January 29, 2023
“But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then” (Matthew 19:30 NLT). After a rich young ruler came to Jesus asking what good thing he must do to have eternal life, the Lord told him to sell his possessions, give
January 25, 2023
“From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be
January 20, 2023
“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!” (Matthew 13:43 NLT). Christ’s parable of the wheat and tares concluded with this: “The righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom.” In other words, those who denied their own righteousness and
January 19, 2023
“Now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seeds” (Matthew 13:18 NLT). In Jesus’ parable of the sower, He described four heart conditions that determined their receptivity to the gospel. Jesus explained the meaning of the parable to His disciples. He explained that the “seed” is the message of the Kingdom,
January 18, 2023
“For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart” (Matthew 12:34-35 NLT). Jesus responded to the words of the Pharisees who had accused him of healing by
January 17, 2023
“But Jesus knew what they were planning. So he left that area, and many people followed him” (Matthew 12:15 NLT). Jesus and His disciples were preaching town to town, when they entered a certain town on the Sabbath and entered the synagogue there. The Pharisees heard that Jesus was there and in order to accuse
January 13, 2023
“The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields” (Matthew 9:37-38 NLT). Jesus told His disciples that multitudes of people were ready to be led into the Kingdom, but there weren’t enough workers to
January 12, 2023
‘Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts?”‘ (Matthew 9:4 NLT). When Jesus forgave the sins of the paralyzed man, some religious teachers who witnessed it said to themselves that he had committed blasphemy. For only God can forgive sin. Yet, Jesus “knew
January 8, 2023
“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25 NLT). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus discussed the human activity of worry. Clearly, worry is sinful because
January 7, 2023
“May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10 NLT). That which is called the “Lord’s Prayer” might rightly be called the Lord’s teaching prayer or model prayer, for He gives it to us to teach us how to pray. Even the order of the