KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Chapters: Matthew 15, Mark 7
Message: Finding Independence Through Christ
Hello My Friend,
Do you ever have days where your mind is full of things that needs to be done? This and this has to be done, then something else comes up so you work on that, forgetting another thing, then you find yourself getting nothing done. I laugh as I write this because I realize how crazy I get when I try to do so much by myself. As much as we would like to be able do everything we just do not have the capabilities to get them all done by ourselves. Why? We have this flesh. Yes, God gives us skills and talents that allow us to do many things, and we are capable of doing them, but our bodies are only capable of handing so much. That is why we need to be dependent on Jesus, He knows what we are capable of, He trusts us to go as far as we can, and then turn it over to Him and once we do that we will see that we will get much more done with Him than trying to do it all on our own. “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” -I Peter 5:6-8.
“seeking whom he may devour:” The devil might not be able to touch a saved soul, but he can do a pretty good job of messing with our heads if we are not grounded in Christ. Let me tell you, the devils biggest gift is discouragement, and it can stop us in our tracks and cause us to spin around in circles. We have to be careful that we do not start doing things out of habit because that is what causes us to lose sight of what our priorities are, bringing discouragement when we do not reap from our efforts. The Pharisees were seen by the rest of the Jews as holy leaders, set in the Law of Moses, but they were far from that, having made up their own law, saying it was from God. As they question Jesus in public, He calls them out for who they truly are, hypocrites.
“For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” – Matthew 14:4-9,12-14.
“Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended,” I swear more Christians are called hypocrites by the religious than Jesus calling them out for the hypocrites because they really are, and they will get offended by what we believe from the Bible. If you ever wondered why a different version of the Bible comes out every year it is because of false religions making their own rules and traditions to follow, then when the truth comes out they scramble trying to hide it from their followers. The blind leading the blind, that is who they are and if they rather believe the lies than truths, Jesus will let them be. “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:” – Romans 1:21-22,26.
Just because we are saved by faith, that does not mean Jesus does not want us to depend on Him for everything else. Salvation is just the beginning to our dependence of Christ. Jesus wanted to show the Jews that no matter who came to Him if they believed they will be saved, a Greek woman, came to Him seeking healing for her daughter, and while He did have some questions for her He saw her faith and healed her daughter.
“And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.” – Matthew 15:22-28.
“It is not meet to take the children’s bread,” Of course, Jesus was talking about the living bread here, He gives it freely to all who believe, Jesus had intended to heal her daughter all along, He was looking for her faith. It does not matter who we are, we need Jesus, there is not enough wealth, possessions, or abilities that can heal us from things that are too much for us to handle. False religion has this idea that nothing God is not spiritual, only ritual, since God is spiritual the only way to handle spiritual things is through Him unless we allow the devil to corrupt us. The disciples could not understand what Jesus was talking about and asked Him what He meant.
“And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” – Mark 7:18-23.
“All these evil things come from within,” Do not think that people who cause wicked and heinous acts have not had much thought about doing what they have done, it took lots of planning. There are terrorist brought up from birth believing their only mission is to be a sacrifice. We may not always understand the way God handles things and why He chooses to allow us to go through certain things, but we can trust Him knowing that He has a reason for everything. A man was brought to Jesus that was deaf and stuttered when he spoke.
“And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.” – Mark 7:32-35.
“and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit,” I can only imagine what the people were thinking when they saw Jesus spitting and sticking His finger in this mans ears, I think He has a sense of humor and was kind of doing it to mess with them. The word supernatural means, something beyond or exceeding the powers or laws of nature. People will go through such lengths to figure out things that clearly God can only do. Instead of pulling our hair out trying to do things that are beyond our control, it is time to get away from our own independence and find our Independence through Christ. “And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” – Luke 12:29-32.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.” – Matthew 15:32.
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, I know that You see everything that I go through, my thoughts, my heart, my spirit. I may not always understand why, but I do understand that You are always with me. You have truly given me a new life and even though I struggle with my past You give me hope for my future. Lord, lead me and guide me, walk with me and give me the strength to get through my trials. I know that You will avenge me of my adversaries. In Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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