Posts with the category “daily-devotionals”

"But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you" - Matthew 6:3-4 One of the greatest truths Jesus reveals in Matthew 6 is that God notices what others overlook. He sees what happens in private, and He weighs not only our actions but also our intentions. This means...  Read More

"But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret" - Matthew 6:3-4 When Jesus talks about giving, He’s not just talking about money. He’s talking about motive. He’s pointing to a deeper way of living where even our kindness is not for show. That’s what makes this command so different from what we’re used to. We live ...  Read More

"Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward." - Matthew 6:2 In the days of Jesus, giving at the temple was a public act. Inside the Court of Women stood thirteen offering boxes made of metal, each shaped like a trumpet. The tops wer...  Read More

"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven." - Matthew 6:1 Jesus warns His followers about something that can quietly creep into our hearts. It is the temptation to do the right thing for the wrong reason. The Pharisees of His day were experts at this. They prayed, gave, and fasted in ways that were...  Read More

"But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." – Matthew 6:3-4 There is a quiet confidence that comes from doing the right thing for the right reason. Jesus never told us to stop giving, serving, or living with purpose. What He warned us about was doing all of t...  Read More

"But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret." – Matthew 6:3-4 Jesus did not suggest that generosity is optional. He expected it. What He corrected was not the action itself, but the heart behind it. He called His followers to a higher standard, one that refuses to make generosity about attention, approval, or a...  Read More

"So whenever you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward." – Matthew 6:2 In Matthew 6, Jesus was not just warning against prideful giving. He was exposing the hearts behind the performance. In His day, the temple had thirteen metal collect...  Read More

"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven." – Matthew 6:1 Jesus does not just care about what you do. He cares deeply about why you do it. In His sermon, He warns us to be careful not to live out our faith for the sake of attention. The Pharisees were experts at looking holy. They pra...  Read More

“All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit” – Proverbs 16:2 It is easy to make our lives look polished on the outside. We check all the right boxes. Go to church. Say the prayers. Lift our hands during worship. Serve when the need arises. Give when prompted. From the outside, it all seems right. But Jesus doesn’t just see what we do. He sees why we do it. When ...  Read More

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" – 2 Corinthians 5:17 When Jesus saves you, He does not just adjust your direction. He completely transforms your destination. More than that, He changes you from the inside out. He changes your mind, your heart, your desires, and your actions. That is not just behavior change. That is new l...  Read More

"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven" – Matthew 6:1 Picture two chairs in front of you. One marked OLD, the other marked NEW. One represents who you were. The other represents who you are becoming. You have sat in both. The difference is not just about your actions. It is about y...  Read More

“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” – Matthew 5:44 Some stories stay with you. Chris Leggett’s story is one of them. He was just a guy from a local church who heard God’s call and said yes. He left behind comfort, safety, and familiarity to serve in one of the hardest places on earth. He believed people needed Jesus, so he went. And he lived out his faith in ...  Read More

“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” – Matthew 5:48 At first glance, the verse above can feel overwhelming. Be perfect? Really? But Jesus wasn’t calling us to live flawlessly. He was calling us to grow up. The word He used, teleios, means complete, mature, fully developed. Like a diamond that’s considered perfect by a jeweler, not because it’s flawless, but because ...  Read More

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” – Matthew 5:43-44 No matter how kind you try to be, someone will still find a way to mistreat you. And when that moment comes, you will have a choice to make about how you respond. Most people fall into one of four categories. Some seek rev...  Read More

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” – Matthew 5:44-45 When Jesus tells us to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors, He adds a reason that might catch us off guard. He says we should do this s...  Read More

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” – Matthew 5:44 In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus consistently raises the bar on what it means to follow Him. He tells His audience not just to walk the extra mile or to refuse retaliation, but to go even further by loving their enemies. Then He takes it to a level most weren’t ready for. He says to pray for those who persecut...  Read More

“Pray for those who persecute you” – Matthew 5:44 Jesus does not just ask us to go the extra mile. He tells us to pray for the very people who make us want to quit walking altogether. That was not a casual suggestion. It was a radical command spoken to a group of people who knew firsthand what real persecution felt like. His audience had been mistreated by the Romans, ignored by religious leaders,...  Read More

“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” – Matthew 5:44 We all have or know someone who makes life harder. Maybe it is someone who has talked behind your back, mistreated you, rejected you, or just keeps making the same choices that test your patience. When you think of them, the idea of love is not the first thing that comes to mind. And yet Jesus calls us to som...  Read More

"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" – Matthew 5:44 When Jesus said these words, He was not just correcting a teaching. He was confronting a mindset. Over and over in the Sermon on the Mount, He started with the phrase, “You have heard that it was said,” because He was pushing back on the way Scripture had been twisted by the religious leaders of the day. In t...  Read More

"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" – Matthew 5:43-44 Abraham Lincoln was once criticized during the Civil War for being too kind to his enemies. One advisor told him, “Mr. President, you should destroy your enemies.” Lincoln paused and then replied, “Do I not destroy my enem...  Read More

"Give to the one who asks you, and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you." – Matthew 5:42 When Jesus talked about generosity, He didn’t put a cap on it. He didn’t say to give only when it’s convenient or comfortable. He simply said to give. And what He’s pointing to is more than a one-time act. It’s a mindset. It’s a way of life rooted in the belief that everything we have come...  Read More

"Give to the one who asks you, and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you." – Matthew 5:42 Generosity is not about guilt. It is not about giving to anyone who asks, without thought or discernment. Jesus was not calling you to be naive or irresponsible. He was calling you to be compassionate. His words in this verse point to a posture of the heart, not just a reaction to every re...  Read More

"And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two." – Matthew 5:41 In first-century Israel, the law allowed a Roman soldier to force a Jewish civilian to carry his gear for one mile. It was legal oppression, pure and simple. The Jews resented this rule deeply, and understandably so. Most young Jewish boys even measured out the exact distance from their home so they could drop the soldier’s...  Read More

"And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well." - Matthew 5:40 This verse would have shocked the original audience. In Jesus’ day, a person’s outer cloak was untouchable. It was their right, protected by Mosaic Law. If someone sued you and took everything, they could not take your coat. It was essential for survival and was often used as a blanket at night. Givi...  Read More

“But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” - Matthew 5:39 Most of us know how it feels to be insulted. Maybe someone undercut your reputation, spread lies behind your back, or disrespected you to your face. In those moments, your first instinct is rarely calm and grace. You want to clap back. You want to prove your...  Read More

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” - Matthew 5:14 It is easy to celebrate the moment someone becomes a Christian. That moment of salvation is real, powerful, and life-changing. But the Christian life was never meant to stop at a moment. Jesus did not just invite people to make a decision. He called them to live in a new direction. There is a massive difference...  Read More

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude.” - Colossians 2:6-7 When something feels slow, it can be tempting to call it stuck. That is the challenge with spiritual growth. It rarely shows up in flashy ways. We want visible progress, fast outcomes, and...  Read More

“We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me.” - Colossians 1:28-29 Paul’s words here are not just the expression of a passionate preacher, but of a man consumed by a mission. He was not simply trying to deliver sermons. He was striving to present people as...  Read More

“God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” - Colossians 1:27 When Paul writes that Christ is in you, he is revealing something that had never been clearly understood before. For generations, the presence of God was confined to places. It was in the burning bush, the tabernacle, the holy of holies in the temple. Even...  Read More

“He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” - Colossians 1:18-20 Every church bu...  Read More

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible… and in him all things hold together.” - Colossians 1:15-17 Most people read about Jesus and picture Him walking through dusty villages, healing the sick, and teaching the crowds. That’s true, but it's only part of who He is. Colossians makes it cl...  Read More

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” – Colossians 2:6-7. Have you ever watched someone’s faith completely fall apart? One day, they’re following Jesus and seem strong in their walk. Then the pressure comes. Life gets heavy. Doubts creep in. And the foundation t...  Read More

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness" – James 1:2-3. Yesterday, I made a statement I want to look at further. That is, most people are more eager to be delivered than developed. We pray for rescue, for relief, for the quick way out. But God often chooses development over deliverance because He sees...  Read More

"But he who listens to me shall dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster" – Proverbs 1:33. Sometimes the storms in our lives do not pass quickly. Sometimes they linger. The sky stays gray, the winds keep pounding, and you start wondering how long you’ll have to keep holding on. It’s one thing to have deep roots when a storm hits suddenly and leaves just as fast. It’s another to ...  Read More

"And everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock" - Matthew 7:24. A massive storm swept through Northern California a few years back, tearing down trees that had stood for centuries. One by one, the giant redwoods and pines came crashing to the ground. All except one. There was a single tree that stood tall after the storm passed. It...  Read More

“But let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no.’ Anything more than this is from the evil one.” – Matthew 5:37 Have you ever clicked “I agree” on something without reading the fine print? We all have. That fine print is where people tend to hide the real terms, the stuff that might change your mind if you actually read it. The Pharisees had spiritual fine print behind everything they said....  Read More

“But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person” – Matthew 15:18 Most people think lying is just a mouth issue. But according to Jesus, it’s actually a heart issue. Your words are just the overflow. If truth is going to come out of you, it has to start inside you. Psalm 15 describes a righteous person as someone who acknowledges the truth in their heart and doesn’t...  Read More

"I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak" – Matthew 12:36 When I was a kid, if you talked back or said something you shouldn’t, you’d get your mouth washed out with soap. It sounds crazy now, but back then, it was how adults taught us something important. Your words matter. I still remember a time I got caught lying to my teacher. It didn’t ju...  Read More

"If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." – Matthew 5:29 Jesus didn’t tell us to cope with sin. He told us to cut it off. He wasn’t telling you to literally rip your eye out or chop your hand off. That’s not the point. He was using strong language to make somet...  Read More

“But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” – Matthew 5:28 I want to let you in on a little secret today. You don’t need to be married to start guarding your marriage. That’s right, you don’t need to be in a crisis to start defending your integrity. If sin works from the inside out, then you’d better build your def...  Read More