Daily Devotions

Posts tagged “Matthew 7

God-Ordained Doors

There are a variety of excuses for not going through God-ordained doors. Some of the doors are just beyond temptation, some just beyond ignorance and neglect and some are just beyond lethargy. Temptation can be resisted, ignorance can be displaced by willful pursuance of knowledge and wisdom. Neglect can be exchanged for responsible activity and lethargy can be handled by self-government. Matt.7:14,Amp — “But small is the gate and narrow and difficult to travel is the path that leads the way to [everlasting] life, and there are few who find it.”


Opportunities and Decisions

In His wisdom Father has placed opportunities & choices before us (Deut.30:19; Matt.7:13). Whether or not we go through the many divinely-ordained opened doors God has put before us this year will depend upon how we make decisions this year. There are many doors open before you. They are not just barely cracked open but wide open for His Kingdom purposes, for His Name’s sake.


The Rock Doesn’t Move

rock_hugeOne of the types of Christ in the Bible is a Rock. The Rock we are instructed to build upon in Mt.7:24 is none other than Jesus. The Rock doesn’t move or shake or crack because there are things leaking in deep parts of the ocean. The Rock is steady and firm no matter what political system or false god is threatening with teeming hordes within our borders or outside them. Run to the Rock and stay on the Rock.


Kingdom of Darkness and Kingdom of Light

One giant step in the direction of saving the “house” (Matt.7-built on rock) is to LightAndDark.jpgrecognize that there is a vast difference between the kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of Light, and the impossibility of bridging that disparity through any form of compromise or tolerance. The citizens of the Kingdom of Light must maintain purity and fealty to the King of Kings and His standards, values and covenant.  (Excerpt four from “Don’t Fear the Snakes” by Marty G.)


House on the Rock

Repentance will not, in a wholesale flash, sweep a land in a few hours time. That repentance must begin in individuals and families. A few righteous legislators and RockHouse.jpgjustices will not, by themselves, produce a reformation. There must be a value base embraced by many in the land that will be the ripe field for the seeds of repentance and, hence, reformation. There have been a number across the grid of Christianity who have espoused an opinion that just getting “the right people” into the “right positions” would somehow open a grand dam of reformation that would flood the land. Right people in right places is a key factor but not the full recipe. When a nation has multiple churchmen and multiple churches making news headlines on a regular basis because of values that were traded for a ready-to-eat bowl of soup (Esau, Gen.25:29-34) in a moment of carnal passion or a moment of greed, a message has been sent to that nation (and to regional spiritual entities) that the values and basis of reformation (Holy Scripture) are held as less than supreme. What house has ever stood that divided itself from its foundation? We must fashion ourselves after the wise man of Matt.7:24-27 who built his house upon a rock so that the opposition of rains, floods and winds could not destroy it.  (Excerpt three from “Don’t Fear the Snakes” by Marty G.)


Why the Gate is Narrow

The gate in Matt 7 is not narrow because God is mean and put the posts really close together so folks would have to squeeze through while holding their bellies in. The gate is narrow by virtue of the things that are about it. The gate of prosperity is wide open before us at the end of this year but shopping networks, impulse spending and high-interest-rate credit cards are standing between us and the gate of prosperity. The gate of good health and fitness is wide open for us to go through this year but easily obtained carbohydrates, sugar, flour, salt and fats are boldly, challengingly standing all around that gate. Getting to the gate is a challenge and getting through the gate is not easy because of what we must pass through to get over its threshold. There are gates of life and gates of death, gates of blessing and gates of curses. Which gates we go through, if we go through them at all, are accomplished by beginning with a choice. To go through the gate of prosperity we must now save and/or invest money while cutting back on using easy-to-get, high-interest-rate credit. To go through the gate of physical fitness we must practice self-government and resist delicious sugar-loaded and fat-loaded foods and command our soul to follow after a good exercise routine.  (Fifth excerpt from Marty’s article “Doors and Self-Government”)

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