KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Friday, October 12, 2018
Chapters: Matthew 11, Luke 11
Message: Woe Unto Thee!
Hello My Friend,
Woe; Grief; sorrow; misery; a heavy calamity. Most people avoid grief as much as possible, but there are some people who are just plain miserable and want to stay that way. They are angry at the world, gravitate toward anything that brings pain, and want to make sure to let everyone know they are in pain. Let me tell you, we all get the woes once in a while, it is natural as life hits us hard sometimes, and our emotions do get the best of us, but we do not have to let woes keep us down, we can find rest in Jesus. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30.
“and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” There is nothing more comforting than a soul that is at rest, you really feel that while you may have some physical pain you can endure it because Jesus is with you. The wicked love to feed off of peoples misery, they will flock to it in hopes that they can reel them into their way of thinking, and this includes many who claim Jesus, merely using His name to get them to believe in what they are saying is true. They do not believe that He alone is the only way to heaven, Jesus had people following Him all the time, every town He went He had a crowd, yet very few were believers, some were curious, but the majority were just out to prove to the believers that they were fools for believing in Him. Let me tell you, the woes we feel right now will go away, but to those who reject Jesus as the only way to heaven their woes begin and never end the second they die. Jesus starts upbraiding the cities that rejected Him, even though they saw the miracles.
“Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.” – Matthew 11:20-24.
“which art exalted unto heaven,” Woe unto those who think that their religion is going to get them to heaven, that their rejecting Jesus as the Son of God, and only calling Him a prophet, preacher, or even the son of the devil. Yes, they even accused Him of being the son of the devil. These towns prided themselves on their religion, they saw the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead raised up, yet none of them believed that Jesus was the Son of God, even though He is right there in front of their faces. Jesus continues to upbraids them, in fact, points out that they are actually of the devil.
“But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth. If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.” – Luke 11:17-23.
“He that is not with me is against me:” Woe unto those who not only reject Jesus themselves, but keep others from learning the truth. Religion, through the devil says, “I did this, I am going to heaven.” People may be protected under religion here on earth, but that is not what will save them when they face Jesus. And let me tell you, religion might stir people up for a while, but sooner or later they will be overtaken by evil, turn on God, and become even more corrupt. It was not uncommon for the unbelievers, skeptics, and religious crowd to try to bate Jesus to see if He would do or say something they could use to catch Him breaking the law. Jesus knowing their thoughts never hesitated to call them out for who they really were, fools. Jesus was invited to dinner at a Phairsee’s house, he was appalled that Jesus did not wash himself before He sat down to eat.
“And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner. And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.” – Luke 11:37-44.
“for ye are as graves which appear not,” Woe unto those who think that their works in the church are going to save them, the ones who give elaborate tithes and offerings, who appear Godly in the church. They are actually walking, talking corpses because they refuse to believe in Jesus. As Jesus speaks the lawyers begin wondering if they are doing something wrong, one of the asks Jesus if they were, and got a shocking response.
“Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.” – Luke 11:47-52.
“and them that were entering in ye hindered.” Jesus has nothing against lawyers, but they are some of the worst offenders because they often represent those who are offenders trying to get out of facing the punishment for their crime. I despise criminal lawyers because they find anyway they can to get around the law to defend their client who knows they broke the law. Christians slapped with lawsuits because they decline to accept their service, people in debt being sued to pay three or four hundred percent of what they owed, even the president being sued because he is enforcing laws and giving people a right to choose. Religion does the same thing, enforces a bunch of laws that have nothing to do with God’s Word, many proclaiming Jesus, yet never preach the Gospel, nor are saved themselves. Religion always bases salvation on works, but all they are doing is sending millions of people to hell with them. Let me tell you, Jesus is actually our defense lawyer, we broke the law through our sin, and we deserve to be punished for that, but He is also the one who not took the punishment for us, and pardons us also the second we believed in and received Him as our Saviour. “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;” – II Corinthians 2:13-14. Praise God!
Jesus Christ Magnified: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” – Matthew 11:29.
Today’s Prayer: God, Woes in life are unavoidable, but we do not have to let them control us or keep walking in them. Thank You for sending Jesus to give us rest from every woe, the second we believe in and receive Him as our Saviour we have the power in us to break free from the bondage we are in to those woes. Some people thrive off woes, some people create woes for others, especially the religious who are out to reel us into their lies. Lord, You have not removed me from this world, but have raised me up spiritually to abide in Your presence even as I carry out my daily duties in it. As Your presence graciously overshadows me, it is there that Your love and faithfulness sustains me and gives me the strength to endure all the things that bring me woe. I have no need to worry through my woes because I know that Jesus will see me through. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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