Don’t Give Him the Satisfaction!

JULY 20

MATTHEW 6:22_if therefore thine eye be single…

When Jesus refers to the eye being single He does not mean a person with just one eye. Neither does He mean a person who has sight in only one eye. Jesus is teaching a principle here, not a lesson in physical science.

If you are a person who only has sight in one eye or if you’re totally blind—don’t you dare think you are in some way inferior! Thoughts of inferiority come from the devil—never from Jesus. As Creator, Jesus understands the body, soul, and spirit. He understands the principles by which they operate. He created them to function together, with the spirit being the mainspring.

The devil has no understanding, or even knowledge of how Jesus’ principles of life work. He is the deceiver.  It doesn’t really matter to him how Jesus’ creation works, because he plans to deceive you into believing his lies and not the truth. He knows how to discourage. He knows how to intimidate. He knows how to tempt.

The devil wants to deceive you out of your hope. He knows if he can get your focus off of Jesus, and into a defeated, giving up, I-don’t-stand-a-chance attitude, he’s won a major battle in your life. Don’t give him the satisfaction!

Remember: light expels darkness.

PRAYER

Holy God of Heaven, Help me not to be discouraged by the devil’s lies. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Christ knows the devil’s lies—He helps me overcome!

It Is Astounding!

JULY 19

MATTHEW 6:22_The light of the body is the eye…

Once the eyes lose sight, light no longer enters the body. Light does not enter through your nose, mouth, or ears. Light enters through your eyes. If you want to be fascinated, take some time to study the process by which this works. It is astounding! Only a highly intelligent being—aka the Lord God Almighty—could have designed it!

You are called to be the Jesus’ light in the world. If you think of the human body as representing the world—salty-lit-up disciples of Jesus are the eyes.

One of my favorite miracles of Jesus is found in John chapter 9 (KJV). Jesus heals a man who was born blind. But, oh my goodness—He does it on the Sabbath! Jesus leaves the scene. Tattle-tales bring the healed man to the Pharisees. The Pharisees have a fit because the man was healed on the Sabbath. The Pharisees kick the healed man out of church (excommunicated). Jesus comes across him, 39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. 40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, ‘Are we blind also?’ 41 Jesus said unto them, ‘If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, we see; therefore your sin remaineth.’”

Jesus says you can have eyes which see, yet still be blind. How? Stay with us …

PRAYER

All Powerful Jesus, Praise You that You give Your light to all who seek You. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Christ gives sight to the spiritually blind—I can see! 

God Has a Plan for Everyone

JULY 10

MATTHEW 6:18_shall reward thee openly.

God rewards openly. Trust. Believe. But remember, God has His own time table, and it’s a perfect one. You can also trust and believe that!

God delights in rewarding His people. Another natural byproduct of love is to give: time, money, gifts. God is the creator of all things physical and spiritual. He knows how to reward, when to reward, what to reward (behavior or actions), and the kind of reward to give.

You can trust your Heavenly Father to give rewards perfectly designed for you. They are part of the wonderful plan God has for your life. God has a plan for everyone. There are those who do not choose to accept His plan. The circumstances of life, which are beyond your control: family, race, culture, disabilities, can never prevent you from achieving His plan—if you seek it. 

Jeremiah 29:11-13 (KJV),“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

PRAYER

God Who Cares, Thank You for Your plan for me. Nothing in this life can take it from me! In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Christ has a plan for me—He will help me achieve it!

Some Kind of Power!

JUNE 21

MATTHEW 6:13_and the power…

God is the power!

Power is authority!

The weak submit to the strong! 

God has great power in His voice. Genesis chapter 1 states “and God said” ten times. Each time involved creation. With the exception of humans, all creation came forth from the power of God’s voice. 

Psalm 29 (KJV) gives the best description of the power in God’s voice, 3The voice of the LORD is upon the waters…  4The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.  5The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars 7The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire. 8The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness…  9The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests…”

That’s some kind of power!

God spoke His control over creation: giving the sun power to control day, and the moon power to control night and the ebb and flow of the ocean’s tide. If you are not impressed by God’s power in creation, just try to rope a tornado, or hurricane, or tsunami. Try to stop an earthquake.

This is the God of the Bible, of Creation, and of Power!         

PRAYER

Powerful God, I praise Your incredible power.  I know You can speak Your power into my life. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Christ can speak power—I want His power in my life!

Omnipotent Rule

JUNE 20

MATTHEW 6:13_For thine is the kingdom…

Psalm 24:1-2 (KJV), “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.” The world belongs to God and everything in it!

All that lives belongs to God. Acts 17:28 (KJV), “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”

Deuteronomy 10:14, “Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.

I Corinthians 10:26 (KJV), “For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” 

And, I particularly love it in I Samuel 2:8 (KJV), “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he hath set the world upon them.” 

Did you get a message from all that? There simply is no getting away from God’s ownership. He is God. He has no beginning, nor will He have an end. When Jesus prays, for thine is, it is a way of recognizing God’s omnipotent rule.

This life will not last forever. God has perfection in store for all who choose it.

Please choose it!             

PRAYER

Omnipotent God, I stand in awe of Your greatness and majesty. I worship You as the living God who set the earth on its pillars. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

 Christ created everything that is—He created it for me!