Daily Devotional For Friday, June 20, 2025
Well, it is Fantastic Friday. As you know, if you have been reading these devotionals, we are looking at what it means to follow Jesus. With all our contemporary thinking, education and knowledge and experiences today, why should we follow the words of a man who lived over 2,000 years ago? Because the authority of Jesus’ words are directly connected to His Resurrection. If Jesus had not been resurrected, then His teachings would be no better than Mohammed, Buddha, Confucious or any other religious or philosophical teacher, whose tombs we can visit.
In fact, it might be worse for us because this would mean that Jesus was a lying lunatic because He promised He would rise from the dead. It also means that Christianity is one big joke and hoax and all of us are fools and stupid for following Him. But since Jesus did rise from the grave and conquered death, then not only must we accept Jesus teachings, we must conform our lives totally around them. This means then, that Jesus is Lord no matter what I think or others think. We can’t make Jesus Lord because He already is Lord.
Muhammed 600 years after Jesus’ death and Resurrection said that it was not Jesus on the cross, only someone who looked like Him. Others state that Jesus did not die on the cross, but was unconscious and when He was put in the tomb, He eventually regained consciousness and recovered, and some who, which they never explained, pushed that stone away and slipped past armed Roman soldiers on guard. Others theorize that when the women went to the tomb Easter morning, that due to their grief and loss, they simply went to the wrong tomb. Finding it empty, assumed that Jesus had resurrected. Well the problem with this is that the Bible records that the Jewish religious leaders feared that Jesus’ disciples would come during the night and steal His body, then claim that Jesus had resurrected. This is why Pilate put his seal over the tomb and stationed armed Roman guards. I know where my mother’s grave is, don’t you think they knew where Jesus had been buried? Of course they did.
Others have argued that the only logical explanation for the resurrection is that the disciples had come during the night and stolen His body. And then fabricated the story of Jesus’ resurrection. Hello – shut the front door. There were still armed Roman guards on duty they would have to get past or subdue and don’t forget, these are the same disciples hiding in a room out of fear they would be next. Others have said the only logical explanation for the resurrection is that the disciples, overwhelmed with grief at Jesus’ death and remorse over abandoning Him, hallucinated in seeing Jesus. Their minds played tricks on them. They so wanted Jesus’ statement of being resurrected true, all 11 of them hallucinated that it had occurred.
So why am I going on and on about this? Since Jesus was resurrected, since the Resurrection is true, then everything Jesus said not only should be listened to, but it should be applied and obeyed. The Resurrection proves and validates Jesus’ words and teachings. Whether or not we believe Jesus is Lord, guess what? He is Lord. Tomorrow, we will look at some of Jesus’ teachings about following Him.
Assignment: For preparation for tomorrow’s devotional, take your Bible and read John 5:22-24, 26-29; Revelation 20:11-15; and Mark 9:34-38. It is very dangerous to take Jesus’ words and twist them to fit our opinion so that we feel more comfortable. Jesus is not interested in your comfort; He is interested in your character. James Denny and Alexander MacClaren write in their book this: “If there is any truth in Scripture at all, this is true—that those who stubbornly refuse to submit to the gospel, and to love and obey Jesus Christ, incur at the Last Advent an infinite and irreparable loss. They will pass into a night on which no morning dawns” (Source: James Denney and Alexander MacClaren, The Epistles of St. Paul To the Colossians and Philemon, Vol.c 31, p. 300). What is your reaction to this quote? Do you believe a Judgment Day is coming? If so, how does this impact your own life in following Jesus?
Scripture To Meditate On: Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. (22) Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ (23) And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, keep reminding me that I am a mist, here today and gone tomorrow. Please remind me that in following You, that means I also follow Your words and teachings because they are connected to Your Resurrection. Lord, when I fail to do this, please get my attention. Thank You. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly