Anglican Daily Fountain Devotional 16th February 2023 Thursday Daily Devotional Reading
Read Thursday Anglican Daily Fountain Devotional 16th February 2023 Message
TOPIC: Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees
TEXT: Matthew 23:14-end(NKJV)
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
Daily Fountain Devotional For Thursday, MESSAGE
Our text today contains seven layers of the condemnation by Jesus of the religious leaders of His era. Each condemnation was introduced with the word,”Woe.” Pronouncing God’s judgment on the men, He repeatedly described them as “blind” and “hypocrites.” Convincing others of their views only adds victims to hell. They follow the letters of man-made laws, but miss the real meaning of Scripture: God’s heart for justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Their outer appearance of righteousness hides inner lives full of greed, self-indulgence, hypocrisy, and lawlessness.
We shall pick two of the acts of the Scribes and Pharisees (i)“For you devour widows’ houses”; that is, their goods, leaving but little to support them and their children; (ii) “And for a pretence make long prayers”: As if they were very holy, or pretended that the substance of those widows, was a reward for their long prayers. Jesus declared on them, “therefore, you will receive greater condemnation”; both on account of their plundering and distressing the poor, the widows, and the fatherless; and also because of their hypocrisy in doing this under the cover of religion and holiness. Relations of husbands of widows who afflict widows should beware! Treat widows kindly.
PRAYER: Father, help me to show mercy to the needy, oppressed and voiceless. Amen.
Daily Fountain Quote of the Day: I will keep you safe because no one can snatch you out of My hand. John 10:29
The Church of Nigeria is the Anglican church in Nigeria. It is the second-largest province in the Anglican Communion, as measured by baptized membership, after the Church of England.