Devotional
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Daily Reading: Matthew 21 and Psalm 21 Having preached on corporate prayer yesterday, it’s very tempting to focus only on Jesus’ declaration in v.13 “My house will be called a house of prayer,” (quoting Isaiah 56:7). But, despite how zealously we see Jesus longing for His people to be a people of prayer, this chapter
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Daily Readings: Matthew 20 and Psalm 20 The chapters of Matthew we have read this week (16-20) are regularly punctuated by the refrain that in God’s Kingdom, the first will be last, the last will be first, and the greatest will be the one who takes the lowest place. Clearly, Jesus aimed to emphasize this
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Daily Readings: Matthew 19 and Psalm 19 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, ‘Who then can be saved?’ 26 Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’ In Matthew 19, the disciples come to the realization that following Jesus and meeting His
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Daily Readings: Matthew 18 and Psalm 18 3 …‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. Jesus
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Daily Readings: Matthew 17 and Psalm 17 On the mountaintop, Jesus spent a mysterious moment in such deeply intimate communion with the Father that heaven’s glory shone out of Him. He received clarity and encouragement for the road ahead, first from Moses and Elijah (representing the Old Covenant Law and Prophets) and then from the
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Daily Readings: Matthew 16 and Psalm 16 In Matthew 13, Jesus told a parable explaining how the Kingdom of God influences and transforms. Just as a tiny measure of yeast in a batch of dough gradually but fundamentally transforms the dough from the inside, the Kingdom of God brings fundamental change to people and communities
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Daily Readings: Matthew 15 and Psalm 15 But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. (Matthew 15:18 NLT) The religious people of Jesus’ day were extremely intent on creating and then observing highly complex outward rules for religious purity. When they kept these rules, they felt they were proving their commitment and
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Daily Readings: Matthew 14 and Psalm 14 As opposition to Jesus mounted among the religious and political rulers, Jesus received the tragic news of His cousin John’s death at the hands of King Herod. Immediately, struck by the harsh reality of the dangerous path He was on, and needing to process what this meant for
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Daily Readings: Matthew 13 and Psalm 13 In chapter 13, Matthew records a series of Jesus’ parables, as well as His explanations of some of those parables. The chapter also includes the disciples’ question, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?” (v.10). Jesus’ answer is quite cryptic in some ways, but
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Daily Readings: Matthew 12 and Psalm 12 “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.” (Matthew 12:30 NLT) One approach we cannot take towards Jesus is neutrality. Given all that Jesus has revealed to us about God, all the wonders and signs He performed,
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