For Reading and Meditation:      Matthew 5:21-26"God';s wrath," said George MacDonald, "is always judicial. It is always the wrath of the Judge administering justice. Cruelty is always immoral but true justice - never." Those who experience the fullness of God's wrath get precisely what they deserve. That may sound hard, but it is true. There is great wisdom in the words of our Lord in the passage before us today. Settle matters with an adversary, He says, before he drags you to court. Do at once what you must do one day. As there is no escape from payment, escape at least from the prison sentence that will enforce it. The point our Lord is making is that we ought not to drive justice to extremities. God requires righteousness of us. It is utterly useless to think we can escape the eternal law. Yield yourself rather than be compelled. To those whose hearts are true, the idea of judgment is right; to those whose hearts are untrue, the idea of judgment is wrong. Many people live under the illusion that perhaps it might be possible to find a way of escaping all that is required of us in this world. But there is no escape. A way to avoid the demands of righteousness, apart from the righteousness which God accounts to us at the Cross, would not be moral. When a man or woman accepts the payment God has made for them in Christ, the whole wealth of heaven is theirs; their debt is cleared. Those who deny that debt, or acknowledging it do nothing to avail themselves of the payment made on Calvary, must face at last an unyielding Judge and an everlasting prison.O Father, how serious and solemn is all this - but yet how true. Sin must ultimately be punished. I am so grateful that You have shown me that in Christ my debt has been paid, and availing myself of Your offer I am eternally free. Blessed be Your Name forever. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Zephaniah 3:1-5</li><li>Psalm 103:6</li><li>John 5:30</li><li>Romans 2:2</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What does God do morning by morning?</li><li>What is God's judgment based on?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court." (v. 25)

Twice in John 5:1-47 the Lord Jesus says that He can do nothing of Himself. In verse 19, He says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of himself…" Then again in verse 30 He says, "I can of mine own self do nothing…"When we first read these verses, we are apt to feel disappointed. They seem to say that Jesus was limited in His power, just like ourselves. But if He is God, as He claimed to be, He must be omnipotent. How then could He say that He could do nothing of Himself? Indeed, the enemies of the Gospel have used these verses to show that Jesus was just a man with all the limitations of humanity.But look more closely! Our Lord was not speaking of His physical power. What He was insisting was that He was so devoted to the will of His Father that He could not do anything on His own initiative. He was so morally perfect that He could not act in self will. He wanted nothing apart from the will of God.You and I cannot say that we can do nothing of ourselves. Too often we act independently of the Lord. We make decisions without consulting Him. We yield to temptation with full knowledge that we are sinning. We choose our own will above His. The Lord Jesus could do none of these things.Therefore, instead of suggesting that Jesus Christ was weak and finite, the verses prove the very opposite - that He was divinely perfect. This is made clear by reading the verses in their entirety rather than stopping at midpoint. What Jesus said in verse 19 was, "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." In other words, the Son cannot act independently of the Father, but He can do whatever the Father does. It is a claim to equality with God.Then again in verse 30, Jesus said, "I can of my own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." This means that He made decisions only on the basis of instructions that He received from His Father, and that His complete submission to God's will insured that these decisions were correct.J. S. Baxter points out that this passage contains seven distinct claims by Christ to be equal with God. Equal in working (v. 19); equal in knowing (v. 20); equal in resurrecting (w. 21,28, 29); equal in judging (vv. 22, 27); equal in honor (v. 23); equal in regenerating (vv. 24, 25); equal in self-existence (v. 26). Our Savior is not a weak, frail creature with limited power but omnipotent God manifest in the flesh.

With reverence, humor and skill, William MacDonald wove a daily devotional tapestry that challenges the reader to think deeply and Biblically, and apply God's Word to their lives.

Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

"I can of mine own self do nothing." (John 5:30)

By Myself I can do nothing. (John 5:30 NIV)
One of the most difficult lessons that the Lord's children have to learn 
is how to let go to God. Even in a matter that is right and in the purpose of 
God, there has to be the lessons which Abraham had to learn through Isaac. It is 
not in our personal clinging to a God-given thing, whether it be a 
promise or a possession, but faith's restful and fear-free holding on to the 
Lord Himself. If we had a thing from the Lord Himself we can rest assured that 
what He gives He will not take again without some larger purpose in view; and on 
the other hand, none can take from us what He has determined for us. But there 
are many dangers which arise from our own will in relation to a Divine gift or 
purpose.
The first is of making that thing ours instead of holding it in and for the 
Lord. This leads to fierceness and personal uprisings. Then jealousy will not be 
long in showing its ugly head, and jealousy with its twin – suspicion – soon 
destroy fellowship and spontaneity of communion. Does not jealousy declare most 
loudly the fact of personal possession, personal interest? If we realized how 
privileged we are to have even a very small part in the things of God, and how 
it is all of His Grace, surely we should be very grateful that we could just 
have the remotest connection with Him. Then further, when we hold things 
received or as promised or believed to be for us as only unto the Lord, in 
restful trust, we make it possible for the Lord to save us from being mistaken 
in the matter. It is not an unusual thing for a child of God to come to see that 
a thing which he or she most strongly believed to be God's will or way for them 
was not so, and it had to be surrendered. If there was any personal element of 
will in it the experience has proved terrible, and has left works of bitterness 
and mistrust. Yet once again, a strong personal mind and will in relation to 
things of God too often makes us a law unto ourselves. That is, we get into an 
attitude which implies that we only know the will of God in the matter. 
We do not trust that others also may be led of the Lord in this thing, and so 
the corporateness of guidance so necessary to the house of God is destroyed or 
paralyzed.

This devotional contains short daily portions from a selection of Mr. Austin-Sparks' messages. In his own words, “Perhaps this is just like a window opened into heaven. If you get the right window you can see quite a lot. You can see great things and you can see far things. But the best that I can hope is that this has just opened a window, and that as you look through it you are seeing one thing - how superior is Jesus Christ to all else, and how superior is the dispensation into which we have come, and how superior are all the resources at our disposal to all that ever was before!” Open Windows messages have been selected and compiled by Austin-Sparks.Net from the works of T. Austin-Sparks. In some cases they appear in abridged form. The introductory verse and its associated Bible version have been selected by the editor and did not always appear within the original message.

Open Windows

"The Flame of a Sword"

 Spontaneous Fellowship 

I am able to do nothing from Myself. (John 5:30 AMP)

You get to the heart of everything in the case of the Lord Jesus when you 
recognize that the one question which constituted the testing ground of His life 
was: "Will this Man act alone, speak alone, choose alone, decide alone, move 
alone?" And His answer was always, "Not out from Myself!" "The Son can do nothing 
out from Himself." "The words that I speak unto you I speak not out from 
Myself." Every kind of appeal was made to Him to persuade Him on the impulse of 
the moment, or in response to an entreaty that seemed to promise success, or by 
an argument that appeared to be the truest wisdom, to move, act, speak, do 
something as out from Himself.... 

At times the suggestion would
be influenced by necessity of circumstances, at times by the
promise of effectiveness in His service, or again by
representation of the utter un-wisdom of the line that He was
taking, as when His own brethren, who did not believe in Him,
chided Him for delay, saying, "Go up to Jerusalem and show
yourself!" To them He said, "I go not yet up to this feast!" And
then, so quickly after, when His brethren were gone up He went up
also. But He would not go up at the persuasion of popular reason;
He would not do this merely because it was the thing which
everybody else was doing, or because it was urged upon Him that,
since everybody was going to the feast, He ought to go too. That
ninety-nine people do a thing is no argument for the hundredth to
do it. We are not to be led by the appeals that decide the
actions of the many – "It is the popular thing! Everybody else is
doing it! It is the recognized thing to do!" No! Does my Father
want me to do this thing? That is the question that must ever
rule our steps. In the case of the Lord Jesus there was all the
time an underworking to get Him to adopt the contrary course, to
act without inquiry of His Father, without direct leading from
His Father; to act in His individual capacity as though He were
His own Master, as though He had not to make appeal elsewhere. In
Him there was none of that which was personal, independent. We
are not speaking merely of such things as are sinfully personal,
positively personal, but simply of independent action, action
taken for the best ends, for a good motive, with quite a proper
intention. Yes, all this may be done, but apart from the positive
word from the Father. That creates an independent thought,
however good may be the motive.

The Risen Lord and the Things Which Cannot be Shaken - Chapter 3

 Out From The Father 

30 <woj>By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. </woj>

<woj>By myself I can do nothing;<cr>1</cr> I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just,<cr>2</cr> for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.<cr>3</cr> </woj>

John 5:30

 30 By myself I can do nothing;   I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just,   for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.  

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

<woj>By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. </woj>

 By myself I can do nothing;   I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just,   for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.  

Bible Verse of the Day

February 1, 2018

John 5:30 NIV

Verse by Verse Bible Study

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