WORD up!

Matthew 6 contains a lot of great heart work.  Let’s dive right in.  First of all, we must be careful not to practice our righteousness to be seen by people.  This doesn’t mean that we can’t do our work for God in the view of men.  Not all of us are called to serve in the background.  Some of us are called to be pastors and teachers, choir members and soloists, musicians, writers, and speakers.  We are not to seek our kudos from men!  We are not to seek the admiration of men, but to please God.  When we seek our reward from men, we receive no reward from God.  Jesus gives specific examples of the types of righteousness He’s talking about. Giving to the needy should be done so secretly that your left hand doesn’t realize you’re opening your wallet, checkbook or bank app with your right hand.  Wow!  That’s secret!  We shouldn’t tell people about it so they think well of us and reward us with their praise.  When we do this in secret, we receive the greater reward from our Father in heav

 Jesus didn’t come to change the playbook.  Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets.  Jesus came to turn the world upside down!  Not one command can be set aside.  God’s Word is eternal!  He gave us the Scriptures so we would know we can’t fulfill them.  He wanted us to know we needed a Savior Who could fulfill them.  Our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Seems hopeless, doesn’t it?  Praise God for making a way!  Jesus is that Savior!!!  He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets and died for the sins of the world.  The Lamb of God!  Have you accepted that He paid the penalty for your sin?  Have you prayed to accept Him as your Savior?  If not, check out the left side of this page for a prayer to guide you.  Then get in touch with a Christian friend, a local Bible preaching church, or shoot me a message if you don’t have access to those resources and I’ll try to help you find one.  Only through Christ’s righteousness can we enter the kin

In the last chapter, Jesus endured temptation in the wilderness and then He began preaching that the kingdom of heaven is near.  He started calling His disciples and embarked on His ministry of teaching, proclaiming the gospel, and healing to large crowds who begin to follow Him. When He saw the crowds, He went up a mountainside and sat.  The disciples came and He taught them.  This collection of verses defining blessing (vv. 3-11) is called the Beatitudes.  They declare that the poor in spirit are blessed because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  So what does it mean to be poor in spirit?  If you’re inheriting the kingdom of heaven, it must mean you’re spiritually rich.  Right?  So being poor in spirit is a condition of humility and contrition, not trying to achieve on your own, but submitting to God and accepting His gifts. Those who mourn are blessed because they will be comforted.  Hmmm.  I can see this from a human perspective.  Sort of.  But I think this verse really puts me

In Matthew 4, the Holy Spirit led Jesus to the wilderness to be tempted.  Curious.  What the devil meant for evil, God the Father intended to use to refine.  After fasting 40 days, Jesus was hungry.  Of course He was.  So the tempter decided to capitalize on that and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”  On the surface, this seems to be about food.  But I believe the food is masking a deeper issue.  At second glance, this taunt begins with an enticement to pride.  The devil is almost challenging Jesus to prove He is the Son of God.  Something as simple as turning stones to bread would be easy for the Son of God.  Maybe so, but a misuse of power wouldn’t indicate a reliance on God the Father, which is Jesus’ strength in this temptation and a great example for those of us called to follow Him.  More on that in a sec.  And though Jesus acknowledges that food is a legitimate need, He states that every word of Scripture is necessary for life!  True life does

So, enter John the Baptist.  Camel hair and leather belt wearing, locust and wild honey eating cousin of Jesus, preaching in the power and spirit of Elijah: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!”  Matthew identifies that John is the one referred to by Isaiah as “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’”  I found it fascinating that, when you look up Isaiah 40:3, the punctuation is different: “A voice of one calling: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”  So, yes John is the voice of one calling in the wilderness, a physical desert.  But Isaiah said John was a voice calling out to make a way for the Lord in the wilderness.  Still, a physical desert.  Perhaps alluding to the wilderness of our hearts, waiting so long for Messiah as to be on the brink of giving up hope that He would ever come.  Where is your heart right now?  Are you on the brink of giving up t