SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2023
IT’S A MATTER OF THE HEART – Pastor Chris
For neither did his brethren believe in him (John 7:5).
In John 7:3-4 MSG, we’re told something quite staggering about the siblings of Jesus: they were sceptical and didn’t believe in Him. They said to Him as they were getting ready to go for the Feast of Tabernacles, “. Why don’t you leave here and go up to the Feast so your disciples can get a good look at the works you do? No one who intends to be publicly known does everything behind the scenes. If you’re serious about what you are doing, come out in the open and show the world.”
The 5th verse specifically says, “His brothers were pushing him like this because they didn’t believe in him either” (MSG). They were aware of the circumstances surrounding His birth, having heard the story from their mother, Mary, and their father, Joseph, who also had received angelic visitations about Jesus’s birth. Yet, they didn’t believe.
That’s because believing is of the heart. And thanks be unto God, the perspective and opinion of the siblings of Jesus changed when they witnessed His miraculous ascension! That was when they believed. It was a most remarkable event!
As they stood with the other disciples, the “Jesus, whom they had known all their lives,” didn’t suddenly vanish or disappear; rather, in His glorified physical body, He levitated before their eyes right into heaven. For once, they realized that the one whom they had the privilege of growing up with was truly God.
This incredible event left no room for doubt or speculation in their hearts about His origin. Now, they really understood that the Lord Jesus was truly from above (John 8:23). if you study the book of Acts, Luke tells us in the very first chapter that His mother and His siblings joined the company of disciples and continued with them in fellowship (read Acts 1:13-14). Hallelujah!
That’s why, no matter the stories you hear and how many angelic visitations you receive, you still have to make the choice to believe from your heart. It’s a matter of the heart, just as Paul puts it in Romans 10:10 NKJV, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
True faith stems from the heart. However, the mind must be open to receive the information, and a decision must be made to embrace it. Hallelujah!
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PRAYER: Dear Father, thank you for the opportunity of being regularly exposed to the ministry of your Word and to express my faith. Always, my heart is set in order, receptive, fully prepared to receive your Word joyfully. I experience the life- changing power of your Word as I align my heart, mind and actions with its truth, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY:
Romans 10:10 For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation.
John 20:29 Jesus said to him, Because you have seen Me, Thomas, do you now believe (trust, have faith)? Blessed and happy and to be envied are those who have never seen Me and yet have believed and adhered to and trusted and relied on Me.
Acts 1:9-14 And when He had said this, even as they were looking [at Him], He was caught up, and a cloud received and carried Him away out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing intently into heaven as He went, behold, two men [dressed] in white robes suddenly stood beside them, 11 Who said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? This same Jesus, Who was caught away and lifted up from among you into heaven, will return in [just] the same way in which you saw Him go into heaven. 12 Then [the disciples] went back to Jerusalem from the hill called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, [only] a Sabbath day’s journey (three-quarters of a mile) away. 13 And when they had entered [the city], they mounted [the stairs] to the upper room where they were [indefinitely] staying—Peter and John and James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas [son] of James. 14 All of these with their minds in full agreement devoted themselves steadfastly to prayer, [waiting together] with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Ephesians 5:22-6:1-9 & Isaiah 29-30
2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: John 2:1-11 & 1 Kings 5
