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Mark 2:13-17

17 Jan

13 Then Jesus went out to the lakeshore again and taught the crowds that were coming to him. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Levi got up and followed him.

15 Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) 16 But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?”

17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

Mark 2:13-17

Dear God, what struck me this morning was the rules the Pharisees had set up over the years of what appropriate and inappropriate behavior was. And while I can see a reason to be careful of who you hang out with, when it becomes an absolute rule with no exceptions it becomes a form of idol.

I was thinking some yesterday about how some Christians (okay, just about all of us as Christians) set up rules within our churches that are the litmus test as to whether we are living the Christian life correctly. Maybe the church a person goes to has rules about special observance or abstaining from certain activities, or whatever. I spent over an hour talking to a godly man whom I really respect as a person and as a Christian. A lot of our talk was about current politics and national/international happenings and policy. We disagreed on a few things and agreed on many more. The beauty of it was that neither of us made it a condition of friendship that we completely agree on everything. We could disagree. We could see the issues through the other’s perspective. And none of it related to an evaluation of our faith or relationships with you. We both knew the other is your loving child. It’s just a complicated world, and there are no easy answers sometimes. I wonder what it would have looked like if, in this story, the Pharisees had said, “Jesus, help me understand why you’re hanging out with these people because I’m confused.” Then Jesus could have explained, and if they truly wanted to understand what Jesus was doing, maybe they would have not only accepted his explanation, but also started to do the same thing themselves.

Father, give me an open mind to hear your voice. Help me to hear you speak through my Christian friends, through my non-Christian friends, and through any other sources you want to use to speak to me. Give me love for you and for all. Give me a sense of your love for me, your grace for me, and then your grace for others. I do not have this all figured out. I don’t know the answers. I don’t need to know the answers. I just need to love. Help me to love.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 17, 2026 in Mark

 

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Mark 2:1-12

16 Jan

2 When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. 2 Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, 3 four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. 4 They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”

6 But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, 7 “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”

8 Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 9 Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? 10 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, 11 “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”

12 And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”

Mark 2:1-12

Dear God, just verses 1-5 have so much in them. My first thought is wondering why he was staying in the house while so many people were trying to see him. Was he staying away from the temple? Was he trying to lay low? I don’t know, but it’s interesting that his popularity created a situation where these men destroyed the roof of the house that was hosting Jesus. How did the homeowner react? Were the men who tore up the roof ready to fix it?

My next thought was about Jesus’s seeming intention to make his point about forgiving sin by starting with that. He knew that’s not why the people brought the man to him. He knew they wanted him to heal their friend. But he started with something he knew would be inflammatory: His ability to forgive sin. Then he moved on to the healing. But up through verse five, the only thing he’s done so far is teach and forgive sin.

I confess that I think I’ve had kind of a bad attitude lately towards others who are outside of my work sphere. Honestly, I think it’s fatigue. I am kind of mentally and emotionally fatigued right now. Can I get some healing? Is my problem that I’m trying to do so much on my own and without your power? Wow, I think that might be it. I praying to you, but am I calling on you to live through me and love through me?

Father, I need your provision. Beyond resources, I need your provision in my spirit. I need your Spirit to fill me, motivate me, strengthen me, direct me, and sustain me. I need your vision. I need your peace. I need your love and joy. I need your kindness, patience, and goodness. I need your gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. I need you. I need you Holy Spirit. I need you, Jesus. I need you, Father. To quote a Rich Mullins song, “I cry the name of the one who loves me!”

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 16, 2026 in Mark

 

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Mark 1:40-45

15 Jan

40 A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said.

41 Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” 42 Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed. 43 Then Jesus sent him on his way with a stern warning: 44 “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”

45 But the man went and spread the word, proclaiming to everyone what had happened. As a result, large crowds soon surrounded Jesus, and he couldn’t publicly enter a town anywhere. He had to stay out in the secluded places, but people from everywhere kept coming to him.

Mark 1:40-45

Dear God, how bad was it that the man disobeyed Jesus? I mean, the word was going to spread one way or another. On the one hand, I want to be frustrated with this guy for disobeying Jesus, but on the other hand I don’t think I’ve ever felt that kind of desperation coupled with the elation of it being resolved. This man was desperate, Jesus met his need, and then he had to keep it quiet? No way.

And the way Mark (or Peter through Mark) tells this story, it’s almost as if Jesus went against his better judgment in healing the man because he could see this outcome, but his compassion wouldn’t allow him to not heal. That’s who you are. Compassionate. If there’s any doubt that the God of the universe is loving and compassionate, here is a tangible example of your love and compassion. You loved this man. You had compassion on this man. You didn’t tell him to go away because he was inconvenient for you or he would make your plan more difficult. You met his need regardless of what it would cost you.

Then there’s the idea that I’m supposed to be like you. My love and compassion for others are supposed to override everything. I’m in a church group right now that has been meeting for over twelve years. However, it feels like it’s starting to come to the end of its life, and I think that might be okay. But as I sit here now and soak in this scripture, I think I’m starting to wonder if we shouldn’t be asking what each couple needs right now at this stage of our lives. When we first met in the summer of 2013, we were all at a different phase in our lives and marriages. We felt like this was something we needed and we committed to each other. But now things have changed. Each of our needs have changed. Maybe the question we should be asking each other is not whether the group should continue, but what are each of us needing and how can we help each other meet those needs, if at all.

Father, I feel like I got off of the subject a little, but what I’m really trying to think about is the compassion you want me to have for others and to see everyone around me, including these friends from this group, in a fresh way. I want to be more like you. I want to love with your love and care with your compassion. I want to be a part of meeting needs you’ve called me to meet as I love my neighbor as myself. So please give me eyes to see and ears to hear today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 15, 2026 in Mark, Uncategorized

 

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1 Samuel 3

14 Jan

3 Meanwhile, the boy Samuel served the Lord by assisting Eli. Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon.

2 One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God. 4 Suddenly the Lord called out, “Samuel!”

“Yes?” Samuel replied. “What is it?” 5 He got up and ran to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”

“I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go back to bed.” So he did.

6 Then the Lord called out again, “Samuel!”

Again Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”

“I didn’t call you, my son,” Eli said. “Go back to bed.”

7 Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before. 8 So the Lord called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”

Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy. 9 So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed.

10 And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”

And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”

11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. 12 I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family, from beginning to end. 13 I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God and he hasn’t disciplined them. 14 So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices or offerings.”

15 Samuel stayed in bed until morning, then got up and opened the doors of the Tabernacle as usual. He was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had said to him. 16 But Eli called out to him, “Samuel, my son.”

“Here I am,” Samuel replied.

17 “What did the Lord say to you? Tell me everything. And may God strike you and even kill you if you hide anything from me!” 18 So Samuel told Eli everything; he didn’t hold anything back. “It is the Lord’s will,” Eli replied. “Let him do what he thinks best.”

19 As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable. 20 And all Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. 21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh and gave messages to Samuel there at the Tabernacle.

1 Samuel 3

Dear God, I don’t think I’ve appreciated verse 21 enough. That you continued to appear at Shiloh and gave messages to Samuel. There is so much in the Bible that’s recorded, but there’s so much more that isn’t. What all did you say to Samuel that we don’t know about?

I have an interesting task today. Is this something you’ve called me to? I am going to go on a regional news program this evening and talk about healthcare in our state (Texas). How did I end up here? I don’t know exactly. But here I am. I typed that accidentally, but it fits with this passage: Here I am. I won’t be talking about anything related to you, per se, so it’s not like I’ll be in front of inquisitors like Jesus warned about and the Holy Spirit would be with me to speak what needs to be said, but I think it still fits. This is important. It can literally be a difference between life and death. I want to be here for you. I want to be here for my neighbors. I want to say words that will move the needle and make the people in positions of influence stop and care.

Father, sometimes I try to look at grand things or larger parts of my life in these prayers, but today I just need you to walk with me. I need to remember to lean on you when I speak. I have a lunch today that will be talking about community needs with other community leaders. Then I will be doing this news program this evening. Help me in all of it. Help me to worship and glorify you, implicitly if not explicitly. Help me to remember to lean into you. Help me to know what to say and what not to say.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 14, 2026 in 1 Samuel

 

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Mark 1:14-20

12 Jan

14 Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. 15 “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”

16 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon[g] and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 17 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 18 And they left their nets at once and followed him.

19 A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee’s sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets. 20 He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men.

Mark 1:14-20

Dear God, I think it’s interesting that, at least in this translation, Mark doesn’t bother to give the circumstances around John’s arrest here. He waits until chapter 6 to describe the whole thing with Herodias. Here, he just wants us to know that John gets arrested and Jesus gets to work. He started preaching. He started recruiting disciples. It makes me wonder if you had to get John out of the way so Jesus could be Jesus.

So what does it mean that the Kingdom of God was at hand? What was he functionally telling them? It’s a question that seems like it should have an obvious answer, but as I try to type one out, it seems like it is a very nuanced answer. You were near through Jesus. Nearer than normal. People could see what you were like and hear directly what you had to say. And the closer you are the more my sin is evident to me.

I am also not sure how I feel about how simply Mark tells the stories of the calls of Peter, Ander, James, and John. Thinking about Peter being Mark’s source for this materials, I would have thought we would get a little more insight into what Peter saw and why he said yes.

Father, in this moment, I don’t really feel that close to you. Is it the “hangover” from coming off of the retreat? I would think I would feel more “on fire” afterward, but right now I’m just feeling a little mentally and emotionally scattered. So help me to hear your call today. Help me to answer it. Help me to worship you and love you well. And help me to pray for others thoroughly and through your Spirit.

And with that, I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 12, 2026 in Mark

 

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Luke 4:14-28

08 Jan

14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. 15 He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
    that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
19     and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”

22 Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

23 Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ 24 But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.

25 “Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. 27 And many in Israel had leprosy in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.”

28 When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. 29 Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, 30 but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.

Luke 4:14-28

Dear God, we are so predictable. It kind of makes me wonder why Jesus even went back to Nazareth in the first place. And he certainly poked the bear intentionally when he started saying that the Kingdom of Heaven that was at hand included Gentiles too.

I think it was about a year ago that I heard someone point out that it wasn’t the fact that he was claiming the be chosen one Isaiah spoke of, but that he was also going to be bringing in the Gentiles. Our selfishness can’t handle this.

I have to admit that I’m incredibly disturbed by what our country is doing internationally right now. It feels like we aren’t only trying to weaken the other nations around us, but that we also wanting to take advantage of them to strengthen ourselves. We are the people that morning sitting in front of Jesus, incensed that he would claim that our neighbors deserve healing more than we do. If Jesus were to come today and say, “I’m here for the people who live south of this country and I’m calling you to help them,” we would throw him out and try to kill him.

Father, I need to have eyes for others and not myself. I need to be who you call me to be. I need to be willing to take a step back so that someone else might take a step forward. I’m about to receive a community service award in a couple of months, and I feel completely inadequate to receive it. Give me a clear head today. Give me a clear head this weekend on the retreat. Going back to yesterday’s prayer, teach me to pray. I love you, Lord.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 8, 2026 in Luke

 

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Mark 6:45-46

07 Jan

45 Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and head across the lake to Bethsaida, while he sent the people home. 46 After telling everyone good-bye, he went up into the hills by himself to pray.

Mark 6:45-46

Dear God, I wonder what Jesus’s alone prayer time looked like. I’m sure it was completely different than mine. And better. Much, much better. I wonder if Moses and Elijah (and you) visited directly with him during these times. Did he transfigure like he did the one time he took James, John, and Peter along with him? How much time did he spend hearing for you and learning? How much time did he spend being encouraged? How much time did he spend praying for his disciples and the people he knew? I just thought of the time in Luke 22 when Jesus tells Peter he prayed for him: 31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. 32 But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.” Was that during one of these times. Has Satan asked to sift me like wheat. What would that sifting look like? Is it happening now? So many questions.

I was with a group of men last night from the Christian Men’s Life Skills program I’m involved with, and we talked about everything around us that we can’t see. As the Nicene Creed puts it, you are the creator of everything visible and invisible. What all is invisible around me right now that I am just ignorant to? It’s all a reminder that I’m so small.

I’m going to a men’s retreat this weekend. Maybe what I need to explore is the idea of getting alone in prayer and how I need to pray. For whom I need to pray. I know I should be much better about praying for others.

Father, teach me to pray. That’s my request this morning. It’s actually a scary thing to ask. I don’t know what I’m unleashing on myself if I make this request, but my life isn’t about me and my comfort. It’s about you. Please teach me to pray.

I ask this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 7, 2026 in Mark

 

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Mark 6:30-44

06 Jan

30 The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. 31 Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.

32 So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone. 33 But many people recognized them and saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and got there ahead of them. 34 Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

35 Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. 36 Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.”

37 But Jesus said, “You feed them.”

“With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!”

38 “How much bread do you have?” he asked. “Go and find out.”

They came back and reported, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.”

39 Then Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred.

41 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share. 42 They all ate as much as they wanted, 43 and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish. 44 A total of 5,000 men and their families were fed.

Mark 6:30-44

Dear God, I had two thoughts come to mind when I read this passage this morning. First, you “[taught] them many things.” (verse 34) If I had been there that day, what lessons would I have taken home with me? How would my life have changed for having been around you? I was watching a video clip of Paul Rudd the other day. He was with some other actors doing press for a movie, and the interviewer asked them if they could go back and meet someone in history who would it be. He said Jesus. He went on to explain that it was a real answer. To have the opportunity to be around someone who influenced the course of history and the world in such a way would be incredible. Well, these people did get to meet you when you were here in the flesh through the part of you that is Jesus. What lessons would I take from your teaching if I sat with you? I have to be frank. While it’s nice to sit with you in these times of prayer, talk to you, and read about you, it is much more comfortable having this veil between us. If someone told me that you, through Jesus, are in my living room right now, I would be reluctant to leave my study. I wouldn’t run. I might first get the nerve to peek my head out and get a look at you first, Oh, I would be so overwhelmed by your physical presence! I’ve gotten very used to this paradigm of you being invisible to my eyes. I don’t know how I would respond.

I got so lost in the that thought that I cannot even remember what my second one was. You are too much for me. You are too great for me. It’s interesting, because I simultaneously feel completely inadequate to be in your presence, and, at the same time, completely comfortable in the idea that you love me and want me anyway.

Father, there is a lot of work for me to do today. Help me to do it well. We have to make a big decision for our clinic regarding a contractor to do some work for us. Help us to choose wisely. To see beyond price. To understand something that we cannot see. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear. Thank you for bringing us this far. Help us to have your discernment as we continue down this road.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 6, 2026 in Mark

 

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Matthew 4:12-25

05 Jan

12 When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he left Judea and returned to Galilee. 13 He went first to Nazareth, then left there and moved to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah:

15 “In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali,
    beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River,
    in Galilee where so many Gentiles live,
16 the people who sat in darkness
    have seen a great light.
And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow,
    a light has shined.”

17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

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.

23 Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. 24 News about him spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—he healed them all. 25 Large crowds followed him wherever he went—people from Galilee, the Ten Towns, Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from east of the Jordan River.

Matthew 4:12-25

Dear God, I want to focus on verse 17 this morning: 17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” It was a pretty simple message. And we’ll see more of it right after this in the next chapter when Matthew gives us Jesus’s stump speech. So we know this wasn’t all he said, but this was the main message Matthew shared with us: “Repent of your sins and turn to God.”

Does that need to be my message for people today? Before I go there, is this your message for me today? “John, repent of your sins and turn to God.” I think my conscience is clear before you, but I haven’t really examined it. I need to do that. Where am I failing you and myself right now? Where do I need to repent. Search my heart, oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

I have some friends who I know are struggling, and I would love to see them walk through the narrow gate. I just know they would be so much happier than they currently are. And I get it. The narrow gate is narrow for a reason. It takes self-discipline. It takes intentionality. It takes resolve and determination. It takes humility, submission, and perseverance.

Father, help me to first, live up to the task of walking through the narrow gate today, and then help me to guide others into the gate so that they might repent and turn to you. You love us. You want us. You are for us. Help us to build our lives so that they are yours wholly and completely.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 5, 2026 in Matthew

 

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Matthew 2:1-12

04 Jan

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.”

3 King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. 4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”

5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:

6 ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
    are not least among the ruling cities of Judah,
for a ruler will come from you
    who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. 8 Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”

9 After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! 11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

12 When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.

Matthew 2:1-12

Dear God, it’s always interesting when we meet these characters in stories and then we don’t hear from them again. In this case, we get these guys from the East, and they were following some sort of sign. I don’t think we are ever told the source of their knowledge for the sign, but here they are, and they are right. Now, they are a little clumsy about it. They just kind of brazenly go in making it a public thing when you had kind of gone out of your way to make it more low-key, and their clumsiness tipped off Herod which caused problems of tragic proportions, but they were just earnestly looking for this child. Why they wanted to worship him, I don’t know. In fact, I checked different translations, and they all use the word “worship.”

So they found him. The worshipped him. The gave him/Mary gifts. And then they left. It’s important to note here that you spoke to them and warned them to go home a different way. You knew they were there, and they were worthy of your attention and care. Of course, you were also protecting Jesus, Mary, and Joseph by keeping them away from Herod as well, but still, this is just another example of how you loved Gentiles, spoke to Gentiles, and let Gentiles know about your plans. Jesus was for them too.

Father, I’m a Gentile sitting here grateful to be your servant. Worshipping you, Three in One. My Father. My Jesus. My Holy Spirit. As Christmas comes to a close, I thank you and commit to walking with you this year. Beyond Christmas. You are my God. I am your grateful child. Part of your creation. You have my worship. Show me how to love you and how to love others.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 4, 2026 in Matthew

 

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