Aug 7

“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye,…” Matthew 7:3

By vivid and relevant illustration, Jesus teaches the importance of analysing ourselves ahead of attempting the judgement of others. The experience of having a speck in the eye is not uncommon to most of us. It is an irritant that impedes sight and makes the normal function of seeing difficult and painful. The illustration Jesus gives is logical as it is pertinent. There is nothing wrong with our willingness to help someone who may be afflicted by a small particle in the eye, if our own eyes are clear, functional and able to see. No one in their right mind would attempt to remove something so small from someone else’s eye if they were impaired themselves. Even more surely no one with a speck in their eye would allow someone with a serious impediment to go anywhere near their eye or attempt to help! The inference in this teaching of Jesus, is that the person who has an even bigger problem, that is a ‘beam’, literally a plank or lump of wood in his own eye, should even dare consider the splinter in someone else’s eye! This is at the core of the problem addressed by the Lord. All too often we become critical and begin to scrutinize someone else’s life and shortcomings. We find fault and criticize them, when in our own lives we have by far more serious problems and issues to resolve! The logical and wise direction from God, is to take care of our own difficulty, cleaning and cleansing our own life and vision, so that then we may be able to genuinely be of some assistance to someone else. How much easier and more useful we would all be if this simple, logical and Christ-like principle was followed in our lives. Through prayer, the careful reading of God’s Word, the sincere analysis of our own lives, and maybe the assistance of someone who has ‘clear vision’, we should first face, deal with and overcome our own spiritual impairments. Armed with the knowledge, love and humility learned in the process, we may then without hypocrisy or fear of doing damage, assist our precious brother or sister in their difficulty or challenge.

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion

Apr 4

“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake…” Matthew 5:10

Having warned His disciples that they too, like their Master, would be persecuted in this world, Jesus here teaches the blessing of such persecution. It is not in our natural spectrum of understanding, to see or feel blessing when persecution is waged against our name, reputation, property, person, or our loved ones. Yet it is a truth of scripture, the reality of which is imparted to us, by the teaching and example of Jesus, and the power of His Holy Spirit. The word persecuted here implies, being pressed upon, pursued after, and hunted as prey! There is no blessing in such ill-treatment, if we as believers find ourselves at the receiving end of it, because we have acted unwisely, whether in pride or in foolishness, spoken out of line with God’s word or betrayed the values we claim to live by! When in the course of living a godly life, and in humility upholding the values of God, however, we find ourselves at the butt of the attacks of those who in hatred towards God, hate us also and revile the uprightness we stand for, then we can align ourselves with the teaching of Jesus regarding the blessing found in God as a result of such harassment by man. God has sent us into this world as ‘sheep among wolves’, an analogy which speaks of itself of the necessity for us to lean heavily of Jesus! There are those who are favourable towards godly men and women, admiring their stand in God, even if they do not desire to participate in faith toward God personally. Others instead remain quite unaffected, neutral and even dismissive, of the godly behaviour they may see in believers. Then there are those who become inflamed, enraged and take personal offence, at the mere suggestion of righteousness, whenever they spot it in the virtuous manner or speech of a Christian. Some of these do not hesitate to turn on the believer, with ridicule, accusations, and attempts to victimise and belittle him, particularly when they are in company with those who know them, and may ‘look up’ to them. We are instructed that whatever the persecution, and regardless how severe, we are not to retaliate or give back in kind, but rather show the love of God, and conquer our enemies the way Jesus did, by standing, living and if necessary dying for righteousness’ sake. Great blessings are laid in store for those who follow the Master’s way and obey His principles. May God grant each believer the conviction, peace, strength and anointing to stand for God, God’s way!

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion

Feb 22

“…Man shall not live by bread alone…” Matthew 4:4

Jesus had been fasting for forty days. When tempted to miraculously supply for Himself bread to sustain His physical life, His scriptural response to the tempter was taken from Deuteronomy. There we are reminded not to think that our survival depends upon bread alone, for that is at best only sufficient for the physical being, but that true life in a man, is produced by adherence to “every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”. It is a common mistake among humans to judge and measure our sufficiency and success by physical, temporal and fiscal factors alone. We usually consider a person to be successful, when they have money, own property and are generally ‘well-off’ in physical, financial terms. God measures by a different yardstick, and clearly being economically well placed, does not amount to being spiritually successful or wealthy in God. Many are financially rich and socially well positioned, but are yet destitute in their soul, empty of godliness, impoverished in spirit and untouched by the grace of God! Having all that satisfies the physical needs and wants, does not preclude the necessity to seek that, which is essential for the health and wealth of our mind, heart, soul and spirit. ‘Man shall not live by bread alone’, as a divine principle, reaches into the deepest recesses of our human intuition, and tears out all our pre-conceived ideas and ideologies! It destroys the endless human pursuit of the tangible, material and temporal world only, and lifts our gaze to a higher plane. It is there we see the bigger picture. God made man to be more than just a physical being! His mind, soul and spirit require life giving sustenance also, and that ‘food’ can only come from the word of God! No other source will do, no spiritual life can result from the philosophies and thoughts of man. The human replacements of man’s wisdom to feed the mind, human experience to feed the emotions and pseudo spiritualism to reach the soul, cannot bring to man the spiritual and eternal life God had intended for him. Without the spiritual plane of life given by Yahwah, we have only a temporal physical existence and are brought face to face with the futility of our struggles and briefness of our earthly survival! We need divine, heavenly food, for true life on earth, for worship and service unto God, and for life eternal. That is what we were designed and created for, and nothing short of fulfilling our created purpose will satisfy. Man shall not live by bread alone, for that life will soon pass and an eternity of death will follow - unless during this brief passage on earth, we realise, accept and make ours the eternal life which comes from hearing and obeying every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God!

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion