King
James Bible Daily Devotion – Learning
Scripture One Day At A Time
Date: Sunday,
October 11, 2015
Chapters: Matthew 26
https://imfollowingjesus.com/Bible-Reading-284.html
Message
Title: Offended Of Christ, But Not
Forsaken

Hello My
Friend,

The will of God takes us to places we cannot
imagine, and if not for the power of God in us we would never get
through some of the challenges we are faced with. We hear a lot of
people standing up for their faith and even dying for it, but what
about those who out of fear deny they know Christ? There is a reason
why Jesus refers to His people as sheep, they get lost without a
shepherd. Once saved always saved, Christ knows that under pressure
many will deny they know Him, but He knows who are His, He knows His
sheep, and when the time is right He will call them and they will
come running. “My sheep hear my voice, and
I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life;
and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of
my hand.” - John 10:27,28.

I
know them, and they follow me, not everyone what says they know Christ are actually
saved. Perhaps the most infamous person of all
time would be Judas Iscariot, he was definitely presented with the
Gospel, and perhaps even led people to Christ himself, but never believed nor received Him himself.
In fact, he knew there was a plot to have
Jesus killed and orchestrated a plan to get Him captured. “Then assembled together the
chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto
the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, And consulted
that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. But they said,
Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people. Then
one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief
priests, And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver
him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of
silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.”
- Matthew 26:3-5,14-16.

And from that time he sought
opportunity to betray him, Christ lets His disciples know that
someone was among them was about to betray Him. When there was
occasion, He let them know about it. He had often told them that the
Son of man should be betrayed, now He tells them that one of them
should do it, that when they saw it, they might not only be the less
surprised, but may give him a chance to change His mind. “And
as they did eat, he said, Verily I
say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say
unto him, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, He
that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.
The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man
by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if
he had not been born. Then Judas,
which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto
him, Thou hast said.
Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye
shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will
smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered
abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into
Galilee.” - Matthew 26:21-25,31,32.

All
ye shall be offended because of me this night: each one
began to examine himself to find whether he wa scapable of betraying
Him. Those who love Christ really do not intend to turn on Him
completely, but they can become offended (stumble or fall) given
certain circumstances of deep fear of persecution. We do not have to
live in fear, if we keep our eyes on Jesus, even when we are being
mocked, tested, and tried of our faith, we can get through it. Paul
said it best, to be absent from the body means to be present with the
Lord, if they kill us, at least we will be with Jesus and any loved
ones who were saved. “Therefore we are always
confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are
absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are
confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and
to be present with the Lord.” - 2 Corinthians 5:6-8.

The
time was here that Jesus would be betrayed and captured, before
things began to happen He goes up to Gethsemane to pray. Even though
Jesus is God, He gave all His power to the Father and submitted to
His will. Since He has the same flesh that we do, He felt deep sorrow
for what was about to happen, but knew that if it didn't come to pass
there would be no victory. When He returns, He was
betrayed by Judas and captured.

“Now
he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall
kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. And forthwith he
came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. And Jesus said
unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou
come? Then came they, and laid hands
on Jesus, and took him. And, behold, one of them which were with
Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a
servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear. Then said Jesus
unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that
take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I
cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more
than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be
fulfilled, that thus it must be? In that same hour said Jesus to the
multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves
for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye
laid no hold on me. But all this was done, that the scriptures of the
prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and
fled.” - Matthew 26:48-56.

At
any time He could have intervened and chosen another way to save
mankind, but He continued for one reason and one reason only, to be
that pure sacrifice needed to redeem a soul who believes in Him once
and for all. While God would rather see us receive Christ and trust
Him with all things without any pain and agony in our lives, the
majority of the time people do not receive Him or understand the
purpose of having received Him until they are faced with pain and
agony. It is the pains and agony's of life that not only bring us
closer to God, but give us the victory through Christ. So, while we
may have lapses of judgment through our pains and agony's, Jesus
knows who are His, He has already given us the victory, we just need
to remember that and realize that our faith in Him does not return
void. “O death, where is thy sting? O
grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the
strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of
the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the
Lord.” - 1 Corinthians 15:55-58.

Today's
Prayer: God, I have chosen today to stand by You, when
things are going great, I will stand by You, when I am being
persecuted, I will stand by You, when I feel all alone and it seems
like life is falling apart, I will stand by You. Nothing gives me
more comfort, hope, and peace than when I remind myself that You are
with me. And although I know my works do not save me, I know that my
faith and acceptance of Your Son in my life does. Let me never lose
the joy of my salvation and let me never forget that You love me and
that Christ lives in me. In Jesus' name. Amen.

God Bless
You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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