- Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8 – Such a famous verse, but such a verse that gets misused. We use it to almost blackmail God into giving us things. Like we say, “I asked for it now give it!” But we need to see what Jesus is really saying here by connecting it to the verses before it. Those verses talk about the log in your eye and the speck in someone else’s. It’s about how to help you and others with the sin in their life. Then the very next verses are what we are looking at today. Jesus is saying if you are unsure of how to deal with the sin in your life or how to help someone with their sin, ask, seek God out with it, and know He’ll provide what you need. These aren’t verses that make God out into our personal vending machine, it’s saying that God will always help us carry out our mission of loving God with our own life by setting aside our sin and loving people by helping them away from their sin so they can fully embrace God! Let’s make sure we understand scripture the way God wrote it not the way we want to read it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 861
- Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ Matthew 7:21-23 – This passage should cause you to pause. A mere profession of religion is not the same as a wholehearted devotional life to God and His works. Simply looking like a follower of Jesus, talking like a follower of Jesus, and living like a follower of Jesus won’t make you a follower of Jesus. Only giving your life to Jesus and setting everything at His feet so you can freely follow Him will do that. Today, pause and reflect. Have you truly given your life to Jesus? Sure maybe you’ve gone to church your whole life, gone international for mission trips, and maybe even preached sermons, but have you started a relationship with Jesus? At the end of your life what will welcome you into Heaven is the fact you chose to follow Jesus. You may be the most generous, most compassionate, most selfless person on earth, but if you haven’t started that relationship with Jesus what’s said in this chapter will be said to you by Jesus…I never knew you. Make sure today you have things right with God. You may not have tomorrow to do so. Need help figuring out what all that means, DM me and I’d love to chat with you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1957
Daily DEVO 