Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video with images and lyrics from Jeremy Camp singing … The Answer … powerfully singing of our answer to the questions of our day.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Acts 8:34-35 [NLT] … 34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” 35 So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.
… When Philip encountered an Ethiopian about God’s word, Philip had God’s answers for him.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Acts 8:26-35 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Philip had a “good news” answer to the Eunich’s questions.
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Reference Passage : … Esther 4:14 [NLT] … 14 If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”
… Mordecai to Esther, challenging her to bring witness of God to the king in desperate time.
Reference Passage : … Acts 1:8 [NLT] … 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
… No matter where we go, Jesus challenges us to be HIS witnesses.
Reference Passage : … 1 Peter 3:15 [NLT] … 15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.
… As we worship God with our lives, we must be ready to give an answer about our witness when we’re questioned by others.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Estera Escobar, used a personal reflection to illustrate Christians have an answer of witness when we’re challenged about our faith. The ODB author wrote … “What’s your name?” asked Arman, an Iranian student. After I told him my name is Estera, his face lit up as he exclaimed, “We have a similar name in Farsi, it’s Setare!” That small connection opened up an amazing conversation. I told him I was named after a Bible character, “Esther,” a Jewish queen in Persia (present-day Iran). Starting with her story, I shared the good news of Jesus. As a result of our conversation, Arman started attending a weekly Bible study to learn more about Christ.
As we live our lives, as Christians, we will be confronted with challenges to our faith, … i.e., questions about how we live our lives, … especially these days in such a politically correct, ever secularized, world. This was the case for Philip when he encountered an Ethiopian Eunich (in the highlight passage); who, being a witness for God’s truth, was able to answer the African’s questions and lead him to Christ.
Certainly, as disciples of Christ, we are called [actually COMMANDED] to be Christ’s witnesses as we live our lives (see Acts 1:8). And God, thru Peter [in 1Peter 3:15] exhorted us to have answers when anyone challenges us with questions about our faith. Certain, as Jeremy Camp sings in the linked song, Jesus is THE answer; but many times we have difficulty being able to articulate His truth to others.
I pray that, if we’re challenged by life - even today - to give answers to life’s questions, as was Esther in her day (see Esther 4:14), we will be able to be God’s witness and bring forth a clear testimony of truth for others to hear/see Christ in our witness for Him.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for giving us THE truth, thru Your word, to be Your witness when others challenge our faith.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me, to be strong witnesses of truth when we’re challenged by life to come up with answers to life’s trials. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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