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Category Archives: Matthew

Matthew 22:34-40

25 Feb

34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. 35 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:34-40

Dear God, I heard Skye Jethani on a podcast last week talk about Jesus highlighting these two commandments when only one commandment was requested. He made an interesting point. He basically said, as I interpret it, that you made people in your image so when we honor each other we honor you. There was a lot of explanation as to how he got there that I won’t go into now, but I thought it was an interesting conclusion.

Verse 40 is interesting in that I’ve always seen the “entire law” part of it, but the part that says, “…all the demands of the prophets…” is important too. The prophets called for a return to you. Faithfulness to you. But they also called for benevolence and mercy for others. There is a reason that the closer I get to you the more the fruit of your Spirit grows out of me (love, joy, peace…). You encourage love in me. You are love. You are a mature, secure being. You don’t need to prove anything to anyone. So what I see coming out of you is a God at peace with his role as omnipotent creator and nothing to prove to little old me. You just want me to love.

Father, help me to love well today. We have a staff meeting this morning. Help me to love well. We have a finance committee meeting this morning. Help me to be the man you need me to be in that meeting. We have another committee meeting this evening, a board meeting tomorrow morning, and still another committee meeting after that. Help me to be everything you need me to be in all of these cases. Thank you for the prayers you answered yesterday for my relative who had a medical procedure. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your kindness. Thank you for loving us and caring. Help me to love others and care about them today. Help me to be part of your presence coming into this earth. And forgive me for my failures.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 25, 2025 in Matthew

 

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Joseph

20 Feb

Dear God, I am preparing my Sunday school lesson for this week, and I want to spend some time going over the things I’ve learned about Joseph over the last 24 years, since I first wrote God, Family, Job: In that Order?: A Study of Joseph, Jesus’s Earthly Father. Of course, my interest in Joseph started when I was at a retreat, and I started looking for a biblical man I wanted to emulate as a faithful worshipper of you, a husband, and a father. The list was short. Ultimately, I landed on Joseph and the Prodigal Son’s father. Since the Prodigal Son’s father was a representation of you, I ended up with Joseph. And I’ so glad I did. I’m so glad he was there to be Jesus’s earthly father. I’m so glad his example is there for me to follow.

When I think about Joseph off of the top of my head, here are my thoughts on an outline. Please guide me as I think about this, Holy Spirit:

  • His first decision: Divorce her quietly.
    • This decision would cost him and make him vulnerable
    • You needed Joseph to make this decision for your plan to work
  • He believed the dream and acted on it.
    • He married Mary but did not “consummate” the marriage
      • Did doubts ever linger?
  • He had to find a place for them to stay in Bethlehem
    • With family? In a tent outside of town? We don’t know.
    • What were their conversations like during the journey and before the birth?
  • The baby is born.
    • Had to improvise a difficult situation
      • Helping Mary made people unclean
      • Needed a better place but couldn’t find one
      • Doubts? What am I doing here? Was the dream real?
  • The shepherds.
    • Affirmation that this was all real! I cannot underscore this enough. If there were any doubts, the shepherds removed them.
  • The Temple (Simeon and Anna).
    • More affirmations.
    • Simeon’s warning to Mary.
  • The Wise Men
    • They created more problems than they solved.
    • More affirmations some months later.
  • The Dream and Escape to Egypt
    • Believing the dream
    • Survivor’s guilt?
    • Starting a new life? Gifts from the Magi?
    • Living in Egypt
  • Time to go home
    • More dreams.
    • Couldn’t return to Bethlehem because of Herod’s son. Ended up in Nazareth.
  • Lost in the Temple
    • He’s gone!
      • Where could he be?
      • Did Herod’s son, Archelaus, get him?
      • What were the conversations with Mary like for those three days of searching (four days of him being missing)?
    • Found!
      • He’s in the Temple and amazing people
        • Was this a surprise to Joseph and Mary? Had they already been amazed by him? When did Jesus start to display his knowledge and come into his mental maturity?
      • How inadequate did Joseph feel in raising your son?
  • Presumed dead
    • Sad that Joseph wasn’t around to comfort and help Mary during Jesus’s ministry.
      • Brothers and sisters seem to have been a hinderance
      • Would Joseph have been a hinderance too?

Father, there is so much for me to learn from Joseph. The least of which is that he, ultimately, considered his life nothing to him, even before his angel visit. He made a huge sacrifice just in his decision to divorce her quietly. I was just reminded of the scene in the first Captain American: The First Avenger movie when Steve Rogers, before the super serum, throws himself on a grenade to save everyone else, revealing the character the doctor was looking for in the man who would get this great power. That’s Joseph. Before you have him this great responsibility, even then, we are allowed to see his amazing character. Oh, Father, help me to be a man like that.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 20, 2025 in Luke, Matthew

 

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Matthew 11:20-24

28 Dec

20 Then Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles, because they hadn’t repented of their sins and turned to God. 21 “What sorrow awaits you, Korazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have repented of their sins long ago, clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse. 22 I tell you, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on judgment day than you.

23 “And you people of Capernaum, will you be honored in heaven? No, you will go down to the place of the dead. For if the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom, it would still be here today. 24 I tell you, even Sodom will be better off on judgment day than you.”

Matthew 11:20-24

Dear God, this kind of brings me back to my thought several months ago about what it would be like to live in an area that was currently hostile towards you and Christianity. Right now, I live in an area where it is culturally preferred that I acknowledge faith in you. In fact, an open acknowledgment of lack of faith in you is scorned in my area of the world. But what if I were to move to an area like Portland, which I have heard described by some who have lived many places as the most liberal, Godless city in the United States? What would it do for my my relationship with you if I were in an environment where my faith was challenged more? What would it do for them if I was your light in their darkness?

There is something about self-righteousness that puts up a barrier between you and me that is seemingly more dangerous than if I were in full rebellion against you. At least in rebellion, I am able to see how I contrast with you and make a decision to embrace you instead of me. But in self-righteousness, I am setting myself up to be like you but, subtly, without a need for you.

This might seem like a different topic, but it’s kind of related. I heard someone describe a recent New York Times editorial by David French in which he talked about how dangerous it is for Christians to decide they have to be the ones in charge because they are the ones who are “right.” The problem becomes when those same Christians start to use the world’s methods to get their power. They start to manipulate. They start to compromise morality. They start to grasp for the power instead of simply waking up and grasping for you.

Father, it feels like this is what Jesus was condemning, and it is something that I want to be vigilant about in my own heart. I want to be repentant. I want to be holy. I want to love you well. I want to love others well. Help me to do that, Father. Help me to be wholly yours in every moment.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on December 28, 2024 in Matthew

 

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Joy to the World by John Piper – Advent Day 10

10 Dec

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

Matthew 2:10-11

Dear God, when I read this story this morning, my first thought went back to what I prayed a couple of days ago about the Magi: Who did they think they were worshipping? What did they think their act of prostration and gifts to him were accomplishing? In their minds, whom were they worshipping and honoring? I will bet it wasn’t an immaculately conceived son of yours who would live a humble life, teach, die, and then resurrect for their opportunity to relate to you directly. For their great-great-great-great grandchildren to be invited into knowing the Living God.

And the truth is, I have no idea what I am doing at any given moment. I am as ignorant as these men. Even in what I think I know of you, I am still woefully ignorant. I know that huge chunks of my theology are wrong. How could they not be? I know I probably make as big of mistakes as these men likely made then. If they had known their visit would lead to slaughter of all of the young boys in the area, would they have made the visit at all?

Father, what I bring to you is an earnest heart. I love you. I really want to do what you need me to do in this world. And I am confident that I miss ten times as many opportunities as I catch. Please redeem my mistakes and bless the few victories I make. Lord, I give you my heart. That is what I lay before you. Use the small life you have given to me as you will.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on December 10, 2024 in Advent 2024, Matthew

 

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Joy to the World by John Piper – Advent Day 9

09 Dec

3 King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.

Matthew 2:3

Dear God, before I read Piper’s commentary on this verse, I want to sit with the last five words: as was everyone in Jerusalem. As word spread about the magi being in town and looking for the newly born “King of the Jews,” what were they thinking? And I want to put a pin in these people for if we talk about the flight to Egypt and the killing of all the young boys, but for now I want to consider what their hope and fears were. Herod’s are pretty easy to figure out. He just saw a threat. A threat to himself. A threat to his bosses in Rome. A threat to his lineage.

But for “everyone in Jerusalem,” what were they “deeply disturbed” by? Did they even want a Messiah, or was the status quo more comfortable? Were they afraid of war? Were they willing to possibly pay the price they thought they would be asked to pay in following a Messiah into battle against the Romans? This is what I assume they were thinking.

And then there is the reality. If they had recognized what Jesus actually came to do–to offer a path to the controlled burn I talked about yesterday–would they have rejoiced instead? Would they too have sought out the baby? What kept all of them from going to Bethlehem and following the magi?

There is so much here that is me. Afraid of the word it will take to follow you. Afraid of risking what I have. Afraid of what would be new. Yes, I might be living in a pit, but the pit is home now. I’ve made it work. What would my life look like if I were to upset all of that to do something you’re calling me to do?

Okay, I just read Piper’s commentary, and it lines up remarkably with what I just said except he was more articulate about it:

There are two kinds of people who do not want to worship Jesus the Messiah. The first kind is the people who simply do nothing about Jesus. He is a non-entity in their lives. This group is represented by the chief priests and scribes: “Assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, [Herod] inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.” Well, they told him, and that was that–back to business as usual. The sheer silence and inactivity of the religious leaders are overwhelming given the magnitude of what was happening

Compare that with the reaction Herod and the rest of Jerusalem: “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” In other words, the rumor was going around that someone thought the Messiah was born, and everyone but the chief priests took note. Why did they not go with the magi? There were not interested. They did not want to worship the true God.

The second kind of people who do not want to worship Jesus are those who are deeply threatened by him. Herod was deeply afraid–so much so that he schemed and lied and then committed mass murder just to get rid of Jesus.

Father, I think I am going to lean on the serenity prayer this morning. Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on December 9, 2024 in Advent 2024, Matthew

 

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Joy to the World by John Piper – Advent Day 8

08 Dec

 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”

Matthew 2:2

Dear God, I focused on these verses yesterday, but John Piper is keeping me here a day longer, so I want to take this time with him to sit with the idea of the Magi.

One of the things Piper suggests is that while Luke tells us about the Shepherds, Matthew tells us about the Magi because Matthew is careful to include the Gentiles in his message about Jesus. Jesus’s story opens with these Gentile worshippers, and Matthew ends to book with Jesus sending the disciples out to the world. It’s why I’m here today. Who would I be without you? I don’t even know how to answer that question, but I know you are everything to who I am.

I really like what Piper has to say today. I want to quote part of today’s entry here:

I want to exhort you not to become preoccupied with developing theories that are only tentative in the end and have very little spiritual significance. In fact, I will risk a generalization to warn you: People who are exercised and preoccupied with such things as how the star worked and how the Red Sea split and how the manna fell and how Jonah survived the fish and how the moon turns to blood are generally people who have what I call a mentality for the marginal…What is plain concerning this matter of the star is that it is doing something that it cannot do on its own: it is guiding magi to the Son of God to worship…So the lesson is plain: God is guiding foreigners to Christ to worship him.

I like the idea that I don’t have to try to wrap my mind around the miracles of the Bible. Partly, I suppose, because they are miracles and, by definition, are not understandable. But there is a great overriding message in the Bible that you are moving history forward regardless of the mistakes we make along the way.

And I was just reminded in my thoughts that I am so small. I am literally 1/7,000,000,000 of the earth’s human population right now. You, on the other hand, are the only God, and you are amazing. You are simply amazing. And you’ve done amazing things. The coming incarnation of Jesus is the pivotal moment in our human history. Amazing. The grace you give us through Jesus is amazing.

That leads me to a thought my wife gave me yesterday morning. She was talking about controlled burns as part of land management. There were huge grass fires in the Texas panhandle a few years ago, and they were destructive because they were not controlled, but the results were still amazing. Streams appeared that hadn’t been there before. New plants grew. We talked about how that is like what repenting before Jesus is like, but controlled. When the alcoholic or addict of some sort hits bottom, sometimes it can be like an uncontrolled burn that destroys a lot, but if they find help at the bottom. If they find a higher power. If they find you, then you can help them restore what was burned. But for the person who is convicted and invites you in for a controlled burn of their heart. For you to burn away the chaff. To search our hearts and cleanse the clutter. Well, streams of living water will start to flow that we had no idea were even there.

Father, these magi didn’t know what they were doing back then. They just knew they needed to act and so they did. I’m sure their conversation was interesting as they left for Jerusalem. They didn’t know what they would find. I’ll pray later about what their conversation must have been like as they left for home, but for now, I will just sit with them in their ignorant compulsion to seek you out.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on December 8, 2024 in Advent 2024, Matthew

 

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Joy to the World by John Piper – Advent Day 7

07 Dec

2 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”

Matthew 2:1-2

Dear God, I looked a day ahead and saw that Piper waits until tomorrow to get to verse 3. I haven’t read his commentary yet, but I am assuming he wants us to just sit with the eastern wise men for a while.

It’s too bad we don’t get more of their story. Who were they? Where were they from? What were they studying that brought them to Jerusalem? If they knew enough to go to Jerusalem, why didn’t they know to go to Bethlehem? And how did the star thing work? I just looked it up to make sure, but these verses in Matthew about the wise men are the only mentions any of the Gospels make about the “star.” Funny how we’ve brought that forward and made it such an important part of the story. How did it become part of the story for these men?

So what were they expecting as they walked to Israel? What did they have in mind? And why did they go? Were they trying to curry favor in advance from this new king? Is that why they brought gifts? Were they assuming the new parents would be powerful, and they were wanting to impress them? It’s probably the most mysterious part of this story for me. They had just enough information to put them into action, but not so much that they had a grasp of what was happening. As I told a friend yesterday about myself, you had them on a need-to-know basis, and there was only so much you needed them to know.

Oh, how that is me sometimes. Sometimes, I feel you encourage me into action, and I have no idea why. I was telling that same friend about something you got me to do against my will a couple of years ago. I felt the urging from you and I resisted it. Then I asked my wife about it and she agreed with you. That made me angry. I asked some coworkers about it, and they agreed with you and my wife. That made me really angry. So I did the thing, but I was angry about it. I mean, I was physically, emotionally angry. You remember. But then, not even a week later, you revealed to me why you had me do it, and it was so important that it had been done. So important! I honestly don’t know what things would have looked like if I hadn’t done it.

Father, I am as ignorant as those “wise men” were. For all their wisdom, they only had one very tiny piece of the picture. They knew about a star and a king. They knew they should bring gifts. They didn’t know how you needed those gifts to be used. They didn’t know what difference this would make in Mary’s and Joseph’s lives. They also didn’t know that their visit would lead to a slaughter of children (we tend to forget that without their visit, Jesus wouldn’t have been on Herod’s radar). So help me to simply be faithful today, to not resist you even when what you’re asking me to do makes me angry, to worship you, and to love others. And please lead me into a peace that only you can give.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on December 7, 2024 in Advent 2024, Matthew

 

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Matthew 8:5-13

02 Dec

5 When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, 6 “Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.”

7 Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”

8 But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 9 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel! 11 And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. 12 But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13 Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.

Matthew 8:5-13

Dear God, I was reading something from Tony Campolo yesterday out of Red Letter Revolution: What if Jesus Really Meant what He Said? about Jesus being your presences among us. You are the God of the Old Testament, triaging the continual mistakes of the Israelites, but when Jesus showed up, he showed us who you really are. You are loving and compassionate, but you also do not suffer hypocrisy. This story is an example. When this powerful human approached you, he found a God who respected and appreciated his humility and faith. You also, I think, liked the fact that he was there out of compassion for his servant (slave?) and not for himself.

My wife and I were talking while we drove to family for Thanksgiving, and while we were talking about you I mentioned to her that I know you are good and loving because the closer I get to you the more loving and compassionate, without judgment, I find myself being. You put on skin. You didn’t only show up to live and be a sacrifice, but you shared through our own paradigm of life through a human life lived what your nature is. You are amazing. You are good. I’m so grateful for a God who loves and forgives.

Father, thank you that you have as much compassion on me this morning as you had through Jesus’s earthly body on that centurion 2,000 years ago. I am grateful for your love. Help me to share that love with others.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on December 2, 2024 in Matthew

 

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Matthew 4:18-22

30 Nov

18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 19 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 20 And they left their nets at once and followed him.

21 A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. 22 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.

Dear God, I’m in a hurry this morning, but I have to start my day this way before I go. I have to touch hands with you. Touch hearts with you. Touch minds with you. Touch my soul to you. I have to be reminded that your Holy Spirit is with me right now. I have to start from this perspective before I get going. So here I am. I’m here to stop for at least a few moments to acknowledge you are my God. You are everything.

And now, Father, send me into this world. Following my prayer yesterday, make me a fisher of men. Help me to offer them Jesus. And it’s the Jesus that’s not the lesser of two evils, but the Jesus who loves me and offers me life. If I lose my life for him, I will gain it. If my neighbor loses their life for you, they will gain it (Matthew 10:39). Help me to take that message with me as I go through this day. And cover my wife and me, please, angels of the Lord.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 30, 2024 in Matthew

 

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Matthew 17:24-18:1

02 Oct

24 On their arrival in Capernaum, the collectors of the Temple tax came to Peter and asked him, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the Temple tax?”

25 “Yes, he does,” Peter replied. Then he went into the house.

But before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Peter? Do kings tax their own people or the people they have conquered?”

26 “They tax the people they have conquered,” Peter replied.

“Well, then,” Jesus said, “the citizens are free! 27 However, we don’t want to offend them, so go down to the lake and throw in a line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a large silver coin. Take it and pay the tax for both of us.”

18 About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”

Dear God, this is another one of those stories that has a context that can be lost because of artificial chapter and verse breaks. Matthew didn’t put the break at chapter 18 there. He intended the stories about the Temple tax and the “greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven” question to be read together. The phrase that links them is at the beginning of chapter 18: “About that time…”

So Jesus is making a point in chapter 17 that the Temple leaders of the day are not treating Jesus like the son of God–your son–that he is. They are treating Jesus like an outsider. Just like anyone else. And it’s a fight Jesus isn’t interested in having with them at that moment. Really quick, there’s also a slight intimation in 17:25 that Peter lied to the collectors about Jesus paying his tax. Or at least spoke confidently about something of which he wasn’t sure. Either way, the whole situation sparked a thought in their minds: Jesus will be the top of the food chain in the Kingdom of Heaven. What will the hierarchy look like after that? And How will I fit into it?

I was listening to a story this morning on this week’s Holy Post podcast about gorillas getting too much screen time at zoos around the country. Apparently zoo guests are showing the gorillas videos of themselves and the gorillas are enjoying it a lot and not acting as much like gorillas anymore. They want to see the videos of themselves. One of the Holy Post hosts mentioned that we were spreading our human narcissism to them. They likened it to when the crowd cam goes around a stadium at a sporting event and puts people on the big screen and the people go nuts when they see themselves. We have this deep-seated need in our hearts to know we matter. And I think a lot of us get preoccupied with the future, and especially the end of times future, because we are primarily concerned with how we fit into it. If I get wrapped up in trying to figure out Revelation and the end times, it is probably a lot closer to the root of the disciples question here than I might be comfortable with.

Father, help me to get over myself. Help me to love. Help me to guide people into your presence. Help me to be full of you so that you might overflow into the lives of those around me. Use me however you will. I expect nothing in return. I am yours. You are my God. If you give me scraps from the table (Matthew 15:27), it is still more than I deserve.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 2, 2024 in Matthew

 

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