by George Runyan | Aug 30, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
Matthew 13:23 – The one sown on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.
Jesus taught many aspects of the kingdom of God through parables. Matthew 13:23 is an excerpt from the “parable of the sower.” In this verse, Jesus is describing the effect of God’s word on the person who is like good soil where seed has been sown. The soil represents a human soul. As we have seen previously, the soul is made up of our intellect, emotions, and will. Our soul is in a constant state of growth. No one can say they have arrived in terms of their total understanding of God’s word. Our relationship with the Godhead is constantly developing and growing. Only in eternity will we find full development.
We begin our journey with the Lord like a newborn baby. “Be like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). The key to development and growth in the kingdom of God is a constant hungering for the Word of God. This longing should never disappear! The Holy Spirit gives us the desire to read, to study, and to search out the depths of God’s truths. We should be moving from milk to the meaty food of Scriptures. The writer of Hebrews had to stop a theme he was developing in Hebrews 5, because he realized that his readers were not ready to go further. “Concerning Him, we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing” (Hebrews 5:11). READ MORE – CLICK TITLE ABOVE
by George Runyan | Aug 29, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
John 1:12 – As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.
In John 1:12, Jesus speaks of the most important right an individual can possess, “the right to become a child of God.” The world thinks that we are all God’s children. It is true, in biblical terms, that our genealogy can be traced back to Adam. The Bible speaks of Adam as “the son of God” (Luke 3:38). Adam lost his standing through sin. God established the law of a “blood sacrifice” in the Garden of Eden when He took the skins of an innocent animal and covered Adam and Eve’s nakedness. Through what God did, we have the first prophetic picture of God’s provision for fallen humankind through His Only Begotten Son. Paul calls Jesus the last Adam who has redeemed us back to God making it possible for each descendant of the first Adam to once again have a “right standing” with God the Father. In our spirit, we have a sure standing as sons and daughters of the living God. Jesus’ victory has secured our standing as children of God.
Paul writes of our relationship with God in his letter to the Romans, “All who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Romans 8:14). The question each believer must ask throughout their life is, “Am I being led by the Spirit of God?” Sons do what the father directs. We live in a society where sons do their own pleasure and this even seems correct. Young people strive for independence. It seems like the goal in child development. Jesus came to do the will of His Father. Even as a child, He understood “being about His Father’s affairs” (Luke 2:49). Later as an adult, Jesus taught, “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 5:30). READ MORE – CLICK TITLE ABOVE
by George Runyan | Aug 28, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
Acts 8:12 – When they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.
Acts 8:12 is a powerful Scripture that reports a number of things which are very important. First, “many believed” what Philip was declaring. The good news of the kingdom is that the kingdom of God has come, but not in the way many Jews expected. There are many teachings within modern-day Christianity about future events. Not all of the events will happen the way they are being taught. The Lord has given us what He wants us to know about the future. The kingdom of God did not come as an earthly kingdom, as many Jews expected, but rather in the Spirit. Christ was raised from the dead by the Holy Spirit. The promise of God is that we will be raised from the dead by the same Spirit that raised up Christ. (See Romans 8:11). The Spirit brought transformation in human lives, both for Jew and Gentile. The Spirit of God has affected the nations throughout history. It is through the Holy Spirit that God’s rule is known in the earth.
The kingdom that Philip and the apostles preached has a king presently ruling from a heavenly throne. God’s covenant with king David was that his heir would rule on an everlasting throne. Jesus Christ is the son of David that is ruling just like God promised. This is why our message needs to contain both the good news of the kingdom and the name of Jesus Christ, “Savior Messiah.” The good news to the world is that this King has overcome the powers of darkness that rule throughout the nations. This King’s inheritance is the nations. “Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession” (Psalm 2:8). The good news is that God’s servant is reigning as both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:8). READ MORE – CLICK TOTLE ABOVE
by George Runyan | Aug 27, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
Romans 8:16-17 – The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
When one is born again, the spirit of the person has witnesses of God’s work of salvation in the life. Our souls are challenged because they are used to the witness of the world and not the witness of a regenerated human spirit. The Holy Spirit is given to “help” us enter into the full provision of a new creation life. “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14). The work of God is eternal, but we must learn how to receive His eternal work in our daily walk.
What a tremendous thing our Lord has done for each believer! He sealed us in the blood of Christ. He sealed us in the Holy Spirit who helps us day by day. We stand with a testimony before God and a testimony in our soul. As we have seen in previous devotionals, our soul is made up of our intellect, emotions, and will. These three areas of our soul can know the witness of the Holy Spirit. This is the true peace of which the Scriptures speak. There is peace in our intellect, knowing all that the Lord has done on our behalf. We have peace in our emotions. We do not need to be tossed by every wind of doctrine; we need to rely on the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures that witness to our salvation. “We are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming” (Ephesians 4:14-15). Peace in our will is possible. We can walk in the strength of God and make right choices because of this witness in our soul. The Word of God gives us all the insight we need. READ MORE – CLICK TITLE ABOVE
by George Runyan | Aug 26, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
John 10:25-29 – You do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
There are three works of Jesus that testify of His redemptive work in each believer and take place in our spirit, soul, and body. These works testify of the complete salvation our Lord has provided for His redeemed people.
The beginning place of our salvation is in our human spirit. It is our spirit that is “born again.” The blood of Jesus testifies to God the Father as His blood is applied to the life of the believer. “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood” (Luke 22:20). “For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:24-27).
The Hebrew High Priest had to bring the blood of an innocent animal once a year into the holy of holies and offer it before God’s mercy seat as a testimony from God’s covenant people of their need of His mercy and forgiveness. When the Lord saw the blood of the sacrifice, He would have mercy and cover the sins of His covenant people. This yearly practice was a prophetic picture of the real sacrifice which took place when Jesus, our High Priest, offered His own blood as a testimony to His Father. Once and for all blood is before God testifying to the redemptive work of Christ. READ MORE – CLICK TITLE ABOVE
