Daily Devotional from Matthew 10--Verses 5-6Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Sometimes Jesus will put restrictions on our life for a certain time. He closes the door. He tells us “No.” In the moment, we may think he’s being harsh or unfair. He prohibits and he withholds. Why? Well, at least in this situation,...  Read More

Daily Devotionals from Matthew 9--Verse 12But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick."It’s tempting, and even easy, to avoid those who aren’t like us. Sometimes we find it more comforting to surround ourselves with those who believe like we do. Eventually, we can even start to view those different than us, like non-believers, as a threat,...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Matthew 8--Verses 2 and 3And a man with leprosy came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus reached out with His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.Isn’t it awesome that Jesus was willing to dirty himself by touching this leper? Leprosy was infectious...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Matthew 7--Verses 13-14Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.In our lives today, we strive to make things easy for ourselves. We do things that require the least amount of effort. We like convenienc...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Matthew 6--Verse 10Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.As part of an example prayer the Lord provided his disciples, we are to pray that things on earth will become the way they are now in heaven.While it may seem things are going in the opposite direction, it is God’s will circumstances on earth improve.By asking us to pray for improvement, God ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Matthew 5--Verse 25First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. As you can see, right relationships are one of Jesus’s highest priorities. He says don’t even finish what you’re doing. First, go and be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come back and finish what you were doing. In other words, don’t let the grass grow under your feet. T...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Matthew 4--Verse 1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Jesus faced temptation just like every human on earth does. We don’t have a Savior who doesn’t relate to us—He understands! But we can learn so much from He Who Never Sinned about how to respond to temptation—with the Truth of the Word!This is why it’s so important that we ar...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Matthew 3—Verses 5-6Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.Water baptism is one of the most exciting parts of the believer’s walk with God. I still get all teary-eyed every time I see someone get baptized! It’s our chance to take a public stand for our fai...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Matthew 2--Verses 1-2After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.”The wise men in this story were not part of God’s covenant people. They were, though, men who paid attention to God’s wor...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Matthew 1--Verse 21She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.God had been silent. It had been about 400 years since God had spoken to His chosen people through Malachi’s Old Testament book of prophecy.But then an angel came to Joseph to announce good news of the virgin-birth arrival of a savior to be named Jesus. All t...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Zechariah 12--Verse 10And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.The Israelites have had a tough go and much of it was brought o...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Zechariah 8--Verse 23The Lord of Armies says this: “In those days, ten men from nations of every language will grab the robe of a Jewish man tightly, urging: Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” One thing that has become increasingly clear to me as I get older is that people are desperate for meaning, purpose, and knowing they are loved and known by Go...  Read More