January 7

GENESIS 16:1-18:15

MATTHEW 6:1-24

PSALM 7:1-17

PROVERBS 2:1-5

Prayer.

Today, I stay in the book of Matthew because of Jesus' teaching on prayer.  I was actually preparing to speak on the covenant between God and Abraham. But, I feel God leading me to write on prayer.

Here we have Jesus' account and instructions on how to pray.  We know this as the Lords Prayer.  But the Bible is flooded with the concepts and results of prayer.  The scriptures are very serious about prayer.  Allow me to give you scriptures on prayer and encourage you to pray.  

One of the most interesting verses on prayer is when the apostles acknowledge that prayer is difficult.  Paul says, "Labor with me in prayer. (1 Cor. 14)" That is such an interesting choice of words, work with me at prayer.  It's almost as if he is saying, this doesn't come easy to most of us, so labor with me, work with me at prayer.

Scripture tells us to pray at all times, with perseverance.  Pray without ceasing.  Devote yourself to prayer.  Be watchful in prayer.  

Isaiah 62: 6-7 I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.

That scripture tells me that God loves being bothered by His children.  It says, "give Him no rest.."  Don't stop asking Him, don't stop petitioning Him, don't stop begging Him, don't stop crying out to Him.  Give Him no rest.  

One version says, Give Him no rest till He completes His work.  Scripture says, you do not have because you do not have.  Ask. Seek. Knock.

Pray!  Live life in Christ and pray.  If you do not know how follow this guide:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name, 

your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one."

January 6

GENESIS 13:5-15:21

MATTHEW 5:27-48

PSALM 6:1-10

PROVERBS 1:29-33

Love For Enemies.

Jesus ends his sermon on the mount with one of the foundational ideas of Christianity.  Jesus unloads a crazy command, that till this day, is something many people struggle to perfect.  Love your enemy, and pray for those who persecute you.

It is almost certain that if you follow Jesus there will be people who hate you for it.  Christ was treated this way, and if you follow Him the way you should, then you will, at one time or another, be persecuted for His name sake. 

With that in mind Jesus says love your enemy, pray for those who persecute you.  Why would we do this?  The times we are being persecuted, hated, cursed, and ridiculed are opportunities to show our example of Christ.  When we follow Christs command we are being made like Him, and in being made like Him we are different from the rest of the world.  

If you only love those who love you than you are no different that the rest of the world.  Following Christ is a call that causes us to be different.  How would our world look if we truly grasped this concept of love.

We cannot expect the rewards of Christians if we do not live at a higher standard than every one else.  Jesus ends this section with an exhortation; "be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect." 

This in no way is meant to as sinlessness, we must understand this, it is the duty of all Christ followers to desire and aim toward perfection in grace and holiness.  This portion of scripture gives us the first steps in living a life that is pleasing to God.  

Take Matthew 5 and hold it in the walls of your heart and allow this to be a guide for your walk in Christ.  Blessings!

January 5

GENESIS 11:1-13:4

MATTHEW 5:1-26

PSALM 5:1-12

PROVERBS 1:24-28

Beatitudes

Jesus starts the sermon on the mount with blessings on us.  He gives us 8 characteristics of blessed people; which represent to us the principle graces of a Christian.  On each of them a pressent blessing is pronounced; blessed are they; and to each a future blessing is promised, which is variously expressed, so as to suit the nature of grace that is recommended for this walk of life. 

Blessed...

Poor in Spirit- Those who are burdened or heavy laden, are the poor in spirit, and they shall find rest in God.

Those who mourn- This is a gracious mourning, which qualifies for blessedness, by the grace of God working in it and sanctifying the afflictions which make us mourn.

The Meek- The meek are those who quietly submit themselves to God and to His Word.  Those who follow His direction, and comply with His design, and are gentle towards all.  

Hunger and thirst for righteousness- Those who hunger and thirst after spiritual blessings, are blessed in those desires, and shall be filled with those blessings.  It is God, and God alone, who can fill our emptiness.

The Merciful- We must have compassion on the souls of others and help them.  

The pure in heart- Those who are inwardly pure, show themselves to be under the power of God.  True Christianity lies in our heart, so our hearts must be pure.

Peacemakers- We must be serviceable to others bringing each other to peace.  The children of this world love to fish in troubled waters, but the children of God are peacemakers.

Persecuted- Suffering is often times correlated with the Gospel.  Because we have taken our cross, we welcome hardships and troubles, but we will be blessed by God.

January 4

GENESIS 8:1-10:32

MATTHEW 4:12-25

PSALM 4:1-8

PROVERBS 1:20-23

Noah Leaves The Ark.

I find it very interesting that though God told Noah when the flood would come, even to the day (7:4), God did not give him an account through revelation at what time, and by what steps, the flood should go away.

Maybe, it was because the knowledge of the first part was necessary to his preparation of the ark.  But the knowledge of the floods ending would serve only to gratify Noahs curiosity, and by concealing it from him would be the needful exercise of his faith and patience.  

This is such a small fact in this story yet it has such significance in our lives.  That God would, at times, show us a part of a plan in our lives, in hopes that our faith in Him would grow, and in that growth he would reveal to us the rest.  

Noah serves as a great example of what it means to be in Gods will and plan and to trust in Him even though there seemed to be no finish line.

Noah was a man that we can all desire to be like, even in his removal from the ark, he still waited for God to say the word.  A prime example of trusting in God and acknowledging Him in all of our ways.  Our coming in and our going out should be surrounded by the blessing of God.

It had been over a year since Noah was prisoner to the ark, yet he found himself preserved there, not only for a new life, but a new world.  And as far as we can tell, we saw no signs of complain or resentment towards God, but a confidence in Him that seemed to grow.

At many moments in our life we can see that God is leading us in a certain direction, but fear and doubt creeps in because we only see part of the plan.  Be encouraged by Noah's life today.  God gave him the direction and steps that he needed and Noah had to trust God for the rest at a later time.  

God may give you a glimpse of what he desires from you but he may not give you the whole story.  Be patient, trust in God, and listen to His voice.  

January 3

GENESIS 5:1-7:24

MATTHEW 3:7-4:11

PSALM 3:1-8

PROVERBS 1:10-19

God- My Shield.

Many times, I feel an immense pressure and attack from the enemy.  If you are like me, than you too have had momentary feelings of extreme doubt and fear.  In those times, I find comfort in the book of Psalms.  

So many questions, so many laments, so many doubts, so many fears.  I find comfort that heros of the faith have experienced the same things that we experience today.

Psalm 3 is a favorite of many people facing peril and hardships because of the expression of sublime trust in God's protection.  

"O Lord, how many are my foes!How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” David was growing frustrated with his enemies, and he gained comfort looking upward remembering the benefit of trusting God.

What I admire about David is that his troubles always brought him to his knees, and in all his difficulties and dangers, he had been enabled to acknowledge God.  "But you, God, shield me on all sides;You ground my feet, you lift my head high; With all my might I shout up to God, His answers thunder from the holy mountain."

I pray that I may be like David, that even in the midst of pressures, failures, disappointments, and heartaches that I would have the conviction to cry out to God.  To remember the goodness of God even in life's gloomiest days.  

David says in verse 4 that he cried to God and God answered him. How beautiful is that!  The Creator of the universe hears our cry.  I implore you to always remember that God is our shield and our protector in times of trouble and need.  

You may have been let down by people around you, but our God is always attentive to the cry of His people.  If there was an underlying theme that could be taken from this Psalm, it is this: Whenever I call, He answers!

January 2

GENESIS 3:1-4:26

MATTHEW 2:13-3:6

PSALM 2:1-2:12

PROVERBS 1:7-1:9

Sin enters the world.

In Genesis 3, we see the beginning of sin as Adam and Eve fall to temptation.  One of the most significant verses in this portion of scripture is found in Genesis 4:7, " If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."  This is right after Cain kills his brother Abel. 

God sets before Cain life and a curse. If we do what is right in the eyes of God, we will not miss His mercy and grace.  That is a hope that we can hold on to, that if we live rightly before God he will accept us and offer us forgiveness and victory.   There is, however, a stern warning urging the sinner to control themselves.  "The way of sin is down-hill, and men go from bad to worse.  Those who do not sacrifice well, but are careless and remiss in their devotion to God, expose themselves to the worse temptations; and perhaps the most scandalous sin lies at their door" (Matthew Henry Commentary).  

If sin is harboring in your life then the curse of sin awaits at the door.  Ask yourself a question (and be honest) what sin is lingering around the door of your heart?  What sin is haunting you?  What are you struggling with?  

Whatever the answer to those questions, take heed of this promise, do what is right in the eyes of God and He will accept you. Be careful because the enemy wants nothing more than to see you fail. 

I end today with this quote from St. Augustine "This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections."   We are not perfect, we sin, we fail, but do not let sin overtake you.  The last portion of the verse says "...you must master it."  Master sin! Whatever struggles you have, you must present it before God and fight the good fight so you can overcome them.  There is no sin, no struggle, that is too hard for God to see you through it.  

God bless and have a wonderful day.

January 1

GENESIS 1:1-2:25

MATTHEW 1:1-2:12

PSALM 1:1-1:6

PROVERBS 1:1-1:6

New Year. New Chapter. New Page. New Day.  

January first always comes with a sense of newness like no other day in the calendar.  We leave a year behind and look forward to the year that is ahead.  2013 may be a time of hope if 2012 did not go the way you dreamed it would. Or 2013 could be a time of euphoric expectancy if you had a wonderful year and are waiting for more. 

New years always come with new resolutions.  Raise your hand if you kept any of your resolutions from last year.  I know I can shamefully admit that I did not keep all of mine.  But now we have a new window of opportunity to do something fresh.  If you are reading this, then you are accepting a very big challenge in 2013 and committing yourself to several things.  First, you are committing yourself to the Mighty Warriors, to actively serve and honor this ministry.  Second, you are committing to reading through the entire Bible. It's not going to be easy but it will be fun and life changing.  And third, you are committing yourself to pursue God like never before.

As we look at today's readings, it is so fitting that Genesis and Matthew give us accounts of beginnings.  In Genesis we see God transforming chaos into the beauty of creation.  Dark into light and dust into man, we serve a God who's creative genius runs at the very core of who we are.  

And then in Matthew we see the genealogy of Jesus.  It is very easy to skip this portion of the Bible, but we have to understand that this is the start of the fulfilling of so many prophecies from the Old Testament.  This genealogy proves the "Messiah-ship" of Jesus.

So, as you read today, understand that God is a God of new things.  I don't know if 2012 was filled with joy or horror for you, but you now have the opportunity to put that behind and move forward.  I don't know what 2013 holds, but I know who holds 2013.  God makes all things new and in this new year let us trust Him like never before.