In today’s Bible reading, Jesus tells us that following Him isn’t easy. A religious leader – a scribe – came to Jesus, saying he would follow Him wherever He went. Jesus simply responded that He didn’t have a place to call home. (Matthew 8:1-20) We don’t hear anything else about this Scribe. It would be…
Last month, I mentioned Matthew 7:21-23 in my devo on Hebrews 4. Well, we’ll take a little deeper dive into Matthew 7 in today’s Bible reading. Jesus concludes his Sermon on the Mount. In these final moments, he talks about judging other people: don’t do it, but realize that you will be able to judge…
Jesus tells us the right way to give, pray, and fast in today’s Bible reading. He summarizes his instructions in Matthew 6:1, “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven.” (CSB) He lists three Spiritual Disciplines —…
Today’s Bible reading is the beginning of The Sermon on the Mount. Throughout the Sermon, Jesus gives some very practical behaviors that believers should strive to emulate, not to give you a right standing before God, but because you have a right standing before God. Hidden in today’s reading from Matthew 5, we find a…
In today’s Bible reading from Matthew 4, we see a familiar passage on Jesus’ temptations. In the first two temptations (Matthew 4:3, 6), the devil begins with, “If you are the Son of God….” There are three ways that the Greek language conveys conditional (“if“) statements. It would be accurate to translate these two temptations,…
In today’s Bible reading, John the Baptizer arrives on the scene, calling everyone to repent of their sins and produce works consistent with their repentance. (Matthew 3:8). Note the order: Repent –> Works. Nowhere in the Bible is anyone called to an order of Works –> Repent. John warns his hearers that God is already…
