Category Archives: Matthew

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It’s All Small Stuff!

Nothing That Seems Hard To You Is Hard For God

What are you facing—a physical challenge, a financial situation, a problem at work, guilt over a past sin, a broken marriage, an impossible addiction or a defeating habit? What is your paralysis? Whatever it is, no matter how big of a deal it seems to you, it’s all small stuff to Jesus, because he is God. As you face the things in your life today that have paralyzed you with fear, anxiety, guilt, anger or inaction, take to heart the words of the prophet Jeremiah, “Nothing is too hard for you.”

The Journey: Matthew 9:5-7

“Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” And the man jumped up and went home!!

I’ve always loved that line: “Is it easier…?” If I had been the one in this situation instead of Jesus, I would likely have said, “Which is harder?” But Jesus was God, and he didn’t sweat the small stuff—and to him, it was all small stuff.

That’s why he could forgive sins just as easily as he could heal a paralytic. That’s why he could raise a little girl from death, heal a woman with a twelve-year issue of blood, open blind eyes, equip a mute man with speech, and drive demons from those in the devil’s bondage. It was all small stuff to Jesus because he was God.

And what about your life? What are you facing—a physical challenge, a financial situation, a problem at work, guilt over a past sin, a broken marriage, an impossible addiction or a defeating habit? What is your paralysis? Whatever it is, no matter how big of a deal it seems to you, it’s all small stuff to Jesus, because he is God.

As you face the things in your life today that have paralyzed you with fear, anxiety, guilt, anger or inaction, take to heart the words of the prophet in Jeremiah 32:17,

O Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth
by your great power. Nothing is too difficult for you.

The well-known preacher, Charles Spurgeon, put it another way: “When you have no helpers, see your helpers in God. When you have many helpers, see God in all your helpers. When you have nothing but God, see all in God. When you have everything, see God in everything. Under all conditions, stay thy heart only on the Lord.”

So don’t sweat the small stuff—because it is all small stuff to Jesus.

Write out on a piece of paper that which has you emotionally and spiritually paralyzed. Now fold the paper until it is a small square and write on it, “Small Stuff”. Once you’ve done that, then in the most dramatic (but safe and legal) way you can imagine, get rid of the paper once and for all! From this moment on, in faith trust that Jesus has taken care of it.

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. So I give you everything on my plate today that seems hard. Please handle it for me!
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God Was Here

What Further Proof Do You Need

If his words are divinely authoritative, if no physical malady can withstand his healing touch, if demons wither in his presence, if even the storms of this world have to obey him, then what is keeping you from offering your full faith, total obedience and complete surrender to Jesus? What further proof do you need that a loving God has come close to you in the person of Jesus Christ? In light of who he is and what he can do, why not give him your unconditional devotion today!

The Journey: Matthew 8:27

The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!”

When Jesus finished his inaugural sermon—the Sermon on the Mount—he came down off the mountain and got busy doing the things the Savior of the World had to do. In launching his ministry among the Jews as their Messiah, his claims to Divine status had to be authenticated.

Authenticate he did! He taught the people as no one had ever done before. The closing comments in chapter 7 as Jesus finished the Sermon on the Mount describes hearers that were truly awestruck with his teaching—it was done with a power and authority they had never witnessed before. Surely this was proof that God was here.

Then Jesus cleansed a leper (8:1-4) — a hopeless, repugnant condition that brought humiliation and isolation to the sufferer, a person’s worst nightmare. Jesus actually touched this man who had not enjoyed even the most basic human contact in who knows how long, and the man was immediately healed. Truly this was proof that God was here.

After that, Jesus reached out to a non-Jew, a spiritual and social “no-no” in that day, and with a simple verbal command, a Roman centurion’s paralyzed servant, who wasn’t even physically present, was healed (verses 5-13). Jesus then healed Peter’s mother-in-law as well as a host of other infirmed and afflicted people (verses 14-17). Some of those whom he healed were severely tormented by evil spirits, and with the word of his mouth, Jesus delivered each one of them and banished the demons from tormenting them further (verses 16,28-34). Surely this was proof that God was here.

But perhaps the most dramatic exercise of his Divine authority was the calming of the storm (verses 23-27). As Jesus and his disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee, a fierce storm arose and the men literally feared for their lives, while Jesus slept in the boat. Then, with as much ease as it takes to brush a piece of lint off a garment, Jesus arose and rebuked the storm, and it subsided.

At this, the disciples, who had heard his spell-binding teaching, had witnessed his miracles of healing, had seen demons flee like little squealing school girls from his presence, dropped their jaws in amazement: even the physical universe submitted to his commands. Truly this was the living proof of a personal, powerful God. Surely Jesus was Lord and Savior of the world! Without a doubt, this was proof that God was here.

So here’s the deal: If Jesus’ words are Divinely authoritative, if no physical malady can withstand his healing touch, if demons wither in his presence, if even the storms of this world have to obey him, then why can’t you be confident in the face of any problem in your life right now?

What is keeping you from putting full faith and exercising full obedience in Jesus Christ? What further proof do you need that a loving God has come to you in the person of Jesus Christ? In light of who he is and what he can do, why not do today what the Roman centurion did 2,000 years ago: Give him your complete trust and full devotion. How awesome it would be if Jesus could say of you,

I’ve yet to come across this kind of simple trust anywhere. (Matthew 8:10, The Message)

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, I want to trust you with the trust of that Roman centurion. You are Lord over disease, demons, and even the elements of the physical world, and you deserve to be the Lord of my life. This day, remove any doubts, fears and reluctances so that I might give you my complete trust and my full devotion, and more than ever before, take over my life.
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Showing Off

Faith Gets God’s Attention

Faith gets God’s attention. There is just something about a person who realizes their total dependence on God, expresses their utter helplessness before him, declares both in their words and by their actions radical trust in his loving and benevolent character, and then adjusts their entire being going forward to reflect security in his care and competence. That gets a second look from the Almighty. In fact, the God of wonder stops in admiration of such childlike faith.

The Journey: Matthew 8:10

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!

We have all done things from time to time to impress people—it’s just human nature. Little kids act up to get the attention of adults in the room; teenage boys do strange things to impress the young ladies; twenty-eight-year olds return for their ten-year high school reunion to show how successful they’ve become to their classmates. Men with a receding hairline and an expanding waistline buy a little red sports car to prove they can still get a second look from the gals.

Showing off is just a part of human nature. We do it because we want to feel vital and valued. It is not always a bad thing; it is usually not a good thing. We human beings have a “show off” gene that before the arrival of sin led us to lean into God for our security, significance and satisfaction. Now, at best, it mostly results in wasted energy; at worst, it steers us into the deep weeds of frustration, unhappiness and regret.

As much time as we spend showing off to impress others, what if we spent it showing off to impress God? What? Do you mean that we can actually do something that causes God a second look? Well, apparently Jesus was pretty impressed with this Roman officer herein Matthew 8. When he saw the faith of this guy, he was blown away. The Greek word for “amazed” in this text means that he marveled at this man and truly admired him.

Yeah, faith impresses God. It gets his attention—it always has. Check out Abraham in Genesis 15:6 or read the long list of the ruthlessly faithful in Hebrews 11. In fact, Hebrews 11:6 says, “It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”

Faith gets God’s attention. There is just something about a person who realizes their total dependence on God, expresses their utter helplessness before him, declares both in their words and by their actions radical trust in his loving and benevolent character, and then adjusts their entire being going forward to reflect security in his care and competence. That gets a second look from the Almighty. In fact, the God of wonder stops in admiration of such childlike faith.

I love how Brennan Manning puts it: “Unwavering trust is a rare and precious thing because it often demands a degree of courage that borders on the heroic.”

I would say that God is easily impressed. It just takes a little faith to do it. And I’ll bet you can do that!

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, you have said that it is impossible to please you without faith. You’ve also said that you are pleased with and reward the faith of those who come to you—even in simple, heartfelt, childlike faith. So today, I come in faith, and I simply yet boldly ask you for a greater measure of God-pleasing faith.
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God Wants Your Heart – Nothing Less

Jesus' Most Sobering Words

Measuring the love within a person’s heart is not such an easy thing to do. That’s why people want to base their worth and acceptability before God by what they do—something far more easily measured. But over and again, the Bible points out that it is not what we do that earns any credit with God, it is all based on what he has done for us. We cannot earn our salvation—we can only give effort to doing the good things that gratefully saved people ought to do.

The Journey: Matthew 7:21

Not everyone who calls out to me, “Lord! Lord!” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, “Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.” But I will reply, “I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.”

“I never knew you!” Those are truly sobering words, aren’t they! They used to scare me a lot in my younger day of faith. I mean, if a person can be doing all those things for God—prophesying biblical truth, casing out demons, even performing miracles…all things that are pretty high on the “things I’d like to do for God” list—and still get rejected by God, wow, who can walk confidently in their faith, who can truly have the assurance of salvation?

But here is the deal: True Christianity is not first of all a religion of the hands, it is a relationship of the heart. It is not so much what you do for God to earn his favor, it is accepting what God has done for you through the death and resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ that counts. Before anything we do for God must come a heart full of love for him. What does a heart full of love for God look like? Simply this: gratitude for what he has done and wonder at his undeserved gift of mercy and grace that saved a wretched, unworthy sinner like me. It is the heart that matters!

Now obviously, measuring the love within a person’s heart is not such an easy thing to do. That’s why people want to base their worth and acceptability before God by what they do—something far more easily measured. But over and again, the Bible points out that it is not what we do that earns any credit with God, it is all based on what he has done for us. We cannot earn our salvation—we can only give effort to doing the good things that gratefully saved people ought to do.

There is one thing, however, that evidences our love for God more anything else: When we love other people as ourselves. In fact, Jesus said the first greatest law of God was to love God with all your heart, mind and spirit, and the second greatest law was to love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39, NLT) Here is another way to look at that: You can’t love God without loving people, and you can’t truly love people without loving God.

So when Jesus said to those who had worked so hard for their salvation, “I never knew you, get away from me you who break God’s laws”, what he was really saying was this:

Go away! You obviously didn’t know me because you didn’t fulfill the two greatest laws of all—to love God wholeheartedly, and out of that love for him, to love others as much as you loved yourself.

God wants your heart—your response to his love that shows itself in a delighting, awestruck, grateful head-over-heels love for him and a tender, compassionate, serving love for others.

Really now, isn’t that relieving? All you and I have to do is love God so much so that it just overflows from our hearts back toward him and out toward others. And after all that he has done for us, I personally think that shouldn’t be such a hard ting to do!

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, I confess that I don’t truly love others like I love you. I find them irritating, bothersome, and exhausting. Please give me a fresh baptism of grace that I might love people as you do!
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Fruit Inspectors

We're Not To Judge; We're To Inspect The Fruit

The world has used Jesus’ words, “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged”, as a sledgehammer against Christians who take a stand on the cultural issues of our day, but Jesus never intended his words to intimidate believers into moral silence. The truth is, we have been called to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) both to wayward Christians as well as lost people who are headed for a Christless eternity. Who better to stand on the wall as moral and spiritual watchman than an authentic Christ-follower?

The Journey: Matthew 7:16

You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

When I was growing up, I remember hearing the pastor of our church, who happened to be my dad, exhort our small congregation with these words of wisdom: “The Bible says we’re not supposed to judge other people, but it doesn’t say we shouldn’t be inspecting their fruit.” In light of what Jesus taught here in Matthew 7, he was standing on solid theological ground.

Now the world has used Jesus’ words in verse 1, “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged”, as a sledgehammer against Christians who take a stand on the cultural issues of our day, but Jesus never intended his words to intimidate believers into moral silence. The truth is, we have been called to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) both to wayward Christians as well as lost people who are headed for a Christless eternity. Who better to stand on the wall as moral and spiritual watchman than an authentic Christ-follower?

Our calling as ambassadors for Christ is to compel people to righteousness, but we are to do so without being self-righteousness and moralistic. If we fail at that, truly our judgmentalism becomes a turn off to everyone—sinners, saints and even God himself. And while we have failed at that on occasion, past failure is no reason to abdicate a role that is critical to the salvation of the lost.

Now as it relates to Matthew 7, what we need to understand is that when Jesus spoke against judging in verses 1-8, he was specifically taking a stand against what had become the national pastime in Israel: evaluating the spirituality of others by their outward observance of the Mosaic law and their acts of religious piety. The fact is, Jesus said in verses 21-23 that there will be those who were pretty good at being religious and who will be able to claim an amazing track record of goods deeds, but will still be refused entrance into the eternal kingdom when they stand before God. Thinking religious piety was their meal ticket to heaven, they will be shocked and dismayed to discover that their good deeds didn’t get them “in” with God—only grace can do that.

So in that regard, we are not to be judgmental, as the Jews had become. We are, however, to evaluate the spiritual quality of those who claim to know Christ by inspecting the fruit being produced from their lives. We are to “know them by their fruit.” What is “knowable” fruit in the life of Christian?

  • The fruit of repentance: John the Baptist called attention to that in Matthew 3:8. This is the first fruit we can observe in a God-honoring life—a complete turn around from sinful patterns to the pursuit of God’s righteousness.
  • The fruit of abiding in Christ: Jesus addressed this in John 15, saying that when a believer is fundamentally connected to him, the True Vine, there will be much fruit that brings great joy to the believer and much glory to God the Father.
  • The fruit of resourcing the work of the Gospel: In Romans 15:14-29 Paul speaks of the fruit that comes when we give to God’s work: redeemed souls and relieved suffering.
  • The fruit of the Spirit: The most revealing fruit of authentic faith and growth in Christ is the fruit the indwelling Spirit produces in the believer—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
  • The fruit of the light: Ephesians 5:8-12 speaks of observable fruit in a believer that consists of goodness, righteousness and truth.
  • The fruit of praise: Our lips are to offer up the sacrifice of praise that glorifies God through Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 13:14-16)

For sure, we must avoid the spiritual pitfall of becoming judgmental. Nothing destroys Kingdom life quite like that. But if we are going to protect God’s family from false believers and fake teachers, if we are going to exhort and admonish one another on toward growth in grace and the character of Christ, and if we are going to call a lost world to a loving God, we can’t shy away from inspecting the fruit once in a while.

And a good place to start is by inspecting your own! That in itself will most definitely keep you from being judgmental.

Do a little fruit inspection in your own life today. Is there visible fruit in the areas the New Testament calls to fruitfulness?

  • The fruit of repentance—Matthew 3:8
  • The fruit of abiding in Christ—John 15:5-8
  • The fruit of resourcing the work of the Gospel—Romans 15:14-29
  • The fruit of the Spirit—Galatians 5:22-23
  • The fruit of the light—Ephesians 5:8-12
  • The fruit of praise—Hebrews 13:14-16

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, make me a fruit Christian.
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What’s My Motivation?

Anything Other Than Seeking The Kingdom Is Unacceptable

If you want to be a part of Christ’s rule, then your motives for doing what you do must change. That’s why Jesus challenges you to invest in God’s kingdom above all else — “lay up treasures in heaven…” That’s why he calls you to eschew the all-consuming pursuit of stuff, exchanging that worldly passion with a kingdom passion — “But seek first the Kingdom of God…” Jesus calls you to closely examine your life because the growth of the Kingdom of God in your heart is riding on what you allow the driving motivation of your life to be.

The Journey: Matthew 6:33

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

What is your motivation? Why do you do what you do? How would the people who have a front row seat to the drama of your life—your spouse, your children, your friends, your classmates, your co-workers — describe the passion that drives you?

Let me explain why I ask these questions? Bear with me, because I want to take a moment before I come back to this question of motivation.

We have a tendency in reading Scripture to focus more on individual verses rather than the entirety of a passage. This is certainly the case with the Sermon on the Mount — particularly chapter 6.

Keep in mind that when Jesus first delivered this sermon, it was not written; it was spoken. It didn’t have verse numbers or paragraph headings; it was delivered as a whole thought. It was not delivered in one-liners or in sound-bytes. I don’t think Jesus prepared it with the thought that it would one day be great fodder for Scripture memory.

In this sermon, Jesus was revealing to his disciples for the first time what the Kingdom life was all about — the ways and means of God’s rule and how its citizens would flesh that out in day-to-day living.

When you read Matthew 6 from that perspective, then everything about this wonderful chapter — Christ’s teaching on giving, fasting, the Heavenly Father’s concern for our needs, and the most beloved part of all, the Lord’s Prayer — must be run through the filter of one key idea: Motivation.

That’s why Jesus says that your giving to the needy (verses 1-4), your praying (verses 5-15), and your fasting (verses 16-18), must be done secretly — that is, quietly and not with the motive to impress other people with your spirituality. That’s why he says you can’t serve both God and money at the same time (verse 24). That’s why he calls you to a worry-free life that doesn’t get hung up on material things of this world (verses 25-34).

He is saying that if you want to be a part of his kingdom, then your motives for doing what you do must change. That’s why he challenges you to invest in God’s Kingdom — “lay up treasures in heaven…” (verse 19-21). That’s why he calls you to eschew the all-consuming pursuit of stuff, exchanging that worldly passion with a kingdom passion — “But seek first the Kingdom of God…” (verse 33).

Jesus is calling you to a higher, purer, better motivation for life: the health and welfare of the Kingdom of God. And when you make God’s Kingdom your first and highest pursuit through giving, praying, fasting, then your whole being will be infected by something eternal — namely, the presence of God. The purposes of God will drive your behavior, the power of God will sustain your efforts, and the pleasure of God will be your chief end. When your motives as a citizen of the Kingdom of God thus have been sanctified, you will live for the glory of God alone — Soli Deo Gloria!

So Jesus calls you to closely examine your life (reread verses 22-23) because the growth of the Kingdom of God in your heart is riding on what you allow the driving motivation of your life to be.

What’s your motivation? Why do you do what you do? What would others say the consuming passion of your life is?

Jesus would say, “store up treasures in heaven; start making kingdom investments. They produce better returns in the long run, and in the short term, your Heavenly Father, who knows exactly what you need, will provide it.”

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

Heavenly Father, I want to be a Kingdom chaser. I want to have a consuming passion for the things that you care about. Cleanse me from the wasteful pursuit of the temporary. May it be said of me by all of heaven and the people who know me on this earth, “he sought first the Kingdom of God; he pursued God’s righteousness with an all-consuming passion”.
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The Kind of Prayer God Likes—Honest, Simple, Intimate

When You Pray, Keep It Real

Prayer was meant to be intimate. Too often, we make it intimidating. Jesus is calling us out of the legalistic, joyless, intimidation of misunderstood and malpracticed prayer to an authentic, intimate, simple day-by-day, moment-by-moment practice of the presence of God. That is the kind of prayer that pleases God more than anything. “When you pray” like that, the Father opens up all of heaven to you!

The Journey: Matthew 6:5

When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.

In Jesus’ day, prayer had been hijacked. The culprits were the religious leaders and the Pharisee—Jesus called them “hypocrites”. They had turned the simple and wonderful practice of talking to God into a ritualized, formalized, mechanized and stylized event. As a result, something meant to connect people with God had turned into a intimidating, joyless experience since few people were eloquent enough to pull off the impressive public prayers demanded by the spiritual elite.

This misuse and abuse of prayer disgusted Jesus, the master of prayer. So in a teaching moment that was both scathing, yet soothing at the same time, he sat the record straight as to what the kind of prayer that truly pleases God really looked like.

First of all, Jesus taught that God-pleasing prayer is authentic. Jesus said in verse 5, “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them.” The hypocrites—the Pharisees and religious leaders—were pretentious. Their motive for praying was to impress the crowds, but they were anything but real. God wasn’t, and isn’t, impressed by the style or the content of our prayers. He’s moved by our honesty—even if it is not too articulate and especially when it is heartfelt. Jesus is saying that God want his children to just “get real” before him.

Secondly, Jesus taught that God-pleasing prayer is intimate. Verse 6 says, “when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private.” The use of the name “Father” isn’t a mistake. Jesus is painting an altogether different picture of what God intended prayer to be than what man had turned it into. Jesus is referring to a childlike quality and posture that prayer is to take before the Father. That’s because God-pleasing prayer is really a parent-child exchange. It is simply being with a Father who longs to be close to his kids.

Finally, Jesus taught that God-pleasing prayer is simple. He said in verse 7, “don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.” I can’t help but think if Jesus was here today to teach us about prayer, he would instruct us in the KISS method: Keep it simple, sweetheart!

Jesus is calling us out of the legalistic, joyless, intimidation of misunderstood and malpracticed prayer to an authentic, intimate, simple day-by-day, moment-by-moment practice of the presence of God. That is the kind of prayer that pleases God more than anything. “When you pray” like that, the Father opens up all of heaven to you!

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, I love you. I worship you. I need you. I am yours. That’s all!