Sand-Castles or Lego-Castles
Read Matthew 7:24-29 When I go to the beach, sometimes I build sand-castles with my brother. We can spend hours digging trenches, making walls, towers and everything. One thing that...
Real Response
Read Matthew 7:15-23 Do you remember playing the game, “follow the leader”? My kids used to love playing this game with me at the playgrounds around our house. They knew which...
The Hard Road
Read Matthew 7:13-14 “For the gate is narrow and the road hard that leads to life, and there are few that find it.” (Matthew 7:14) I wonder how many...
Asking Our Father
Read Matthew 7:7-11 Years after it happened, our son told us about some bullying he’d experienced in middle school. We hurt for him, but we also wondered, “Why didn’t you...
The Best Construction
Read Matthew 7:1-6 Concluding His teaching on the spiritual life, Jesus transitions His teaching to talk about human relationships. How should we relate to our neighbors? He begins by saying...
Treasure Re-Defined
Read Matthew 6:19-24 Evening had finally come to the tiny village of Xaman, Guatemala. Earlier in the day half of our team had worked on a church construction project, while...
Secret Devotion
Read Matthew 6:16-18 “So that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward...
Simple Words of the Heart
Read Matthew 6:5-8 “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is...
A Humble Heart
Read Matthew 6:1-4 On first glance, my response to this passage is “Done. Got it. I do not boast about how I help people; I never bring a trumpet or...
The Law of Grace
Read Matthew 5:17-20 At first glance there seems to be two responses to this passage: 1. Strive toward the impossible goal of perfection in our own broken humanness or 2....