KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Saturday, October 20, 2018
Chapters: Matthew 16, Mark 8
Message: Victorious By Your Faith
Hello My Friend,
I realized something yesterday as I posted in every page and Blog I have about how much the devil is attacking me, I have been completely miserable for a good part of four months now, because that is how long I have been dealing with one issue after another, not to mention that my entire family has been also. I feel like I am hanging off the edge of a cliff with one hand, with the devil stomping on my fingers, and at any moment I am going to lose my grip and fall. Thankfully, I know that Jesus has my other hand, and He is not letting go of me. Praise God! I realized something else, people need Jesus, and God is really pressing me on making sure they see Him in me. I keep wanting to start the message with a passage from today’s Scripture because there is quite a bit of it, but the Holy Spirit just is not letting me do that, so, this is what God wants to remind me and everyone of you who are struggling. “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” – I John 5:4-5.
“but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” And this is what I am talking about, and this is why the attacks on the devil keep coming, God knows exactly what He wants people to know. Okay so, when the Bible says that there were so many people following Jesus around that He could barely move, it is not exaggerating, thousands of people literally followed Him. That does not mean that they all believed, in fact, very few did, and I mean that, it did not matter if He performed a miracle on them, many did not believe that He is the Son of God. We find this out first when Jesus fed five thousand, this time there was another multitude, much more than that, and they followed Him around for three days.
“In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets.” – Mark 8:1-8.
“How many loaves have ye?” Jesus knew exactly what they had, and once again, they could not see past what was physically in front of them. We are all guilty of this, we all look at the little bit we have, and wonder how we are going to have enough. We forget that if we just give our little bit to God that He will bless us with much, and I am not talking about tithe here, I am talking about what we have, look up to God, and say to Him, “All I have I give to You.”, then praise Him, and watch Him make you victorious by your faith. “O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.” – Psalm 98:1-3.
Oh yes, we can, and have seen God do the impossible, in fact, He brings us to the edges of those cliffs so that we are reminded that He will never let us fall. The world never sees miracles at all coming from God, and always wants physical proof of His existence. As I said, many of those that followed Him around did not believe, the Pharisees and Sadducee’s literally asked Him for a sign that He is truly the Son of God. “The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.” – Matthew 16:1-4.
“but the sign of the prophet Jonas.” Now, if they knew the Scriptures like they say they did, then they would have understood that this meant, Jonah being in the belly of a giant fish for three days and nights. The world is truly blind to the truth about Jesus, and until we believe by faith, we are blind to Jesus as well, it is only when start having some faith in Him that He will reveal to us that He truly is the Son of God. Jesus decided it was time to get away from the multitude for a while, He got into a ship with His disciples, they were all complaining about not taking any of the seven baskets of bread that were left over.
“Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?” – Mark 8:14-21.
“And when Jesus knew it,” Jesus knows our thoughts, He knows what we need, and He knows we need to be careful of who we get our bread from. Let me tell you, there was a full-time job opportunity for me to be a lead cashier in a liquor store, good pay, perfect hours, and it was tempting, but I resisted. One, I cannot sell something that intoxicates people, and two, there would be too much temptation for me to drink myself. We need to be careful of where we get our provisions, they can and will steer us wrong because the flesh is weak. “Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.” – Mark 14:38.
“The spirit truly is ready,” Let me tell you how many times the Holy Spirit has spoken to me and told me to tell someone about Jesus and what did I do, just let them pass. Why? Because I was wrapped up in my problems, rather than letting God use me through those problems to reach out to someone else in need of Jesus. Are we fully trusting in Jesus making us victorious through our afflictions, or cannot see Him past them? Matthew, which is directed to appeal to the Jews, goes into more detail about the conversation Jesus had with His disciples, asking them who they believe Him to be.
“When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” – Matthew 16:13-19.
“But whom say ye that I am?” Those who know Jesus as their Saviour should be able to answer that very question as Peter did, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus knows that the world will never see Him as the Son of God, let alone that God is a living God, they would rather believe in reincarnation rather than God’s Son. And by the way, many believers believe that Jesus was speaking directly to Peter in starting His church, but He was referring to Himself, He is the Rock, and it was actually the Gospel that He was speaking about, which are the keys to the kingdom of heaven. And of course, this is how the Holy Spirit works, because we come to the next block of Scripture, Jesus foretells of His death, burial, and resurrection.
“And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.” – Mark 8:31-35.
“for thou savourest not the things that be of God,” As I was standing outside my car waiting for my brother to come and help me as my wheel was literally hanging on it with one lug nut, the first thing I thought, “Okay Devil, it is on! I’m done with you messing with me, you’re gonna lose this fight!”. The devil will do anything he can to deter us and throw us off by questioning the Word of God. If he messed with Peter, he will mess with all of Christ’s disciples, but as powerful as he thinks he is he is powerless the second we tell him to get behind us. Who has the victory? We do! And it is in Christ Jesus! “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.” – Isaiah 25:8. Praise God!
Jesus Christ Magnified: “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” – Mark 8:38.
Today’s Prayer: God, As You know the hour that You will send Your Son to bring all Your children to safety while Jesus judges the earth, we do not have to know it because we know where we are going. However, the signs are everywhere, and the devil is freaking out so much that he is literally taking out all the punches he can throw to keep us from keeping our faith. We do not always know where our steps will take us on life’s journey, but we do know where they lead, and that is to Your Son. Our steps here may lead to cold, dark mountains or deep valleys, or perhaps crooked paths and rough terrain, but ultimately led to victory when all of this is over. We will no longer have questions about You or our future, for we know that we will spend eternity with You in Your Kingdom. Lord, lead us and guide us, give us Your power, wisdom, and strength to stand strong and overcome our trials until You come to get us. Let us be a witness and testimony of Your amazing grace, protect us, and remind us that we are not alone, Jesus is right here with us, and will carry us through. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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