Read the Bible in a Year (04OCT19)

DAILY REMINDER – Today, October 4’s Bible reading is Matthew 7-8.

NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, October 5’s Bible reading is Matthew 9-10. May God bless you with the reading of His WORD.

MATTHEW MOMENT – (04OCT19) “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:1-2). While speaking to a crowd of people, Jesus told them not to be judgmental of others because that same measure of judgment would be brought on to them. But He went on to say that a person was to get the plank out of their own eye before they could get the sawdust out of their brother’s eye. Failure to do so would make them a hypocrite. Jesus instructed the crowd not to give sacred things to dogs or throw their pearls to swine. In other words, Jesus was telling the people that when you tell someone what is right, but they fail to listen, do not continue to press the issue or it would be like His dogs and pigs’ analogy.

Many people love to quote the above text, but they fail to read further down into what Jesus was saying. Jesus was in no way saying that we are not to confront sin, but He was letting us know that we are to ensure we are not doing the very things that we are accusing others of doing or worse. For example, a person cannot speak against homosexuality if they are committing adultery. Why is that? Because they are both sexual sins for which a person can go to hell for. The Bible says: “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). So, the same God who condemns homosexuality is the same God who condemns adultery. Both are equal sins in the eyes of God, and He does not show bias between the two evils. Therefore, when a person judges another’s unrighteous acts, they must not be guilty of the same. Yet, we are to judge righteously and deal with sin in the body of Christ.

Jesus, when warning about false prophets, had this to say: “By their fruit you will recognize them” (Matthew 7:20). When you go to the grocery store, do you just pick up any type of fruit and throw it into the basket, or do you take a little time to ensure that you are choosing fruit that is not spoiled, bruised, or have been bitten into? Do you judge between apples and oranges, lemons and limes, potatoes and tomatoes? In the same manner, we are to judge other believers according to righteous judgment. The Apostle Paul wrote: “Or do you not know that the Lord's people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?” (1 Corinthians 6:2).  Something to ponder….

QUESTION OF THE DAY - (04OCT19) What type of storm are you facing in your life today? Have you felt as if you are being beat down from every side? Does it seem as if you recover from one situation only to immediately deal with another? Is your life looking like there are dark clouds all around with no hope of sunshine in sight? The disciples were faced with a stormy situation when they were on a boat. The Bible says: “Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping” (Matthew 8:24). The disciples were trying to battle this storm and fear was settling in, while Jesus was peacefully sleeping. The disciples went to awaken Jesus and asked Him to save them before they drowned. Jesus looked at them and remarked about their lack of faith. Then He rebuked the storm, and all became calm.

Many of us will have storms to come into our lives brought on by the enemy of our souls. The creator of the storm that the disciples were facing was Satan. He tried to do whatever he could to get at Jesus even if it meant causing fear in His followers. Nevertheless, Jesus was unmoved. See, the disciples were never in danger of drowning because Jesus was onboard the vessel. They were busy looking at their exterior circumstances without realizing that their Solution was already at a state of peace. Sometimes, we allow our outward circumstances to drive fear into us inwardly, but the Bible says: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17). When we try to battle the storms of life ourselves, we will be defeated. We are not strong enough to defeat the enemy in our own might. Nevertheless, we can be free from fear and in a state of peace regardless of the storms in our lives because Jesus is always onboard our vessels by means of the Holy Spirit. He will never leave us nor forsake us. The devil would like for you to panic when situations arise, but as long as we have Jesus, He can bring peace to our storms. Something to ponder….

MATTHEW MOMENT – (04OCT19) “When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. ‘What do you want with us, Son of God?’ they shouted. ‘Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?’” (Matthew 8:28-29). Jesus had just arrived in Gadarenes when He was met by two demon-possessed men. The demons knew who the Son of God was and while no one else was able to get pass them, they knew that they were no match for Jesus. There are two main things to pay attention to with these demons. First, they acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, which shows that they knew they were subservient to His authority. Second, they knew that the day was coming when they would be destroyed for all eternity, but their time was not yet. Therefore, when they questioned Jesus about Him torturing them before their appointed time, this lets us know that they are aware of their upcoming fiery end. Jesus, however, was not there to torture the demons but to drive them out of the two men which they had taken possession of.

Now, here is something to pay close attention to. Whenever demons leave their host, they try to find a new one to enter. The demons knew that Jesus was not going to allow them to enter another body while in His presence. This is why they asked to go into the pigs that were nearby. In keeping with the Mosaic law, it considered pigs as unclean animals. Because demons are unclean spirits, it was befitting for them to desire entry into unclean animals. Therefore, Jesus granted their request, and the demons entered a herd of pigs and they ran off a cliff near the lake and drowned. This caused a disruption in the town and instead of the people welcoming Jesus to stay, they asked Him to leave.

Can you imagine asking the Son of God to leave anywhere? Unfortunately, many people are just like that town that asked Jesus to leave. He could have done wonders for them, but they did not value who He was. We live in a society that has asked Jesus to leave as well. We have taken prayer out of our schools, taken down the Ten Commandments in our courtrooms, taken the altars and crosses out of our churches, and invited the devil in. Instead of allowing the demons to be cast into the pigs, we have invited them to our homes, schools, jobs, and even places of worship. We asked Jesus to leave so that we can do the impossible – legislate morality. There is no such thing as substituting Jesus with laws. Jesus is the Lawgiver and without Him, man will and is crumbling at the knees. The only way to have a moral society is to invite Jesus back in to stay. He is the Only Way and any shortcut will not work. Something to ponder….