by George Runyan | Apr 20, 2017 | Devotional, George Runyan
Matthew 7:24 – Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
A rock represents a solid foundation, which does not move easily. Jesus teaches truths that are the foundation of the kingdom He came to establish in the earth. Note, Jesus says that the one who “hears and acts” upon His words is wise. There are many of God’s people who hear the Word of God regularly, but do not act on the Word consistently. What good is a solid foundation if we do not build upon it? The truths contained in the Sermon on the Mount are the Foundation on which the Holy Spirit builds us into Christ and His kingdom. The Holy Spirit soon was to be given to all those putting their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He brings to the believer power to transform his natural life into a Christ-like life. The foundation laid by Jesus on the Mount becomes the expected foundation of practice for each one trusting in the Lord. Power to live out the life which Jesus is teaching in this magnificent sermon is realized through a daily fellowship with the Holy Spirit and the word of God He reveals to us.
“So faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Hearing God’s Word produces one level of faith which includes an expectation. Another type of hearing is when the Lord makes a scripture alive to us personally. Both types of hearing God’s Word require the Holy Spirit’s leading. He creates an expectation in our spirit and soul. Faith begins to develop, first in our spirit man, and then in our thinking. As one hears a personal word from the Lord, faith demands an action, not just a mental assent. In order to obey the Sermon on the Mount, it requires faith, which produces power to live a kingdom life and testify to others what it is like to live under the government of King Jesus.
In summary, hear and act on the Words of our Lord. Ask the Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ name, to help you walk in the faith of expectation and the faith of acting on the words of Christ.
by George Runyan | Apr 19, 2017 | Devotional, George Runyan
Matthew 7:21 – Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
Many associate the kingdom of God with Israel. Some actually teach that Jesus failed to establish the kingdom on earth because of Israel’s rejection of Jesus as their Messiah. This is a wrong understanding of God’s kingdom. The kingdom is in the Holy Spirit. Many in Jesus’ day called Him Lord, but never submitted to him as Lord. It is not simply in the words, but in the actions. In Matthew 7:21, Jesus is speaking about the future judgment day. In that day, there will be an accounting for things said and done. On that day, Jesus says there will be those who will declare what they have done in His name, but Jesus will tell them to be gone because He never knew them. He calls them “workers of iniquity” (Matthew 7:23 KJV). The word iniquity means “lawless” as translated in the NASB. This means they did a lot of things in Jesus’ name, but not by His authority.
Today, much is done in the name of the Lord, but not all is done as a directive from Him. In my own life, I have both done things that He directed through the Holy Spirit and I have done those things that turned out to be by my own directive in His name. When He revealed to me my error, I quickly repented. It is so important to wait on the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to direct and lead us. Only what the Spirit does will last and be accepted by the Lord Jesus Christ. Often, our human pride causes us to think, “I am doing this for Jesus.” Maybe we are, but if He did not direct us, it is just a good idea at best. It is good to question our motives; it is good to receive approval from godly authority and let the Lord confirm our decisions as we wait upon Him for direction. As the old adage says, “haste makes waste.” The Lord is never in a hurry.
Invite the Holy Spirit to be in control of all your plans. Know that as you wait upon the Lord, He will bring it to pass. “Wait for the Lord, and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it” (Psalm 37:34).
by George Runyan | Apr 18, 2017 | Devotional, George Runyan
Matthew 7:16 – You will know them by their fruits.
The context of Jesus’ teaching is “be aware of false prophets, who come in sheep’s clothing.” They look and sound good on the outside, but inwardly are “ravenous wolves.” We are to be fruit-checkers. If a person claims to be an authority on some subject, it is important to examine what has been produced in their life. Words are cheap, but godly fruit comes with a price tag. Any prophetic voice that has not been through the fire is suspect. Anyone who claims to be an apostle and has not known rejection is not being truthful. Growth, most of the time, is frustrating and painful. Paul instructs, “Know those who labor among you” (1 Thessalonians 5:12). In the context of Matthew 7:15-23, Jesus uses the understanding that a tree can be either good or bad. The proof is in the fruit it produces.
Jesus likens Himself to a vine in John 15. He makes it clear that this vine is fruit bearing. The Holy Spirit has made us a part of that vine as branches which are to bear fruit. If the branch bears good fruit it is pruned so it might bear more good fruit. If the fruit is bad or the branch is fruitless, it is removed. If the branch is no longer receiving the life of the tree it shrivels up and dies. Jesus declares, “apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Our life is derived from Him. He is the vine and we are the branches. The Holy Spirit made the connection and the Holy Spirit supplies the life that flows from the vine to the branches. It is the Holy Spirit who anoints us to be fruitful.
I want the fruit of my life to be known as “good.” I want that fruit to be a product of the vine, the Lord Jesus Christ. Ask the Holy Spirit to make you fruitful for Jesus’ sake and in Jesus’ name.
by George Runyan | Apr 17, 2017 | Devotional, George Runyan
Matthew 7:13—Enter through the narrow gate: for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many that enter through it.
Jesus is teaching an eternal truth that is important for us to grasp. The serpent gave Eve a broad choice in tempting her to eat of the tree. “God knows that in the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). It is clear from Scripture that God always had it in His heart to elevate man, and open his understanding. God’s ways are narrow and time-tested. He proves us, before giving to us greater responsibility. He wants to protect His sons and daughters from the pitfalls which will stop us from experiencing His very best. This is what Paul meant when he said, “No temptation has overtaken you, but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape” (1 Corinthians 10:13). The way of escape for Eve was Adam who had received the Word of God. Instead of turning to her husband, she ate the fruit. Adam’s way of escape was to turn to God, but instead he followed his wife’s choice. They opened the broad way which humans follow. Jesus teaches we must “enter through the narrow gate.” He is that gate! He chooses the cross, rather than an easy way out. He established the narrow gate for all of mankind from that point on.
America has become a “pluralistic” society. This means we have swung open the gate to all of the false religions of the world. The original intent of America’s founding fathers was a “Christian Society,” made up of all the different Christian denominations. Everyone could express their Christian faith as their conscience dictated. The founding fathers knew that only the Christian faith would provide an atmosphere for other religions to survive. America, for many years, honored the narrow gate of the gospel of Christ. In more recent times, the narrow has been rejected and replaced with the broad, leading us down a road of destruction. Only by allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us back to the narrow gate, which is Christ, will our nation and its institutions survive.
Will it be relativism, whatever feels good and right to you, or will it be God’s Laws, which are narrow by worldly standards, but lead to life and that abundantly? The Holy Spirit is present to empower us to choose life.
Father, today I choose life. Life in Christ by obeying Your word through the power of the Holy Spirit.
by George Runyan | Apr 14, 2017 | Devotional, George Runyan
Matthew 7:5 – You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
It is easy to look on another person and evaluate all that is wrong with them. It is very difficult to look inside one’s self and rightly evaluate our own condition. Hypocrisy is a powerful attitude in religious circles and I dare say some hypocrisy is demonic at its core. The religious hypocrites of Jesus’ day had as their father, not Abraham, but the devil (see John 8:44). Those religious leaders had a huge log in their eyes. In fact, Jesus called them blind (see Matthew 23:16-26). Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to remove the log from our eye. He does this by enabling us to be “crucified with Christ.” Only death can cure the self-centered hypocrisy that lives in all of us. “Nevertheless I live.” I live, because the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in me (see Romans 8:11). Now, that being said, “The life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God” (Galatians 2:20). It is only by Jesus’ faith that I can live free from judging others and His faith operates in me by the power of His Holy Spirit.
Paul said, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24). He goes on to answer his own question by giving thanks. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25). Yes, the Holy Spirit of God gives the life of Christ to us and enables us to do what was impossible in our own ability and strength. He helps us to remove the log in our own eye and graces us to help others remove the speck in their eye. That speck is really a log to God, but was a speck to us because of the log which blinded our eye. How wonderful it is to have one’s sight recovered and to look on another without judgment and condemnation, but to see through the eyes of Jesus a new person redeemed by Christ’s precious blood.
Today, let the Holy Spirit do surgery and remove all the obstacles that cause you to be hindered in your sight. Ask God to help you see others as Christ does.
by George Runyan | Apr 11, 2017 | Devotional, George Runyan
Matthew 6:33 – But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all things will be added to you.
The focus of the New Testament is the kingdom of God and its accompanying righteousness. John the Baptist said, “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). This also was the opening proclamation of Jesus’ ministry as recorded in Matthew 4:7. Throughout the ministry of Jesus, He teaches of the coming Holy Spirit, “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:37-40). In John chapters 14-16, the focus of Jesus’ conversation with His disciples was about the Holy Spirit and His coming work.
Paul declares that, “the kingdom of God is in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). He also emphasizes that “righteousness, peace, and joy,” is the product of the kingdom’s manifestation. Jesus tells us to “Seek first the kingdom of God.” Is the kingdom of God and His righteousness our first priority? In John 7 He says, “If any thirst.” Seeking God for His will and purpose is an evidence of thirst. Thirst is a physical symptom that manifests when one begins to feel dehydrated. The nation of Israel was “spiritually dehydrated” when Jesus arrived. The Gentiles had no place to drink, being separated from God and His Covenants of promise. Jesus brought to the earth “spiritual bread and spiritual drink.” He prophesied of the coming Holy Spirit in John 7:37, declaring that He would bring the river of “living water” which would flow out of the inner being of those who believe.
Do not look for the river to come from the outside, but understand that the Holy Spirit comes into the believer and will release a river from within. It will be a river of “righteousness, peace and joy” which will satisfy the thirsty soul. Drink deeply of the river today.
