July 9: Matthew 9:32-38
Key Verse: Matthew 9:34
But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.”
Devotion:
Have you noticed how people will blame something else or make up a story or lie to ensure they are not shamed in some way? If you dare to show up someone by exposing their lie or their shortcomings, you can expect to have some sort of backlash where they will try to turn the lies on you in some desperate attempt to cover up their own lies.
Jesus faced this when He was doing God’s healing amongst the people. The temple leaders, Pharisees and others in charge had covered up their shortcomings for too long and Jesus was slowly exposing their lies. They did not like this and they tried to tell more lies to cover up their lies. Unfortunately, this never works!
Jesus stood up to the lies and used God’s Word to make sure people would get to know the truth. Lies will never stand up against God’s Word because his Word is the truth – we should make sure whatever we do we are doing it for the glory of God and by carrying out His will in our lives. This will be backed up by Scripture unless we start inventing our own rules like the leaders back then!
God wants honest and faithful people to come forward to help others to be honest and faithful too.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you lie to cover up a lie?
Have you tried telling the truth and supporting it with God’s Word?