Devotion - Friday May 22 - Impossible and Possible

Text: “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” - Matthew 19:23–26

Devotion: It's not about the money.

It very rarely is about the money, anytime when Jesus talks about money, it's not about the money. There is something much more important going on in the conversations that Jesus has about money. It's about the heart and the things that our hearts love more than God.

Jesus has just dropped an insane truth bomb on the disciples. In Jesus' day much like ours financial blessing was seen as a sign of favor with God. But Jesus here has turned the tables around and has said that in fact those who will struggle to enter the kingdom are the rich.

Riches on earth are no sure sign of God's favor.

Riches reveal the heart, and in Jesus' interaction with the rich young ruler has revealed that he loved this possessions more than he desired the Kingdom of God.

Jesus point here is not that riches are bad, but that our hearts cling to and love things that cannot save us. But here is the good news, even though it is impossible for us to remove the love of money, or other earthly things that are leading us to death with God it is possible to replace our lesser loves with a greater love.

A love of God that leads to love for our fellow man. It takes the work of the creator of the universe to pry our fingers off of our earthy loves and to turn our hands outward to freely give. But when he does this the freedom that we are blessed with is such a great joy and what seemed once impossible, reveling in freedom through the power of God in us through the Holy Sprit it is now possible.

Questions:

1. Make a list of what does your heart love more than God?
2. Do you believe that your love for earthly things will keep you from the Kingdom of God?
3. What does God need to do to pry your love from earthly things?
4. Would you make a list of areas that you have been given freedom over earthly loves and praise God for that
5. Ask God to free you from the list you made in Question 1 and press into the freedom he has purchased for you in Jesus.