DCLM DAILY MANNA DEVOTIONAL FOR AUGUST 17, 2023  (BELIEVERS’ TOUGH TURF)

TOPIC : BELIEVERS’ TOUGH TURF

Text: John 15:18-27 (KJV)

18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.

22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.

23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.

24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.

25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

KEY VERSE: “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” – (John 15:19)

MESSAGE

Someone once described Christians as scuba divers who carry the air that they breathe underwater with them. The analogy means that the Christian is a heavenly citizen who, although is physically on earth, is living in a “heavenly” environment. He is in the world but is not of the world.

Jesus told His disciples the implications of their decisions to follow Him in this passage. While the people of the world would be celebrated for their sundry activities, His disciples, on the other hand, would be vilified for choosing to follow Him. The reason they would attract the hatred of the world is because the world hates Him and by extension, those who belong to Him.

To make things easier for the disciples, Jesus used a master-servant illustration, He being the Master and the disciples servants. The idea here is that people who are filled with hatred to the point of hating and killing the Master will do worse things to the servants. Jesus, therefore, wanted the disciples to take consolation in the power and comfort of the Holy Ghost to help them as they continue to testify of Him even in difficult circumstances.

True believers are not of the world even though they live in the world. Our moral and social basis of evaluation are not the same. The believer takes instructions for decision making from the word of God while the world mirrors the satan-controlled system of evil as often portrayed in cultural realities. We must not be afraid, therefore, of persecution but at all times ask for sustaining grace and wisdom to bear harassment, maltreatment and oppression the world will throw at us.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: The Christian, though in the world, is not of the world.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Job 21-25

Daily Manna is the daily devotional of the Deeper Christian Life Bible Ministry (DCLM) written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi. It is an extraction of God’s Word designed to draw the sincere seeker closer to God on a daily basis through an insightful exposition and analysis of God’s Word.