Every Day With Jesus Devotional, January 15, 2023
Every Day With Jesus
January 15: Make Jesus Marvel
Matthew 8:5-13; John 20:24-29
Matthew 8:5-13
The Centurion's Great Faith
5And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
6And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
7And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
8The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
9For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
10When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
11And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
12But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
13And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
John 20:24-29
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
26And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Note: Did you see what just happened in verse 26? Jesus, after His death, appeared unto His disciples. He appeared to them walking through the walls. It said, "then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst". You know why, because when a man dies, His body goes back into the earth where it came from. The body causes limitations to the spirit. But once man experiences physical death, the spirit has no limitations. They can go in and out of places. It's like the movie Ghost with Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze, and Whoopi Goldberg. That is exactly what happened. The disciples were able to see Jesus with their physical eyes though. Where as, in the movie "Ghost", Whoopi was able to feel and hear Patrick. I don't recall that she was able to see him.
Pastor Andrew teaches on John 20:29
Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. John 20:29.
Note: this is one of the ways believers are blessed. So if you ever ask a believer how are you, and they say "I am blessed", these are the reasons why. Believers are truely blessed, because "God said it and we believe it, and that settles it". Praise the Lord!!!
Pastor Andrews teaching continues
When I first became aware that the Lord did miracles today, I realized I had missed out on the supernatural in my Christian life. That made me want to make up for lost time by immediately receiving everything I could. I heard about visions, dreams, and angels appearing to people—and I wanted all of that! So I started praying for those things to happen to me. However, the Lord used Scriptures like the verses above to stop me in my tracks.
Jesus said that the greatest faith He’d ever seen was a faith that didn’t have to see to believe. This faith was in the Word of God alone. (Matt. 8:10 "When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel".) He told Thomas that he had believed because he had seen, but there was a greater degree of blessing on those who believed by faith and not by sight. This means that we will walk in a greater degree of faith the more we are directed solely by God’s Word.
That settled it for me. I wanted God’s best. I knew that without faith it was impossible to please Him, and I wanted to operate in the highest form of faith. That’s not to say I refuse visions and dreams—I’ve had both—but they are no longer my focus. God’s Word is supernatural enough. If the Lord chooses to use an angel or some other means to speak to me, I’ll listen, but I no longer require these things. God’s Word needs no additional confirmation; it is the absolute authority in my life. {Note: Amen!!!}
Today why don’t you decide to walk in faith and believe God’s promises no matter what you see or hear or experience. {Note: My God! Wow! This is where I am, where I am walking but not yet perfected. Hallelujah!}. Have faith like the centurion, the faith that made Jesus marvel.
Devotional by Pastor Andrew Wommack
Blog and Notes by Kingdom Business Us dot Blogspot dot Com pflb (c) 1/15/23
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