May 19 | Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is God’s kingdom. Blessed are you when they may insult you and persecute and and might say all kinds of evil against you, lying on your account. Rejoice and be glad, for great is…
May 18 | Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are those who are peacemakers, for they will be called God’s sons.” (Matthew 5:9) We live in a world at war. From the political scene to the social scene everyone is screaming at everyone else. There is no unity or tolerance as we used…
May 17 | Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8) I love M&Ms. But my favorite our peanut M&Ms. There are days when I’m not in the mood for peanut M&Ms. I want to try another kind. I don’t have to be…
May 16 | Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” (Matthew 5:7) Merciful people are often not seen as strong in the world. Many times in sports we see unhappy coaches when athletes show mercy to their opponents. And yet we all want the judge…
May 15 | Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who are hungering and are thirsting for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6) Some people in our world don’t care if the right thing is done. We have literature and movies that extol the villain instead of the hero. Some…
May 14 | Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5) Our world can’t understand meek. They think any form of power that does not have control is weak. But they’re not the same thing. They think strength must be overwhelmingly observable. A man’s…
May 13 | Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4) Funerals are awkward for me. I never know how to comfort the mourners even as a pastor. When they ask me questions like, “Why did God take him now?” I don’t know how…
Summary: Jesus concludes His Sermon on the Mount with three illustrations of two ways. One way leads to eternal destruction while the other way leads to eternal life. Jesus describes the disciples who have an eternal destiny with Him, the ones He knows by name. Introduction In my last post,…
Summary: Jesus teaches the golden rule in a different way than anyone before Him. It sounds like it appeals to our selfishness, but it spurs us on to treat one another better, to consider another person’s needs before our own and fulfill them. Introduction In my last post, I finished…
Summary: We have already looked at Jesus’s open invitation to increase our faith and pray for anything. But in this second part of Jesus’s teaching, we learn that there are criterion for how to pray for any request and see God answer that prayer. Introduction In my last post, I…
