BE REAL For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. —Matthew 23:27-28 Beware of fakes, frauds and false guides. They look so good on the outside— like a bright shinny apple, but inside the outer skin they are rotten to the core. So there are religious leaders that look good on the outside, but their core is filled with hypocrisy. They are putting on a mask and what is seen is not what they are on the inside. Outwardly…

BE A SERVANT The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. —Matthew 23:11-12 Who are considered the greatest in our society or this world? Is it the rich or the poor? Is it the famous or unknown? Is it the powerful or the weak? Jesus said the greatest among us are those who serve. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-Pk2NHKg_o Are you serving or are you seeking to be served? Are we seeking to be honored now? Is pride driving us? If that is the case then we will experience a low position in the Lord’s measurement of our…

GOD INCARNATE Then, surrounded by the Pharisees, Jesus asked them a question: “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They replied, “He is the son of David.” Jesus responded, “Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, call the Messiah ‘my Lord’? For David said, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.’ Since David called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?” No one could answer him. And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions. —Matthew 23:41-46 They…

GIVE! “Well, then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.” —Matthew 22:21 Tax season is upon us again. How do you feel about that? Or how do you feel about the taxes you pay with every gallon of gas you buy? Then there are the property taxes and state and federal taxes. God’s word says to “Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect…

GOING IN JESUS’ AUTHORITY When Jesus returned to the Temple and began teaching, the leading priests and elders came up to him. They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?” —Matthew 21:23 “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him” (John 5:43). Jesus came in His Father’s authority and just as the Father sent Jesus so Jesus sends us in His authority (John 17:18; 20:21). “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.…

PRAY He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” —Matthew 21:13 The temple was supposed to be a place of prayer, but thieves in the temple distracted people away from that. Today, our bodies are His temple. Are there “thieves” that distract us away from prayer? Maybe the thief of business keeps us from prayer. Or, maybe it is the thief of priorities. Could it be the thief of laziness or apathy that keeps us from prayer? Is there anything in your life right now that is keeping you from prayer? Are…

SERVE But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” —Matthew 20:25-28 What was Jesus’ life all about while He was on this planet? Service… His life was about serving others. He served through…

ON EAGLE’S WINGS! You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. —19:4 In Deuteronomy 32:11—“like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft.” Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers states: ” When its young are first fledged, the eagle is said to assist them in their flight by flying beneath them, so that they may settle upon its wings or back, if necessary. God means that He has bestowed upon His people the same tender and powerful care, has borne them up mightily when they might have fallen, supported their…

LET THE CHILDREN COME TO JESUS! Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” —Matthew 19:14 Oh, how children are hindered from coming to Jesus! Parents hinder them, relatives hinder them, the educational system hinders them, laws hinder them, media hinders them, abuse hinders them, hunger hinders them, sickness hinders them, worldly philosophies hinder them and society in general hinders them. Jesus is not happy about this. We are told by Jesus to let the children come to Him and not to hinder them, not to obstruct them from doing so. Children are the…

THE GREAT PHYSICIAN I am the Lord who heals you. —Exodus 15:26 Large crowds followed him there, and he healed their sick. —Matthew 19:2 Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’–meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum’ (Luke 4:23). Jesus is the Great Physician. He can heal anything, anytime, anywhere and whenever He desires to for His purposes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHDI1yPDAew But let us not forget that the greatest “healing” will come after we die! “Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth”’ (Revelation 21:10). Wow, talk about healing. The whole of creation is going to be healed!…