Day 5

Scripture to Read: Luke 19:8

When anyone has a true encounter with Jesus, fully realizes He is God, and surrenders to Him as Lord and Savior, there will be evidence of a changed life. As God had Luke continue to write, we read in Luke 19:8, “Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, ‘Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.’” Remember, the people in the crowd were grumbling that Jesus was going to be a guest in Zacchaeus’ house. But Zacchaeus, even before they reached his house, stopped, turned to Jesus, and told Him that he was giving half of his wealth to the poor and that if he had robbed anyone, he would pay them back four times as much as he had stolen. WOW!!! That is a changed heart and life. God is not interested in empty confessions, empty promises, and half-hearted commitments that are never followed through on. Even when people seem to do good, if they have not fully surrendered to Christ as Lord, their seeming good deeds are nothing but a waste of time. Jesus even gave the warning in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.” Calling Jesus Lord does not mean He is your Lord. But when our lives are changed by Him, we will desire to obey Him, and the evidence of our changed lives becomes obvious to all.

Challenge & Application

What changed about Zaccheus? How have you seen the changes in your life since surrendering to Christ as Lord?

Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!

Devotionals from this week

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Day 1

This week, God is going to teach us through the life of a man named Zaccheus. Many of us remember the song we learned as children about Zaccheus. The song describes him as a “wee little man,” and how he “climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see.” But the song does not describe this about him, as we read in Luke 19:1–2, “He ...

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Day 2

We know Zaccheus was not someone that people enjoyed hanging out with because of his reputation as a chief tax collector. God had Luke then write this in Luke 19:3–4, “Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to...

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Day 3

Zaccheus was in the tree waiting for his moment to see Jesus and to find out if He was everything people had been saying about Him. God led Luke to record this in Luke 19:5–6, “When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, ‘Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.’ 6 And he hurried and came down and re...

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Day 4

Anytime Jesus chose to minister to the so-called “sinners” of His day, there were always some in the crowd who had negative opinions to share—that is what we read in Luke 19:7, “When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.’” The sad part of this encounter is that those in the crow...

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Day 5

When anyone has a true encounter with Jesus, fully realizes He is God, and surrenders to Him as Lord and Savior, there will be evidence of a changed life. As God had Luke continue to write, we read in Luke 19:8, “Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, ‘Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyon...

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Day 6

We know salvation is only possible through a personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ through believing fully in his death, burial, and resurrection, by surrendering to Him as Lord and Savior, and then walking in obedience to Him all the days thereafter. Many claim to know Jesus, but it seems fewer and fewer are actually walking in ob...

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Day 7

Jesus had radically saved Zaccheus from a life of thievery and swindling to a man ready to give to the poor and to pay back fourfold everyone he had taken from. Only Jesus can make that kind of change in a person’s life. We read some of the sweetest words from our Lord Jesus in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that...

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