Day: August 4, 2016

Daily Reading:  8-5-16

Matthew 6:19-24The Message (MSG)

As His children, God asks us to be in step with His purposes (obedience) and be willing to offer all that we are and have at our disposal (stewardship) to increase His Kingdom.  If we are going to serve as ambassadors of God’s heart, we need spiritual vision to see things from God’s perspective. There is no room for our self-serving inclinations or entitlement attitudes, because they will cause our spiritual vision to be diminished.  The Holy Spirit not only feeds the Light within us, but He is the Light that makes Christ known to us. 

In our passage, today, Jesus is teaching his disciples about living in the Light of true worship.  A Christ follower cannot worship God and money.  Both require single-hearted devotion; there can only be one lord. We need to choose based on what is more permanent.  Jesus reminds his disciples they are immortal and therefore need to deposit in the security of the eternal Kingdom where no one can steal their investment.  Not only do we reap what we sow, we reap based on where we sow.  Jesus reminds every follower, “Seek first His Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt. 6:33).

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Daily Reading:  8-4-16

Romans 9:1-9  New Living Translation (NLT)

This world seems to be filled with leaders who throw out empty promises in order to get ahead.  I wish they understood the magnitude of this deception; making promises that one never intends (or is not able) to keep is sowing seed in the wrong soil.  I am still a firm believer that a promise is a promise.  If I promise to do something for someone, I need to follow through as best I can because I am a child of Promise. My word to someone else needs to be sown in integrity, because I want to spiritually reap from the promises of God.   Even though I have had to break a promise before, God never breaks His promise to us.  What does God promise to do?  He promises to make us His children if we are willing to repent and turn from our own way to follow Christ’s way with our lives. In other words, for those who are born from God above, practice His righteousness, and seeks to love his/her neighbor, God makes them His spiritual seed or child of Promise.  We are sown in spiritual soil to produce a harvest.

In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul is concerned about his Jewish brothers and sisters who continue to reject Christ.  It is their belief simply being physical descendants of Abraham is what makes them a child of Promise.  He explains it is not a matter of physical ancestry; rather, it is a matter of spiritual ancestry.  I call it a spiritual connection.  We are children of Promise when we take God at His Word and live by spiritual Guidance and Power (the Holy Spirit).  Beyond this one beautiful promise from Father God, we find a lifetime of spiritual potential and blessings as our inheritance.  We have to be willing to live as children of Promise; our lives guided by His Word.

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