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In more than three decades of my Christian life, I have been blest by 2 types of Daily devos'
(matter not exceeding 500 words) in universal Christian literature. Not only those Devos'
which have a different theme everyday but also the ones which revolve around a certain
theme over a period of time, say a fortnight, have richly edified me. In fact, both
styles have their own inherent advantages. If the former style caters to the varying
spiritual needs of a christian from day-to-day, the latter aims 'to ground'
a child of God in a certain subject in order he derives the full benefits of the
deep insightful study of a certain topic, spread over a fixed span of time.
In my Daily devo page, I have consciously tried to go in for 'a blend of both the
styles' whereby within a constant theme, I would be aiming to focus on different
facets of it which admittedly is a closer imitation of the 'Constant theme' style
than the 'Varying topics' one.
Having dwelt on the topics
- “The Christian journey”
- “ The Conquest of Canaan” and the
- “Lent season”.
in the previous months, now in the months of April and May, considering that
post resurrection of Christ (one of our concluding themes’ you would remember
in the meditations of March, was Resurrection), birth of the Church was a
landmark event in Biblical history, I want to cast the spotlight on the Book of
Acts (which records the birth and growth of the Church). This would ensure to a large
extent continuity of thought albeit under the ambit of new subject.
Once again, let me wish you a happy and an edifying read…
Suresh Manoharan
April 14th
Strongly rooted
“All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.” –
Acts 2:42
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Beginning with today over the next few days, we shall look at
what made the early Church strong. Just as for a newly planted new sapling,
its healthy growth is a sign of its well being, in the case of the early Church too after
its birth on the Pentecostal day, its exponential growth
(Acts 2:47,
Acts 5:14) spoke volumes
of its spiritual vitality.
Continuing with the analogy of the sapling growing into a fruitful tree,
it needs to be stated that just as its growth is facilitated by BOTH favorable
and sometimes even unfavorable factors such as high winds, the early Church too grew
strong as a combination of both the factors.
A tree is only as strong as its roots are is a true saying. One of the favorable factors,
which contributed to the vim and vigor of the Early Church, was its wise leadership.
The apostles rooted the early believers in God’s word by exposing them constantly to
Scripture exposition.
Many years later wise Peter exhorting the believers was to write, “Like newborn babies,
you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation.
Cry out for this nourishment”
– I Peter 2:2
Say Christian “Are you feeding in God’s Word daily”? Remember it is not like a cake to
be eaten on special occasions, rather it is like a daily bread to be consumed daily.
Prayer:
Father, what wondrous ways, You have adopted in history to make your people strongly rooted in You.
Whet our appetite too for Your Word at all times. In Jesus’ name. AMEN.
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