God’s promise for Week Three:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)
Day 15
Day 16
Day 17
Day 18
Day 19
Day 20
Day 21
Day 15
“Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Matt 18:3-4
Matthew 18:3-4 refers to childlike faith being mandatory for anyone of any age to enter the kingdom of God. If you read the Scriptures relating to children over and over again and think at length about the many characteristics of a child that Jesus may have been referring to in this verse, one conclusion will surface. The one and only aspect of little children that is actually being described in Matthew 18 is: humility. The Bible doesn’t offer a great long list of child-like characteristics we must imitate. It just says “humble yourself". This one characteristic—humility—is vital; without it, we cannot hope to have a genuine saving faith in Jesus Christ. Every believer at times needs an attitude adjustment. We all need to let the truth about humility sink deep into our soul. God gave us the gifts we have and therefore, when stripped of all He has given us, we are left barren and ashamed. We are all sinners, who, if left to follow our own desires, would be empty, broken and alone. Instead, our lives are filled with good things, given to us, not because we’re special and deserve them, but because He loved us. In His grace He reached out and cleaned up the mess in our life, by freely forgiving all our sins? But be alert, pride can easily slither in. Do you ever think the kingdom of God would regress if you were not in it? That is pride! Do you sometimes think that God is “lucky” to have you tithing in the church? That is pride! Do you ever get disappointed in your church and withhold being financially faithful? That is pride! Are you thinking that nobody else could quite do what you do, and that God is “lucky” to have you on His side? That is pride! Is this getting a bit too honest? “Has not My hand made all these things, and so they came into being?’ declares the Lord. ‘This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at My word.” Isaiah 66:2. God sees our heart. He knows our pride. And thankfully, He loves us too much to leave us a slave to it. As we walk through these forty days together, let’s ask God to help us become aware of our pride. Let’s pray and ask our Lord to cover each of us and SonRise Community Church in humility. Let’s humble ourselves for the glory of Christ. Let’s trust that Jesus meant it when He said: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Matthew 11:29
Prayer: God, pride is holding me back from a deeper faith in you. Help me to decrease in my own eyes so that I can see how big You are.
Day 16
“At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children." Matt 11:25
Many times during Jesus’ life on earth, He confronted the Pharisees about their pride. They were educated scholars who kept every letter of the law of Moses (so they thought). The Pharisees had a way of complicating matters. God gave Moses His laws, but the Jewish religious leaders added their severely legalistic interpretation and additions to God’s law. The keeping of the law translated, for the Pharisees, into a long checklist that could obtain holiness for them. When Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah was among them, they spent all of their time trying to catch him in the act of breaking those laws: “when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became indignant" (Matt 21:15). This ‘indignant’ attitude is sometimes present in churches today, as it is not permanently absent from our own hearts. How many “What are they thinking?" conversations do we have about people who are making mistakes? How many people do we write off because of their bad habits and wrong living? Let’s be very careful not to hopelessly complicate the simplicity of God’s mercy and grace. It is temping to become wise in our own eyes, and see ourselves as holier than others, as if God’s goodness is only reserved for a certain “class” of Christians. Is it fair that a person who has lived his whole life in sin and committed terrible atrocities could, on their deathbed, repent, turn to Jesus, and like the thief that hung on the cross, spend eternity in heaven. To our human reasoning, this doesn’t seem fair, does it? That’s why it’s called grace and mercy. We are actually equal to the person just described. We just experienced God’s grace and mercy at a different time. So often we ignore the reality of our own unworthiness and the presence of God’s grace in our lives. The sin that is woven into the heart of each and every one of us gives us all the potential to sink to the lowest depths of sinning. The Pharisees were full of ungodly pride. They thought they were the righteous ones, and could not see their own unrighteousness. Why? Pride was their blinder. A broken and contrite heart is what pleases God—a heart that knows that without Jesus, we worthless fools. The contrast between the pride of the Pharisees and the humility of the children in Matthew 9, teaches us a great truth: Humility allows us to clearly see Jesus, whereas pride in our religious wisdom will blind us.
Prayer: Lord, help us not to be wise in our own eyes. Help us to see ourselves and others in the light of Your pure grace.
Day 17
“You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance." Ps 32:7
To become a little child we must humble ourselves to the point of becoming aware of the fact that it is God who gives us life and breath: "For in him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). It is not our own strength that keeps us alive on this earth, but rather it is the sustaining hand of God. Once again, we can learn from the way that little children, in their humble dependence, look to their parents for their security. That truth allows us to come face to face with our own dependence upon our heavenly Father, and to realize it is only through God’s incredible power and love that every one of us, are kept alive. “No king is saved by the size of his army, no warrior escapes by his strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name." (Ps 33:16-21) Even in death, the believer can depend upon God to immediately transition them to heaven. This also proves our heaven Father is perfectly dependable, deserving of 100% of our trust. Great is Thy faithfulness.
Prayer: Lord, help me to trust you like a child—knowing that your love for me is greater than I can even comprehend.
Day 18
“Humble yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up." (James 4:10)
As we let go of our pride, I think we will find that our “service" for God will no longer be done out of duty, but out of an extravagant love for the Lord Jesus who has saved us. I love the story of the woman who broke the bottle of expensive perfume and anointed Jesus with it. Other than this one act, we know nothing else about this woman, but because of her beautiful act of love for Jesus, “wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her" (Matt 26:13). The disciple’s reaction to her act of love was one of criticism. “When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. Why this waste?" they asked. "This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor" (Matt 26:8-9). If we had to pick a character from this scene that would honestly fit us best, it would probably be one of the indignant disciples. Criticism comes quite easily to most people. So does the “I know best" attitude. This woman didn’t act because she had carefully thought about what would be appropriate; she acted out of a heart filled with love and gratitude. She didn’t care what anyone thought of her. She loved, and so she acted. That’s how we must want to be. Let’s love Jesus so extravagantly that we do what He asks regardless of the cost and regardless of what people think of us. Let’s love Him so much that our love will pour out to the people God puts in our lives, lavish acts of love abundantly overflowing. That is what God did for us by sending Christ into this sinful world to die for us sinners. Sometimes we can take so much pride in our acts of service, thinking how pleased God must be with us when we do them. Wouldn’t it be great if we could do our Christian duties out of a humble heart of gratitude for what Jesus has done for us? The disciple’s logical and ever-practical minds told them the perfume should have been sold and the money given to the poor. But the woman had experienced the amazing mercy of God and her heart was overflowing with it. So the argument over whether she was being wasteful or not fades away in light of this one fact: what this woman did pleased Jesus. So Jesus said, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me" (Matt 26:10).
Prayer: Jesus, help me to serve out of a humble heart of gratitude for what you have done for me.
Day 19
“Search me and know my heart. Test me and read my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23-24
Remember the woman who pushed through the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment? She knew how big Christ was. She knew He was deserving of all her faith. Because of this recognition of who He was, she was healed of an illness that had plagued her for twelve years. She did not get concerned with what the crowd might think of her. Her faith took over. Are we aware of our sickness of pride enough to be willing to crawl through the clamor of life just to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment? Are we aware now that it is not just what we do that matters to God, but the state of our hearts? We all have dark and dusty corners of our hearts that we haven’t let God in to clean, and often it is “pride” that is the biggest dirtball stowed away in our life. So why don’t we let God in to clean house? Pride tries to lock God out. It seems that admitting to the fact that we’re not “humble” is the first step to becoming humble. Let’s move toward Jesus, just like the woman did, let’s draw close to Him shedding pride along the way. “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” Trusting that God can heal us of pride is where faith comes in. Anyone who prays for pride to be eradicated by God’s power, and be replaced with humility, can know for certain that God has that request firmly in His hand.
Prayer: Lord, remove our pride and replace it with humility.
Day 20
"I will praise you, O Lord My God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever. Psalm 86:12
Read Psalm 86, a prayer of David, and notice that David gives God the credit for his strength and victory. Notice David’s dependence on God. As you go about your day, remember to “glorify His name forever.”
Psalm 86:1 Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 2 Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. 3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long. 4 Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. 5 You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. 6 Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. 7 In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me. 8 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. 9 All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name. 10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God. 11 Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. 12 I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. 13 For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave. 14 The arrogant are attacking me, O God; a band of ruthless men seeks my life-- men without regard for you. 15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. 16 Turn to me and have mercy on me; grant your strength to your servant and save the son of your maidservant. 17 Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
Prayer: Lord, no matter how I feel, I give you all glory to your holy name.
Day 21
Psalm 78:5 He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, 6 so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. 7 Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.
Dr Jack Graham, in his daily devotion, Power Point, describes the need for one faithful generation to live a legacy of faith before the eyes of the next generation.
What’s your job description as a parent or grandparent? According to Psalm 78, we are to teach the next generation to put their faith and trust in God. I believe the highest occupation in life is to raise godly children, lead them to Christ, and help them discover God’s plan and purpose for their lives. How do you do that? By living a legacy. Many people talk about leaving a legacy. And that’s good. But I prefer to think of my life as a living legacy. And to live a legacy you need to make sure your children know that you are committed to Jesus Christ and to the upward call upon your life. Sounds like a big responsibility, doesn’t it? But here’s how you can get started. You do the right thing today. You live for Jesus today in the power of the Holy Spirit today. You ask God to help you invest in the lives of your children today with a genuine, authentic faith today. Paul said this to young Timothy, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well” (2 Timothy 1:5).
Prayer: Lord, may all who come behind us find us faithful.
