SCRIPTURE UNION DAILY GUIDE 12 MARCH 2024, TUESDAY DEVOTIONAL READING
Scripture Union Daily Guide 12 March 2024 TOPIC:Persecution Is Inevitable
OPENING PRAYER: My dear heavenly Father, as I study your word, let it be a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
READ: John 15:18-27
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.
Question(s) for Reflection
• Q7: What truth is God revealing to me in this passage?
SU Daily Guide 12 March 2024 MESSAGE:
What Jesus calls “the world” is a reference to human society as it operates now without subjecting itself to the authority of God. To “belong to the world” (v.19) is to live by ungodly human values.
Notice three reasons Christ gave for the world’s hostility towards His followers (vs.18-21). Can you give any examples of the ways of the world and how the world opposes the Church, from your own experience of our contemporary society? How should we respond to the world’s hatred (whether as individuals or as the Church, the people of God)?
With the coming of Christ as the light, no one who heard the good news from Him or saw His works can claim ignorance of sin. Now that Jesus is physically absent, the work must continue through the Holy Spirit and us, His disciples (vs.26-27). The Spirit or Counsellor was sent from the Father to do His work on earth through Christians.
As we witness to the truth, the Spirit persuades and convicts people resulting in their salvation. Today, some end-time preachers are trying to erase persecution from their theology. How does that fit into Christ’s teaching in this passage? The church grew amid intense persecution and has continued to thrive in spite of hatred.
• Any new insight or reinforcement of what you already know?
Closing Prayer
Pray for grace to go through whatever persecution and hatred you might have to face for the sake of Christ. Pray also for Christians who are passing through persecutions because of their faith.
Offer a prayer of faith in line with Matthew 6:11
One Year Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading Plan: Day 72 – Deuteronomy 5-7
NATIONAL PRAYER BULLETIN – Tue Mar 12, 2024
PRAYER FOCUS
OUR NATION NIGERIA
And I will make you a great nation; so that you will be a blessing. Gen 12:2
THANK GOD FOR:
• His mercies over the nation and unfailing promise to make the nation great and a global blessing.
PRAY FOR:
• The presence of God in our nation; and raise faithful leaders who will work for the development of the nation and fulfill God’s mandate.
• God’s mighty hand to bring healing and restoration; and give us a new nation that will fulfill her divine mandate as global witness. • God will give us the blessings of Jubilee- release, restoration, recovery, rest and empowerment.
• Declare the Lordship of Jesus and plead his blood over the nation.
• Northern Christian brethren undergoing persecution, for strength and courage to continue in their faith and endure to the end.
PRAY AGAINST:
• Every reign of wickedness in the the nation and in Africa.
• The forces of darkness contending with the purpose of God for this nation and her citizens.