Wisdom For The Day Devotional 10 July 2023 By Bishop Mike Okonkwo: We All Have A Past
TOPIC: We All Have A Past (TREM Devotional 10 July 2023)
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,” Ephesians 2:1-2 (NKJV)
MESSAGE:
What makes you a sinner is not because you sinned. What makes you a sinner is that you are born a sinner. That was how you were born. And what you didn’t have your hand in the making, you can’t change. You didn’t have a hand in how you were born. That is why it will take only God to change your nature. You can’t change your nature by trying to do certain things so that you can be pleasing to God. Christianity is not what you do so that you can be accepted by God. Christianity is what God has already done for you, so that you can be acceptable to Him. Christ did it! You have no hand in it.
Before you came into Christ, you were dead in trespass and sins. You were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. We were all dead, and we were all born dead. That was your nature when you were born without Christ. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world; obeying the devil, the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey. The King James version calls them the children of disobedience.
All of us used to live that way. So don’t try to pretend as if you were not a sinner. That is why you need to be patient with other people. The fact that God has been merciful to you and kept you until now should not make you begin to turn up your nose for people. We all have a past. All of us used to live that way, following the passions and inclinations of our sinful nature. We were by our very nature subject to God’s anger just like everyone else. But thank God, Jesus came to set us free.
FURTHER READING:
Romans 5:1-11, Colossians 2:8-15
DAILY BIBLE READING:
Morning – Job 41-42; Evening – Acts 16:22-40
Wisdom For The Day Devotional was Written by Dr. Mike Okonkwo; Is the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM); a versatile man of God with over 30 years of dedicated service unto the Lord.
