Thursday, December 10, 2020

Advent 2020, Thu., 12/10 - Matthew 12

God desires to transform our lives, from the inside out. What's going on inside you today?

PRAY and thank God for His presence and His grace, for His gentle leading of us, and for His relentless pursuit of our hearts!

READ Matthew 12.

REFLECT
What marks a true Christian? Is it behavior, strict adherence to a certain set of rules or principles? Is it simply by claiming the name? Jesus rejected the Pharisees and his own family for they were not following Him at this point in the Gospel narrative. You can try to clean up your life but if you're not inviting God to take up residence in your entire life, then it is simply rearranging the sin issues in your life. Shallow religiosity will not save us. Superficial behaviorism will not bring us into a God-honoring life. If Jesus becomes the greatest name in your heart, mind, and life, then you've begun to understand what it means to live a life of worship.

RESPOND
How many days go by in my own life that are void of actual worship of the Lord? I may be coasting, avoiding gross sins, and doing what I need to do to function like a Christian, but when my heart is far from God and is empty of His glory, then I'm just a shell. God forgives me, and invites me to experience the beautiful, tender, and transforming presence of the living God in my life daily. He is a person, a person to be enjoyed and interacted with. He is not merely a book, a two-dimensional page to be studied and left on a table. He is the same God who came in the form of a baby, grew from a boy into a man, who lived, breathed, ate, taught, with love, care, and power. And He is still to be enjoyed and honored. Let His glorious person stir your heart today! Worship all day!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Ephesians 4:29 Memory/Meditation

 "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, so that it gives grac...