Read Every Day with Jesus Online
Authors: Andrew Wommack
Being unequally yoked with unbelievers just doesn’t work. Believers and unbelievers are as different as righteousness and unrighteousness, light and dark, and Jesus and the devil. One has faith and the other has none. I hope you have avoided this if you are already married. If you are not married, decide today that you will not fall for this deception.
October 9: Your Nature in Christ
Matthew 24:13
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Matthew 24:13
Here Jesus teaches that the believer must persevere in faith to receive complete salvation. Salvation is a gift that cannot be earned or maintained by our own works. It has to be received by faith, and there is effort on our part to maintain that faith.
Holiness will not produce relationship with God, nor will a lack of holiness make God turn away from us. He deals with us according to our faith in Jesus, not our performance. Holiness will keep Satan from stealing our faith, while a lack of holiness is an open invitation for the devil to do his worst. A person who wants to endure to the end cannot live a lifestyle that permits Satan free access to them.
Although God is not imputing our sins unto us, we cannot afford the luxury of sin because it allows Satan to have access to us. When a Christian does sin and allows the devil an opportunity to produce death in their life, the way to stop this is to confess the sin. God is faithful and just to take the forgiveness that is already present in our born-again spirits and release it in our flesh (1 John 1:9) thereby removing Satan and his strongholds.
Holiness is a byproduct of an intimate relationship with God; it does not produce relationship with God. It is the nature of a Christian to want to do right. If I were to ask you, “Do you really want to sin?” You would say no because you are living from your new nature of God’s righteousness within. Remember this truth today whenever the devil comes to tempt you, and keep the faith!
October 10: Resist the Temptation of Sin
Luke 22:3
Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.
Luke 22:3
Some people have speculated that Judas betrayed Jesus in an effort to force Jesus into a confrontation with the Roman government. Then He would have had to use His supernatural power in self-defense and overthrow the Romans thereby giving independence back to the nation of Israel. This idea is based mainly on Judas’ response when he saw that Jesus was condemned. He “repented himself” (Matt. 27:3), implying that the condemnation of Jesus was never his intent. However, the Bible does not say Judas possessed noble virtues. He was simply a thief.
This verse makes it very clear that Satan entered into Judas and was responsible for putting the betrayal of Jesus into Judas’ heart. We can be assured that Satan’s only purpose in motivating Judas to betray Jesus was to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10.) Moreover, that Satan possessed Judas does not acquit Judas of the responsibility for his actions. The devil goes about seeking whom he may devour.
(1 Peter 5:8.) He cannot devour just anyone. They have to give place to him. By being a thief, Judas gave Satan access to him. He may have never intended to betray Jesus when he began to steal from Him, but once he submitted to Satan in thievery, it was hard to stop.
Sin cannot be controlled. You cannot sin “just a little.” Sin is sin in God’s eyes, and the more you give in to it, the more it captures you. In order to resist the devil and overcome his temptations to sin, you must first submit yourself to God. (James 4:7.) Once you have submitted to Him, the Holy Spirit will supernaturally empower you to say no to whatever the enemy is trying to do in your life.
October 11: Communion Is Sacred
Luke 22:19
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Luke 22:19
The bread of communion symbolizes the body of Jesus, which was broken for us through His sufferings. He not only died for us on the Cross, but also He bore thirty-nine stripes on His back by which we are healed.
(1 Peter 2:24.) Partaking of communion should remind us of the emotional and physical salvation Jesus provided for us.
The Lord’s Supper comes from a part of the Passover meal that was celebrated only once a year. However, the early Christian church took communion weekly and sometimes daily. There is no specific frequency of the Lord’s Supper prescribed in Scripture.
As we take communion, we are solemnly remembering the Lord’s death, as well as our union with Him in that death. We died with Him and then rose with Him to the eternal life we now enjoy. (Col. 1:12.) Partaking of the bread is partaking of healing and wholeness because His body was broken so ours could be whole. Partaking of the wine is partaking of His righteousness, which His shed blood imparted to us.
Communion is one of the most powerful professions of your faith in the redemptive work of Jesus, and 1 Corinthians 11:27 tells us that you should not take it lightly. Today, remember the miraculous way Jesus saved you and transformed your life. And whenever you have the opportunity or feel the unction to take communion, make it the special time with the Lord He intended it to be.
October 12: Let God Minister to You
John 13:5-8
Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
John 13:8
Peter’s refusal to let Jesus wash his feet came from the knowledge that he was totally unworthy to have the sinless Son of God serve him like a common servant. Peter was correct in his assessment of his relative worth, but what he missed was that God doesn’t minister to us because of our worth but because of His love.
Even though Peter’s attitude looked holy and humble, he was actually resisting God’s will and being proud. Pride is being self-centered and self-willed instead of God-centered and submitted to God’s will. Peter should have been humble enough to know that Jesus knew what He was doing! Instead, he thought he knew better.
This same pride causes many Christians to refuse to let God bless them, thinking they are unworthy of His favor. While it is true that their actions don’t warrant His goodness, they will receive more of the Lord’s blessings when they receive them as an expression of His love and grace toward them.
Misguided humility is every bit as damaging as exaggerated pride. Peter wanted to serve Jesus, but he was too proud to be served by Jesus. Jesus was telling Peter that unless he received His ministry to him, Peter would be unfit to serve Him. Symbolically He was saying, “Peter, you cannot cleanse yourself. You must allow Me to do it.”
You cannot cleanse yourself or others. Be totally dependent on the work of God’s grace in your life, and He will cleanse you and equip you to minister to others. Before you can be the blessing you desire to be to God or to the people around you, you have to let God be the blessing to you that He desires to be.
October 13: Love Comes First
John 13:35
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
John 13:35
Jesus didn’t say that all men would know we are His disciples by our doctrine, our rituals, our hatred for sin, or even by the way we express our love for God. He said very clearly that the one characteristic that would cause the world to identify us as His followers was our love for one another.
This same night, the Lord prayed to His Father using this same thought saying, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:21). The only way that the body of Christ will be one as the Father and Jesus are one is through God’s kind of love.
According to Jesus, unity of believers through a genuine God-kind of love is the greatest tool for evangelism that the church has or ever will have. The early church didn’t have the massive organizational structures that we see today or the ability to travel anywhere in the world in just a matter of hours. They certainly did not come close to spending as much money, in proportion to us, to spread the Gospel. Yet, the pagans of Thessalonica said of Paul and his companions, “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also” (Acts 17:6). They had evangelized the known world in less than thirty years.
Before we can ever fulfill the great commission of Matthew 28:19-20, there must be a revival of love in the church, where doctrine and ritual take a back seat to love for one another. Today, ask the Lord to show you how you can express your love to your brothers and sisters.
October 14: Peter’s Faith Did Not Fail
Luke 22:31-61
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
Luke 22:32
Jesus informed Peter that Satan desired to sift him as wheat. (v. 31.) We know through Scripture that later that night Peter denied knowing Jesus three times. (Luke 22:54-62.) It looked like the devil succeeded even after Jesus prayed for him. Did Jesus pray a prayer that wasn’t answered? Certainly not!
In this verse, Jesus also spoke of what Peter should do when he was converted. Therefore, He foresaw Peter’s denial, prayed that his faith wouldn’t fail, and it didn’t. It is possible to fail in our actions but not fail in our hearts.
That night Peter said he would follow Jesus to the death. (v. 33.) He proved it by trying to defend the Lord against the Roman soldiers who came to arrest Him. (Luke 22:50,51.) This was a suicide mission. If Jesus had not intervened, Peter would have been killed. There is no doubt Peter’s heart was committed to Jesus.
Just like many of us, after his great show of courage Peter was unprepared for the spiritual battle he encountered later. If the war had been in the physical realm, with fists and swords, he would have fought to the death. But he didn’t know how to stand spiritually. Peter denied the Lord with his mouth but not in his heart. He proved this by the remorse he experienced after seeing Jesus turn and look at him. (Luke 22:61.)
Maybe you have failed the Lord some way in your actions. Jesus has prayed for you that your faith would not fail. Knowing this, you can get up again, just like Peter, and serve the Lord with all your heart in whatever you do. Remember, God used Peter to preach the first Gospel message on the Day of Pentecost.
October 15: The Comfort of Eternity
John 14:2
In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
John 14:2
This is Jesus’ last teaching to His disciples before His crucifixion. They were about to go through the greatest test of their faith, and He was preparing them for what was to come. Why speak of preparing them a mansion in heaven? He wanted to comfort them and help them put things in perspective. In 1 Thessalonians 4:18, Paul tells us to comfort one another with words about being gathered unto the Lord in the air. Paul said again, “I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). Someday, all of our trials will seem like nothing, and this can be a great comfort to us now.
When we think about being with the Lord throughout eternity, it helps us to put our present problems in proper perspective. It is easy to get fearful about our troubles and think all is lost. However, for those of us who are born again, if worse comes to worse, we still have the promise of Jesus wiping all the tears from our eyes and preparing a habitation for us where all our former sorrows will have passed away. This keeps us from despairing and inspires us to keep going in faith.
In heaven there are many dwelling places, and Jesus is preparing a special one for you. The thing that is going to make heaven “heaven” is that you will be with Him. No doubt, there will be things to see and do that will be wonderful, but nothing will compare to being with the One who loves you and died for you.
October 16: One Way
John 14:5-6
Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
John 14:5
Thomas knew Jesus; he just didn’t know Jesus was “the way.” When he asked Jesus this question, Jesus didn’t say: “I am a way, a truth, and a life that will lead you to the Father in heaven.” Rather, He claimed to be the only way, the only truth, and the only life. He said, “No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (v. 6). This means that anyone who claims to honor Jesus while advocating other ways to get to God, to know the truth, or to have eternal life apart from Jesus alone is deceived and deceiving others.
Jesus’ claims about Himself leave no room for any other means of salvation. He is either who He says He is or He is the greatest deceiver of all time. His statements about Himself leave no other alternative. Therefore, other religions that recognize Jesus and His teachings as wonderful examples but don’t believe He is the only way to achieve salvation are false.
Jesus said He is the Truth, and John revealed He is the Living Word. (John 1:1,14.) People today may know portions of the Bible, but they don’t realize that the words written in the Book are the way to victory in every area of their lives. They will cry out to God to speak to them while their Bible lays unopened on their nightstand. If they would only open it, read it, and receive the Word into their hearts, they would know Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
The Word of God is a spiritual book written by men under the direction of the Holy Spirit. It was not written to our heads but to the innermost part of our hearts. This is why some people find the Bible so hard to understand. They are trying to comprehend it in their minds. The Word of God has to inspire our hearts before it can enlighten our minds.