Every Day with Jesus (21 page)

The Old Testament Law was like a judge passing sentence upon sin. Jesus became our advocate (lawyer). Even more than that, He became our substitute, bearing “our sins in his own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). He didn’t destroy God’s judgment; He fulfilled it in Himself so that we could go free. This forever changed God’s dealings with sinful people.

In light of what Jesus has done in the New Covenant, forgiving us for all our sins, we should never turn around and release God’s wrath upon others as was done in the Old Covenant. There is a difference between Old Testament Law and New Testament grace. “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Grow in grace today, and forgive and pray for those who do wrong and reject Jesus.

July 17: The Cost of Living for Jesus

Matthew 8:18-22; Luke 9:51-62

And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

Luke 9:58

This verse has often been used to support the misconception that Jesus and His disciples lived in poverty. However, in this instance the reason Jesus had nowhere to lay His head was because of persecution. Because of a religious prejudice, the Samaritans refused Jesus and His disciples hospitality and a place to stay as He journeyed to Jerusalem. Persecution is part of the cost of living a Christian life. Jesus was communicating to this man that not having a place to stay at times was part of that cost.

There are many forms of persecution. Having your life threatened because of your faith in Jesus is one way you can be persecuted, but it is not the most damaging. A far more deadly form of persecution is when the people we admire, love, or seek approval from simply speak evil of us or separate us from their company. This is more deadly because it is more subtle and more personal.

Many believers who would never directly deny the Lord will fall into self-pity or strife because of someone’s criticism, especially someone they look up to and want to impress. This will render them just as ineffective as a negative reaction to having one’s life threatened.

It helps to recognize that it is not you people are persecuting but rather Christ in you. You are actually becoming a partaker of His sufferings and will share His resurrection power and rewards as a result. With this in mind, you can actually shout and leap for joy when you are rejected for His sake.

July 18: Sharing God’s Love

Luke 10:1-2

Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

Luke 10:2

It is commonly thought that an evangelist is someone who has a passion to lead people to the Lord, but they are not alone in this call. Every believer should have a passion for souls. When presenting the Gospel, we are not just presenting a theory about God but the factual account of His dealings with mankind as revealed in His Word. The ultimate witness to the truth is the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Our personal witness of the reality of Jesus being alive in our lives brings Him from theory to reality.

The early Christians experienced the love of Jesus in an intimate and life-transforming way. This motivated them to reach their known world with the Gospel more than any generation of Christians since. They didn’t have the benefits of our modern technology, but they did have the benefit of being full of the love of Christ. Experiencing the love of Christ causes us to be filled with the fullness of God (Eph. 3:19) and makes us a witness that the world cannot resist. (John 13:35.)

Today, churches emphasize techniques of evangelism or spiritual warfare. We motivate people to witness through guilt or the threat of punishment. Much of our evangelism has become as dead and non-productive as that of the cults who knock on doors and argue people into their way of thinking.

The early Christians had a much greater impact on their world because they were full of and motivated by the love of God. We need that in our churches today! When we can say with Paul that the love of Christ constrains us, then we will impact our world for the Lord too.

You can’t give away what you don’t possess. You need to personally know the love of Christ in an experiential way before you try to share it with others.

July 19: God’s Peace

Luke 10:5-6

And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.

Luke 10:5

Jesus said that His followers should bring peace and leave peace wherever they went. All Christians have peace first with God through Jesus Christ. (Rom. 5:1.) When we walk into a room, no matter what is going on between people we bring the peace of God to them. Whether or not they receive it, we offer it to them by our presence, our words, and our actions.

Peace is also a fruit of the Spirit that lives in our spirits, so peace is always present in our spirits. Our minds and emotions and bodies can get caught up in the turmoil of this world, but inside us we always can draw upon the peace of God. Peter exhorted us to always cast our cares upon the Lord (1 Peter 5:7) because he knew that cares will keep us from walking in God’s peace. When we eliminate the cares, peace flows freely out of our spirits into our mind, emotions, and body.

Many believers ask God to give them peace so that their cares will leave. It doesn’t work that way. Through faith we cast our cares on the Lord, and then His peace in our hearts is released into the rest of our being. Christians who are lacking God’s peace have not taken their cares to the Lord and left them there.

Human peace is only experienced in the absence of problems, but God’s peace is independent of circumstances and is infinitely greater than any problem you could ever have today. God has given you His supernatural peace to enjoy and to bring to others.

July 20: Faith in the Name of Jesus

Luke 10:17-18

And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.

Luke 10:17

The power in the name of Jesus and the disciples’ faith in that name made the demons subject unto them. This truth was demonstrated in Acts 19:13-17, where certain Jews called on the name of Jesus in an effort to cast demons out of a man. They used the name of Jesus, but it didn’t work because they had not put their faith in that name.

These Jews were vagabond exorcists who used incantations to bring deliverance to people who were demon possessed. The first-century historian Josephus wrote of an exorcism he witnessed in the presence of Vespasian and many of his soldiers. The exorcist supposedly followed a ritual for deliverance passed down from King Solomon. Throughout history people have tried to resist demonic spirits, but as this example proves, only Jesus and those who have received His life are successful.

Those who relegate demonic spirits to the realm of superstition do not believe in the entire Word of God. The Gospels alone contain over ninety references to the devil or devils (demons). The apostle Paul told the Ephesians, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). The devil and demons do exist, but all believers in Jesus share in His total victory over them.

The name of Jesus is not magic. It does not work like a charm. As Peter said, “His name, through faith in his name” (Acts 3:16), is what brings results. Today you must put your faith in the name of Jesus to be completely victorious over the enemy. As you trust in Him, whenever you do encounter a demonic spirit you can confidently cast it out and set people free.

July 21: Focus on Jesus

Luke 10:20-25

Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather, rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

Luke 10:20

We were never instructed to have a Ph.D. in demonology; however, some people justify focusing on Satan and his activity to an inordinate degree. This will actually encourage demonic activity and become a device that Satan can use against them. As Paul said, we should not be ignorant of Satan’s devices; we need to know the devil and demons exist and to recognize their activities, but we need to keep our focus on the Lord. Some people who are excessive in spiritual warfare actually spend more time talking to the devil each day than they do talking to God. That’s not right.

The best defense against the devil is to be so God-centered that we give no place to Satan. People who are very sensitive to the devil’s presence usually are not being sensitive to the Lord’s presence. David said, “If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there” (Ps. 139:8). Any time Satan’s oppression is there, God’s presence is there too. (Heb. 13:5.) It’s just a matter of which one we focus on. Focusing on the devil is a trick of the devil.

Your ability to live the Christian life is found in Jesus Christ. It is not your ability but your availability to Him that makes the difference. Paul said, “For when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor. 12:10). He was saying that when he recognized his inability and relied on the Lord’s ability, that was when the Lord’s strength flowed through him. Today you can do all things through Christ (Phil. 4:13) by keeping your eyes on Him.

July 22: By Grace Through Faith

Luke 10:25-29

And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

Luke 10:28-29

Pride causes many people to resist the truth of justification by faith in the grace of God. This lawyer loved himself and the public recognition his holy acts brought him. He was not willing to love God first and other people ahead of himself. His question was an attempt to shun responsibility for his self-centeredness. He was seeking to be justified in the sight of God through his actions. He knew he had not loved everyone as he loved himself, so he tried to interpret the Scripture (Lev. 19:18) in a way that would apply to his actions, not his heart. He wanted to define “neighbor” as close friends whom he had treated well. Self-justification always produces excuses, while repentance and faith toward God produces surrender and obedience.

The basis of our salvation is grace—that is, God’s undeserved, unmerited favor toward us as expressed in providing redemption through Christ Jesus. The way God saves us is through faith. Through faith we accept His free gift of salvation, which was provided by His grace. We are saved “by grace…through faith” (Eph. 2:8) not by grace alone. Faith grants us admission to God’s grace. Without faith, God’s grace is wasted, and without grace, faith is powerless. Faith in God’s grace has to be released to receive what God has provided through Jesus Christ.

Sodium and chloride are poisonous by themselves, and grace or faith used independently of each other are deadly; but when you mix sodium and chloride together you get salt, which you must have to live. Likewise, putting faith in what God has already provided by grace is the key to victorious Christian living.

July 23: Who Is Your Neighbor?

Luke 10:29-37

But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

Luke 10:29

This question, “Who is my neighbor?” can be used by Satan to deceive us in more than one way. Not only can he deceive us into thinking we have loved our neighbors as ourselves when we haven’t, but he will also try to condemn us by making us think we are not doing enough to love and minister Jesus Christ to our neighbors.

We cannot meet the needs of every single person in the world. Jesus did not teach that or live that way. The wounded man in this story in Luke was directly in the path of three men. The priest and the Levite had to walk around him. Jesus was simply teaching that we should take advantage of the opportunities we have. Just because we can’t help everyone is no excuse not to help anyone.

In this parable, Jesus defined a neighbor as any fellow human being that crosses our path and is in need of our assistance. The Samaritan went to the full extent of his ability to help the man, but the priest and Levite did nothing. In light of the racial and religious hatred between Jews and Samaritans, having the priest and Levite ignore the injured man and the Samaritan help him was an interesting choice for Jesus! He made it clear that we could not define neighbor on the basis of geographic origin or familiarity.

By Jesus’ definition, your neighbor is anyone God puts in your path. Remember that today. You will look at the people you encounter in a whole new way.

July 24: Jesus’ Words to You

Luke 10:38-42

But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.

Luke 10:40

There are only three instances in Scripture that give us information about Martha. From these accounts, we can see that Martha had a brother named Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead, and a sister named Mary. Martha had misplaced her priorities on this occasion in Luke 10 and was corrected by Jesus. Later, at a supper for Jesus in the home of Simon the leper, Martha was once again serving while Mary, her sister, was worshipping Jesus by anointing His feet with costly perfume.

Martha was also the first one to run to meet Jesus when He came to their home after the death of Lazarus. It was at this time Martha said she knew Jesus could have prevented Lazarus from dying and that, even then, she knew He could raise him from the dead. She made a confession of faith in the deity of Jesus, every bit as strong as Peter’s, which received a blessing from Jesus.

Martha was not wrong in serving Jesus and His disciples. Other women ministered to Jesus in this way without being corrected. Serving was a good thing, but Martha had put it in the wrong place. Her problem was priorities—not what she was doing. It was a great honor to have Jesus in her home and to hear His personal words for them. Martha should have given His words the same priority Mary gave them.