Luke – Page 110 – I'm Following Jesus

KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Thursday, November 02, 2017
Chapters: Luke 19, Mark 11
Message: Hard To Be Humble

Hello My Friend,

I have a confession to make, I cry whenever I am blessed by God. You see, in my mind I am the worst Christian ever, my time with God comes with lots of distractions about what I need to be doing that day, my prayers, also full of distractions, are five minutes long at best, my compassion for people is practically non-existent when they are not sincere, and I sin every day. If I rate my Christlike walking on a scale from one to ten, if I were honest, it is about a five, and that is probably too much. Faithful Christians often have a hard time seeing God bless them with so much because they see themselves as so unworthy, they expect Him to bless others rather than themselves. I guess that is why God blesses us with so much, we are too humble to ever expect more when He has already given us so much, His mercy and grace, exceeding all. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” – James 4:10.

The first as far most part of being humble is having to admit you are a sinner, oh, everyone knows that they have done wrong, but since they are “good” or “moral”, I quote them because everyone has their own view on what is good and moral, and they are much different than God’s view, they cannot see themselves as sinners. We come to the story of Zacchaeus, he was a very wealthy tax collector, as since we all know how greedy, cunning, and wicked tax collectors are we kind of get how everyone hated him, Zacchaeus knew something was missing from his life, when he heard that Jesus was in town he wanted to get a glimpse of Him, so he climbed up a tree to see, but what he got was much more than that.

“And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” – Luke 19:5-10.

“That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.” You know, these people knew that they themselves were without sin, yet they thought their good deeds and prayers were enough to proclaim they were not sinners. That is what false religion does, as long as you are following their law you are justified, but let me tell you, talking yourself into believing something to be true does not make it true, God ways are never equal to that of mans. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.” – Proverbs 3:5-8.

The second part of being humble is having, complete and total faith and trust in God. Okay, so our faith, not in God particularly, but in Him doing things for us goes up and down like a roller coaster, we certainly know He is capable of anything, we just doubt that He is capable of it for us. Through an odd illustration of a withered tree, Jesus teaches the disciples the importance of not doubting God.

“And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it. And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” – Mark 11:12-14,20-26.

“and shall not doubt in his heart,” There are two parts to prayer, first, believe, second, forgive. We must believe with all our heart that God will give us what we are asking, no doubts whatsoever. Since we are all sinners, we must also be willing to forgive those who have wronged us. I have another confession, since oh, about 2004, I have been praying for a husband, among some other things like a car, home, good job, things like that. Well, I have a car, nice home that I rent, good jobs, but still have no husband, not even a hint at a husband, the guy that I thought God brought into my life (it all lined up with what I was praying for) barely sees me and yet he sees some kind of future with me. The problem here is both faith and doubt, one day I am convinced that it is not in God’s will that I be married, the next, I get some hint that makes me hopeful that it will happen one day. What I need to be doing is remembering the Scriptures, what God says about marriage, faith, faithfulness, and prayer, many times the things that we think are from God are not, only hindrances from the devil, and at times He is not going to give exact specifications, He is going to give us what we need, it must be in His will it will not be. “And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:27-28.

The third part in being humble is fearing God, that means respecting His Word, following Him, living by grace, doing His will, loving Him, listening to Him, leaning on His understanding and not our own. When Jesus walked into the temple it was of great distress to Him, it was a Sabbath day and here they were selling items, including blemished animals for the sacrifices. Jesus started overturning the tables.

“And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me. And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.” – Mark 11:15-16,27-33.

“Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.” Jesus does not need to explain why He does what He does, but let me tell you, He still sees what is going on in the churches, the majority of mega churches have nothing to do with getting people saved or teaching them to fear God, it is solely about making money, and Jesus will come in and overturn everything, just as He did in the temple. “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” – Revelation 3:15-19.

Jesus Christ Magnified: “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” – Luke 19:10.

Today’s Prayer: Jesus, You are the Light that needs to shine through me so others can see You and receive You as their Saviour too. Lord, Let me be a witness and testimony of great faith, help me endure all my trials and tribulations, to live my life so that others see You through me, keep me humble and praising God for all His wonderful works that You did through me. In Your name, Jesus…Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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