Defend Your Faith- CAC Living Water Devotional
CHRIST APOSTOLIC CHURCH
THE LIVING WATER (January-December, 2023)
DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
DATE: Monday, May 8, 2023
TOPIC: DEFEND YOUR FAITH!
READ: Jude 3-8
[3]. Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
[4]. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
[5]. But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.
[6]. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;
[7]. as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
[8]. Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.
MEMORISE
Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel (Philippians 1:27).
EXPOSITION
The Bible says in 2 Tim. 1:7, *For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.* When Jesus said to His disciples, *Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,* He knew there are wolves in the world to contend with; people who will not want them to talk about Him, like the Temple officials (Acts 4:18). But we should only fear the sender of a message, not to whom the message should be delivered.
To contend is to say something in a strong and clear way, or to compete with a good chance of winning. There are people of other faith to contend with; people with different ideas about life, God and the afterlife. Is it a physical struggle? No! Our weapons of warfare are spiritual to the pulling down of strongholds (2 Cor. 10:4). We must contend with our lifestyles of holiness, love, justice, integrity, and total obedience to God. Billy Graham once said, “We are the Bibles the world is reading; we are the creed the world is needing; we are the sermons the world is heeding.” Our lifestyles must oppose that of sin, materialism and worldliness. Let your conversation tally with your demonstration, by which you may win your contenders. Maintain your faith and be assertive, no matter the opposition, because only those who endured till the end shall be saved (Matt. 24:13). Fight for eternal life (1 Tim. 6:12), *and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear* (1 Pet. 3:15). Keep going, keep fighting, and keep winning in, and for the Lord, irrespective of the opposition. God is fighting beside you!
SUGGESTED HYMN FOR TODAY:
CAC GHB 432
1. Blow ye the trumpet blow!
The gladly solemn sound
Let all the nations know,
To earth’s remotest bound,
The year of jubilee is come!
Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.
2. Extol the Lamb of God,
The all-atoning Lamb;
Redemption by His blood
Throughout the world proclaim.
3. Ye, who have sold for nought
Your heritage above,
Receive it back unbought,
The gift of Jesus’ love
4. Jesus our great High Priest,
Has full atonement made;
Ye weary spirits, rest;
Ye mournful souls, be glad.
5. Hearts that are weary, come
Rest on the Saviour’s breast
Disconsolate heart, come
Be cheerful and rejoice.
Amen.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Lord, increase my faith in You, oppositions mounting notwithstanding.
2. Lord Jesus, help me and my household never to be carried away by worldliness.
3. Father, help Your Church to make use of her spiritual weapons rather than physical ones, in fighting the battle against Satan’s encroachment.
EXTRA READING FOR TODAY:
2 Chronicles 11:13-15:19
AUTHOR
CAC Worldwide
Remain blessed
God is good