Daily Devotional from The Way Bible Church for April 29th, 2020

James 4:6
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Have you ever paid attention to fact that Jesus, in today’s text, didn’t climb up into the tree with Zacchaeus? Have you ever wondered why? After all, Jesus never had a problem reaching out, or going to those who were in need of Him. But, in this case, He called Zacchaeus down. You see, Zacchaeus, had positioned himself in a place where he could look down upon the crowd. According to previous verses, he was short and in all likelihood felt like he had the right to place himself in a position over those who he felt were a hinderance to him. In other words, he exalted himself. Rather than humbling himself and trying to get to Jesus as the others did he perched himself over everyone else. This is why Jesus called him down. You see, as long as you view yourself as deserving of anything, you put yourself in the place where the Lord belongs in your life. But, if you’ll humble yourself and understand that He owes you nothing and everything in His Kingdom has been afforded you by grace, you can receive His blessings in abundance. It’s always more pleasant when you choose to humble yourself, rather than having to be humbled. Jesus told Zacchaeus to come down, He didn’t commend him for climbing up. As a believer, it’s easy to fall into the mindset of entitlement and get angry because all you begin to focus on is what it appears others are being blessed with that you’re not. Today, ask the holy Spirit to help you search your heart and reveal any prideful, and entitled areas. By doing so those areas will be flooded with His grace and mercy once again. – Love and Blessings, Pastor Jeff