Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Matthew chapter 16 today we see the double-mindedness and fluctuating affections of Simon Peter, as Jesus both exalts him…

“Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!’ And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you Simon Peter, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (vs 16-17).

and humbles him…

“Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him saying, ‘Far be it from you Lord for death shall never happen to you’. And Jesus said to Peter, ‘Get behind me satan, you are a hindrance to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (vs 22-23).

Q. Does it ever frustrate you that your love and trust in Christ can be so genuinely strong in one moment, and so ridiculously weak in the next?

Q. How much do you long for the day when sin will cease, and you will be like Jesus as you see Him face-to-face?

🙏 Heavenly Father please forgive my wandering heart, and the far to many times of setting my mind on worldly and temporary things, instead of Godly and eternal things.

🙏 Lord Jesus please help us all to decrease as you increase, and cause our eyes to be consistently fixed and focused on your glory and prominence instead of our own…

✝️ “Then Jesus told His disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16:24-25

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Matthew chapter 15 today we see that few things are more harmful to the soul than the outward practice of religion devoid of the attributes that characterize a true follower of Jesus (mercy, humility, and love). The person who teaches and practices religious rules without a transformed heart (focused on grace, truth, and compassion) is self-deceived, highly destructive, and blinded by pride…

“And why do you break the commandment of God? For you honor me with your lips, but your heart is far from me, and in vain do you worship me” (vs 3,8).

Q. Have you ever lorded over, or been lorded over by someone more interested in rules, and being right, than cultivating a loving relationship?

Q. What was the result?

🙏 Heavenly Father please forgive me and pardon my many sins for all the times that I have walked in spiritual blindness, and placed personal preference over unity for the sake of Christ – Please grant healing and repentance to all of us who have been victims of, and/or victimized others with legalistic motives, and lead us to greater love and less hypocrisy for your glory and the good of your people…

✝️ “And great crowds marveled as the grace of God was upon sinners…the mute began to speak, the crippled became healthy, the lame started walking, and the blind were able to see…and they glorified the God of Israel!”

Matthew 15:31

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Matthew chapter 14 today we see the tremendous power & compassionate heart of God, and the countless benefits available through encountering Jesus, as He…

“Heals all of the sick and miraculously provides physical nourishment for the 5000” (vs 19),

“Walks on the sea and rescues the terrified disciples from the raging storm” (vs 25),

“Reaches out His divine hand and encourages Peter in his time of desperate need” (vs 31).

Q. When was your last miraculous encounter with Jesus?

Q. How did it impact your life and others around you?

🙏 Heavenly Father thank you so much for sending your glorious and perfect Son Jesus, to rescue us from the storms of life and the wages of our sin.

🙏Lord Jesus we praise you today that we can taste and see that the Lord is good! Please help us all to consistently pursue the fringe of your garment, and be fully satisfied by the Bread of Life, not just for single meal but everyday for all eternity…

✝️ “As many as touched the fringe of His garment were made well…And all the disciples worshiped Him saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.”

Matthew 14:33,36

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Matthew chapter 13 today we see Jesus placing great emphasis on parables as a means of communicating the all surpassing worth of the eternal over the temporary…

“Jesus replied, ‘In parables it has been granted to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven…He who has ears to hear let him hear” (vs 11).

Q. What is the answer to this riddle – He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose?

🙏 Heavenly Father please give us eyes to see and ears to hear, and awaken our hearts to have overwhelming desires and affections for you far above and beyond all else – A day in your courts is better than 1000 elsewhere, and eternity with you is worth giving up everything for, because yours is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever, Amen!…

✝️ “The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. And again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who upon finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

Matthew‬ ‭13:44-45‬ ‭

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Matthew chapter 12 today we see Jesus miraculously and compassionately…

“Healing a man’s withered hand on the Sabbath day” (vs 13),

and the foolish Pharisees…

“Conspiring together against Jesus as to how they could kill Him” (vs 14).

Q. Have you ever read this section of Scripture and wondered about the Pharisees mental stability – if Jesus had the supernatural power to heal a man’s withered hand, wouldn’t He also have the same power to wither a healed hand?!#WhatWereTheyThinkin?

🙏 Heavenly Father please forgive the many times of disobedience toward you when I was blinded by pride and holier-than-thou self-glory like the Pharisees. Thank you so much for opening our eyes to your grace and power, and making us your own – we have no good apart from you.

🙏 Lord Jesus we praise you today for being the perfect model of loyalty to the Father, that we may understand reverence and the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom – Please grant us humility to stop fighting against you, but instead give us consistent gratitude for your grace, and enduring allegiance toward you and the Father…

✝️ “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters…And Jesus, stretching out His hand toward His disciples said, ‘Here is my true family, for whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

Matthew 12:30,49-50

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Matthew chapter 11 today we see pride and self-righteousness as the most formidable barriers against receiving God’s gracious invitation to ultimate freedom…

“Blessed are the ones who are not offended by me” (vs 6).

Q. In light of Jesus costly sacrifice on our behalf (His undeserved death on the cross), that has completely removed and eliminated the heaviest and most grievous burden we could ever face (God‘s wrath and eternal separation because of our sin), isn’t it reasonable to trust Him in all things including the storms and trials that He brings for our good?

🙏 Heavenly Father thank you so much that you did not spare your own son, but graciously gave Him up for us all – Please help us to trust your good plan for our lives, rest in your unbreakable promises, and learn to daily draw near and abide in your glorious presence, #TheNearnessOfGodIsTheGoodLife…

✝️ “Come unto me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Matthew chapter 10 today we see a slew of Gospel “Whosoever’s” attached to God’s awesome promises for all who would take up their cross and follow Jesus…

– “Whosoever endures to the end will be saved” (vs 22),

– “Whosoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whosoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (vs 37),

– “Whosoever finds his life will lose it, and whosoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (vs 39),

– “Whosoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water will by no means lose his reward” (vs 42).

Q. What does it mean that, “All the promises of God find their yes in Jesus”?

Q. Will you utter a massive AMEN to God for His gracious plan of redemption?!

🙏 Heavenly Father thank you so much for your irresistible and sustaining grace, and your continually comforting promise that you will complete the good work that you started within us.

🙏 Lord Jesus we praise you today in full acknowledgement that you are the way, and the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through you – Please help us to consistently live in light of your redeeming grace, and proclaim your excellencies on the housetops, for you alone are worthy of all honor and glory…

✝️ “Whosoever acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven. But whosoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”

Matthew 10:32-33

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Matthew chapter 9 today we see that wherever Jesus goes, the Kingdom of God goes with Him, demonstrating once again that God is full of compassion and mercy toward sinners, as He…

– Restores the disabled (vs 6),

– Heals the sick (22),

– Redeems the lost (vs 10),

– Banishes demonic powers (vs 33),

– And gives new life to the physically and spiritually dead (vs 29).

Q. Why is it that when we experience a season where our lives are relatively free of affliction or storm, we have a tendency to believe that we need Jesus far less than we actually do?

Q. What is the difference between saving grace, and sustaining grace?

🙏 Heavenly Father thank you so much that your mercies are new every morning, and that you are mighty to save both eternally and also day by day – Please grant us humility and continue to draw our attention to the fact that we are broken people living in a broken world, and whether we are in the valley of the shadow of death, or on a mountaintop in a season of green and plenty, our most urgent and desperate need will always be you…

✝️ “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, for I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Matthew 9:12-13

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Matthew chapter 8 today we see the proper response of proactive gratitude and service to gracious Gospel freedom, as Peter’s mother-in-law reacts immediately after receiving compassion and healing from Jesus…

“And when Jesus entered the house, He saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. Then Jesus touched her hand and the fever left her, and she rose up and began to serve Him” (vs 14-15).

Q. How important is it to remember that the good news message of the Gospel that saved us, is the same good news Gospel message that spurs us on and motivates us to love and serve God and others?

🙏 Heavenly Father thank you so much for sending your Son to once and for all rescue us, heal us, and continue to calm the raging storms on the inside and outside of us – We stand in awe of your endless mercy, and fully captivated by the supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus Christ…

✝️ “Behold, there arose a great storm on the sea so that the boat was being swamped by the waves, but Jesus was asleep. And they went and woke Him saying, ‘Save us Lord, for we are perishing’…Then He rose up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, ‘What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭8:24-27‬ ‭

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Matthew chapter 7 today we see Jesus teaching with divine warning and conviction, “As one who has authority”, relaying the serious realities of life for all who would follow Him…

“Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. But the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (vs 13-14).

Q. Have you ever bought into the lie that it’s better to take the easy road of comfort instead of the road less traveled that Jesus spoke of?

Q. What things in your life do you still struggle with that fit into that category?

Q. If Jesus would’ve taken the easy road of comfort, how would your life be different?

🙏 Heavenly Father I confess to you the many times I have selfishly taken the wide road and the easy way out, giving in to laziness and temptation instead of honoring you.

🙏 Lord Jesus please strengthen us all today to consistently model you and do difficult things when you call us to them, knowing that there is great reward and much glory to you in the offering…

✝️ “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock, and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand, and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house, and great was the fall of it.”

Matthew 7:24-27