King
James Bible Daily Devotion – Learning
Scripture One Day At A Time
Date: Wednesday,
September 20, 2015
Chapters: Matthew 1-3
https://imfollowingjesus.com/Bible-Reading-273.html
Message
Title: He
Knows The Way I Take

Hello My Friend,

Every
year that I begin reading the Book of Matthew I get a little sad as
we are fast approaching the end of yet another year. Did I do all
that I could to show Christ through me? Did I do all that I could do
to please God? Then I realize, some of our best accomplishments
happen when we think that we are doing nothing at all. “On
the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth
himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: But he knoweth the
way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
- Job 23:9,10.

The Book of Matthew is the first book of
the New Testament, the fortieth book of the Bible and it contains
twenty-eight chapters. The author of the book is Matthew and it was
written to all believers, it was directed toward the Jews to teach
them that Jesus was their long awaited Messiah, the Son of David. The
timeline for these events took place approximately between 4BC and
33AD. The purpose of the book was to present the ministry of Jesus,
stressing His role as King of the Jews. What we are to learn from the
book is, the Gospel of Christ is to be preached in all the world
until He returns. “And this gospel of the
kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations; and then shall the end come.” - Matthew 24:14.


And this gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached, this gospel, which means Good News or
joyful message, all started with a baby. It had been centuries since
a prophet had been seen, no news of judgments or God showing Himself,
up unto this point all they had was God's Word to guide them. Now,
the prophecies concerning their long awaited Messiah were about to
come to pass. Joseph, a descendant of David, was betrothed to marry a
young woman named Mary, but something happened that made him want to
divorce her before he even had a chance to marry her, she became
pregnant. Now, with human reasoning we would assume that this was an
act of adultery. However, this is God that we are talking about, and
He is above anything that our own reasoning can apprehend. God speaks
to Joseph in a dream and explains this incredible miracle.

“But
while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord
appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear
not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in
her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou
shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their
sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be
with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name
Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being
raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and
took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth
her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.” - Matthew
1:20-25.

Now all this was done, that
it might be fulfilled, Isaiah prophesied about this.
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a
sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call
his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to
refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know
to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest
shall be forsaken of both her kings.” - Isaiah 7:14-16.
Since there are no longer prophets in the world, and all we have is
God's Word (ant he Holy Spirit) to guide us, it is essential to the
Christians walk with God. One of the hardest things for people to
believe is that Mary was a virgin, they refuse to believe anything
that supernatural can occur by an all powerful God they do not want
to believe in. It's easier to believe that life just evolved over
billions of years from some spec than be accountable for such immoral
and inhumane behavior. By the way, someone had to create the spec!
“For the invisible things of him from the
creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the
things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that
they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they
glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in
their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” -
Romans 1:20,21.

Their foolish heart was darkened, it is
the foolish heart that will try to put an end to anything having to
do with Jesus. No matter how much they try, they will never put an
end to Jesus. Now, after Jesus was born, men from all over the world
followed the star that would lead them to their King, some ended up
in Jerusalem, asking king Herod where He was. This did not go well
with Herod, in fact, he was not about to have anyone take his throne,
he ordered all the males in Bethlehem under the age of two to be
killed. To keep Jesus safe, God sent Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to Egypt
until Herod died, but even then they feared being killed so they
resided in Galilee.

“But when
Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to
Joseph in Egypt, Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his
mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which
sought the young child's life. And he arose, and took the young child
and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard
that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod,
he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in
a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: And he came and
dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.” -
Matthew 2:19-23.

That it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, Isaiah prophesied
about this also. “And there shall come forth
a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his
roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit
of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick
understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after
the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with
equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with
the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay
the wicked.” - Isaiah 11:1-4. Nazarene means, the branch,
from the multitude of plants and trees that grew there. Jesus is the
BRANCH, and He judges all with righteous judgment. “I
can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment
is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father
which hath sent me.” - John 5:30.

I
can of mine own self do nothing, Jesus had every bit of
God in Him, He could have shown His power over and over again,
instead He chose to humble Himself under the obedience of His mother
Mary, and Joseph. Jesus spent thirty years on earth as an ordinary
man, He went to see John the Baptist (called that because he baptized
those who wanted to repent of their sins and turn to God). John the
Baptist is the first prophet since Malachi, he was the forerunner to
prepare the Jews for the coming of Jesus. As he watches the religious
people come to him to be baptized he gets pretty angry and calls them
out for who they were.

“But when
he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he
said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee
from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for
repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham
to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones
to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto
the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth
good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you
with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier
than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you
with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:” - Matthew 3:7-11.

And
now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees, it does
not matter what family we come from, Abraham's, the Gentiles, those
who believe in Christ will be raised up as children of God, those who
do not believe will be cut from the root of the human race and be
cast into the fire. The only way one can escape the fire is to
believe the Good News, the sinless death of Christ who died for all
man kind to save them from their sins, His burial, and resurrection
three days later. Jesus is our Saviour, the Holy Spirit is our guide,
God is our Father, all three, one great God who knows the way that we
take, and who are His. He has great plans for those who believe in
His Son. “Nevertheless the foundation of God
standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.
And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from
iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and
of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and
some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he
shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's
use, and prepared unto every good work.” - 2 Timothy
2:19-21.

Today's Prayer:
God, You have called all Your people to warn others of the judgment
placed upon them for their sins and to show them the way to escape
that judgment. Lord, Thank You for finding us and saving us, let us
not take our salvation in vain by ignoring Your call to tell the lost
about Your Son. Give us Your power, wisdom, and the boldness to speak
the truth about the Gospel and tell whoever You put on our heart to
do so. Let us be the example You need us to be as Jesus is for us. In
Jesus' name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

Subscribe To
Our Devotions: https://eepurl.com/2WMzT
Do
You Know For Sure You Are Going To Heaven?:
https://godsprice.com/
Visit I'm Following Jesus:
https://imfollowingjesus.com/index.html
Like I'm Following Jesus On
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byhisstrength
Copyright
© 2015 I'm Following Jesus, All rights reserved.