Life Recovery Bible - Flipbook - Page 21
hell* is broad, and its gate is wide for the
many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.
The Tree and Its Fruit
15
“Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. 16 You can identify them by their
fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you
pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from
thistles? 17 A good tree produces good fruit,
and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good
tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree
can’t produce good fruit. 19 So every tree that
does not produce good fruit is chopped down
and thrown into the fire. 20 Yes, just as you
can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can
identify people by their actions.
True Disciples
21
“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord!
Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Only those who actually do the will of my
Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment
day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We
prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many
miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply,
‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you
who break God’s laws.’
Building on a Solid Foundation
24
“Anyone who listens to my teaching and
follows it is wise, like a person who builds a
house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes
in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the
winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But
anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t
obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a
house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods
come and the winds beat against that house,
it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
28
When Jesus had finished saying these
things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 for he taught with real authority—
quite unlike their teachers of religious law.
12-STEP
DEVOTIONAL
STEP
4
Finger Pointing
BIBLE READING: Matthew 7:1-5
We made a searching and fearless moral
inventory of ourselves.
There have probably been times when we
have ignored our own sins and problems
and pointed a finger at someone else.
We may be out of touch with our internal
affairs because we are still blaming others
for our moral choices. Or perhaps we avoid
self-examination by making moral inventories of the people around us.
When God asked Adam and Eve about
their sin, they each pointed a finger at
someone else. “‘Have you eaten from
the tree whose fruit I commanded you
not to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the
woman you gave me who gave me the
fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God
asked the woman, ‘What have you done?’
‘The serpent deceived me,’ she replied”
(Genesis 3:11-13). It seems to be human
nature to blame others as our first line of
defense.
We also may avoid our own problems
by evaluating and criticizing others. Jesus
tells us, “And why worry about a speck in
your friend’s eye when you have a log in
your own? . . . Hypocrite! First get rid of
the log in your own eye; then you will see
well enough to deal with the speck in your
friend’s eye” (Matthew 7:3, 5).
While doing this step, we must constantly remember that this is a season of
self-examination. We must guard against
blaming and examining the lives of others.
There will be time in the future for helping
others after we have taken responsibility for our own lives. Turn to page 1489,
2 Corinthians 7.
CHAPTER 8
Jesus Heals a Man with Leprosy
Large crowds followed J esus as he came down
the mountainside. 2 Suddenly, a man with
leprosy approached him and knelt before
him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”
7:13 Greek The road that leads to destruction.
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