Skip to main content

Daily Devotion: Matthew 21:18-19

By

Matthew 21:18-19  Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. (19)  And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away."

We continue our thoughts concerning the last week of Jesus' humanity on this earth. His first day was a combination of highs and lows.  The people cried out, "Hosannah!! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord." Then we see "... The chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did... and were sore displeased." (Matthew 21:15)  He left Jerusalem, went to Bethany, and then came back the next morning.

He observed a fig tree as He returned to the city. It was the season when figs should have been on the tree. He went to get some but there were no figs to be found. The tree gave the appearance of being fully productive, but was empty.

What can we learn from this?  We have been given life in Christ Jesus in order that we would bring forth spiritual fruit to His glory. We are not fulfilling our purpose of being fruitful in the kingdom of God, if, in reality we are fruitless.   God help us to use the gifts given to us for His honor and glory.

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Daily Devotion: Psalm 88:1-4

By
Psalm 88:1-4  A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. "O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:  (2)  Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;  (3)  For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.  (4)  I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength" I've said this before and I will say it again (and probably more times before we get to the end of the Psalms) - I love the Psalms because I can surely identify with them. Most Psalms start in a low place and as the writer expresses his thoughts, the Lord begins to lift him up out of that dry place.  Though this entire Psalm is a fervent cry unto the Lord, the Psalmist tells us specifically in three verses that he cried daily unto the Lord. Just a few Psalms ago, we were reminded that God always hears our prayers. ...
Read more

Daily Devotion (Video): I Will Fear No Evil - Psalm 23:4

By
Read more

Daily Devotion: Knowing God By Bearing Fruit

By
Some will notice the title is not “Bearing fruit because we know God,” so to avoid getting sidetracked with that, we can start with the fact that we won’t bear any godly fruit unless our heart has been changed and the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Also, to avoid confusion, I’ll be using the terms “bearing fruit,” “good works” and “service” interchangeably.  I took this article’s title from Part 7, of John Piper’s “Look at the Book” session on Colossians 1:9-12. I greatly encourage you to view that short video to get his excellent exposition on this subject.  When I saw the title of the video earlier this year, I got kind of excited because that’s the direction my thinking has gone in the past several years. My thinking was founded Biblically with verses on good works like Matthew 5:16 – “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father, who is in heaven.” But I couldn’t expand it to expla...
Read more