Are you seeking for greatness in your life? There are different paths to greatness in this world. Each path leads to a destination, but there is only one road to true greatness, his name is Jesus (John 14:6, John 15:5-8). Jesus says unless you are born again, you will not see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3, 5-6). He also says, he is the only door to that eternal transformation. These devotions are inspired to draw people to an unfiltered view of Jesus’ truth according to the manifestation of his Word that transforms life for eternity (Revelation 3:21-22). Our ministry’s desire is for everyone who reads these devotions to experience a personal touch from Jesus as a friend and Messiah.
Hebrews 13: 14-15-NLT
For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.
In January 2024, as I began to assess my life as a follower of Jesus Christ and see and hear all the ways Satan is continuing to use humankind as his weapon against God, I began feeling helpless and started pleading with God to take me home. Not just praying but pleading with him. In the process, God has led me to an incredible connection with him. God has allowed me to see many things in the spiritual realm that I prefer not to boast about. As a matter of fact, many people who profess Jesus is Lord and study the Bible will not believe the visions that God has allowed me to see. My life is no different from anyone else who is striving to follow Jesus, yet I find myself many times like Moses and Jonah in the Bible pleading with God not to send me. Like Moses, I have made my case that I am not a good speaker (Exodus 4:10) and like Jonah I wanted to run away from God's calling because I question people’s desire to repent as I see the choices that they make (Jonah chapter 1-4). In 1John 4:1-6 we are reminded to test every Spirit to see if it is from God. Paul in Galatians 1:8-9 reminded me "As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God's curse! What gospel did Jesus himself bring to me at the age of nine when he brought me a Bible? He said that he heard my cry, and I might not know what this means but one day I will. I am beginning to understand the good news of grace that Christ declared to me on that midday. In God's infinite mercy and truth, I know and believe Jesus Christ is the son of God who came to take the sins of the world on his shoulder while we were sentenced to Hell. He died and took my place so that I can live eternally as I wait to enter my permanent home. I no longer live but Christ lives in me. The only way to enter the grace and mercy that God extends to all human beings is through Jesus Christ, as our Lord, Savior and our high priest (John 14:6). Satan will do everything in his power to deceive us in believing God is not real, he does not care, he is absent and will fight to make us believe his earthly kingdom should be our desire. The Devil’s goal is to throw us into confusion to make us believe we are each other’s enemy instead of focusing on him and his demons using human vessels (body, mind and heart) to carry out his wicked acts. As you are reading this devotional, you might not believe in the spiritual warfare because Satan has blinded you from seeing him as he is (2 Corinthians 4:4, John 12:37-41). Or, you believe in the gospel, yet you are blinded by Satan to see the Spiritual forces that you are fighting against because it is easy to believe in what is seen. The grace that Jesus has lavished upon us is beyond this world. Our destination is to be seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6-9).
Luke 12:1-3-NLT
Meanwhile, when many thousands of the crowd had gathered so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing is secret that will not be made known. So then whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops.
As I read this direct instruction from Jesus in Luke 12:1, telling the disciples to be on guard against “the yeast of the Pharisees” I started asking myself, am I a Pharisee? Who were the Pharisees? In my Christian journey, I have heard many teachings about Pharisees and many warnings not to be like them. However, I never took the time to personally learn about them. How can we be on guard about someone or something that we don’t take the time to study and build our own conviction? Jesus’ warning about the yeast of the Pharisees tells me there are different types of yeast. He also sent a message to his followers warning them to be vigilant against the corruptible yeast, or in the same way the Pharisees were contaminated could also happen to them. I decided to read about the types and nature of yeast to have a much better understanding about Jesus’ warning. Overall, I learned yeast is fast in production. Although asexuality is the primary way of reproduction, they can also produce sexually. After my short research, I concluded that yeast is not a bad organism, however it can be harmful depending on how it is used or the type of infection that has developed or contracted into your body.
“…Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. (Luke 12:1-3 NIV).
“Be careful” Jesus said to them. Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Mathew 16:6-NIV).
According to Miriam Webster dictionary Hypocrisy is defined as “a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion;” “a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.” The dictionary went further describing Hypocrisy, as “a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not: behavior that contradicts what one claims to believe or feel.” The word hypocrisy that is used in the New Testament in the Greek language is “Hypokrisis” which simply means “the acting on a stage” (Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible). Jesus tells us not to be actors in our mission as the keepers and teachers of the Word of God. The Word of God is meant to be alive and active and is meant to change lives (Hebrews 4:12-13). Our Lord Jesus who became the Word in the flesh (John 1:14) dedicated his life while on this earth to show us how to rise above “the yeast of the Pharisees.”
Then he said to the crowd, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me."
Luke 9:23-NLT
My husband often tells this screen saver story when he speaks about Satan’s spirit of delusion that often attracts us into his domain. The story goes, a man was given two doors to choose from. When the man opens the first door, he saw laughter, happiness, success, fun and entertainment. As he opens the second door, all he sees is a peaceful calm space with the sound of wind and soft songs. The man automatically assumed the first door must be the better choice because it seems so alive and fun. To his surprise as he entered the first door, he learned that it was a screen saver! Behind that delusion is heartache, pain, disappointment, rejection, and death. The door with the screen saver that appeared to be boring, and disinteresting was the one he was truly seeking. That door had joy, laughter, peace, enjoyment and everlasting reward and contentment. I reference this story to highlight that Jesus’ teaching for many people might sound overbearing and even burdensome when it is read (Luke 14:26, Luke 14:33). Nevertheless, when a person takes the time to get to know Jesus and his mission to seek and save their soul, his message is the opposite of what our adversary (Satan) wants us to believe.
Jesus made many practical points that we can learn from in verses 17-36 of Luke chapter 6. My focus will mostly be on verses 27-36 which prompted me to write this devotional. Prior to Jesus' lesson about how we should treat our enemy, I was not surprised by His example of grace that He allowed to be given to so many people. In verse 17-19, the scriptures states that the people came to hear Him and to be healed. Take a moment to process what is happening in these passages that we so often miss as disciples, teachers, and preachers of Jesus Christ. The scripture does not say the people came to join His ministry nor did it say that since they were not part of Jesus’ ministry, He limited His healing gift. Jesus in the flesh was a man of community and he welcomed everyone, even the ones who rejected him. The passage said He healed them all. The second observation was in verse 20-26, Jesus turned to His Disciples highlighting areas of their lives that are or will be a stumbling block in their discipleship journey and gave them a heavenly vision. My third observation: Jesus further spoke to the heart of the wealthy who rely on their earthly comfort instead of the everlasting comfort that God promises those who endures until the end.
“…God is Love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them” 1 John 4:16
The spirit led me to read Luke 6: 27-36 and would not let me keep my thoughts to myself even though I tried to. As always, the Counselor from the living God who lives inside of me won!
Our society uses the word 'love' a lot. I would even argue that the word love is used across different religious groups and among atheists without them realizing they are speaking of God. The world's number one enemy since the Garden of Eden knew that Love is a powerful tool when it is used as intended. Therefore, as he impersonates himself as a god throughout history, he manipulates the word Love to be used in ways that hurts God (Revelations 13:6-8). What is the greatest commandment in God’s law? In Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and 10:12, God reminded His chosen people that “God is One” and they must love Him with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their strength. The verse in Deuteronomy 10:12 further reminded us to fear God and to love Him. Jesus, the word of God in flesh, relayed the same message to all his Disciples/Christians in Matthew 22:37-38 “Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?” Jesus declared, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.…” Jesus did not just tell us that God is love, he went further by becoming the ultimate gift of love by dying on the cross without any guarantee that we would choose God (John 3:16-19, 1Peter 2:21-24, Ephesians 3: 14-21, John 13:34-35).
