Matthew 6:16-24 “Notice what you notice.” Fasting. Wealth. Our eyes. Three topics, a few sentences for each. Only a few words, but a lifetime of lessons! Again, who can disagree with Jesus’ direct words? But as I said yesterday on the topic of “giving”, our Men’s Group has spent hours looking at our responsibilities as …
Monthly Archives: March 2019
March 11 / Matt. 6:1-15
Matthew 6:1-15 “Notice what you notice.” Over the past few weeks we have seen Jesus chastising “the scribes and the Pharisees”. In today’s reading He doesn’t mention them (by name); instead His words are directed at hypocrites and Gentiles. My Study Bible says that Matthew mentions hypocrites 13 times, while Mark and Luke use that …
March 10 / Luke 6:20-36
Luke 6:20-36 “Notice what you notice.” I’m sure I’ve seen it before, but… And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them (v. 31). It doesn’t read the same as the more familiar “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In fact, I had to repeat …
March 9 / Matt. 5:43-48
Matthew 5:43-48 “Notice what you notice.” Another day of “Jesus said it, how can I disagree?”! Today’s first verse says You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. I wondered about the “hate your enemy” part; I couldn’t recall ever seeing that. Then one of my Study Bibles had a note – that phrase …
March 8 / Matt. 5:33-42
Matthew 5:33-42 “Notice what you notice.” I find it harder to find something to say about the readings when it is Jesus’ straightforward teaching. No action, no parables, just speech. And we certainly don’t want to disagree with whatever Jesus says, so mostly we nod and try to get at any deeper meaning. So the …
March 7 / Matt. 5:27-32
Matthew 5:27-32 “Notice what you notice.” I seldom can read today’s adultery passage without recalling Jimmy Carter’s (ill-advised) Playboy magazine interview during the 1976 election when he admitted to “lust in my heart”. He got a lot of grief for that, especially from people within his evangelical Baptist background. But it was also widely suggested …
March 6 / Matt. 5:21-26
Matthew 5:21-26 “Notice what you notice.” After I read two other translations from hard-back Bibles, I use BibleGateway.com online to look up the daily passage in our church’s preferred ESV translation. In that online rendition, today’s reading is entitled “anger”, tomorrow’s is “lust” and Friday’s reading is “divorce”. Some very timely topics…!! Just wondering how …
March 5 / Matt. 5:13-20
Matthew 5:13-20 “Notice what you notice.” For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven (v. 20). I’ve always read this verse with a bit of trepidation for my own soul, with questions of “What does righteousness mean?” or “What is the …
March 4 / Matt. 5:1-12
Matthew 5:1-12 “Notice what you notice.” First thoughts… I always imagined the Sermon on the Mount as being a sermon to a crowd below, a crowd like in the “Feeding of the 5000”. In fact the end of the sermon notes that the crowds were astonished at his teaching (Mt.7:28). However, today’s first two verses …
March 3 / Luke 6:12-19
Luke 6:12-19 “Notice what you notice.” Two things struck me this morning and they are strikingly interconnected. At the beginning of our reading we see that …all night He continued in prayer to God (v. 12). Then at the end of this section we read that power came out from Him and He healed them …