King
James Bible Daily Devotion – Learning
Scripture One Day At A Time
Date: Friday, October 16, 2015
Chapters: Mark 7-8 http://imfollowingjesus.com/Bible-Reading-289.html
Message Title: Following God's Simple Rule
Hello My Friend,
The past few years I have learned quite a bit about churches and while many claim that God is their authority on the church, they are more of man made authority than God made. I like many other Christians have this idea of what a faithful, godly, born again Christian should be, but am finding out that it's the church that often puts that wear this, look like that image in us. While every Christian is known by their fruit, we must realize that Christians come in all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds. We are to never judge a persons faith in Christ by the way they look, but we are to judge a persons faith by the way they act. “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” - John 7:24.
The Pharisees were always questioning the way Jesus ran His ministry. This time they questioned Him as to why His disciples were eating with defiled hands, they did not wash their hands before they ate. Of course, He answers them with a parable about what really defiles a person, one that He had to also explain to His disciples. When they perceived it to be about food. “And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” - Mark 7:18-23.
“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts”. There's that heart again, the heart really can get us to do some crazy things, especially if it is full of pride. I still remember the rules my mom set growing up, never go across the street, only ride your bike to the end of the block, and never ride anyone on the handlebars. While I normally followed the rules, one day I let my brother on the handlebars and wouldn't you know it, we fell and both ended up getting stitches. Well, what my mom was doing with these silly rules was keeping me from getting hurt, her rules were not grievous, they were necessary to keep me from unnecessary pain. God's rules are not grievous either, they keep us from unnecessary pain, especially what defiles our heart. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” - 1 John 5:3,4.
God's ways seem a little strange sometimes, but I image He does those things to see if we are going to trust and obey only Him. There was a deaf man that some people brought to Jesus to heal, He healed him, but in a rather odd way. “And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;” - Mark 7:32-36.
“And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.” Jesus healed the man, but imagine some still did not believe in Him. God produces miracles every day upon the unsaved in hopes that they will realize He is the one who healed them. It's not enough to have faith that God can heal us, we must trust that His ways of healing us are the only way. Doctors are God given gifts to be able to heal people, but only God can truly heal, especially the soul, without Christ a soul will never be healed of it's sin sick disease. We must understand that God never tempts us, but He does test our faith, and sometimes in very odd ways. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” - James 1:12-14.
Man makes many rules that seem like they come from God, but really they are more grievous than God's. Yes, we are to study God's Word to know His rules and He does want us to follow them once when we learn of them. We must realize that every Christian is a work in progress, we are not perfect, we all have things that we need to work on, so we must never judge someone who may be doing something we know God does not want us to do. God works on each one of us according to our maturity level, but there is one thing all must do in order to see Him do a great work in us. Jesus explains.
“And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” - Mark 8:34-38.
“Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me”. God makes it simple, follow His Son. Following Christ teaches us to walk in His ways. Denying ourselves, meaning, letting go of our prideful ways, taking all our sin and burdens to the Christ. We all have our own cross to bear, but it does not have to define us, we can endure, and we can conquer anything as long as we follow Christ. Following Christ is not about the way we dress (although we should be modest), the color of our hair, or rejecting those starting out or have backslidden. It's about walking with Christ, growing with Him, and letting Him create a great work in us. If we faithfully follow Him, we will become like Him, and others will see Him in us, which is what He wants more than anything.
“Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” - 1 Peter 4:16-19.
Today's Prayer: God, I know that sometimes I let my burdens carry me away and it makes me feel lifeless. You know what I am going through and what I need, and all I need is to call on You and You will show me what I need to do. Lord, Watch over me, guide me, and abide in me, give me peace and comfort, let me know that You are near and that everything is going to be alright. Give me Your power, let me take up my cross and follow You Son, for Your ways are not grievous, but essential in seeing You do a great work in me. Open my heart, let me have compassion on those who are hurting, let me not be judgmental, but judge with righteous judgment. Let Your light shine in me so that others can see You through me. I love You, Lord and ask this 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
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Copyright © 2015 I'm Following Jesus, All rights reserved.
Date: Friday, October 16, 2015
Chapters: Mark 7-8 http://imfollowingjesus.com/Bible-Reading-289.html
Message Title: Following God's Simple Rule
Hello My Friend,
The past few years I have learned quite a bit about churches and while many claim that God is their authority on the church, they are more of man made authority than God made. I like many other Christians have this idea of what a faithful, godly, born again Christian should be, but am finding out that it's the church that often puts that wear this, look like that image in us. While every Christian is known by their fruit, we must realize that Christians come in all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds. We are to never judge a persons faith in Christ by the way they look, but we are to judge a persons faith by the way they act. “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” - John 7:24.
The Pharisees were always questioning the way Jesus ran His ministry. This time they questioned Him as to why His disciples were eating with defiled hands, they did not wash their hands before they ate. Of course, He answers them with a parable about what really defiles a person, one that He had to also explain to His disciples. When they perceived it to be about food. “And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” - Mark 7:18-23.
“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts”. There's that heart again, the heart really can get us to do some crazy things, especially if it is full of pride. I still remember the rules my mom set growing up, never go across the street, only ride your bike to the end of the block, and never ride anyone on the handlebars. While I normally followed the rules, one day I let my brother on the handlebars and wouldn't you know it, we fell and both ended up getting stitches. Well, what my mom was doing with these silly rules was keeping me from getting hurt, her rules were not grievous, they were necessary to keep me from unnecessary pain. God's rules are not grievous either, they keep us from unnecessary pain, especially what defiles our heart. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” - 1 John 5:3,4.
God's ways seem a little strange sometimes, but I image He does those things to see if we are going to trust and obey only Him. There was a deaf man that some people brought to Jesus to heal, He healed him, but in a rather odd way. “And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;” - Mark 7:32-36.
“And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.” Jesus healed the man, but imagine some still did not believe in Him. God produces miracles every day upon the unsaved in hopes that they will realize He is the one who healed them. It's not enough to have faith that God can heal us, we must trust that His ways of healing us are the only way. Doctors are God given gifts to be able to heal people, but only God can truly heal, especially the soul, without Christ a soul will never be healed of it's sin sick disease. We must understand that God never tempts us, but He does test our faith, and sometimes in very odd ways. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” - James 1:12-14.
Man makes many rules that seem like they come from God, but really they are more grievous than God's. Yes, we are to study God's Word to know His rules and He does want us to follow them once when we learn of them. We must realize that every Christian is a work in progress, we are not perfect, we all have things that we need to work on, so we must never judge someone who may be doing something we know God does not want us to do. God works on each one of us according to our maturity level, but there is one thing all must do in order to see Him do a great work in us. Jesus explains.
“And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” - Mark 8:34-38.
“Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me”. God makes it simple, follow His Son. Following Christ teaches us to walk in His ways. Denying ourselves, meaning, letting go of our prideful ways, taking all our sin and burdens to the Christ. We all have our own cross to bear, but it does not have to define us, we can endure, and we can conquer anything as long as we follow Christ. Following Christ is not about the way we dress (although we should be modest), the color of our hair, or rejecting those starting out or have backslidden. It's about walking with Christ, growing with Him, and letting Him create a great work in us. If we faithfully follow Him, we will become like Him, and others will see Him in us, which is what He wants more than anything.
“Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” - 1 Peter 4:16-19.
Today's Prayer: God, I know that sometimes I let my burdens carry me away and it makes me feel lifeless. You know what I am going through and what I need, and all I need is to call on You and You will show me what I need to do. Lord, Watch over me, guide me, and abide in me, give me peace and comfort, let me know that You are near and that everything is going to be alright. Give me Your power, let me take up my cross and follow You Son, for Your ways are not grievous, but essential in seeing You do a great work in me. Open my heart, let me have compassion on those who are hurting, let me not be judgmental, but judge with righteous judgment. Let Your light shine in me so that others can see You through me. I love You, Lord and ask this 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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