OPEN HEAVENS Devotional – Tuesday
April 19th 2016
TOPIC: IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME
Memorize: And when he had
given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is
broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 1st Corinthians
11:24
Read: 1st Corinthians
11:23-29,
23 For I have
received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus
the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
24 And when he
had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is
broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25 After the
same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the
new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of
me.
26 For as
often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death
till he come.
27 Wherefore
whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily,
shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28 But let a
man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
29 For he that
eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not
discerning the Lord's body.
Bible in one year: 2nd Samuel
16:17, Proverbs 12:15-28
MESSAGE
There is one significant and
fundamental reason (among other important reasons) why the Holy Communion (The
Lord’s Supper) was inaugurated by our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Jesus
died for us, shedding His blood to atone for our sins because it is written,
“…and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” (Hebrews 9:22).
Consequently, when Jesus Christ said we should observe the Holy Communion often
in remembrance of Him, but it takes a deep level of wisdom to understand and
remember what He went through for our redemption. One important thing to note
here is that Jesus Christ knew what He would go through to die for His friends.
Having died for us, He surely doesn’t want His gesture of love to be forgotten
by the people He did it for. We unfortunately often forget the passion of our
Lord, which led to His ignoble death. This is why we do things that, by
implication, necessitate our Lord’s going back to the cross frequently.
“If they shall fall away, to
renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of
God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” Hebrews 6:6
Most people backslide because
of their loss of memory about the agony of the death that the Saviour suffered
in order to procure salvation for us. The Bible says:
“If thou put the brethren in
remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ,
nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast
attained.” 1st Timothy 4:6
What should we put ourselves
in remembrance of? Paul, the apostle wrote.
“Remember that Jesus Christ of
the seed of David was raised from the death according to my gospel: it is a
faithful saying: for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: if we
suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us.” 2nd Timothy
2:8. 11-12
In an ideal situation,
communion should be taken as frequently as possible in order to enable us
remember the death of our Lord and the reason for it. The Bible says we should
not be forgetful hearers but doers of the Word(James 1:25). When we gather
for Holy Communion, everyone is compelled to carry out a self-examination so
that he or she does not eat to damnation according to our Bible text for today.
May the passion, suffering and death of Jesus Christ avail for us through
eternity in Jesus name.
Action Point
Do you remember what Christ
went through for you often enough?
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