Click for PDF version Monday Read Matthew 7:7-12 Jesus is encouraging the people to ask freely of the Heavenly Father. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him...
Click for PDF version Monday Read Matthew 7:1-6; Luke 12:13-14; Revelation 20:11-15 The true and living God has a sense of humor. This week’s devotionals series focuses upon judging, a particularly convicting topic for this writer—I am consistently classified a “high J” (“Judgmental”) in the Myers-Briggs psychological profile. I find decision-making and judging perilously...
Click for PDF version Monday Read Matthew 6:19-21; Luke 12:13-21, 32-34 Reforming Our Wealth—The Heart of the Matter Jesus’ teaching about wealth in the Sermon on the Mount begins with a reminder that one’s attitude toward wealth is an indicator of the nature of one’s spiritual health. Jesus warned His disciples about the transient...
Click for PDF version Monday Read Matthew 28:16-20 One Last Meeting Pastors Tim and Kate have made clear that Glenkirk’s vision statement holds meaning only if it represents our covenant partners’ lived reality. Thus, the intent of each sermon series, including the one we’re engaged in this fall, is to form—or re-form—our character in...
Click for PDF version Monday Read 2 Kings 5:1-27; Matthew 6:1-18; John 14:21-23; Hebrews 11:6 What does heaven reward? According to Jesus, God openly rewards secret giving, secret prayer and secret fasting. What else does God reward? Seeking Him is another activity He rewards (Matthew 7:7). “Without faith nobody can please God, for the...
Click for PDF version Monday Read Matthew 6:1-4; 1 Timothy 6:7-10 As we broach the subject of giving, let us take a look at what the Bible tells us even before Jesus taught about giving in the Sermon on the Mount. Scripture will do the talking throughout this Devo. Pray for the Lord to...
Click for PDF version Monday Read Matthew 5:38-39; Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21 As we continue the Sermon on the Mount teaching series, this week’s theme is “Re-Forming Our Affections.” It’s important to remember who Jesus is speaking to even as we read the Sermon on theMount with our Western eyes and interpretation....
Click for a PDF version Monday Read Matthew 5:27-37 In Matthew 5, Jesus addresses the topics of adultery, divorce, and oath-making. It can be tempting to see these as three completely separate topics—and while there are things to learn about them individually, these three topics share one important element: covenant. The God of the...
Click for PDF version Monday Read Matthew 5:21-22 God gave His people moral and ceremonial laws to help them love Him with all their hearts and minds (the Law of Moses, Old Testament). By Jesus’ time, religious leaders had turned God’s Law into a confusing mass of rules. When Jesus talked about a new...
Click for PDF version Monday Read Matthew 5:1-12 Being the Salt of the Earth One distinctive element of Jesus’ teaching was His use of metaphors and similes. Both are figures of speech, but a metaphor identifies one thing, such as “You are the salt of the earth,” whereas a simile likens one thing to...
