07 Wednesday Oct 2015
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Living a life of righteousness helps guard our lives. Proverbs 13:6 says, Righteousness guards the man of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner. Every choice we make for good brings us closer to God. While every choice for evil does the exact opposite. Right decisions are a reflection of our integrity and brings us security and safety from evil.
26 Wednesday Aug 2015
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As infant children mature, they move from milk to solid food. As believers, we do the same thing with the Word of God. In Hebrews 5:13 it says, Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. Unless we mature in our relationship with Christ, we will never fully grow into who God purposed us to be and we will never understand true righteousness.
13 Thursday Aug 2015
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There are too many believers, even churches as a whole, who teach according to their own interpretation of scripture, or what they think is in scripture. In Titus 2:1 Paul warns, You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. Unless we read the scriptures and know exactly what God is trying to tell us, then we are not to take liberties in interpretation and teaching. We should know what the Bible actually says before we give instruction on our individual opinions.
28 Tuesday Apr 2015
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Today we finish up the book of James and I appreciate what he has to say in James 5:12, Above all, my brothers, do not swear – not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, or you will be condemned. We all know that person who likes to exaggerate the truth. And with Social media in play, we see many “creative liberties” with the way people present their lives. A person’s reputation is formed by living a life of integrity and their ability to present who they are and what they do in a truthful manner. When someone lies, presents half-truths or omissions of the truth, they become untrustworthy. In the end, the truth always makes its way to the surface. Mark Twain once said, “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”
21 Saturday Feb 2015
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In the parable of the Prodigal Son, we tend to focus on the son who takes his inheritance and squanders it, and we pay very little attention to the older son who stayed with the father. At the end of the parable, the older son becomes upset because of all the attention the younger son receives from the father. The father addresses the older son in Luke 15:31-32, 31 ” ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ “ Jesus was referring to the Pharisees in reference to the older son because they were against giving the inheritance of the Jews to the gentiles. But this is why Jesus came in the first place. He came to save all people who believe in Him, not just the Jews. The privilege of the Jews is because the Messiah came through Jewish lineage, not that salvation came exclusively for them.
The same thing applies to us in the modern “church”. Salvation is not exclusive to those who live righteous lives. Nowhere does Jesus say we must be righteous before we become saved. A righteous life does not exist without salvation from Jesus and the Holy Spirit living in our lives. Let us not confuse the sin in someone’s life with God’s ability to cleanse us from all unrighteousness as John wrote in 1 John 1:9, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
10 Saturday Jan 2015
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As I read Mark 2:23-24, I thought about modern day Christians in comparison to the Pharisees in the time of Christ, 23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” As I get older and I read and study more about Jesus’ life, I have come to the realization that modern day “Christians” represent more of the life of the Pharisees than Christ Himself. We have become more comfortable holding onto rules and beliefs that have little or nothing to do with the saving grace of Jesus’ sacrifice and more to do with our own attempts to present a righteous life. While living a pure and righteous life is admirable, and is typically a reflection of changes brought by the presence of the Holy Spirit, the truth is it has very little to do with the grace and mercy Jesus provided through His sacrifice on the cross. As believers we must remember to meet people where they are and not require them to be where we think they are supposed to be. This can only come through an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ our Savior.
12 Friday Dec 2014
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One of the things I loved about today’s reading was how bold Jesus was when He answered the high priest in Mark 14:62, “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Jesus was always direct and answered their questions, but they’re selfish ambitions and self-righteousness blinded them of the truth. May we never be filled with so much self-importance that we fail to see who we really are without Christ in us.
08 Monday Dec 2014
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In Mark 13, Jesus spends time with Peter, James, John, and Andrew to talk about the future and signs of His second coming. The main point Jesus was trying to make was to keep a watchful eye and be knowledgeable of the truth versus the lies that are potentially put before us. Jesus concludes the chapter by saying in Mark 13:37, What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ Ultimately, Jesus was not necessarily promoting the end times, He was promoting the importance of living a righteous life that is obedient to God. Whether Jesus comes tomorrow or in several thousand years, should not affect how we live our lives today.
03 Wednesday Dec 2014
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When asked, Jesus gave the perfect answer to which of the commandments is most important in Mark 12:30-31, 30 Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these. God’s laws are not hard. They can be boiled down to two simple things; love God and love others. When we love God and genuinely care for others, then you have fulfilled the intent of the Ten Commandments and bring glory to God.
29 Saturday Nov 2014
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When Jesus cursed the fig tree in Mark 11:12-14, the same words could have been applied to the nation of Israel. Just like the tree, which had the appearance of being fruitful, Israel was spiritually barren. We must always reflect on our own lives and strive for more than the appearance of having our lives all together. Appearances can be deceiving, but God knows our heart. Being honest with ourselves is as important as being honest with others and especially God.
Daily Devotion 