Tag Archives: Obedience

2016 Day 33 – Matthew 15

02 Tuesday Feb 2016

Posted by in Daily Reading

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

In Jesus’ day the Gentiles, right or wrong, they were considered no more likely than dogs to receive God’s blessing. In today’s reading a Canaanite woman (Gentile) came asking for a miracle from Jesus. Matthew 15:25-28 was their interaction, 25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” 27  “Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” 28 Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. While this interaction may seem very derogatory, it was the view at the time. But the woman was willing to take her perceived status in the society for the sake of healing her daughter. For us, we are no more than dogs in comparison to what God expects us to be. But when we humble ourselves and realize we deserve little more than crumbs off the Master’s table, we receive so much more.

2016 Day 28 – Matthew 10

28 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by in Daily Reading

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Fear is a human emotion we all possess. Even the most hardened soldier experiences fear in the heat of battle. But here in Matthew 10:28, Jesus tells us not to fear those who can only kill our physical bodies, Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. What we should fear is what can kill us for eternity. This can only happen when we submit ourselves to a life apart from God. Jesus gives us salvation to prevent us from separation from God. There are no excuses, just poor choices which keep us from eternity with Him.

2016 Day 18 – Matthew 7

18 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by in Daily Reading

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

There are plenty of people out there who talk a good game. There are many self-proclaimed athletes who can trash-talk with the best of them. But “talk” is cheap and the measure of an athlete is found on the athletic field. The same goes for the faithful believer and servant of God. In Matthew 7:21 Jesus says, “Not everyone who say to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Jesus wants your “walk” to be better than your “talk”. Talking about doing the right things means nothing if you are unwilling to do the right things. Let your actions be the measure of your commitment to doing the will of God.

2016 Day 15 – Matthew 5

15 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by in Daily Reading

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

I cannot imagine anyone who would happily be persecuted for most causes. But in Matthew 5:11-12 Jesus calls it a blessing, 11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. When we are persecute for the cause of Christ, it should be taken as a badge of honor. When we stand up for truth and righteousness we are rewarded in the eyes of God. It is not easy, but few things worth fighting for ever are.

2016 Day 14 – Luke 6

14 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by in Daily Reading

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

It is easy to love people and be kind to them when they love you and are kind to you. But what happens when people are mean, unkind, and unloving? In Luke 6:32 Jesus answers that question, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them.” Jesus is our example and we are supposed to be a reflection of Him. Loving others is not conditional.

2016 Day 13 – Mark 3

13 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by in Daily Reading

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

Do you ever get the impression Jesus healed people on the Sabbath on purpose? It seems like Jesus took several opportunities to do this and it wasn’t an accident. Jesus begins to explain why in Mark 3:4, Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath:  to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill?” But they remained silent. One of Jesus’ principle reasons for coming to earth was to fulfill the law. He makes it clear later on that He was not here to abolish it. The law had it’s purpose, and it’s purpose was to bring people to a point where they recognized their unrighteousness and their need for repentance. When Jesus came, there was no longer a need for rules to remind people of their sinful nature because now Jesus became our only way to salvation and eternal life with Him. From this point on we were no longer in competition with each other to see who could be more holy by following the rules. Our only task in life is to reflect who Jesus is. That is what is means to be “Christ-like”.

2016 Day 8 – John 3

08 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by in Daily Reading

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

When we accept Christ we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And just like we cannot control our physical birth, we cannot control our spiritual birth. In John 3:8 Jesus explains to Nicodemus how the Holy Spirit works in us, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” The Spirit will move in us in ways we cannot predict or control. The secret is to allow it to happen and follow His guidance in our lives.

2016 Day 7 – John 2

07 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by in Daily Reading

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

I love the story of Jesus turning water into wine. The reason is because of His interaction with His mother Mary. When she told the servants to listen to Jesus, his reply was in John 2:4, “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.” While His time had not yet come He still obeyed His mother. This is kind of humorous to me and yet displayed the type of obedience that is expected of us. Even Jesus listened to His mom.

2016 Day 6 – Luke 5

06 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by in Daily Reading

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Obedience is sometimes hard, especially when you have tried and failed on your own a few times. Luke 5:5 shows what happens when we are obedient to God’s calling, Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” The result was more than Simon could ever have hoped for. When God calls us to something, and we obey, the payoff in the end is always better than we can imagine.

2016 Day 2 – Luke 3

02 Saturday Jan 2016

Posted by in Daily Reading

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

John the Baptist was the perfect messenger. In Luke 3:9 he made it clear what the people need to know, The ax is already at the root of the tree, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Even today, though we know Christ has already come, we must produce fruit if we are to be called followers of Christ. A tree that does not produce fruit is good for nothing but firewood.