MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/22/2026
9:22 AM
My
Worship Time
Focus: PT-2
“Self-Denial”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Luke 9:23a
Message of the verse: “he must deny himself”
I wish to pick up from where I left
off last night in quoting from John MacArthur’s commentary on this short verse.
“Like Paul, those who came face-to-face
with God are overwhelmed with a sense of their own sinfulness. After God rebuked him, Job replied, ‘I
despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes’ (Joh 42:5 ESV). Having seen the Angel of the Lord (the preincarnate
Christ), Manoah, the father of Samson, exclaimed, ‘We will surely die, for we
have seen God’ (Judg. 13:22). When he
saw a vision of God’s glory in the temple, Isaiah, shattered by his sinfulness,
cried out, ‘Woe to me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and
I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord
of hosts’ (Isa. 6:5). After He miraculously
created an enormous catch of fish from him and his partners, Peter ‘fell down
at Jesus’ feet, saying, ‘Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’’’
(Luke 5:8).
“It is against that dark backdrop of
sin and helplessness that the magnanimity of God’s forgiving grace is
manifested. Psalm 34:18 declares that ‘the
Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.’ In his great prayer of contrition David said,
‘The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God,
You will not despise’ (Ps. 51:17). ‘But
to this one I will look,’ God declared, ‘to him who is humble and contrite of
spirit, and who trembles at My word’ (Isa. 66:2; cf. 57:15).”
(Isa. 57:15)
“15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted
up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and
holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive
the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
“The law provides no hope for natural
sinners. It was not given as a standard or
means by which anyone could achieve salvation (Rom. 3:20, 28; 8:3; Gal. 2:16;
3:11).”
(Rom. 3:20, 28; 8:3; Gal. 2:16; 3:11)
“20 For by works of the law no human being will
be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.’
“28 For we hold that one is justified by faith
apart from works of the law.”
“3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the
flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and
for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,”
“16 yet we know that a person is not justified by
works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in
Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of
the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”
“11 Now it is evident that no one is justified
before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
“On the
contrary, it was given to show sinfulness, to reveal helplessness, expose man’s
inability to gain salvation, and make clear the need for the Savior (Gal.
3:24).”
(Gal. 3:24)
“24 So then, the law was our guardian until
Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.”
“The law
requires what is not possible—absolute, perfect obedience (Gal. 3:10; James
2:19) or God is angry, vengeful, and will punish the lawbreaker.”
(Gal. 3:10; James 2:19)
“10 For all who rely on works of the law are
under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all
things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
“19 You believe that God is one; you do well.
Even the demons believe—and shudder!”
“In the
Sermon on the Mount, Jesus attacked the Pharisaic religion, which was the most
fastidious in their superficial, hypocritical efforts at law keeping, and show
how evil their hearts were (Matt. 5:17-48).”
I will not be quoting all of those verses.
“The realization that they are
unable to satisfy the demands of God’s law by their own efforts has always been
what drives penitent sinners to the Lord (Isa. 55:6-7, 10) expresses the mental
aspect of repentance.”
(Isa. 55:6-7)
“6 ¶ "Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near; 7 let
the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him
return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he
will abundantly pardon.”
“Repentance
is at the heart of the gospel message.
Jesus came to call sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32), preached the
necessity of repentance (18:13-14; Matt. 4:17; James 4:6-10), and commanded
that His followers do the same (Luke 24:47).”
(Luke 5:32)
“32 I have not come to call the righteous but
sinners to repentance."
(Luke 18:13-14; Matt. 4:17; James
4:6-10)
“13 But the tax collector, standing far off,
would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God,
be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell
you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For
everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself
will be exalted.’’
“17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
“6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says,
“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist
the devil, and he will flee from you. 8
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you
sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your
laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he
will exalt you.”
“47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins
should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”
This is a fairly long section and so
I will stop here and pick up where I’m leaving off here this evening.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I desire to continue to study God’s Word each
day and put the things I learn on my Spiritual Diaries.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: I am trusting in the truth of Scripture that
my late dear wife is now with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. For “absent from the body is present with the
Lord.”
10/22/2026
10:10 AM
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