they heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God (Acts 6:13-14). The High Priest then called Stephen to defend himself. He said, “Are these things so?” (Acts 7:1). In other words, have you ever spoken any word to this purpose? Are you guilty or not?  Like Apostle Paul, Stephen rose to defend himself in a long discourse as read in today’s text before the entire Council of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Stephen was a man mighty in the scriptures; he was thoroughly furnished in the word of God. Filled with the Holy Spirit and the word of God, He related the scripture stories off-hand. Stephen was not ashamed; he rightly divided the word of God before his accusers.

 

Beloved, as a child of God, you must be loaded with the word of God. The word of God, not the world dictate what you say, especially in the time of challenges. As Stephen, one of the seven deacons appointed to serve tables, spent quality time studying the scriptures and consequently became a bold witness of Christ, you must give yourself to the word of God (Acts 6:1-6). The study of the Bible must be your daily practice because the word of God is the only potent instrument to confront Satan. Don’t join those who only read their bibles services on Sundays. This will not take  far. Let the word of God be your best companion as you go on in your life’s journey and all shall be well (2Tim. 2:15).

Prayer: 

Help me Lord to be diligent in the study of Your word, in Jesus name. Amen 

WELCOME TO YOUR SEASON OF JUBILATION IN JESUS NAME!