Daily Devotional - Gen. 4; Matt. 4; Ezra 4; Acts 4

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Genesis 4

  • Sin is dangerous. It is 'crouching at your door' and will always 'desire' to have us - but God tells us that through Christ we are to rule over it (v7)
  • God is a righteous God (v15)
  • The timeline and descendants of Cain and Abel are detailed (v17-24)
  • Adam has another son named Enosh because Cain killed Abel (v25)

Matthew 4
  • Even Jesus was tempted like us human beings
  • We will not live just by eating and satisfying our stomachs - rather we live by knowing who God is and what he's done for us through his word (v4)
  • Jesus was offered all the glorious riches of the earth (much like us today) - instead he revolted against Satan and knew the dangers of idolatry (v10)
  • When Jesus called his disciples - they immediately left all that they were doing to follow Him (v19)
Ezra 4
  • There was great opposition to the rebuilding of God's temple (v1-4)
  • Xerxes and Artaxerxes convinced the Jews to stop rebuilding the kingdom (v5-24)
Acts 4
  • Peter and John are arrested because they were proclaiming salvation through Jesus the resurrection of the dead (v2)
  • Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (v12)
  • Even when told the authorities to no longer speak about Christ, Peter and John understood that what God's opinion matters more than anyone else's
  • We are to speak God's Word with great boldness and courage (v29)
  • Being filled with the Holy Spirit allows us to be confident and bold in speaking the word of God (v31)
  • All believers are at the core, in one heart and mind - they serve one another, sharing everything they had (v32)
Application
  1. Be confident that Christ is enough - salvation is found in no one else but Christ
  2. God's opinion matters more than anyone or anything else's in this world
  3. Speak with boldness and courage because the Holy Spirit is at work in us - Do I pray before I meet up with others? Am I filled with the Spirit when I do 1 on 1s?

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