Daily Fountain Devotional 1 September 2020 for Anglican Communion
TOPIC: Liberty to the Captives
TEXT: Zechariah 9:11-17(NKJV)
11. ” As for you also, Because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
12. Return to the stronghold, You prisoners of hope. Even today I declare [That] I will restore double to you.
13. For I have bent Judah, My [bow,] Fitted the bow with Ephraim, And raised up your sons, O Zion, Against your sons, O Greece, And made you like the sword of a mighty man.”
14. Then the LORD will be seen over them, And His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord GOD will blow the trumpet, And go with whirlwinds from the south.
15. The LORD of hosts will defend them; They shall devour and subdue with slingstones. They shall drink [and] roar as if with wine; They shall be filled [with blood] like basins, Like the corners of the altar.
16. The LORD their God will save them in that day, As the flock of His people. For they [shall be like] the jewels of a crown, Lifted like a banner over His land —
17. For how great is its goodness And how great its beauty! Grain shall make the young men thrive, And new wine the young women.
STUDY: Every covenant-child of God has the grace to enjoy total freedom. In today’s passage, God did promise deliverance to the two kingdoms of Israel (Judah and Ephraim, v.13) from whatever situation that held them captive. They were likened to prisoners in a waterless pit (v.11) where all hope of coming out was seemingly impossible. In their seemingly hopeless situation, God promised double restoration for them (See also Isaiah 61:1-3).
Beloved, Robert Schuller once wrote, ‘Tough times never last but tough people do!’ Oppression or problem does not weigh a covenant-child down; it rather strengthens him or her. While we are going through difficult times, God is only bending us like a bow (v.13), and the more bent we are, the farther we will go. This is so because when a bow is bent, it is gathering momentum. Life’s challenges teach us better. Be encouraged today to cheer up as your liberty is imminent. The blood of the covenant perfected in Christ Jesus still delivers from every covenant that is against our peace (Col. 2:14).Do you believe this?
PRAYER: Almighty God, let the blood of your dear Son, Jesus Christ, liberate me from every oppression. Amen
DAILY QUOTE: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea … God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.” (Psalm 46:1,5)
Daily Fountain Devotional 1 September 2020 – 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. It gives its current membership as “over 18 million”, out of a total Nigerian population of over 200 million.