In today's scripture, Jesus challenges my understanding of faith. He urges me to move beyond mere words and rituals, and instead embody our faith through actions that align with God's will.  Read More

There appear to only be two path options which lead to diametrically opposite destinations. One destination is destruction but the path to it is easy, wide and travelled by many while the other path leads to life and that path is narrow, hard and travelled by few.  Read More

Jesus encourages us to pray by telling us that God will respond to us. Jesus also tells us to pray continually. The tense of the Greek verbs translated as “ask, seek, and knock” indicate that the action called for is a continuous one.  Read More

Jesus doesn't want us to judge others harshly for their problems or sins. That doesn't mean we shouldn't discern right from wrong. In other passages, Jesus encourages us to have good discernment.   Read More

Jesus instructs us to “store up heavenly treasures” rather than earthly treasures” because the former have no lasting value whereas the later do. People’s treasures reveal the desires of their heart.   Read More

The disciples asked Jesus how to pray. Jesus didn’t rebuke the disciples for asking how to pray.   Read More

Matthew begins with a serious warning: Beware. Watch out. Don’t perform your righteousness for an audience of people. Three examples of fake righteousness follow, all with the same structure...   Read More

Jesus continues to open our eyes to our true position in God’s kingdom: A Royal Priesthood. These passages outline that we are to live and behave as kingdom citizens.  Read More

Jesus is beginning to give examples of what he meant in vs 20 when he told his disciples that their righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees. Their eighteousness was superficial. They held to the letter of the law but not the spirit of the law.   Read More

This passage is a challenge. Salt is used to preserve and flavor food. Light is used to dispel darkness, to allow us to see. Both of these items are necessary for life to exist.   Read More

Draw on the word. Allow the word of God to determine how you perceive and feel about the world around you and the situation you find yourself.  Read More

We can see that Jesus calls ordinary people like me to follow Him and advance His mission. As he promised “he will make”, I trust that he will make me his true disciple to follow and fulfill God’s mission for his people and kingdom.   Read More

The word of God is our weapon to fight against temptations that come into our lives. We can only use it when we read and understand what it means.   Read More

Unlike Jesus, John the Baptist suddenly appears with no backstory, no history, no lineage. He has a simple, powerful message: Repent because a divine kingdom is immanent.   Read More

Herod reminds me of how seductive and addictive power can be. Any power or authority God grants us in this life must be handled with care and used to serve God and others.   Read More

The magi made a long journey to honor Jesus even though they had little if any knowledge of the Jewish scriptures and the promises of the Messiah. They possessed limited revelation from God, but believed and acted upon what God revealed.   Read More

Jesus’ lineage was not what I would expect. Our Messiah (Christ) has a messy family line. The Savior of the world was born into a line of dysfunctional people. But it did not define him - He lived for God’s glory.  Read More

As I was praying for our church family as we began the new year, the Lord placed a specific word on my heart for our church. That word is CLOSER.   Read More