7/01 Matthew 5:23-24
“So if you are standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there beside the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.
RECONCILIATION
Jesus puts the responsibility for healing relationships on me. Asking for forgiveness is never easy. Sometimes I can be absolutely correct and spiritually wrong. People count with Jesus and as I grow in Christ they will count with me.
7/02 Matthew 25:46
And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
ETERNITY
Heaven is going to be a great place. There will be no sorrow, no pain, no death, no poverty, no need for doctors and many other good things. It will be a place of perfect beauty. To think about heaven is to permit ones senses to be overloaded. The sights, the sounds and the smells of heaven will be marvelous. Not so in the place of eternal punishment. Everything heaven is it isn’t.
7/03 Matthew 6:6
But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father secretly. Then your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you.
PRAYER
Jesus loves me and loves to talk with me. Prayer is so important in my life. Being able to speak with Jesus honestly and openly is equally as important. This requires privacy and time.
7/04 Matthew 7:23
But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized. ‘
SALVATION
Salvation is giving my heart and my life to Jesus. The Lord is not looking to me to be His consultant. The Lord doesn’t need me to fix things. I am to be a servant of the Lord Jesus and do the things that He asks me to do. There is not shortcut nor is there any other name under heaven by which I might be saved.
7/05 Matthew 8:4
Then Jesus said to him, “Go right over to the priest and let him examine you. Don’t talk to anyone along the way. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy, so everyone will have proof of your healing.”
DIRECTIONS
Jesus gives me specific directions on what He would like for me to do. I get them by reading the Bible and listening as I read. I get them by praying and sensing the leadership of the Holy Spirit. And I get directions when I do the wrong thing and am reminded of what the right thing is. I much prefer to do the right thing first.
7/06 Matthew 8:9
I know, because I am under the authority of my superior officers and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this or that,’ they do it.”
BELIEVE
A Roman soldier believed Jesus. He risked his reputation and possibly his life by consulting with Jesus. I want to have faith like this. This kind of faith requires that I risk criticism and misunderstanding to follow Jesus. Christ wants me to serve Him and not the world.
7/07 Matthew 8:13
Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go on home. What you have believed has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.
ACTION
I have power from Jesus when I claim His promise and live based on that promise. There are 7,000 plus promises in the Word of God written to me. Hope will carry me to the point of necessity where the Lord will always meet me the resources I need for faithful living.
7/08 Matthew 21:22
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
PRAYER
Prayer changes me. If my prayer to the Lord is simply a laundry list I am not praying. The Christian life is the activity of the Lord Jesus in me and through me to His children. The Lord is not a celestial bell boy for me to simply list my wishes and cheerfully wait for them to be filled. The Lord is God and He is sovereign. This is a mystery that Jesus will work out for my benefit.
7/09 Matthew 21:32
For John the Baptist came and showed you the way to life, and you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to turn from your sins and believe him.
LIFE
Jesus is the one I am looking for. I don’t need recognition, or position or authority I simply need Jesus. He will forgive me of my sins and equip me for Godly living.
7/10 Matthew 24:26
“So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it!
RETURN
Jesus is coming back. I’m not up on all of the futuristic ideas that various supposed scholars come up with. Jesus is coming back. When He does come back I will be waiting for Him. Jesus will not forsake me or leave me behind.
7/11 Mark 6:3
He’s just the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.
STATUS
My belief affects me but does not change the fact that Jesus is Lord. I am not following a world leader; I am following Jesus Christ the Lord. He is Lord of my life and I am daily developing a relationship with Him.
7/12 Mark 6:52
They still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the multiplied loaves, for their hearts were hard and they did not believe.
WISDOM
I ask the Lord every day to give me wisdom to see Him at work in my life. The Lord is so good and so faithful to me. He encourages me. He gives me peace. He reminds me of His love and His willingness to guide each step of my life.
7/13 Mark 9:24
The father instantly replied, “I do believe, but help me not to doubt!”
DOUBT
Doubt will always seek to side track me. I can give my doubt to the Lord. Denying the presence of doubt will permit it to grow. Lord indeed every day I process situations where there is some doubt in my heart. I do believe Lord and ask you to remove any doubt from me.
7/14 Mark 11:24
Listen to me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it.
PRAYER
I believe Jesus. I believe that as I speak to Him He listens to me. I also believe that Christ has a perfect plan for my life. Answers always come on time from the Lord. My problem is that I am so time fixated that I sometimes give up listening when the Lord is answering. Then there are the things I don’t pray about that the Lord provides for me. The Lord is good.
7/15 Mark 16:11
But when she told them that Jesus was alive and she had seen him, they didn’t believe her.
PLANS
I plan everything. My plans are made based on what I can see. My problem is that I am limited in my ability to see. The Lord is able to see all things and functions as the sovereign ruler of existence. Jesus has a plan for my life. Sometimes that plan will require that I do as much as I can and then trust the Lord to provide for what comes next. I am my Father’s child. He loves me.
7/16 Mark 16:16
Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.
SALVATION
Salvation is a gift from the Lord. I can accept that gift. Because the gift is in the spiritual realm unless I believe that I have received that gift it will not change the way I see myself. My heart condemns me. My Lord saves me. Who I believe is important.
7/17 Luke 24:25
Then Jesus said to them, “You are such foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures.
PARADOX
My little mind has such a hard time understanding all that the Bible says. My charge is to believe the Word of God not condemn the Word of God. When the Word differs from my experience, I need to change not the Word.
7/18 John 3:33
Those who believe him discover that God is true.
TRUST
I cannot develop a relationship with the Lord Jesus unless I believe that He exists and is who He says He is. This is the kind of trust little children have. When my belief changes my actions I am living a life of trust. Words mean little. Actions speak louder than words. This is why tithing is so important for me. If I tithe, then I am living the Word of God. If I trust Jesus then I will change.
7/19 John 5:39
“You search the Scriptures because you believe they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!
JESUS
Jesus is God’s everything. Without Christ there is no life. He is the creator and sustainer of all things. Jesus resides in me and points me to the Word of God and interprets the Word of God in me. If I have surrendered my life to Jesus and He is in control of me then I will live a life that is in every respect like Jesus’ life. When I am not living like Jesus I will change.
7/20 John 6:29
Jesus told them, “This is what God wants you to do: Believe in the one he has sent.”
CHRIST
Jesus calls me to be His hands and feet. He will use me to minister to the needs of the world. If I live like Jesus I will care for people and proclaim the Gospel. People have value and worth. People need love. People need to know that this world is not their home and that the Lord loves them.
7/21 John 6:35
Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again. Those who believe in me will never thirst.
LIFE
Everyone has problems. No one is exempt. With very few exceptions would we be willing to swap our problems for someone else’s problems. Jesus came that we might have life. The Lord will always help me to deal with my problems. He will not leave me alone and one day He will take me home.
7/22 John 6:64
But some of you don’t believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.)
LOST
I am not called to make someone believe in Jesus. I am called to be merciful and gracious. I am called to minister to the needs of those I come into contact with including family members. I am to live life as though Jesus is in control for indeed He is.
7/23 John 7:5
For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.
LOST
It breaks my heart to know someone that will not accept Christ. Knowing this I must not be overwhelmed or sidetracked. Jesus calls me to go and tell everyone, not just those that will believe.
7/24 John 8:24
That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am who I say I am, you will die in your sins.”
SALVATION
Salvation is a grace gift that the Lord offers me. He will save me if I accept Him. The world is always trying to complicate salvation. It puts up roadblocks called works that it says must be done to be saved. Accepting Jesus is not like that. If I accept Christ as Lord and savior and ask Him to forgive my sin I am saved.
7/25 John 10:26
But you don’t believe me because you are not part of my flock.
BELIEVER
There are no grandchildren in the family of God. Salvation is a personal experience. I am saved. The Spirit of the Lord within me bears testimony that I am saved. I walk with Jesus and He guides my way.
7/26 John 11:25
Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again.
HEAVEN
Heaven will be a great place because Jesus will be there. As a child of God I have a claim on heaven. My life right now can be joyous because of this fact. Where ever I am and what ever I am facing heaven is waiting for me.
7/27 John 12:37
But despite all the miraculous signs he had done, most of the people did not believe in him.
MIRACLES
I did not come to Jesus because of the miracles He works. I came because He offered me the opportunity to get a handle on my life. No longer am I at the mercy of the world. No longer am I without resources. Christ came into my life and changed me. He loves me and enables me to deal with daily life. He saved me. Salvation is the greatest miracle.
7/28 John 17:20
“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me because of their testimony.
WITNESS
I am responsible to tell about what Jesus has done in my life. One way is to verbally share my testimony. But an equally important and powerful way is to treat others the way I want to be treated. The early church was known for its love for the brethren.
7/29 John 19:35
This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account; it is presented so that you also can believe.
WITNESS
Believing is a choice but it is not an unfounded choice. The Word of God is a valid historical document and gives critical, first hand testimony of Jesus and His ministry. Jesus is Lord. What I do about my relationship with Christ is my choice but Jesus is still Lord.
7/30 John 20:25
They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
BELIEF
Seeing is believing. I have seen the Lord. Jesus is my savior. He has made me a member of the family of God. I have a relationship with Christ and talk with Him each day. Jesus is Lord.
7/31 John 20:31
But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life.
BELIEF
What I think matters. Life is short and troubles are great. Every where I look are needy situations. When I choose Jesus as my savior I am equipped to deal with my life. Once I begin the process of changing into the image of Christ I am growing in my ability and opportunity to help others.
