DAILY REMINDER – Today, October 8’s Bible reading is Matthew 15-17.
NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, October 9’s Bible reading is Matthew 18-19.
May God bless you with the reading of His WORD.
MATTHEW MOMENT – (08OCT19)
“For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual
immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person;
but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them” (Matthew 15:19-20).
The religious leaders took notice of the disciples eating without having washed
their hands. It was the custom, as it is now, for a person to wash their hands
prior to eating a meal. So, when the Pharisees and Sadducees saw that the
disciples were not adhering to tradition, they questioned Jesus as to why He
allowed them to do so. Jesus pointed out their hypocrisy as to when they made
exceptions to tradition when it suited their personal interests. He recalled
the words from the Prophet Isaiah that the people honored God with their lips,
but their hearts were far from Him. Jesus let the religious leaders know that
it was not what went inside a man that defiled him, but what was in the heart
which manifested in a person’s thoughts.
Sometimes believers make the
mistake of thinking that as long as they look the part and be legalistic, they
are on their way to Heaven. But Jesus was telling the religious leaders that
tradition is not what saves or defiles a person, but it was a matter of the
heart. The Bible says: "I the LORD search the heart and
examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according
to what their deeds deserve" (Jeremiah 17:10). The Lord judges the
motives behind everything that we do. There are times when people do the right
thing but for the wrong reason. The Lord not only examines the actions of an
individual, but the reasoning behind the action. We may be able to fool man,
but we can never fool the Lord. Let us be ever so careful to not become legalistic
in that we are so hardcore to follow traditions, but lack love, mercy, kindness,
and the other essential things that represents the God we serve. Something to
ponder….
QUESTION OF THE DAY
- (08OCT19) “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants
to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For
whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for
me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet
forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”
(Matthew 16:24-26). Jesus, knowing that the time was near when He would
be condemned to a cross, told the disciples that those who wanted to follow Him
must take up their cross to do so. The cross was known to be a heavy dreadful
thing on which criminals were sometimes punished to die on. Yet, Jesus told the
disciples that the cost of discipleship meant having to give up their personal
comforts and treasures to devote their lives to His service. The disciples,
with the exception of Judas Iscariot, sacrificed everything to follow and
continue the Lord’s work once He left. Whereas some of them were once fishermen,
they all became fishers of men. Their great sacrifice even cost most of them
their lives, but they remained faithful unto death where they knew that they
would have a crown waiting for them in glory.
Many Christians have lost their lives over the centuries for the sake
of the gospel, and many continue to do so. Believers in the west have been
blessed that in large part, we have been free to worship the Lord. The time is
coming, however, that freedom of religion will no longer be free. The censorship
has already begun and will only increase in other ways. There is a debate of
being pre, mid, or post-trib. Regardless of which end of the spectrum one is
one, a person should ask themselves the question, “If I was required to give up
my life for Christ, would I be able to do so?” You may think that this is
farfetched to ask because we live in the west, but many countries started out
free and later became enslaved. It is not unimaginable that it could happen
here. Many pastors teach that to follow Christ leads to a life of prosperity, but
what if it literally led you to the gallows? Would you be able to stand? This
is something that can only be answered between you and the Lord. The Bible
says, “When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of
those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had
maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy
and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then
each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little
longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and
sisters, were killed just as they had been” (Revelation 6:9-11). Something
to ponder….
MATTHEW MOMENT – (08OCT19) “Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns” (Matthew 16:23). The disciples had been with Jesus for a while as He healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons, restored sight to the blind, taught them about the kingdom of God, and did other signs and miraculous wonders. Now, He started to prepare them for the events surrounding His death that was soon to come. Peter felt the need to take Jesus aside and rebuked Him for saying such things, but Jesus rebuked the devil that was using Peter. The enemy knew that Jesus’ death meant salvation for all mankind, so he was using Peter to attempt at persuading Jesus as to Him having a choice not to die for the sins of man. Nevertheless, Jesus saw through Peter’s words and knew that it was not him who was speaking, but the entity speaking through Him. Therefore, Jesus rebuked the devil and continued to speak to the disciples in preparation of His upcoming death and resurrection.
The enemy
would love Christians to believe that the road less traveled is the best one.
The Bible says: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate
and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it”
(Matthew 7:13). The narrow gate can oftentimes be lonely and difficult,
but God designed for it to be that way for a reason. On the narrow road, there
are many tests that we must withstand. Sometimes, we may even get caught in a
pothole, but the Lord’s guardian angels are there to lift us up. We may face
danger, but God is our Protector. He may face storms, but He is our Meteorologist.
We may face loneliness, but He is our best Friend. We may face sickness, but He
is our Physician. We may even face death, but He is our Caretaker. Jesus is
everything that we need and all that we should ever hope for. We may go through
many things, but His banner over us is love. Something to ponder….
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