Tag: The Heart

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The Comfort of Jesus

 JANUARY 12

MATTHEW 5:4_for they shall be comforted.

Don’t you love the blessing Jesus has for the mournful? Comfort. If you go through a time of mourning wouldn’t you rather have comfort than anything else?

I see God’s created life with a cause and effect sequence. This sequence shows up in the laws God gave to Moses. It also shows up in the teachings of Jesus. Could the blessing of comfort depend upon why you are mourning? 

What is breaking your young heart? Cruelty? There certainly is plenty of reason to mourn there. Jesus experienced great cruelty, both verbally and physically. He understands your pain and desires to give you His comfort. Experiencing Jesus’ comfort is not something you can make happen. His comfort comes naturally as you grow in His love.    

On the other hand, are you mourning because you’re the only one in the class who doesn’t have the latest electronic gadget? That may not be the kind of mourning referred to here. It’s not that it doesn’t hurt. It hurts. To receive comfort, change thought patterns. What is important to you, having what people have or having what Jesus has?

Be comforted in knowing Jesus can give you a new heart. Let love rule your heart, not possessions.

PRAYER

Mighty God, You can give me a new life. Let me take comfort in Your love. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                    

Christ sees my heart—He can change it!

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The Kingdom of Heaven

JANUARY 10

MATTHEW 5:3_for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

There is a reward for the poor in spirit: the kingdom of heaven.

I believe in heavenly rewards. I believe because I used the key which opened my spirit to learn of heavenly rewards. Using that same key, my spirit also received the truth of earthly rewards.

I do not claim to fully understand this kingdom of heaven Jesus refers to, but I will share what I do perceive. 

This is an earthly kingdom we live with Jesus (Luke 17:20-21). This verse does not say to be poor in spirit saves us from hell and takes us to heaven. Only our trust in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ has such power.

Matthew 13:45-46 (KJV), “… the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls … when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” We enter the kingdom of heaven once our hearts perceive the truth, understand our great need of truth, and receive the Savior. To be poor in spirit is a predecessor to the kingdom of heaven.

When we set up residence in the kingdom of heaven our self-centeredness begins to fade.

PRAYER

LORD of all Lords, Thank You for the kingdom of heaven. In You I can be a part of the kingdom. I know to possess the kingdom of heaven is more valuable than any earthly treasure. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                    

Christ is the kingdom of heaven—He can give it to me!

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Do You Know Your Heart?

JANUARY 9

MATTHEW 5:3_Blessed are the poor in spirit…

The poor in spirit really do have a monopoly on humility. It is impossible to be proud or arrogant and be poor in spirit. The poor in spirit measure themselves to Jesus’ standards—they find themselves lacking. They do not measure themselves to the standards of the world. Neither are they anxiously concerned if they do not measure up to what their peers consider to be cool or acceptable in order to be in the clique. 

The poor in spirit grieve as they discover the truth of Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV), “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” The poor in spirit come humbly and contritely to the only One who can change them. The only One who can give them a new heart.

The poor in spirit believe there is hope for change because they believe they need change. They are not satisfied with the world’s standards. They seek Jesus’ standards.  

Because they are poor in spirit they open themselves up for a metamorphosis—from which they emerge as something beautiful.

They do not return to the cocoon. 

PRAYER

Powerful True God, Show me my heart, change it, and make it new. Only You can make its hardness soft, and its wickedness kindness. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                    

Christ can transform my heart—and make it like His!

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The Key

JANUARY 5

MATTHEW 5:2_And he opened his mouth…

These devotionals are based on the Holy Bible, specifically Matthew chapters five through seven. Devotion can be based on many things—you just may not call it devotion. Setting aside time to read requires some devotion. What you choose to read during that time is a part of your heart’s devotion.

This blog is devoted to the Bible as the true source of spiritual power. Yes, power! To live a defeated life is to live without power. In this sermon Jesus teaches how to receive power from the truths of the Bible.

Jesus is ready for His go. He opens His mouth. Not to take a deep breath, or to eat, but to teach. All the words in this sermon are the result of one act—Jesus opened His mouth.

He could have made a decision not to open His mouth. There are more relaxing ways to spend a day than teaching a multitude of people. Jesus taught because the strongest force known to man overflowed within Him—love. Infused in the love was freedom.

There were too many unmet needs in the multitude for Jesus to keep His mouth closed. He possessed their cures. 

The Bible is the key to open a treasure box of love and freedom in your spirit. The wealth in the box is unattainable without the key.

PRAYER

Loving Jesus, Please teach me how to be devoted to You and Your Word. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                    

Christ is devoted to me—I want to be devoted to Him!

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The Great Liberator! The Great Metamorphosis!

DECEMBER 31

MATTHEW 7:29_and not as the Scribes.

You may think we’ve covered everything Jesus can be, but: He is The Great Liberator!

2 Corinthians 3:17 (KJV), “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

I don’t believe any of us can completely grasp all Jesus has taught in the past year. It will take meditating on His teachings, reading and studying, and prayer, to instill this radical lifestyle into our being. We will need faith and trust that only the Holy Spirit can build inside us.

We all experience life like a worm looking for a better existence. We want more than to inch and crawl our way through life. Oh! That’s something else Jesus is: The Great Metamorphosis! He takes our wormy existence and builds Himself around and within us. Jesus works from the inside, gradually changing hearts—this requires taking the broken pieces and gently making them whole again. With time, we emerge into something beautiful—no longer crawling, but flying!

Isaiah 43:18-19 (KJV), “Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness [of our hearts], and rivers in the desert [of our lives].”     

 PRAYER

Holy and Resplendent God, I know there is no bondage in life from which You cannot free me! In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.          

Christ liberates and metamorphoses me—I can live free!