Every Day with Jesus (15 page)

Scripture presents salvation as the way sinful people come back into peace and harmony with God. Instead, it has often been presented as the way to escape the problems of this life and later the judgment of hell. It is possible to get born again with that kind of thinking, and people who get saved with that view only see the Lord as Someone to help them through times of crisis. They never enter into the daily joy of knowing Him intimately.

Jesus died for you because He loved you (John 3:16)—a love that longed to have intimate communion with you. Explore your relationship with Him today, and then tell your unbelieving friends about Him. Most likely they are fed up with religion and have not been satisfied by what the world offers either. Tell them you know firsthand that only an intimate relationship with the Father can give them what they need for this life and the life to come.

May 17: Self-Seeking or God-Seeking

Matthew 14:34-36; Mark 6:53-56; John 6:22-39

Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.

John 6:26

Jesus knew the hearts of all men; therefore, He did not commit Himself to this crowd. Just the day before these same people tried to take Him by force and make Him their king, but He withdrew and spent the night in prayer.

This crowd looked like they were seeking Jesus, but they were actually trying to use Jesus to seek their own end. It is true that there are many personal benefits from serving the Lord, but the benefits are never to become our goal or desire. In all things, Christ must have the preeminence. (Col. 1:18.)

Jesus exposed the true intentions of the people’s hearts by preaching a strong message of commitment. Those who were self-centered were offended and left, while those who were willing to lay down their lives to experience God’s abundant life remained. Commitment to God Himself (not what He can produce) is what always separates the true worshippers of God from the false worshippers.

When Jesus declared that He was the only way to the Father (John 14:6), the people grew angry. It always angers our proud, carnal nature to think that all our righteous acts can’t save us! But Jesus made it clear that our only part in salvation is to believe. Believe what? Believe on Him and His sacrifice—not ours. Salvation is a gift and cannot be purchased. (Rom. 10:2,3.)

Do you find yourself getting so intent on seeking God in one area that you forget the greatest miracle of all, which is the love and redemption given to you from God through His Son. Today, remember His sacrifice and how much He loves you. That truth will put everything else in proper perspective.

May 18: Dead Works

John 6:24-29

Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?

John 6:28

Throughout history, mankind has been seeking ways to do the works of God. All people have the knowledge of the reality of God within them (Rom. 1:18-20), as well as a desire to be right with Him. However, just as with these Jews, few agree with the Lord on how to do it. These Jews were willing to do something to obtain salvation, but they were not willing to surrender their lives to Jesus as Lord and accept His gift of salvation.

This is one of the major differences between Christianity and the religions of the world. Religion is willing to make sacrifices to obtain right standing with God, but Christianity recognizes our complete inability to ever do enough to save ourselves and calls for total faith and reliance on what Jesus did for us.

You do not deserve to be saved because no one deserves to be saved! You cannot earn it by what the Bible calls “dead works.” (Heb. 6:1; 9:14.) Dead works include all religious activities, good deeds, or charity you might do as a means of justifying yourself to God. Only your faith in what Jesus has done to save you will justify you, so your part is simple—just believe it. Today you can rest in the truth that your salvation is fully His work, not yours.

May 19: Bread of Heaven

John 6:31-35

Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

John 6:34

It is probable these Jews expected Jesus to rain down manna on them the way God did for their ancestors in the wilderness. After all, anyone who could feed five thousand men with one small lunch should be able to produce manna. They were still thinking of physical food.

The word manna means “what is it?” The children of Israel said, “It is manna: for they wist (knew) not what it was” (Ex. 16:15, insert mine). Manna was a nutritious food that appeared on the ground every morning shortly after the children of Israel left Egypt and began their forty-year wandering in the wilderness. Moses called it, “Bread which the Lord hath given you to eat” (Ex. 16:15).

Manna was small and round, like coriander seed, and was white or yellowish, like bdellium. It was gathered every morning and had to be used that day or it would stink and have worms. The exception was on the sixth day when it could be gathered for the Sabbath and wouldn’t spoil. (Ex. 16:22-26.)

“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). The people were looking for pieces of bread to materialize, which would have been a great miracle; but that would have been insignificant compared to the miracle being manifested before them. They were talking to the greatest miracle God had ever performed, but they were blind to it. All they could see was what they needed and what Jesus could give them.

Many times, we get so intent on seeking God in one area that we forget the greatest miracle of all, which is the love and redemption given to us from God through His Son. Today, consider what life would have been like without Jesus and how your life has been transformed because He is your Lord and Savior.

May 20: Be Taught of God

John 6:40-45

It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

John 6:45

The Old Testament prophets prophesied of a New Covenant in which we would all be taught of God. They were speaking of revelation knowledge coming from within through our spirits. Under the Old Covenant, God dealt with His people through the outer man. He did this because those who were not born again could not perceive the spiritual truths revealed in the New Covenant by the Spirit. (1 Cor. 2:14.)

Old Testament believers were like children in their ability to grasp spiritual truth. It is impossible to explain spiritual truth to a young child, yet they must be restrained from submitting to evil. Therefore, the Word of God taught parents to use the “rod of correction.” (Prov. 13:24; 19:18; 22:15.) The child might not understand resisting the devil, but when the devil tempted them to steal, they would say no because they feared the rod. Likewise, Old Testament saints were restrained from sin by a fear of the wrath and punishment of God. This curbed sin, but it also hindered them from receiving the goodness and love of God. (1 John 4:18.)

In John 6:45, Jesus was speaking of the New Covenant in which the punishment for your sins was laid on Him. You no longer serve God out of fear of punishment. Now you serve Him out of love because He has sent the Spirit of His Son into your heart making you His son or daughter. You serve Him because your nature has been changed through the new birth. Now you are like Him. Today, let the Holy Spirit inside your spirit lead you and teach you.

May 21: The Spirit and the Word Are One

John 6:40-71; 7:1

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

John 6:63

Jesus was stating that life originates and comes from your spirit, not your flesh. These people were so dominated by their physical lives that they were missing all the spiritual significance of His words. Although God’s Word does benefit our physical bodies, the Word is spiritual and must be understood through our spirits. God’s Word is spirit, and the Holy Spirit in our spirits illuminates God’s truth to our minds.

The Word of God is not just paper and ink. Jesus is the Word, and He existed in spiritual form long before any words were inspired by the Holy Ghost to be written down. The Bible is simply a physical representation of Jesus and spiritual truth. It is inspired of God and totally accurate and reliable, yet until we receive the Holy Spirit in our spirits, the Bible will not profit us. This is why many people who have read and even memorized the Word are not reaping its benefits. They have never been born again and do not have the spiritual Teacher (John 14:26) living inside them.

Just as the physical part of us receives life from the food we eat, our spirits receive life as we partake of Jesus, the “bread of life.” (John 6:48.) Jesus plainly stated that the words He spoke were spiritual—not physical. If we want to know what spiritual truth is, we must believe the Bible, for it is spirit and life. If we want to be led by the Spirit, then we must follow God’s Word. If we want to hear from the Spirit of God, then we must listen to what God says in His Word. The Spirit (Holy Spirit) and the Word (Jesus) are One. (John 1:1.)

Today you can find peace in every decision you make by making those decisions as the Holy Spirit leads you in God’s Word. The Spirit and the Word always agree, and when you come into agreement with them, you will know you are moving in the right direction and doing the right thing.

May 22: The Law Is Not of Faith

Mark 7:1-7

And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.

Mark 7:2

In this verse the Pharisees were concerned with what religious people are concerned about, the outward appearance; while Jesus was concerned with the heart. (1 Sam. 16:7.) The Old Testament laws concerning washing served a secondary purpose of hygiene, but as stated in Colossians 2:16-17 and Hebrews 9:1,9-10, their real purpose was to shadow or illustrate spiritual truth. Defiled food may hurt our bodies, but it cannot reach our spirits. (John 3:6.)

The scribes and Pharisees missed the principle of spiritual purity taught by the Old Testament ordinances and became completely corrupt in the spiritual realm. The apostle Paul also dealt with this in Galatians 3:12, which says, “The law is not of faith.” Combined with Romans 14:23, which says, “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin,” the idea of living by faith and not the law was blasphemy to the legalistic Jews, just as it is to legalistic Christians today. But God gave the Law to reveal sin, not to make us righteous by it. (Gal. 3:24.)

It is sin for the New Testament believer to try to relate to God by attempting to keep the Old Testament Law. The Law itself is not sin (Rom. 7:7), but it is sin to try to keep the Law to justify yourself to God. The purpose of the Law is to reveal that you can’t save yourself. Only putting your faith in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ will save you.

Under the Law, you get what you deserve. Through faith in Jesus, you receive God’s grace because of what He did for you. Any departure from faith, especially a departure back to the Old Testament Law, voids the work of Christ (Gal. 2:21) and is the worst sin of all. Only faith in Jesus Christ unlocks the door to the Law’s harsh imprisonment of guilt and condemnation. Jesus purchased your freedom at great personal price, so put your faith in Him for everything today. Then you will do the right thing and enjoy His life.

May 23: Take Off the Mask

Mark 7:6-9

He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

Mark 7:6

A biblical definition of a hypocrite is someone whose words and heartactions don’t agree. Hypocrites act the part of a Christian or believe God’s Word, but they won’t do both. Either they do not act on what they know is true, or they don’t believe in their hearts what they say and do—they just do it to appear righteous and holy. Only when both their confession and what they do from their heart are consistent with God’s Word are they truly saved. (Rom. 10:9,10.)

The word hypocrite comes from the Greek word hupokrites, meaning, “the playing of a part on the stage; an actor.” It was a custom for Greek and Roman actors to use large masks when acting to disguise their true identity. Hence, hypocrisy became “the feigning of beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; insecurity.”

It has become customary in our society to conceal our real feelings behind a hypocritical mask. Although we should be tactful and not purposely say things to offend people, there is a time and a place for speaking the truth, even if it isn’t popular. In Leviticus 19:17, the Lord said, “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.” This verse is saying that if we fail to rebuke our brother when we see sin approaching, then we hate him.

Many people have concealed their true feelings about evil under the pretense of, “I just love them too much to hurt their feelings.” The truth is, they just love themselves too much to run the risk of being rejected. That’s hypocrisy. Motives, not actions, are usually what make a person a hypocrite. Let God’s love be your motivation today and everyday.

May 24: Tradition Neutralizes

Mark 7:1-13

Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

Mark 7:13

Deuteronomy 4:2 clearly states, “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it.” This same thought is repeated in the New Testament in Revelation 22:18-19 with very stiff penalties. Religious people are very swift to observe the part about not diminishing any of God’s commandments, but there seems to be an unwritten law that adding to them is okay.