Matthew 6:9-13 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘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. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”

–It is one thing to memorize scripture, especially one as important as the Lord’s prayer, but it’s another thing to understand it, know how to apply it, and to believe it! God does not want us to mindlessly recite this prayer to Him in an attempt to please Him, but rather, He wants us to grasp the truths in the prayer and live it in our daily lives. God is our heavenly Father. He is in charge of providing for us. We should want to run into His loving arms when danger approaches. We should look toward Him as our Daddy, as if we were little children. His name is hallowed or holy. He is perfect in who He is and what He does. He can be trusted because he never sins and will never leave us or forsake us. We can have faith in Him because He has the power and the will to take care of us when all is lost.

–We should live our lives to bring help “bring about His kingdom.” In other words, we are to be busy building the kingdom of God through our actions and attitudes while in the body. What are you specifically doing to grow His kingdom? Is God’s will occurring in you’re life? Are you allowing Him through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to have His way in your life? We are to submit to Him so that His will and work can be done through us and in us. To make this happen, we must get our “daily bread” from Him. This is not physical but spiritual in nature. We are fed by reading and studying the Word of God. The Word or the Bible is what empowers us to do the things contained in the prayer. Remember, this is a daily thing and not a weekly thing so Sunday Christians do not qualify to be blessed by these truths.

–We are to live our lives free from bitterness, unforgiveness, and unbridled anger. In short, we are called to love those who hurt us because Christ loved us first. The “debts” in the prayer are sins and just as God forgave us our sins, we are to put the love of Christ on display for others to see by forgiving each and every person in our lives. Since evil is rampant on the earth, and sin is everywhere desiring to own you and take control of your life, we are to keep our focus and heart on Jesus. While we know God will not lead us into temptation, God certainly will allow us to stray from Him and allow temptation to lead to sin and get the better of us. God wants to “deliver us from the evil one” by placing the “armor of God” in our lives to repel all the fiery darts of Satan. If you understand and believe this prayer, then you will apply it in your life and you will live the victorious Christian life.

John 13:30-34 “As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night. When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

–In one of the saddest and most tragic parts of the Bible, we find one of the disciples of Jesus Christ, Judas, who “went out” from amongst them and planning on betraying the Son of the Living God.
In one of the most ironic comments or reactions ever recorded in the holy scriptures, Jesus watches him leave and says, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him.” What in the world was Christ speaking of there? Jesus was saying that something good was going to come from His betrayal. God was going to take what was meant for unspeakable evil and turn it into unspeakable good. The Father would take the best laid plans of the Devil and turn them on their heads and upside down and use them to change the world by the death, burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

–We must place this type of thinking in our daily lives. Faith reminds us that God is in control when Satan is pounding us the hardest. Trust reminds us that nothing is happening to the Christian that God does not allow in His wisdom and providence. Instead of getting angry or bitter when a severe trial tests you to the core, say in your heart “now you be glorified in this!” God wants to use these satanic attacks to bring you closer to Him, and to bring others into the Kingdom. You must believe that before it will happen in your life. Jesus then reminds His disciples that He will be going away and they will not be able to see Him anymore. In short, He is trying to prepare them for ministry by explaining the “big plan” that had alluded them up to this point. Why was Jesus going? He was going to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father so that the Holy Spirit would come upon them and empower them to minister to the world.

–Our Lord then gives these men their marching orders. “A new command I give you: Love one another.” Was this really a new command? Not really! You can find this concept throughout the Old Testament but very few people ever gleaned it from those scriptures because the type of love Jesus spoke of was heavenly and they were earthly. Jesus was really trying to say to them that their concept of love and devotion was tainted by their experiences in this dark, cold world. They needed to look at the example He was setting to truly understand godly love. The greatest love they or we will ever experience is to watch the Son of God leave heaven and willingly allow sinful man to beat Him to a pulp and then execute Him on a Roman cross. Love is unselfish and always focused on others. These are His marching orders for us today. How do you measure up?

Ecclesiastes 7:8-10 “The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools. Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions.”

–Most people look longingly into the future hoping for better times. Many people wish they were someone else. Others only pray that God would change their circumstances and then they would be happy. Thinking the grass is greener on the other side is a common mistake that mankind makes and reveals a heart that is not committed to God and His plan for your life. What “matter” is Solomon speaking of here? Certainly, it would require “patience” and wisdom and humility to get through stronger on the other side. God oftentimes guides us through these “matters”, these situations in our lives that test our souls and try our patience. It’s never fun to go through, but if you are wise and patient, you will get to the end of it understanding the light at the end of the tunnel. Pride and pain never handles these trails and tribulations well and hopes to run to “greener” pastures that do not exist.

–During testings from God or man, it is normal to “be quickly provoked in your spirit.” In other words, God does not want you to be a hot-head and have no patience with people or your problems. Remember, love is long-suffering and patient and does not go off at the first sign of sin in others or adversity in ones life. This type of anger that is always boiling just below the surface of many people’s hearts is considered foolish and far from God’s ways. Scripture teaches in James that fights and quarreling come when we do not get what we want, when we demand our own way and find people or even God are not accommodating our selfish desires. This type of quick temper leads the hot-head to wish he was someone else, somewhere else, or even something else. Don’t run from your problems to “green” pastures when you have turned your pasture brown with sin and shame.

–How many times have you heard people talk about the past with longing and say “those were the good old days.” The spiritual significance of looking in the past or toward the future with wonder-lust and deep yearning tells God you are not happy where He has placed you today. God plants people in different places and situations to help them find green pastures there and not elsewhere. Many married folk look longingly and sometimes lustfully toward those who are not their spouses and wonder, “If only!” God has an answer for this problem. One of the Ten Commandments tells us to not covet what our neighbor has or their spouse! This is considered idolatry and will never get you on God’s good side. So ask God to grow you right where you are and help you to have peace and joy on your side of the fence and stop looking elsewhere for your happiness.

Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. Frustration is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.”

–Mourning can be very good for the soul if it is done for the right reasons and with the right attitude. In God’s universe, it is better to “mourn” then it is to party. God places inside each of us a spirit and soul. When all is going great and there is great wealth, great worldly joy, great feasting and living high on the hog, it’s very difficult to connect with God through our soul and our conscious. Few people contemplate death and eternal things when life on earth is going perfectly. It is only when God puts us on our knees and places us in situations that bring tears to our eyes that He has the opportunity to speak to our souls in an intimate way. Most people who become Christians are driven to God by deep mourning over life and a deep fear that their death will lead them into outer darkness.

–Part of these verses seem to throw logic on it’s head. How can a “sad face be good for the heart?” Firstly, the sadness and mourning does not last forever. It is meant to last a short time to drive us closer to God and further from ourselves. This is why Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they should be comforted.” God wants each human being to run into His arms. Few if any will do this when life is going perfectly and there is no apparent need to do so. God certainly allows frustrating circumstances to occur in our lives to bring us to the end of ourselves, to the end of our rope, so that we will find Him on the other side. God does not want us to be “comforted” by the world or sin, but rather by Him. Life never goes as planned. Allow God to use the bad times in your life to bring you closer to Him and further from the lusts of the world.

–When we understand and apply these principles, God tells us that we are “wise”. The foolish seek worldly pleasures throughout the day running from one sin to the next. While it is true that worldly pleasures bring joy, remember scripture reminds us that it is only for a “season” and in the end, it ends in “death” of the soul. It’s difficult while living on earth to understand God, His spiritual laws, and the principles that He uses to make us more like Him. Our perspective will always be worldly unless we begin to dig deep into His Word and understand that He uses mourning and sadness to make us stronger spiritually and help us rely more on Him. This is the raw definition of faith. The next time you feel down and out, open your eyes to the spiritual opportunity that God has created right before your very eyes!

Mark 5:35-40 “While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him.”

–Science would tell you to not believe in the impossible. Athiests and agnostics would sneer at the idea. Intellectuals would laugh at it and ask for proof. While death is certainly final, God can raise the dead if He so chooses. In fact, the entire gospel centers around the inalienale truth that God can do miralces, He can suspend the natural laws of nature which He created, and He wants to raise everybody from spiritual death into spiritual life. There are so many people today in America spiritually dead. Many are in our churches and they know the spiritual dungeon they are in but have decided to not “bother the teacher anymore.” In other words, they see absolutely no hope that they or their circumstances will change so they simply do not bother God anymore with real, heartfelt prayer, or deep intimate Bible study. Others have given up on spirutally dead friends and family and don’t bother God anymore. Never give up on prayer to God for those you love until their heart or your heart stops beating.

–When Jesus saw them lose all hope when they heard of her death, He told them “Don’t be afriad; just believe.” Have you lost all hope? Is there something or someone so weighing you down that your hope or faith meter just hit negative digits? It is in those times when you biggest spiritual test begins. Jesus is teaching here that fear is the great motivator to walk away from hope. Fear is the opposite of faith and wants to rob you of your joy and peace. Fear wants to keep you in a spiritual dungeon and throw away the key. Yet Jesus says that “belief” is the key to unlock that dungeon door and allow God to do the impossible in your life. Why did Jesus only allow there of His disciples to go with Him? No one can know for sure but I believe these three men each possessed the kind of faith to believe the impossible. He chose the spiriutally mature of the group to see the greatest miracles. As you fall more in love with God, expect to see more and more of the impossible.

–What a terrible scene. Jairus was the local pastor of the local Jewish church and his daughter lay dead! The entire town is in an uproar over it and Jesus walks in with three disciples tailing Him and says, “why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” Wow! If you were Jesus, you would find this comment logical and kind. He had the power and the will to snap His fingers and bring her back. If you were a member of the famly or the crowd, you would never consider the impossible to be possible. Hence, “they laughted at him.” Perspective is everything! Understanding, knowing, and embracing the power of God can make the impossible possible for the believer. The impossible is only that because a heart does not believe what is possible. The Bible tells us that “what is impossible with man is possible with God.” The more you believe the impossible, the more possibilities will spring your way and the more God will use you for His glory and His kingdom.

John 7:45-49 “Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied. “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”

–The religious leaders, who hated and despised Jesus Christ, had finally had enough of His teaching and decided to have Him arrested for religious crimes, in particular, blasphemy. They sent the temple guards, the policemen who protected the temple and the religious leaders, to shut Him up for good. In the preceding parts of chapter seven, we find Jesus Christ teaching in Jerusalem in front of all of the people sharing with them the good news of the gospel. Once the order was given to arrest Him, Jesus Christ knew right away what had happened but instead of running away, He continued to teach even as these men approached him. Jesus was fearless! Certainly, these were His enemies but instead of fleeing the scene, He ministered to them even with the arrest orders in hand.

–The temple guards came back empty handed. The leaders asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” What they said next shocked them to the core. They responded “No one ever spoke the way this man does.” Wow! These men came back to their bosses full of awe regarding Jesus Christ. They knew the Pharisees hated Him, they knew the orders they were given, and they realized they could be fired from their jobs and ex-communicated from the temple. Yet, their awe of Jesus overwhelmed their fear of their bosses. Certainly, they had sat under the teaching of these religious leaders. In essence, they were saying that Jesus was a much better teacher and man than they were. This was religious treason in the highest degree. Why did they not arrest Him? Because they believed He was the Messiah!

–The Pharisees retorted, “you mean he has deceived you also?” Their lust for power, their blind hatred of Jesus, and their cold, hard, dark hearts would not be moved even by God Himself. They saw a demon when they should have seen their God. They saw a trouble-maker instead of the Man who had the power to save their souls and send them to heaven or hell. Except for Nicodemus, these religious leaders were united in their condemnation of our Lord. Having more people agree with you then disagreeing with you is no sign of truth. Truth comes from God and God alone. They proceeded to insult all the people listening to Jesus by calling them a “mob”, insinuating they were a bunch of blind idiots, and pronouncing a curse upon them all. When confronted with truth, darkness often lashes out with insults and anger.

Philippians 2:12-15 “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky.”

–God wants Christians to always recognize that He is with them through thick and thin, through good and bad, through the valleys and the mountain peaks. During Paul’s day, his great revivals would stir up people all around towns and the countryside but it was inevitable that he would leave to go to his next mission. It was in his absence that many people would return to their old ways and lose their excitement for God. This is why he said they needed to obey God “much more in my absence.” If a revival ends when the preacher or evangelist leaves, then the revival was never a revival in the first place. Also, we should remember that God is always watching when nobody is around. How many people act differently when they are not around their church friends? Character is defined by what we do when nobody is watching.

–God wants us to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling.” Many church folk today define the “fear of God” as a holy awe. This is true but there is much more to it than merely that. God would never use the word “trembling” along with fear if it were that simple. My son, who is twelve, obeys me because he fears me. Yes, he loves me but I can promise you that very few teenagers or even adults obey authority out of love and respect. God wants us to fear the consequences and discipline when we stray from Him. This is only natural and is the “beginning of wisdom.” Do you love God perfectly? I doubt it. I certainly do not. The Bible does say that “perfect loves drives out all fear”. So unless you love God with a perfect love, then the fear of His judgment and disappointment with sin will motivate us to obey Him. This is how children should react.

–Paul then reminds us to “do everything without grumbling and arguing.” If we are constantly grumbling, this is a sure sign of spiritual immaturity and the lack of humility. God wants us to not do this so we are “blameless and pure” before unbelievers. There is no way to shine your light “like stars in the sky” if you are filled with pride, an entitlement mentality, and constantly are demanding your way. Remember, the verses just before these remind us of the benefits of having a humble spirit. Complaining comes from focusing on yourself instead of the “needs of others”. Your primary purpose to live on earth is to show and share the love of Jesus Christ. Always wanting your way and arguing with others to get what you want is hypocritical and brings the name of God through the mud with the very people God wants you to witness to and serve.

Luke 12:15,20-21 “Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.””

–Jesus often spoke about money. In particular, He oftentimes would warn His listeners to not fall into the trap of the enemy by loving money, the things of this world, and leave their soul neglected and crippled. Today, every person reading this devotion is warned to “watch out” for the enemy lurking around hoping to capture your heart in his dark paws. We need to be “on guard” against “all kinds of greed”. Our society is extremely materialistic and our culture is deep into the clutches of an entitlement attitude, a love of money, and an incessant need to get all of your “wants” without doing the heavy lifting of hard work and seeking God. Your life is not measured by what you own on earth, it is measured by God by what you have in your heart toward God. Our possessions will burn one day but what’s in the heart and soul will last forever!

–If you live for pleasure, you have missed the grace of God in your life. We are given a limited amount of time on this earth to get our spiritual life right with God before “you life will be demanded from you.” We will all have to give an account to God about the time spent on this earth and my prayer is that all who are reading this devotion will place God above your material possessions and the Kingdom before your kingdom. God calls the individual who has their priorities messed up “fools”. Greed takes our hearts and places them on the things of the world. Greed is loving the things of the world. If we love the things of the world, then “the love of the Father is not in us.” God never, ever, ever blesses greed because it’s a sin. Take your eyes off of what your neighbor has and place it on Jesus Christ.

–God wants us to be “rich toward Him.” He wants to come first in our lives. Anything that takes the place of God is called “idolatry”. Greed keeps good people down in the spiritual mud. Greed means that you are “poor toward God.” God does not want to give us a poor grade! Spiritual poverty is sweeping our once great land because the riches of this world has intoxicated too many people. It’s very hard to think straight when you can’t get enough of the pleasures of this world. One of the best ways to know if you are being greedy is by reviewing your giving to your local church, Christian ministries, or other charities. Are you obeying God or are you stealing from God by not giving according to the Bible standard? If you are not, commit to God today to repent and fall out of love with the world and more in love with your Creator.


Philippians 2:1-3 “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.”

–There is nothing more important in your Christian journey than to be humble before God and before man. If your heart and soul were an engine, humility would be the oil that would help all the moving parts interact properly without overheating and breaking down. Since oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit of God, one can see the necessity to be humble so you can shine your light as effectively as possible. Since you are “united with Christ” as a believer, you are required to act like Jesus acted while on earth. The Christian should be “one” with Christ and be His hands and feet on earth. If we harbor much pride, we are actually fighting against Jesus and His Word. Are you “comforted from His love”? The greatest comfort we receive from God is when we know the path to take and walk down it in truth and spirit. Many blessings reside there.

–God wants us to “share in the Spirit” of God by allowing the Holy Spirit to richly indwell us and make us more like Jesus Christ. There is no way you will become humble without the Holy Ghost doing it through you and for you. Humility leads to “tenderness and compassion” for others as we begin to reverse course and place God and others above what we want. We begin to shift our focus away from the “me generation” devil ingrained in us from our culture and place our focus on those who need our help and love. Paul so wanted to see them become humble like Christ to “make his joy complete”. His joy was not derived by his own selfish pleasures, but rather, seeing people become more like Christ through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. What a beautiful picture of humility in the apostle’s life.

–Paul wanted his listeners to be “like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.” In other words, the great work that God did in the apostle’s life could be replicated in those who took his messages and ran with them. Today, the American Christian is called by God to also be like Paul and of course, Jesus Christ. “Selfish ambition and vain conceit” are from the devil and both are rooted in pride and arrogance. Humility always “values others above yourselves”. Humility teaches that the greatest blessings come from serving others. Pride says to put yourself first. Many marriages could be healed if humility were at the center of the marriage relationship. Many churches would run more smoothly if humility ruled in their meetings. Ask God to make you more humble. It’s a scary prayer for sure but it’s much needed today and in the end, you will not regret becoming more like Christ.

Proverbs 17:1-3 “Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife. A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son and will share the inheritance as one of the family. The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.”

–After a long day at work or school, it’s really important for people to come home to a safe place, a home filled with joy and peace and unity where they can open their wings and be themselves. The home is the building block of any culture and when the home collapses and the family is threatened by strife and disunity, the entire country can suffer greatly. God wants our homes to be full of “peace and quiet.” He wants the home and the family to be full of love and understanding and for those in a family to get along and build each other up. It is better to have only a “dry crust” in the house, to have little or no money and live at peace with each other, then to be a home “full of feasting, with strife”. The term “feasting” is symbolic of great wealth, a family with a big home and many things, but no peace or joy.

–Is blood really thicker than water? According to scripture, it is not! The Bible is full of example of those outside the immediately family acting like real family while those inside the nuclear family hating each other with a passion. When a will is drawn up, it’s rare that a “prudent servant” would inherit some or all of the wealth in a family. God would rather have that money go to a person who deserves it, in this case a wise, loving friend, then a “disgraceful son”. What does a foolish child do with the money of his parents? Most of the time, he will waste it on evil, loose living that only brings dishonor to God. The picture here cannot be clearer. God values wisdom over foolishness more than He honors immediate, blood, family ties. The wise will certainly “rule” over the foolish, sometimes on earth, but certainly into eternity.

–It’s quite interesting and revealing that the next verse discusses the “furnace”. Some of the hottest arguments and greatest heartbreaks occur within the family. Certainly the family structure offers the greatest joy and the greatest hurt for every person. When we go through the flames of hurt and anger, and when the testing of our faith through difficult times leave us breathless, it is in those times that God does His greatest work. After mining gold and silver, these precious metals must be put “through the fire” to get rid of all the impurities attached to them. In the same way, God will show us our sin, our impurities, our faults by putting us through the “furnace”. The hottest flames in our lives are usually inside the family structure and in our relationships with our family. Allow God to draw you closer to Him and make you more like Him during these trying times instead of running away.