Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-style-parent:””; font-size:10.0pt;”Times New Roman”;} My wife informs me that I have a morbid personality, and she’s probably right. I have an uncanny knack for spotting the downside of any good situation. Some see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I notice the rust on the pot. For example, when we lived on the third floor of a secure apartment complex in a good part of town, I was nevertheless obsessed with double- and triple-checking the locks on the doors and windows … Continue reading Where Your Treasure Is (Matthew 6:19-21)

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-style-parent:””; font-size:10.0pt;”Times New Roman”;} What are the purposes of fasting?   To express our mourning for sin To seek and clarify God’s will for our lives To provide for the poor We have looked at purposes (1) and (2) in previous devotionals. Today I would like to look at purpose (3). Fasting gives us an opportunity to provide for the poor. Isaiah 58.1–14 contrasts how Israel fasted with how God wanted Israel to fast. It makes for interesting reading. According to verse 2, Israel fasted … Continue reading When You Fast (Matthew 6.16–18), Part 4

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-style-parent:””; font-size:10.0pt;”Times New Roman”;} What are the purposes of fasting? First, as we saw yesterday fasting is connected with mourning, especially with mourning for sin. Second, as I hope to show you today, fasting is a way of seeking and clarifying God’s will for our lives. To see this, we need to look at Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4.1–11). “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he … Continue reading When You Fast (Matthew 6.16–18), Part 3

Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-style-parent:””; font-size:10.0pt;”Times New Roman”;} What are the purposes of fasting? In Jesus’ day, fasting was connected first of all with mourning, especially with mourning for sin. The Law of Moses commanded Jewish believers to fast on the Day of Atonement. Leviticus 16.29, 30 said: “you must deny yourselves [i.e., fast] and not do any work—whether native-born or an alien living among you—because on this day atonement will be made to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins.” Sin is serious business, and eradicating … Continue reading When You Fast (Matthew 6.16–18), Part 2

Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-style-parent:””; font-size:10.0pt;”Times New Roman”;} In Mathew 6.5–15, Jesus teaches his followers about the spiritual discipline of prayer. As we read that passage, four questions arise: How often should we pray? Where should we pray? Should we use patterned prayers? And what should we pray for? First, how often should we pray? Jesus does not say. In Matthew 6.5, he begins, “And when you pray…,” then talks about where to pray. Jesus assumes we will pray; he does not tell us how often. Jesus’ own life suggests an answer, … Continue reading When You Pray (Matthew 6.5–15), Part 1

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-style-parent:””; font-size:10.0pt;”Times New Roman”;} “When you give to the needy,” Jesus tells us, “do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matt. 6.3–4). Obviously, Jesus is speaking facetiously here. The ability to keep a secret from yourself is not a moral virtue; it’s a mental disorder. Jesus’ point is that our motivation to give should be a desire for … Continue reading When You Give to the Needy (Matthew 6.1–4), Part 2

Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-style-parent:””; font-size:10.0pt;”Times New Roman”;} Several Christmases ago, my wife (then fiancée) and I took in a play at South Coast Repertory Theater in Costa Mesa. It was opening night for the theater’s twenty-fifth annual staging of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol.” Even though I knew the story line backward and forward, I still thrilled at Ebenezer Scrooge’s moment of conversion—when he wakes up, realizes it’s Christmas day, and trades in his miserly ways for a joyful generosity. During intermission, I got another glimpse of generosity in action. Like … Continue reading When You Give to the Needy (Matthew 6.1–4), Part 1

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-style-parent:””; font-size:10.0pt;”Times New Roman”;} If we want to follow Jesus Christ, we must practice a righteousness that “surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law” (Matt. 5.20). Such righteousness is not a legalistic obedience to the letter of the law; it is a wholehearted desire to live out the spirit of the law (5.21–48). It also entails practicing an authentic spirituality. As Jesus says, “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you … Continue reading Be Careful (Matthew 6.1)

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-style-parent:””; font-size:10.0pt;”Times New Roman”;} Do you have enemies? If you don’t, consider yourself lucky. If you do, loving them probably isn’t an urgent item in your daily agenda, but it should be. Consider Jesus’ commandment: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5.44–45). How do we love our enemies? First, tell the truth about them—they exist, they have harmed us, and they are morally responsible for their actions. Loving our enemies does not … Continue reading Love Your Enemies (Matthew 5.43–48), Part 2