Scripture For The Day

Scripture For The Day  February 28, 2023  "Consider The Lilies"  Trust Him! Life can feel like a vicious cycle. Work, Accumulate, Struggle.  Too busy for this and too tired for that. There are times it can’t be helped. That’s just the busy world we live in. But too often we bring it on ourselves. Jesus continues with His sermon and gives us a picture of the sweet peace we can have through Him when we focus on the right kinds of things; focus on The Kingdom of God, focus on The Lord. Matthew 6: 25-34- “So, I tell you, don’t worry about the things you need to live- what you will eat, drink, or wear. Life is more important than food, and the body is more important than what you put on it.” Honestly, I’m not a big food person. I have certain things I like to eat, but it’s just food. I don’t get all the fascination for it and I’ve seen it become a distraction in more ways than one for what is more important. But we gotta eat. However; Jesus tells us there is more to life ...

Scripture For The Day   February 27, 2023  "Treasures In Heaven"  Jesus’ Sermon continues- Matthew 6:19-24 The amount of junk we accumulate over the years is insane. So much so that we even acquire storage sheds to hold the overfill. How crazy is that? Eventually, all that junk will just become a nest for vermin to make their home. Yuck. They destroy those precious items just to make things comfier for them.  What becomes one man’s junk can become another man’s or mouse’s treasure. Our focus can become so distracted by worldly things that we may forget to look up at times. Jesus tells us ‘do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.’ There is a show called “Salvage Kings”. This group of men is paid to go into buildings and houses to take whatever they want before the structure is demolished. They rip out boards and fixtures, etc. But then they also rifle through all the junk that was le...

Scripture For The Day    February 24, 2023  "Don't Scrunch Up Your Face in Agony"  Jesus teaches about fasting. Again, Jesus mentions the word hypocrite. As we continue with His Sermon we are in Matthew 6:16-18. When you fast, don’t make yourselves like the hypocrites that look so sad and forlorn. They scrunch their faces up in agony for the world to see that they are suffering because of their fasting. Look at them! Aren’t they spiritual? Not. Again, Jesus tells us the truth of the matter is, that is all the reward they will get. Why are we getting warnings about our behavior in this Sermon? Remember this sermon was not directed to unbelievers but to His followers. Jesus is teaching us and leading us to draw closer to Him. It’s not about losing salvation or being the best of the best. It’s about a relationship. It’s about a job that we have been given. The incentive? Rewards. You can be saved and remain a babe in Christ all your life. That’s your choice. The thi...

Scripture For The Day   February 23, 2023 Jesus teaches us about prayer. Matthew 6:5-15  When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites. They love to stand in the synagogues or the front of the church and even on street corners and pray loudly for everyone else to hear. They want people to see them and acknowledge how ‘holy’ they are.  And according to Jesus that is all the reward they will get. But when you pray, you should go into your room or your prayer closet and close the door. Then begin to pray to your Father in Heaven. He is there right with you in that private place. Nothing can be hidden from Him. So, no worries, you don’t have to be in the crowd for The Lord to hear you. There’s nothing wrong with praying out loud in church. It all goes back to the heart. You will be rewarded when your heart is right with Jesus.  Remember Jesus was addressing His disciples and His followers with His Sermon on the mount. He sets forth a challenge for us to live a life tha...

Scripture For The Day    February 22, 2023  "The Heart of The Matter"  We turn to Matthew 6 this morning as Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount continues. Today we study giving. “Take Heed- (Be Careful!) when you do alms (charity, something good) don’t do it for others to see. If you do that, Jesus says you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. Whoa! When you give to the poor don’t announce it for others to hear.  Don’t be a hypocrite, blowing your own trumpet for the people to hear all that you do in the name of The Lord. Don’t even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Hypocrites want to have all the praise and glory. They want to be recognized for all their hard work. They want to be praised for what they are doing. And according to Jesus, that praise from people will be all the reward they will be given. And frankly, that’s not good enough. People are fickle. They will turn on you in a heartbeat. Our giving needs to be done in priva...

Scripture For The Day   February 21, 2023  "Love God and Love People, Even Our Enemies"  Let’s continue with Jesus’ Sermon on the mount. Today we study about loving our enemies. Matthew 5:43-48 has Jesus telling us that ‘you have heard it said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’ Leviticus 19:18 tells us to love our neighbor but the idea that Jesus shared on loving our enemies was scandalous, to say the least. Everything He shared was contrary to what the religious leaders were teaching. Jesus reminds us that even unbelievers love some people. That’s the easy part. But Jesus tells us to go beyond that, as usual, He tells us to go above and beyond what the world does and love our enemies. We are all broken people and we need Jesus. That’s the bottom line and The Truth of the matter. None of us are perfect. We all struggle and though we are different and deal with various issues we are ba...

Scripture For The Day    February 18, 2023  "Walk That Extra Mile"  Jesus teaches about fighting back. Matthew 5:38-42. Our first response when an argument ensues is to fight back or at the very least, plan our retaliation. If we feel like someone has wronged us, our carnal side wants revenge. Jesus tells us in His Sermon that though we have heard in the olden days ‘an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth’, He has a different message, as usual. He says no to revenge, do not try to get the upper hand. In verse 39, He tells us to not resist an evil person but who hits us on the right cheek let him hit the left also. Wait!! What??? Now hold on a sec, let’s make sure we study this out before getting confused.  He’s not talking about letting yourself be the victim of abuse. We are never to become a punching bag physically or emotionally for someone else. He’s just saying to not let your heart be full of revenge. Vengeance belongs to The Lord. Instead of a hear...

    Scripture For The Day  February 17 th , 2023  "No More Broken Promises"  One of the main things we taught our daughter when she was growing up was that you never make a promise that you can’t keep. Gone are the days of the old when a man’s word meant something. People will say whatever they think you want to say and then break their word, their promise, with excuses. People will use words to make it sound like their word is more powerful than it really is by using “By God, I will..” or “I promise on my….” But Jesus tells us that this is not how we need to be as we continue to study the message in the sermon on the mount.  My husband and I have both been hurt by promises never kept. I imagine all of us have been hurt by broken promises. But because of that hurt, we as parents made a point of teaching our daughter to stay true to what she said. If you don’t mean it, don’t say it. And if you say it, you better follow through with it. Jesus again ...

Scripture For The Day    February 10, 2023 "Don't Shoot The Messenger"    Matthew 5:31-32 Have you noticed how this Sermon of Jesus begins with how to be Blessed and how to be a strong witness for Him in this dark world and has now since moved on to the tough message that no one seems to want to hear? Before He shared this part of the message, He made sure to let them and us know that He didn’t do away with the law and then He began to preach about, murder, ridiculing and insulting people, sexual sin/adultery, divorce, empty promises, vengeance, as well as loving our enemies. Not a popular sermon for the masses that’s for sure.  Many people want to shoot the messenger that brings the same, exact message that Jesus shared on this Mount so long ago. As a Christian, I don’t get that. His Word is His Word and will not return void and will stand the test of time. So, how are you able to justify getting angry with the one who brings the message when the message is t...

Scripture For The Day   February 9 th 2023  Are you Listening?  Jesus teaches and preaches about sexual sin in the next few verses; Matthew 5:27-28   He says ‘you have heard that it was said ‘you must not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that if a man looks at a woman and wants to sin sexually with her, he has already committed that sin with her in his mind (or a woman to a man, or same-sex, etc to make it completely clear) If you thunk it, you done did it. If your right eye makes you sin, take it out and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. If your right-hand makes you sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. This was emphasized twice. This doesn’t literally mean that we need to cut out or pluck out our body parts. Jesus is making it crystal clear how dangerous living like that is. So, what’s the big deal ...

   Scripture For The Day  February 8, 2023  Speak Jesus  Jesus’ Sermon continues and today we will study anger. This is a tough one that’s for sure. And it’s a message for all of us, Christians and unbelievers alike.  Matthew 5:21-25   Jesus begins this part of the sermon with “You have all heard from a long time ago that you are not to kill/murder anyone.  You will be judged on that action. But I’m here telling you that it goes even deeper than that. DO NOT BE ANGRY WITH ANYONE without a cause” Hello out there? Did y’all hear that? If you are angry with anyone, you will be judged. (now, wait for it… are you ready?) And if you insult someone, or call them Raca- which is Aramaic for a derogatory term. Translated it means worthless or fool. If you call anyone derogatory names, you WILL be judged by the High court, by God.  You may have every good reason to be angry with someone but Jesus is comparing insulting people with murd...

  Scripture For The Day  February 7, 2023   We’ve learned how to be Blessed. We’ve learned that we are to be the salt and the light of the earth. But Jesus is still preaching. He’s not done yet.    Matthew 5:17-19 "Do You Recognize Jesus?"   Jesus begins telling us in this part of the sermon that He didn’t come to destroy the law of Moses or the teachings of the prophets. He tells us in His own Words that He came to give them full meaning, to fulfill the law. He assures us in verse 18 that He will take nothing from the law until it’s all finished. verse 19. Jesus tells us that we are to obey every law, even if they seem unimportant otherwise there will be consequences. Jesus tells us that we should be more pleasing to God, than those that go through the motions. He is speaking about the basic tenet of the commandments. We are not to have any other god before God. We are not to kill, or lie, or steal, and so forth. Those are the fundamentals tha...

Scripture For The Day   February 6, 2023  "This Little Light of Mine"  We’ve learned how to be Blessed and we’ve learned how we are to be like salt. Today we are going to study how to be The Light. “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” – Matthew 5:14-16 As Children of God, we are not of the darkness…anymore. We are children of the light and Who is that light? JESUS. There is no darkness in Him. He is pure Light. However, we are not JESUS. Christians are to live as close to being Christlike as possible. But we are not CHRIST. We do and will fail on our own merit. But with His Merciful and Gracious Help, we can be better than we were yesterday. We can live a life that shines His ...

   Scripture For The Day  February 3, 2023  Salt of The Earth “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” – Matthew 5:13   A Child of God is the salt of the earth. One thing about the messages in the Bible, they are geared toward the customs and cultures of the time. But they also transcend time so that we can relate to them as well. If salt loses its saltiness then what is it good for? Not much that’s for sure. It is meant to season and bring taste to an otherwise bland meal. It also preserves and helps to keep the rotting from setting in. According to Jesus, if the salt loses its saltiness then all it's good for is to be thrown out and stomped on.   Salt at that time was used quite a bit in preserving food as well as enhancing food. It was also used as a type of currency. Back then salt was precious...

Scripture For The Day    February 2, 2023   “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” – Matthew 5:11-12 When you are living for The Lord and sharing His Word every chance you get, people WILL insult you, and people will hurt you. This is what Jesus is telling us in verse 11. It is a given. People will lie and say all kinds of hurtful things about you, just because you choose to follow Jesus. Don’t be surprised when it happens. Expect it.   I personally have had to learn this the hard way.   It doesn’t bother me so much when it comes from an unbeliever but it’s when it’s a person that calls themselves a Christian. That one hurts. It’s then that my husband has to remind me once again, that people turned on Jesus. So who do I think I am that people ...

Scripture For The Day  February 1, 2023   “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:10   We live in an upside-down world. I'll say it again; this world has fallen down a rabbit hole where right is wrong and wrong is right. But despite what the world says, I will continue to focus on what God says every time. And that brings us to this beatitude…   How can being persecuted make us blessed? It’s not about putting yourself in harm's way in order to feel blessed. It’s not about purposefully seeking to upset people because you believe you are right. It’s not about being a victim in some sort of attack. This is about Christians who are actively, purposefully, serving The Lord despite what the world says, even when you are standing alone, especially when you are standing alone. It’s not about being a ‘good’ person. There are many ‘good’ people in hell right this minute. But it’s a life that continually ...