Verse of the Day and Devotion 6/5/2025

Scripture

From that time Jesus began to tell people his message: “Change your hearts and lives because God’s kingdom is now very near.” – Matthew 4:17 ERV

Devotion

Today’s passage is a turning point in Matthew’s Gospel. It is where Jesus Christ begins His earthly ministry and shows He is the one way to God. John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus by announcing these same words in Matthew 3:2.

The verse deals with repentance, the act of changing your mind by turning away from sinful lifestyle and heading to God’s salvation. To understand why Jesus expresses this message at this time, it is important to see the context of this passage and what was happening in His life leading up to it.

Here are some important events leading up to His message of repentance:

1. It was shortly after Jesus had been in the wilderness, fasting for 40 days and nights. He overcame the accuser of mankind through the Word of God.

2. John the Baptist was imprisoned, however, Jesus still focused on starting His earthly ministry—doing the Father’s will was not disturbed because He just overcame the wilderness temptations.

3. He starts evangelizing in Galilee fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 9:1-2.

4. Jesus calls the first disciples—Simon Peter and Andrew as seen in Matthew 4:18-19.

The same declarations of repentance still echo in our lifetime because the kingdom has come. It is here for those who have accepted it through faith. Beloved, may we also attend to our individual call because God’s kingdom is now very near. Man’s problem from the beginning has always been one—sin! Sin has separated mankind from God the Father. Jesus Christ came to restore mankind’s heart back to God. Jesus Christ starts declaring the Good News to people in Galilee. The heart of mankind has been tarnished with sin, now all it takes for it to change is its Creator. Change comes through believing Christ, accepting Him in according to Revelation 3:20.

Jesus Christ was calling mankind to decide willingly to change the mind, how their lifestyle has been lived, from bondage of sin to eternal life of liberty in Christ, from fear to faith, from darkness to light. We are called to use faith as the foundation in building our relationship with Jesus Christ forever. The Bible says the righteous shall live by faith. The righteous or the right ones are those who are made right before God through faith in Christ. “Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin so that in Christ we could be right with God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Accept the Good News and make a 180 degree turn to face God by following Jesus Christ!

Romans 1:17 says “The Good News shows how God makes people right with Himself. God’s way of making people right begins and ends with faith.”

As the Scriptures say, “The one who is right with God by faith will live forever.” The Gospel message has never changed, we are still to proclaim the same Good News! People must hear the Good News, respond in their heart and through repentance produce fruit that glorify Jesus Christ!

Go to https:// payhip.com/ Christian NonFiction eBookStore then scroll down and click on Interactive Romans Road King James VersionLong Ago, when the Roman Empire was at the height of its glory, a common saying was “All Roads Lead to Rome.” I want to tell you about a very special road — a road that existed then and still exists now. This road, now almost 2,000 years old, has never led to Rome. Yet, strangely enough, it is called the Romans Road.This takes the reader to selected passages in the Book of Romans in the Bible to explain the plan of Salvation. This is the ideal way to share the gospel using your Kindle. The reader can also read the entire book of Romans un-interrupted.

Do you feel frustrated both by the high cost of Audio Bibles and the copyright laws?
The Worlds First Free King James Version Audio Bible. Narrated by Artificial Intelligence. with high quality audio player which does not sound like a robot. This audio Bible exists to make legal and restriction free audio Bible files available to you for personal and ministry use. http:// public domain audio bibles.com Turn any King James Bible into an Audio Bible by downloading the audio files from this site. I have been using this Audio Bible in my bible Reading.