Daily Devotional By Pastor E.A Adeboye.- CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH

Daily Devotional By Pastor E.A Adeboye.- CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH

Open Heaven 21st January,2018.
Topic: CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH
"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:" 1 Peter 3:15

Bible Reading: Jude 1:1-5

Message:
If you possess anything of great value, you must be ready to protect and defend it against the onslaught of thieves who would want to take it away from you at all cost.
Our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is a precious commodity which the devil and his agents desire to steal away from us (2 Peter 1:1). In 1 Peter 1:7, the Holy Spirit describes our faith as being more precious than gold:
“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”
It is therefore not surprising that the kingdom of darkness will continue to attack our faith until we finish our course in this world. For this reason, you must be ready to continually fight to preserve, nurture and grow your faith.
You must be ready to prevent all manner of assailants from stealing, killing and destroying it (John 10:10). This is what the good fight of faith is all about.

Those who had gone ahead of us also had to contend for their faith in order to get a good report (Hebrews 11:2). You also must be ready to do all that is necessary to hold on to your faith and ensure that it is not shipwrecked (1 Timothy 1:19).
Your ultimate goal should be that when it’s all been said and done, you will be able to declare like Paul in 2 Timothy 4:7 that
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:”
Contending for the faith means defending the interest of God’s kingdom when the enemies of the Cross are on the loose.
It means speaking up for the Lord Jesus Christ and speaking out against those that would oppose His Person or principles.
A classical example of contending for the faith is found in the encounter of Paul with Elymas the sorcerer in Acts 13:6-12.
The sorcerer was trying to dissuade a potential convert from accepting the faith. Paul therefore rebuked him and placed him under God’s judgement. The result of this fight of faith is glaring in Acts 13:12:
“Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.”
Beloved, the precious faith which you have obtained is worth defending, if you are determined that the devil will not wrest it away from you.

Therefore, watch and pray, and be ready always to give an answer to every man who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear (1 Peter 3:15).

 ACTION POINT:
Make effort to witness Jesus to someone today. This is a profitable way of contending for the faith.