15 Monday Dec 2014
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Everything we need to know about Jesus’ love for us can be summed up in the second half of John 13:1, Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. Jesus sacrifice all that He was as a perfect human being to show how much He loved us. Even through our filth, He still chose to love us and save us for eternity.
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.
11 Thursday Dec 2014
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Jesus knows we are not perfect and He does not expect us to be perfect. In fact, He expects us to be imperfect. It is the exact reason why He came to die for our sins. Jesus’ interaction with Peter was a prime example of what His expectation are of us in Matthew 26:34, “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” Even though Jesus knew Peter would disown Him, and even though this was obviously frustrating, it did not change who Jesus is or how He would react to His circumstances. Jesus came to sacrifice Himself for our sins and there is nothing Peter or anyone else could have done to change that; just like there is nothing we can do to change His love for us today.
01 Monday Dec 2014
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John 12:24 give a beautiful picture of what Christ’s death really means for us. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Christ died so that the whole world could live.
27 Thursday Nov 2014
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The contrast of the two men in the parable of the “Two Men Praying” in Luke 18:9-14 was very apparent. The first man was proud of the accomplishments he had done for the Lord, but God wants us to come to him humbly knowing we are unable to be perfectly righteous without Him. Matthew 18:13 depicts the second man, a tax collector, and how he approached the presence of God. But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God have mercy on me, a sinner.’ Without God’s mercy and grace we are nothing more than a common sinner and we are unable to attain enough righteousness to fulfill any of the requirements needed to be in God’s presence. Let us be thankful on this Thanksgiving Day for God’s provision of eternal life through His precious gift of Jesus Christ His Son.
25 Tuesday Nov 2014
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As we read the parable of Equally Paid Workers in the beginning of Matthew 20, keep in mind that Jesus is not talking about equal pay, He is talking about salvation. While God wants us to be obedient and to live a righteous life, salvation is available to all people no matter what they have done and no matter what stage of life they accept Christ’s gift of salvation.
18 Tuesday Nov 2014
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There is nothing more exciting than seeing a person rescued on TV. It’s not that the other people in the story are less important, it’s just exciting to see someone saved from potential death and destruction. In the same way, God’s ultimate desire is to bring each and every person into relationship with Him. While God provisioned a way through Christ’s sacrifice for us, when any one of us comes or returns to Him, there is much rejoicing. In Luke 15:7 Jesus says, I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. It is not that God does not care about the righteous, it is about saving one more of His children from eternal death.
17 Monday Nov 2014
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God provides salvation to all of the world. It all began with His chosen people, but when they rejected Him, He allowed all people the ability to be saved for eternity. I won’t post the entire passage here, but in Luke 14:15-24, Jesus gives the parable of the Great Feast. In this parable Jesus talks about a man having a feast with invited guests, but because they turned down the invitation, the man opened the invitation to anyone who would accept it. This is how salvation has come to all of us and it is a privilege none of us should take lightly.
13 Thursday Nov 2014
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Every time I read this chapter, I always find myself reading John 10:10 a few times, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly. In contrast to a thief that only takes, Jesus gives life. The life he gives to us is rich and full and, most importantly, eternal.
28 Tuesday Oct 2014
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The gospel of Jesus Christ can be summed up in John 6:47-48, 47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. When the Jews received manna in the desert from Moses, it was temporal; it satisfied their daily need for nourishment which kept them alive. But when Jesus gave his body as a sacrifice for all our sins, He gave us the bread that satisfies completely and gives us eternal life. We simply need to trust and obey Jesus in accepting Him as the perfect sacrifice for our imperfect lives and thus satisfying our needs through eternity.
Daily Devotion 