King
James Bible Daily Devotion – Learning
Scripture One Day At A Time
Date: Monday, October 05, 2015
Chapters: Matthew 12-13 http://imfollowingjesus.com/Bible-Reading-278.html
Message Title: Embracing God's Gift
Hello My Friend,
God's commands are simple, they keep us living a moral, decent life. If you have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour than you have been brought out of the bondage of sin, and are no longer bound to its chains. Praise God! Christ has set you free! How hard is it then to make a little effort to live in a way that God wants us to live rather than our own. “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” - Romans 6:15,21-23.
Back in chapter 10 we read of Jesus sending His disciples only out into the cities of Israel to preach the Gospel, now we learn of why He did that. He could not go anywhere without the Pharisees waiting to catch Him into something that would prove He was a fraud. One Sabbath day they did everything they could to catch Him going against the laws of the Sabbath, including healing a man. It was then that they plotted to kill Him, but that did not stop Him from being who He was, and yet another prophecy was fulfilled by Issiah. “But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; And charged them that they should not make him known: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.” - Matthew 12:15-21.
Till he send forth judgment unto victory, what is the victory of judgment? Christ's sinless death, burial, and resurrection. Christ died to be the sinless, unblemished blood sacrifice needed to redeem a soul from the fiery pits of hell. He was buried, taking every one of mans sins to the grave with Him, He arose three days later to show that even death cannot separate a saved soul from His God, we will be alive with Him for eternity. “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” - 1 Corinthians 15:56,57.
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. Sin always bring death, and I am not talking about a physical death, which actually can if the person does not take control of their actions. If there is anything I have learned over the past couple of years, it is this, every person who calls themselves a Christian has their own reasoning as to what sin is, the majority of the time it is man made religious laws that they follow and not God's Word. People are quick to throw Scripture in your face and tell you that this is what God says, but these are the same people who need to work on the very things they are preaching to you about. Referring to fruit again, Jesus confronts the religious people, and calls them out for their idle words.
“Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” - Matthew 12:33-37.
That every idle word that men shall speak, idle, useless; vain; ineffectual. Useless words of no profit, they are often brought on by religious people who do not follow their own rules themselves, but every idle word will be judged by Christ. True Christians live godly lives, not because it is required by the law, because they want to please God. We are not perfect, we are all sinners and have something that we need to work on, that is why we need to embrace God's gift of eternal life, not put it to the side like some gift we have no use for. It's not about following a set of rules, it's about living to please God and no one else.
“And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds: For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;” - Romans 2:3-6,12.
A parable is a short story that contains a great meaning, people often use parables or illustrations to explain something that one might not understand outright. Since the world is somewhat ignorant, or the better word would be skeptical of the supernatural, at least in God's case anyway, Jesus only spoke to the world in parables. The disciples finally come out and ask Jesus why He spoke in parables. “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.” - Matthew 13:12-16.
But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. Jesus knows that those who really have no interest in what He is saying are not really listening, but those who do not only hear what He is saying, but see and be converted. Convert means to believe in Jesus and understand that only His finished work on the cross is necessary. “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;” - Acts 3:19.
Today's Prayer: God, Thank You for Your simple plan, You do not make us follow a bunch of rules that we have no way of keeping, You just want us to embrace You and let the Holy Spirit be our guide to live in a way that pleases You. I embrace Your gift of eternal life that You have given to be for believing in the finished word of Your Son on the cross. I may be weak, but Your Word is powerful to fight off the temptation to sin and reassure me that You are with me even when others may forsake me. I can do this because I know that Christ, who lives in me gives me the strength to do so. In Jesus' name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Subscribe To Our Devotions: http://eepurl.com/2WMzT
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Copyright © 2015 I'm Following Jesus, All rights reserved.
Date: Monday, October 05, 2015
Chapters: Matthew 12-13 http://imfollowingjesus.com/Bible-Reading-278.html
Message Title: Embracing God's Gift
Hello My Friend,
God's commands are simple, they keep us living a moral, decent life. If you have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour than you have been brought out of the bondage of sin, and are no longer bound to its chains. Praise God! Christ has set you free! How hard is it then to make a little effort to live in a way that God wants us to live rather than our own. “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” - Romans 6:15,21-23.
Back in chapter 10 we read of Jesus sending His disciples only out into the cities of Israel to preach the Gospel, now we learn of why He did that. He could not go anywhere without the Pharisees waiting to catch Him into something that would prove He was a fraud. One Sabbath day they did everything they could to catch Him going against the laws of the Sabbath, including healing a man. It was then that they plotted to kill Him, but that did not stop Him from being who He was, and yet another prophecy was fulfilled by Issiah. “But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; And charged them that they should not make him known: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.” - Matthew 12:15-21.
Till he send forth judgment unto victory, what is the victory of judgment? Christ's sinless death, burial, and resurrection. Christ died to be the sinless, unblemished blood sacrifice needed to redeem a soul from the fiery pits of hell. He was buried, taking every one of mans sins to the grave with Him, He arose three days later to show that even death cannot separate a saved soul from His God, we will be alive with Him for eternity. “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” - 1 Corinthians 15:56,57.
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. Sin always bring death, and I am not talking about a physical death, which actually can if the person does not take control of their actions. If there is anything I have learned over the past couple of years, it is this, every person who calls themselves a Christian has their own reasoning as to what sin is, the majority of the time it is man made religious laws that they follow and not God's Word. People are quick to throw Scripture in your face and tell you that this is what God says, but these are the same people who need to work on the very things they are preaching to you about. Referring to fruit again, Jesus confronts the religious people, and calls them out for their idle words.
“Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” - Matthew 12:33-37.
That every idle word that men shall speak, idle, useless; vain; ineffectual. Useless words of no profit, they are often brought on by religious people who do not follow their own rules themselves, but every idle word will be judged by Christ. True Christians live godly lives, not because it is required by the law, because they want to please God. We are not perfect, we are all sinners and have something that we need to work on, that is why we need to embrace God's gift of eternal life, not put it to the side like some gift we have no use for. It's not about following a set of rules, it's about living to please God and no one else.
“And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds: For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;” - Romans 2:3-6,12.
A parable is a short story that contains a great meaning, people often use parables or illustrations to explain something that one might not understand outright. Since the world is somewhat ignorant, or the better word would be skeptical of the supernatural, at least in God's case anyway, Jesus only spoke to the world in parables. The disciples finally come out and ask Jesus why He spoke in parables. “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.” - Matthew 13:12-16.
But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. Jesus knows that those who really have no interest in what He is saying are not really listening, but those who do not only hear what He is saying, but see and be converted. Convert means to believe in Jesus and understand that only His finished work on the cross is necessary. “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;” - Acts 3:19.
Today's Prayer: God, Thank You for Your simple plan, You do not make us follow a bunch of rules that we have no way of keeping, You just want us to embrace You and let the Holy Spirit be our guide to live in a way that pleases You. I embrace Your gift of eternal life that You have given to be for believing in the finished word of Your Son on the cross. I may be weak, but Your Word is powerful to fight off the temptation to sin and reassure me that You are with me even when others may forsake me. I can do this because I know that Christ, who lives in me gives me the strength to do so. In Jesus' name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Subscribe To Our Devotions: http://eepurl.com/2WMzT
Do You Know For Sure You Are Going To Heaven?: http://godsprice.com/
Visit I'm Following Jesus: http://imfollowingjesus.com/index.html
Like I'm Following Jesus On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byhisstrength
Copyright © 2015 I'm Following Jesus, All rights reserved.
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