Matthew 5:3-12 Be of good attitude!

(NIV)

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Just a thought...

The Beatitudes are what we must be like in order to follow Christ. They are signed in the blood of Jesus.  They outline the  way to the kingdom that Jesus said we should seek above all else (Matthew 6:33). It seems impossible to be like Jesus, to reflect His dependence, His compassion, His humility, His longing for the Father’s glory.

The Beatitudes are conditional promises of blessings. Allowing Jesus to work His character in us is the human condition. We are promised to be blessed if we strive to live out the Beatitudes.  Pray for yourself, that you will enjoy the blessing of being the person God wants you to be, as God molds in you the character of His beloved Son. It's a changing of attitude. Your attitude must reflect the attitude that Christ lived for us to mirror!

Prayer:
Dear Lord,  Help me to have a pure heart that seeks an attitude like your Son's. Help me to see and experience You my God through prayer that will allow me to live out the Beatitudes! Amen

Matthew 4:23, The Elements Of Ministry

 (NIV)

Jesus Heals the Sick

²³ Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

Just A Thought...

Jesus shows us in this verse the 3 key elements to ministry: Preaching, teaching and healing. This is what he wants from us as disciples; sharing the good news of God's Kingdom, teaching people how to live lives to the will of God, and  ministering to their brokenness with the grace and power of God. We must remember that as disciples our ministry must include these same three elements.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, Help me to discover  those who need your grace. Guide me so  that I offer the right care so that I may minister to their needs by your power and according to your will. In the name of the Lord Jesus I pray. Amen.

Isaiah 65:25 Pet Blessings!

(NIV)

The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
    and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.

Just a thought...
The Bible was written for man's salvation, but it does my heart good to take today's passage literal. We love our pets!We're commanded to be good stewards of God's creatures. My dogs have always given me blessings that  far outweighed the care I took of them.  I believe that they meet us in heaven.  
I'm not Catholic but in the Catholic faith October 4th is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals. On his feast day, it is customary for parish members to take their pets for the priest to bless their animals. This blessing is conducted in remembrance of St. Francis of Assisi’s love for all creatures. I think this is a lovely way to celebrate the gift God gave us when he gave us pets!

Pet Prayer

Blessed are you, Lord God,

maker of all living creatures.

You called forth fish in the sea,

birds in the air

and animals on the land.

You inspired St. Francis to call all of them his brothers and sisters.

We ask you to bless this pet.

By the power of your love,

enable it to live according to your plan.

May we always praise you for all your beauty in creation.

Blessed are you,

Lord our God,

in all your creatures!  Amen

Matthew 4:18-22 Go Fish!

(NIV)
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people." 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Just a thought...
Today the call of the Lord has not changed. He still says 'Follow me', and adds, 'whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple'. In realtime this does not mean a physical departure from our homes or  jobs. It implies rather an inner surrender of both. Its a refusal to allow either family or ambition to occupy the first place in our lives.God is to be our center of our thoughts and hearts. When God is the center of our lives its easier to then do as Jesus tells us. Jesus tells us to be fisherman of people and that we are to go and catch people for Him.We often we want to clean them first. Jesus tells us catch them and His Spirit will do the cleaning for us. Our journey is blessed when we put the Lord first and follow His perfect example!

Prayer: Dear Lord, Help me to put You first in my life so that I may follow you and be a fisher of men! Amen

Matthew 4:12-17 The Light

(NIV)Jesus Begins to Preach
12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
15 "Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned."
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."

Just a thought...
In Israel, Jews and gentiles alike were living in darkness. Christ came to a place where there were both, Capernaum, and made it his home. Matthew says that he does this to bring light to those living in darkness. Using the words of a prophet, this passage begin to suggests that the light Jesus offers is one that gives everlasting life.
John is said to be one who was to bear witness to "the light." but he isn't the light itself. Jesus is the light. Matthew, in repeating the words of the prophet and connecting the beginning of Jesus’s public teaching to the ending of John the Baptist’s, tries to show that these things were all part of a plan that God had set in motion in Old Testament Times. Matthew's story, makes it clear that Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s covenant with Israel. With Jesus the kingdom of heaven is available for everyone. The words used, "the kingdom of heaven is at hand," are the same words that John the Baptist used. Jesus had taken up the torch and started the last leg of the journey that was only to end with the final act of God to complete our salvation. That salvation is the light that can save us from our own darkness, even the darkness of death.

PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, We thank you for making that gift a light that we can see shining in darkness, so that we always have hope and know the direction our journey should take. Amen.
　

Matthew 4:1-11 Tempted?

(NIV)

Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness

4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹ “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”
¹¹ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Just a thought...
There is no evidence that either Satan or Jesus ever doubted the truth that Jesus is the Son of God. In the temptations, the devil was not tempting Jesus to doubt or to not believe the truth of his identity. The temptations are not about whether or not Jesus is the Son of God, but what kind of Son of God he will be.
Like Jesus, our temptations tend to do with what kind of son or daughter of God we are going to be. As children of our heavenly Father, most of us can resist the temptations to do the horrible things that we associate with evil. Many of our temptations are small everyday things sometimes they  seem like good things, but the wrong good things. Many of us are tempted to be "good people," rather than people who seek the will of God. The today’s scripture challenges us with the question, "What kind of son or daughter are you going to be?"

^Prayer:
Dear Lord, Help us to face and overcome the temptations in life as boldly as Jesus so that we may come closer to him! Amen

Matthew 3:13-17 Love

(NIV)

The Baptism of Jesus

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴ But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”¹⁵ Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.¹⁶ As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Just a thought...

 <sup>God tells us  how delighted he is with his Son who is wanting to honor and be obedient to his Father.
God tells Jesus three things that all of us need to hear from our loved ones and to tell our loved ones:
 (1) God affirms his relationship with Jesus: "This is my Son!"
 (2) God affirms his love for Jesus: "Whom I love."
 (3) God affirms his joy in Jesus: "I am very pleased with him."

 If Jesus needed this affirmation at the beginning of his ministry and right before he faced temptation, don't those folks we love need it as well?  We should never assume that the people we love know we love them. God not only affirmed his love for his Son to his son, he didn't it publicly. This left no doubt about his feelings to Jesus or to others!

Prayer:
Faithful God,  I want to live with passion obeying your Word, reflecting your love. Remind me to affirm my love to others.  Inspire within me passion and energy as I seek to live your will. I want you to be pleased and praised by what I live. In Jesus' holy name I pray. Amen.</sup>