DCLM HIGHER EVERYDAY 20 March 2022 — Effort is needed for entry
DCLM Higher Everyday 20 March 2022 Devotional by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Effort is needed for entry
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TOPIC: EFFORT IS NEEDED FOR ENTRY
TEXT: LUKE 13:22-28
22 And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.
23 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,
24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:
27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
MEMORY VERSE: “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (LUKE 13:24).
MESSAGE
To strive is to fight or contend with an opponent. And that is what the Christian life entails. A true Christian is a soldier, and he must fight his way through the narrow gate until he reaches the celestial city. The fight is with his three principal enemies, which are the flesh, the world and the devil. These are his never-dying foes. Unless he gets his victory over them, he may not make it into the kingdom of heaven.
The fight is necessary because there is always a danger to fall back to sin even after conversion. The Christian carries within him a nature prone to evil, and a heart weak and unstable as water. “If he had a nature like an angel, and were not a fallen creature, the warfare would not be essential. But with a corrupt heart, a busy devil, and an ensnaring world, he must either fight or be lost,” wrote J. C. Ryle.
No saint will be carried to heaven on a flowery bed of ease. All must fight to win the prize.
QUOTE: Fight to win the prize.
CHALLENGE: Heaven is worth striving for.
PRAYER: Lord, help me to hold on till the end.
1. Admit that you are a sinner. "For all [humans] have sinned, and comes short of the glory of God....[and] the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 3:23)
2. Repent now. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out ...[for] if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness " (Acts 3:19, 1 John 1:9)
3. Believe that God loves you and Jesus died for you. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet Sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)
4. Invite Jesus into your life through prayer of faith. Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20)
