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Is He Your Treasure? - Your Daily Forward Devotional

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In The Days of the Judges

In The Days of the Judges

A Glimmer of Hope

A Glimmer of Hope

Bitter or a Believer?

Bitter or a Believer?

Great Faithfulness

Great Faithfulness

Bitter Emptiness

Bitter Emptiness

God Intended It For Good

God Intended It For Good

Getting Started...

Getting Started...

The True Vine

  • Jun 3, 2023

The True Vine

The Way

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The Way

The Resurrection and the Life

  • Jun 1, 2023

The Resurrection and the Life

The Good Shepherd

  • May 31, 2023

The Good Shepherd

The Door

  • May 30, 2023

The Door

The Bread and the Light

  • May 29, 2023

The Bread and the Light

John Saw It All

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John Saw It All

Worry About Yourself

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Worry About Yourself

Count the Cost

  • May 25, 2023

Count the Cost

Do You Love God?

  • May 24, 2023

Do You Love God?

Jump All In

  • May 23, 2023

Jump All In

Gone Fishing Again

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Gone Fishing Again

You May Have Life In His Name

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You May Have Life In His Name

The Disciple Who Believed

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The Disciple Who Believed

The Disciple Who Doubted

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The Disciple Who Doubted

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That You May Believe

  • Dec 31, 2021

That You May Believe

The Humble Get Heaven

  • Dec 30, 2021

The Humble Get Heaven

The World Hates You

  • Dec 29, 2021

The World Hates You

Maintaining A Strong Connection

  • Dec 28, 2021

Maintaining A Strong Connection

Peace On Earth

  • Dec 27, 2021

Peace On Earth

Meek Souls Will Receive Him Still

  • Dec 25, 2021

Meek Souls Will Receive Him Still

Light Has Come

  • Dec 24, 2021

Light Has Come

Unexpected Greatness

  • Dec 23, 2021

Unexpected Greatness

Is He Your Treasure?

  • Dec 22, 2021

Is He Your Treasure?

Nothing Else Is More Valuable

  • Dec 21, 2021

Nothing Else Is More Valuable

Truly His Disciples

  • Dec 20, 2021

Truly His Disciples

Whose Side Are You On?

  • Dec 18, 2021

Whose Side Are You On?

Humbly Confident

  • Dec 17, 2021

Humbly Confident

If You Aren’t Wise, You’re Foolish

  • Dec 16, 2021

If You Aren’t Wise, You’re Foolish

But Does He Know You?

  • Dec 15, 2021

But Does He Know You?

Wolf Warning

  • Dec 14, 2021

Wolf Warning

Off The Beaten Path

  • Dec 13, 2021

Off The Beaten Path

Rest Easy

  • Dec 11, 2021

Rest Easy

Wholehearted Devotion

  • Dec 10, 2021

Wholehearted Devotion

Adjust Your Focus

  • Dec 9, 2021

Adjust Your Focus

Where Is Your Bank Account?

  • Dec 8, 2021

Where Is Your Bank Account?

Forgive to be Forgiven?

  • Dec 7, 2021

Forgive to be Forgiven?

Overcoming Temptation

  • Dec 6, 2021

Overcoming Temptation

Reconcile and Reciprocate

  • Dec 4, 2021

Reconcile and Reciprocate

Praying For Provision

  • Dec 3, 2021

Praying For Provision

Prayer Priorities

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Prayer Priorities

The Perfect Father

  • Dec 1, 2021

The Perfect Father

A Rewarding Prayer Life

  • Nov 30, 2021

A Rewarding Prayer Life

A Better Reward

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A Better Reward

Blessed Reassurance

  • Nov 27, 2021

Blessed Reassurance

The Help for Unbelief

  • Nov 26, 2021

The Help for Unbelief

The Lost and The Found

  • Nov 25, 2021

The Lost and The Found

A Little Goes a Long Way

  • Nov 24, 2021

A Little Goes a Long Way

Only One Way In

  • Nov 23, 2021

Only One Way In

The Patience of God

  • Nov 22, 2021

The Patience of God

Uncommon Love

  • Nov 20, 2021

Uncommon Love

The Harm In Looking

  • Nov 19, 2021

The Harm In Looking

The Heart of The Matter

  • Nov 18, 2021

The Heart of The Matter

The Law Is Fulfilled

  • Nov 17, 2021

The Law Is Fulfilled

Hide It Under a Bushel? NO!

  • Nov 16, 2021

Hide It Under a Bushel? NO!

Worth Our Salt

  • Nov 15, 2021

Worth Our Salt

The Good Shepherd

  • Nov 13, 2021

The Good Shepherd

Suffering For What’s Right

  • Nov 12, 2021

Suffering For What’s Right

Inside Out Blessings

  • Nov 11, 2021

Inside Out Blessings

Upside-Down Blessings

  • Nov 10, 2021

Upside-Down Blessings

A Fickle Following

  • Nov 9, 2021

A Fickle Following

Dedicated Discipleship

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Dedicated Discipleship

Jesus Goes Public

  • Nov 6, 2021

Jesus Goes Public

Daily Bread

  • Nov 5, 2021

Daily Bread

Eternal Grace and Truth

  • Nov 4, 2021

Eternal Grace and Truth

The Word and the Light

  • Nov 3, 2021

The Word and the Light

Good News for All People

  • Nov 2, 2021

Good News for All People

Who Is Jesus Christ?

  • Nov 1, 2021

Who Is Jesus Christ?

Come, Lord Jesus

  • Oct 30, 2021

Come, Lord Jesus

You Can’t Be On the Fence

  • Oct 29, 2021

You Can’t Be On the Fence

Begin with the Eternity in Mind

  • Oct 28, 2021

Begin with the Eternity in Mind

Where We Belong

  • Oct 27, 2021

Where We Belong

The Light of His Glory

  • Oct 26, 2021

The Light of His Glory

The Beautiful City of God

  • Oct 25, 2021

The Beautiful City of God

Indescribable

  • Oct 23, 2021

Indescribable

Why Does God Punish People?

  • Oct 22, 2021

Why Does God Punish People?

God With Us

  • Oct 21, 2021

God With Us

Judged By the Book

  • Oct 20, 2021

Judged By the Book

A Decisive Victory

  • Oct 19, 2021

A Decisive Victory

The First Resurrection

  • Oct 18, 2021

The First Resurrection

Always With the Lord

  • Oct 16, 2021

Always With the Lord

The “Thousand Year” Debate

  • Oct 15, 2021

The “Thousand Year” Debate

The End of the Lies

  • Oct 14, 2021

The End of the Lies

Keep Your Eye on the Sky

  • Oct 13, 2021

Keep Your Eye on the Sky

Signs of the End Times

  • Oct 12, 2021

Signs of the End Times

Get Ready

  • Oct 11, 2021

Get Ready

Battle of Armageddon

  • Oct 9, 2021

Battle of Armageddon

The Battle Is the Lord’s

  • Oct 8, 2021

The Battle Is the Lord’s

Faithful and True

  • Oct 7, 2021

Faithful and True

Scared and Confused

  • Oct 6, 2021

Scared and Confused

His Witnesses

  • Oct 5, 2021

His Witnesses

He’s Coming Back for Us

  • Oct 4, 2021

He’s Coming Back for Us

Fully Filled in Christ

  • Oct 2, 2021

Fully Filled in Christ

Pass It On

  • Oct 1, 2021

Pass It On

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backtothebiblebttb2
Back to the BibleDec 22, 2021 7:00 am GMT

Is He Your Treasure?

 

December 22

 

Read Mark 10:17-22 (ESV)

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

 

Reflect

Is Jesus requiring us all to give away all of our money in order to follow Him? If not, what was Jesus getting at?

 

Do we have to keep all of the rules to get to heaven? Do we have to give away all of our possessions? Is there a certain level of poverty that we have to live in order to have eternal life? Today’s passage is often misunderstood and brings up a lot of questions. Sometimes, people read this account and believe that giving to charity or living in poverty is necessary in order to receive salvation and go to heaven. But that is NOT what Jesus is teaching here.

 

When we go back to the Bible and study the whole of Scripture, we see that Jesus Himself taught that salvation was a result of faith in Him alone. In John 5:24 Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgement, but has passed from death to life.” Jesus put no other requirements on salvation. It is by faith in Him alone. Salvation is a gift of His grace. So what was Jesus saying to the rich young man?

 

First, we see that the man asked what he had to “do” to have eternal life. He was used to an environment of legalism and works. But Jesus doesn’t say to him, “you don’t have to do anything, just believe in me” as we might expect. Instead, He started off by challenging the man’s ideas about good behavior. The man had called Him, “Good Teacher” and Jesus wanted to know why. He pointed out that only God is good. On one hand, this confirms Jesus’ deity. He is good because He is God! On the other hand, this statement points to human depravity. Romans 3:23 confirms that all of us have sinned and fall short of God’s standard of holiness.

 

Then, Jesus asked the man to consider the 10 commandments. Jesus had just said that no one is good except God. So, you’d think the man would confess his sins, repent, and ask Jesus for forgiveness. Instead, he said that he had kept all of the commandments since childhood. Really?

 

Now, we may be tempted to think the man was either insincere or extraordinarily arrogant to think that he had perfectly kept the law. But don’t we all tend to do this from time to time? We like to think that we are mostly good. We’ve never worshipped an idol. We’ve never killed anyone. We haven't committed adultery. At least...not physically.

 

Once again, Jesus was getting to the heart of the matter. Just as Jesus said that if we are angry, we are guilty of murder in our hearts (Matthew 5:21-22) and if we look at someone with lust, we have committed adultery in our hearts (Matthew 5:27-28) so we are guilty of idolatry when we love our possessions more than we love God.

 

The problem wasn’t the man’s wealth. The problem was the man’s heart. It wasn’t the man’s external actions, it was his internal attitude. He loved his money. He wanted to keep and enjoy his money here and now rather than to give it all up to get treasure in heaven. He wanted eternal life, but he didn’t want to obey this teaching of Jesus. He went away sad, but unwilling to give up what he truly treasured in his heart.

 

Friends, Jesus wants our whole hearts. He wants to be our treasure. Is there anything taking the place of Jesus as the treasure of your heart?

 

Pray

Lord, I confess that sometimes, I treasure the things of this life, more than I treasure You. Please forgive me. I want to love You more. Increase my faith and love for You. Amen.

 

~ Pastor Nat Crawford

 

 

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a year ago
Father, I ask on today that you increase my faith and love for you in Jesus name 🙏
1
likeReply
D
David
a year ago
Lord Jesus, please forgive me for not loving You as much as You surely deserve. Give me another opportunity to repent and start over with the right internal attitude toward my earthly possessions. Help me to love You above my chief treasures and the faith in being steadfast.
1
likeReply
J
JESSICA
a year ago
Amen
likeReply
P
patriciacurtis497
a year ago
Lord I ask you to give me more knowledge of your word.i ask you to keep me on your potters wheel and mold me into the woman you intended me to be amen
1
likeReply
a year ago
Amen
likeReply
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