The Daily Matra

Daily Devotional

May 26, 2022

Hopelessness is a miserable trap that blinds a believer to the Lord. The only way out is to deliberately focus on Jesus Christ through praise, prayer, and Scripture. This is probably the last thing a discouraged person wants to do, but hope awaits those who are willing to see life from God´s perspective.

1 John 4:7-10 📖 Without a sense of purpose, there is no hope. But the Lord created each person for a reason: to love God and be loved by Him. He pursues us and does everything in His infinite power to reveal Himself. The Lord wants each person to understand who He is and respond in worship and devotion.

God´s love is personal. Christianity stands out among world religions because God desires a personal relationship with every man, woman, and child. His care isn´t limited to just one group; He loves every individual and desires regular, intimate conversation with each one. God´s love is unconditional. It´s who He is (1 John 4:8) rather than simply something He does. Nothing about your character or behavior can make Him love you less or more. Nor are His care and concern limited, because He is infinite and eternal. God´s love is available to everyone. It is inexhaustible and reaches across every boundary or hindrance man can set up in an attempt to keep God at a distance. The Lord does not have favorites, but He does have intimates. These are His followers who spend time with Him, talking and listening, walking in obedience, and desiring to know and love Him with their whole heart. He wants all of us to choose this kind of relationship with Him.

Daily Devotional

May 24, 2022

God doesn´t want anyone to mistreat others; such sinful action will bring repercussions or discipline. But the Lord does extend His care, mercy, and salvation to anybody who wants it. He keeps no record of wrongs. He loves without conditions. And He wants us to love in the same way.

Matthew 5:38-48 📖 We talk a lot about rights these days. Yet the attention given to human entitlements hasn´t brought about corporate or personal freedom. Instead, most people are prisoners of jealousy (You have greater rights than I do!), greed (I deserve more!), or bitterness (My rights have been violated!).

In lieu of focusing on what is due them, Christians should follow Christ´s command to love enemies and forgive persecutors (Matt. 5:44). Believers lay down their rights so they can take up the cause of a holy kingdom. That doesn´t mean we let people trample on us. Rather, we offer a proper response according to biblical principles. In short, we should be more concerned about showing God´s love to those who wrong us than insisting on privileges we assume are rightfully ours. Perhaps you´re thinking that I don´t know how you´ve been mistreated. Indeed I don´t. But I do know how Jesus reacted to terrible abuse. He was betrayed by His friends, persecuted by His people, condemned by His peers, and crucified for our sins. Yet He said, ´Father, forgive them´ (Luke 23:34). Before assuming that Jesus´ capacity for forgiveness and love is out of reach for mere human beings, remember: His Spirit dwells in believers. We can choose to give away our rights and let God´s love work through us.

Daily Devotional

April 30, 2022

To prevent prideful behavior, we must refuse to act independently of the Lord. Like David, we should handle self-centeredness by turning to God in confession. David´s sins were forgiven. Saul, on the other hand, never admitted he´d made any mistakes, and that led to his downfall.

Psalm 139:1-18 📖 God is infinite. It´s difficult for us, with our limited human minds, to imagine exactly what that means, but it´s important to think about His greatness. His love is immeasurable. And He is boundless in righteousness, mercy, and justice. Time and space cannot contain Him.

Can we go anywhere that our God is not? There may be times when we feel as if we want to hide from Him, but thankfully, there´s nowhere we can go that is out of His reach. The last thing we should want is to be separated from Him. As believers, we are forever connected to the Father because He is eternal. He calls Himself the Alpha and Omega, which means the beginning and the end. That is not to say the Lord started at some point in eternity past and ends somewhere in the future. Instead, it means that when time and space began, He is the one who created it. When it ends, He will still be there—He is the one ´who is and who was and who is to come´ (Revelation 1:8). This was a revolutionary concept for the crowd of Jews to whom Christ announced, ´Before Abraham was born, I am´ (John 8:58). They understood that Jesus, in saying He was one with Yahweh (the name of God, which means ´I am´), claimed to be eternal—and they attempted to kill Him for what they considered blasphemy (John 8:59).

Who Do You Belong To?
1 John 3:10

Many people claim to be Gods children, however it is only those who truly follow in the footsteps of jesus that are genuinely his children. 1 John 3:10 further confirms that those who do righteousness are Gods children while those who do evil belong to the devil.

Anyone who is not living in righteousness is not a child of God. A fellow who is not beating the fruit of God will bear that of Satan. How can you continue to tell lies and still think you are a child of God?

Beloved, please take time to think about this. If you are not living a righteous life, you should not bother calling yourself a child of God at all.

Does your character really resemble that of Jesus Christ?...