by George Runyan | Apr 15, 2016 | Devotional, George Runyan
Matthew 7:6 – Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
The Jewish people called the Gentiles dogs. We know that there came a time when the Gentiles were accepted and qualified for salvation. Jesus is using the term “dogs” referring to any that reject God’s provision and treat it as a dog might treat a precious possession belonging to his master. What God the Father has given to us is compared to a “pearl.” A swine would not care anything of the pearl’s value. He would just bury it in the mud and slop. Likewise, the swine might turn on you and do you great damage.
Jesus was preparing kingdom-minded people for the reality of the tribulations that lay ahead for those trusting Christ. In our witnessing, we need to use wisdom and not flaunt what Christ has done for us. The conduct of our lives is our real witness to the unsaved. Vocal volume and many words will not bring the lost to Christ. It is our steady and faithful lifestyle that will ultimately convince people of the kingdom of God and create a desire to follow Christ.
Many Christians suffer persecution because they do not follow the counsel which Jesus gives to us in this verse. The Holy Spirit is our guide in witnessing. We cannot hope to be effective without His power and leading. We must learn to hold our counsel as well as share it as the precious Holy Spirit leads. Paul’s witness on Mars Hill gives us valuable lessons regarding receptivity. “Some began to sneer, but others said, we shall hear you again concerning this” (Acts 17:32-34). A third group received the Word of God freely and became disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove. Ask the Holy Spirit to be your guide, to give you power to proclaim the gospel, and live a consi
by George Runyan | Apr 14, 2016 | 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 13, 2016 | Devotional, George Runyan
Matthew 7:1-2 – Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. For in the same way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure it will be measured to you.
This is a powerful statement the Lord Jesus Christ made. He can make such a statement and set such a rule because He is the Lord! He was anointed by His heavenly Father to declare the will of Heaven on Earth. He prepared the way for the Holy Spirit to be poured out by removing our sins through the work of the cross and making it possible for Heaven’s obedience to be established on earth. For our sakes, Jesus took the judgment of God upon Himself. He alone has been given the right to judge. As I look upon another, I must understand Christ has carried their sins. Unless an individual has been born again, through the work of the Holy Spirit, they are left to their human nature to try and improve. Their only hope is through His cleansing blood. If the offending person is a Christian, then we should share with them the offence toward us and give them an opportunity to repent and ask forgiveness (Matthew 18:15).
It is through a standard of measurement we judge the value of a particular item. For example, 1 oz. of gold is worth a certain amount of money. At one time, we used the gold standard to determine the value of paper money. We all have standards which we use for measuring other people’s views and conduct. Jesus is saying that whatever you use to measure another’s conduct or actions will be used to measure your conduct or actions. The believer has Jesus as the standard. Consider what the apostle John tells us, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17). He is my standard for judgment. Ultimately, the world will be judged, but the cross came first. Today, my life is lived in the light of the cross of Christ. I will not judge, but I must pray for the offender’s salvation.
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to always make Jesus the standard. Surrender your judgments to God and ask Him to help you share His love through the power of His love. This is made possible by His forgiveness and the gift of His indwelling Spirit.
by George Runyan | Apr 12, 2016 | Devotional, George Runyan
Matthew 6:34 – So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Stress has always been a great emotional and physical health problem. Worry is at the heart of stress and is the opposite of rest. Worry and stress come from trying to control our circumstances. They prevent us from finding a place of rest for our mind and our body. Jesus says, “So do not worry about tomorrow.” The emphasis is mine. After Jesus teaches on the cure for anxiety in Matthew 6, He concludes with this statement found in verse 34. The word so means; based on what I have taught you “don’t worry”! I can’t help but think of the old hymn, “I Surrender All.” It is in the act of surrender that we open the door for the Holy Spirit to enter our situations and give us God’s perspective. Jesus is at the right hand of God the Father and is seated, meaning He is at rest. He is not pacing heaven, trying to solve the troubles of today and of tomorrow.
A friend of mine would always say “one step in front of the other.” What a concept and what an attitude! Stability in physical walking comes through balance and coordination. It is also true in the spiritual realm. If your thoughts are all over the place, so will be your spiritual walk. The Holy Spirit wants to establish us in the promises of His Word. He wants to strengthen us to receive the Word and then to apply the Word of God in our daily life. This is harder than it sounds, but with the Holy Spirit’s help, we can apply the Word of God and enter into His rest. I will not worry about today’s problems, and for certain I will not worry about tomorrow’s. Some people practice mind over matter and positive thinking in this regard. That might help, but I am not speaking of my works, but His power through His Word and His Spirit.
Trust Him today by turning every worry you have over to Him. Speak it to Him and say, “Holy Spirit I give this worry over to you.” I receive from You the rest of Christ. Show me what to do, for You have said, “The steadfast of mind, You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord we have an everlasting Rock” (Isaiah 26:3). I choose to trust fully in You my Lord.
by George Runyan | Apr 11, 2016 | 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.
by George Runyan | Apr 10, 2016 | Devotional, George Runyan
Matthew 6:25 – For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life.
The instructions of Jesus from verse 25 to 32 are to help focus the believers on their relationship with our heavenly Father. They help the believers to be assured that God cares more for them than all of His creation for which He provides. In verse 30, Jesus clarifies that our trust of God is a “faith issue.” All worry is associated with a lack of faith. The Holy Spirit was given to bring us into the “faith of Jesus.” If anyone had a right or opportunity to be worried, it was Paul. “Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep” (2 Corinthians 11:25). Paul the apostle proclaims to the Galatians his own declaration of faith and rest in the work of Christ. In Galatians 2:20, Paul identified his resting place as being crucified with Christ. He further understood that the life he now lived was a life lived by “the faith of the Son of God.”
Paul knew what it meant to die to his self-life and to live unto Christ. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul was not anxious about anything. He learned to be content in all things according to Philippians 4:11. Whatever his state, he learned contentment. Paul came to know Jesus as his Sabbath Rest. In other words, he knew Jesus as his resting place. Worry and anxiety bowed to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit baptized us into Christ and into His body. He buried us with Jesus in baptism. He raised us up and has seated us in heavenly places with Christ. Why worry? Why be anxious? Our Father knows what we need.
Today, make a fresh commitment to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
