Devotions

In each society, there is a class or race of people that everyone looks down on. It’s not right but, sadly, its human nature. Those of a higher class will always look down on those in the lowest one. They will be mistreated, and people will doing everything in their power to keep them down. That is what makes Christianity so different. Everyone is equal, and even those who would be considered “the least of these” are still assured salvation from sins and eternity in heaven.

‭‭Luke‬ ‭7:28

“I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

Jesus declared that John the Baptist was the greatest amongst all of the prophets. These are high words of praise for a very simple man and puts him in the company of some of the Old Testament legends. If you look at his ministry, it is easy to agree. He was the one the prophets spoke about as the “Voice calling out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way for the Lord.” John had a special mission to prepare the world for the coming of Jesus.

Some Japanese knives are so sharp that if you barely touch the knife to the surface of a piece of fruit, it will be so precise you won’t see the mark. That’s sharp! There is something sharper than that knife, and that is God’s Word. It can pierce the soul and the spirit.

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4:12‬

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

This is one of my favorite verses on the power of God’s Word. Scripture isn’t just words printed on paper but living and powerful. It can pierce our souls and convict us of our sins. That’s why you can read something that was spoken by God thousands of years ago, and it cuts right to your heart. It’s more than pithy sayings or words of Wisdom. It is the Word of God.

Israel was a society that relied on agriculture to survive. The farmers worked hard to take the land that God gave them to turn it into fertile soil that produced bumper crops. Because of that, Jesus often taught with stories or analogies that were based on growing fruit. If a farmer let the weeds and thorns grow on his land, he wouldn’t be harvesting any crop. The same can be said for our hearts. If they are soil ready for planting, it will produce a harvest of abundant fruit.

‭‭Luke‬ ‭6:44

“For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.”

The metaphor of fruit is used throughout the Scriptures to indicate growth. Lack of fruit in one’s life is a sign of a barren spiritual life. If your life exhibits thorns or weeds, it means that you have a life that is not under the control of the Holy Spirit. A thriving Christian life is marked by fertile soil and abundant fruit and is the result of a life surrendered to Christ. God wants your life to produce fruit.

Love is in short supply today. We are more bent on sharing our opinions and criticisms than we are any praise. Science backs this up. We are twice as likely to share the negative than we are the positive. The chemical reactions in our brains lean towards the negative. Christ counters that by telling us to love our enemies. It won’t come naturally. We have to make ourselves do it.

‭‭Luke‬ ‭6:27-28‬

“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

In the Jewish religious system, there were the haves and the have-nots. You had the Pharisees who pumped up their spiritual egos by showing everyone how religious they were by their acts. Then you had the rest of the population. The Pharisees looked down on ordinary people as unworthy. They had attitudes of contempt for everyone who was not like them. This was a breeding ground for contempt. Jesus arrives on the scene and tells everyone to love their enemies. It was like He was speaking a foreign language.

Your heart is the symbol of all of your feelings and emotions. It is the most sensitive place, and you protect it at all costs. This doesn’t mean that you don’t let people in so you won’t get hurt, but you keep it from evil. Take care to guard your heart so that you don’t fall away from the living God.

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭3:12

“Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.”

This is an interesting verse. Can someone fall away from their faith? I’ve seen multitudes of people who were at one time on fire for their faith in Jesus Christ, being used for His glory, only to years later walk away. Have these people lost their salvation? I don’t think so, but I do think they have left it. No one can steal or take away another’s salvation, but I think the individual can personally vacate their faith. They do this by walking away from the church, forsaking the brethren’s fellowship, and willfully participating in a sinful lifestyle.

In most first responders vehicles, there is a machine called a defibrillator. It allows the responder to sent a shock to your heart to bring you back to life. You are probably familiar with what it looks like. Two circular paddles get charged with electricity to send a shock to your heart. The person yells “clear!” and puts the paddles on your chest. The hope is that you will come to life after being unconscious.

‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭37:14‬

“I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it,” declares the LORD.'”

Israel had been spiritually dead before they went into captivity. That is true for most people who fall into the bondage of sinful living. After years of not listening to the prophet’s wirings, it had gotten so bad for Israel that they were taken from their land and put into slavery. Ezekiel encourages them that God will remember them once again, and He will put new life into them through the Holy Spirit and bring them back into their land.

We once lived in an area that was wracked by gophers. We couldn’t grow a nice lawn, no matter what we did. One time we bought some raised planter boxes, laid gopher wire underneath, and planted a garden. The plants grew up nice and tall, and then one day they started falling over, one by one. Somehow the gophers were able to get in there and eat the roots. With Jesus Christ, we are firmly planted in fertile soil and watered by His Word.

‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭36:9

“For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown.”

This section of Ezekiel is truly amazing! The prophet foretells how God is going to breathe life again into a dead nation. We see pictures of dry bones being brought back to life, and now we see God telling the people that He is with them and that they will be replanted. This time they will grow because He will cultivate the plant by putting His Spirit in them. What a promise!

There is a saying that goes, “Don’t criticize a person unless you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.” If you haven’t been where they’ve been, then you have no basis for saying anything. That doesn’t stop people, but it should. Did you know that Jesus walked in your shoes? That’s right. He faced temptation like every other person, and He can relate to our struggles. Not only that, He can come to the aid of anyone who is tempted.

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭2:18

“For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”

Luke chapter 4 is the time that Jesus was in the wilderness fasting and praying. At the END of those forty days, Satan came and tempted Him. When Jesus was at his weakest physically, Satan offered Him the world. Jesus resisted the temptation and rebuked Satan. There is no temptation that is common to man that Jesus hasn’t faced. He knows the intent behind it and how to overcome it.

There are over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament about Jesus. He fulfilled all of them. The odds of that happening are staggering. The prophet Isaiah spoke many of those prophecies more than seven hundred years before Jesus came. God wanted His people to know that the Messiah was coming and what they could expect. He was sent to proclaim the Gospel.

‭‭Luke‬ ‭4:18‬

“ THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,”

Jesus went into the synagogue on the Sabbath and opened the scroll of Isaiah and reads chapter 61. After He finishes reading it, He sits down and tells the congregation that, “Today, this scripture had been fulfilled.” He is going to preach the Gospel, heal the sick and blind, and set the oppressed free. This prophecy by Isaiah, seven hundred years earlier, was fulfilled through the ministry of Jesus Christ.