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April 9, Sunday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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High Priority — This is a very important statement regarding the value Jesus placed on the content of Scripture. He included all of Scripture, “the Law” (the first five books of Moses) and “the Prophets” (the rest of the Old Testament). I have heard some people depreciate the value of certain parts of the Bible, like the negativity of Lamentations or the idealism of Proverbs. Even Martin Luther called the letter of James, “an epistle of straw.” Jesus said that all of it was important, not only in whole, but also in part. The “smallest letter or stroke” (v. 18) might be called the minutiae of Scripture. The Hebrew yod was “the smallest letter” (like an English apostrophe) and the “stroke” was the tiny tail on a letter that differentiated it from another letter. Scripture details were important to Jesus, and they should be important to us as well. Then Jesus moved from a letter-level view of Scripture to a commandment-level view. He said that not even “one of the least of these commandments” should be “annulled” (or “relaxed,” ESV). Paul put the current wide acceptance of a “little white lie” in its proper place with the command, “Do not lie to one another, since you put off the old man with its evil practices” (Col. 3:9). It is not acceptable by God in any situation. It is not a “least commandment.” Jesus said that this “high view” of Scripture should last “until heaven and earth pass away” (Matt. 5:18). The Bible we have is not just a collection of godly suggestions; it is the very Word of God.
I could not find a video for this hymn, but it reflects
Jesus’ emphasis on the importance of God’s Word.
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April 10, Monday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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The Heart of the Law — In yesterday’s reading, we saw the high view of Scripture that Jesus showed, and it continues in today’s passage. Here, He points out the contrast between obeying the letter of the law versus catching the intent of the law. Five times He said, “But I say to you…” (vv. 22, 28, 32, 34, 39), each time emphasizing God’s purpose for the OT commands He mentioned. At the heart of murder is anger (vv. 21-22); at the heart of adultery is lust (vv. 27-28); at the heart of divorce is a lack of love (vv. 31-32); at the heart of a promise is integrity (vv. 33, 37); and at the heart of revenge is a lack of caring (vv. 38-42). Jesus opposed the Pharisees, who placed a high value on outward obedience in religious practices but missed the moral purposes of God’s commands. Jesus wants to see not only our obedience but our motives behind obeying Him. Why do we obey God’s commands? Is it only out of fear for what might happen if we don’t, or is it also out of love for the One who saved us? Let’s concentrate today on our reasons for doing the good things we do. Obey from the heart!
Change My Heart, Oh God – YouTube
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April 11, Tuesday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Meaningful Prayer — What an opportunity! Jesus taught us how to pray. Prayer should always be meaningful. We should guard against praying repetitiously, so that the words don’t become routine, habitual, and unthinking. That is how people pray who do not have a personal relationship with God. Our prayers should begin by honoring God, instead of getting right to the list of things we want Him to take care of. He is our heavenly Father and He is to be hallowed, i.e., to be highly esteemed and respected. Think about your prayer times; do you begin with expressions of appreciation for who God is? We are intimately related to Him (“our Father”), but He is infinitely above us—our Creator and our Savior. Before we get to what we want Him to do for us, we should express our desire that we want His will to be accomplished in our lives: “Your will be done on earth…” (v. 10)—what He wants before what we want. If we are honest, many of our requests are more like, “My will be done on earth…” Notice that there is only one personal, material request here: “Give us this day our daily bread” (v. 11). The rest is spiritually oriented. “Forgive our debts” is a conditional request; it comes “as we also have forgiven our debtors” (v. 12). That conditional idea is amplified in verse 14 with the statements, “if you forgive…” and “if you do not forgive…” We need God’s forgiveness because we fail, but we must also have God’s forgiving attitude toward other people. This model prayer closes with the recognition of our struggle with temptation and sin. It is a request to be protected from falling into Satan’s traps of succumbing to sin when we are burdened with trials. Our prayers should reflect high honor to God, a desire for what He wants, satisfaction for our material needs, acknowledgement of our failures, and our need for God’s protection against temptations to sin.
Lord, Teach Us How to Pray Aright – YouTube
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April 12, Wednesday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Empty Words and Works — Jesus is all-knowing, whereas mankind can be self-deceiving. Jesus knows what is behind a person’s words in calling Him “Lord” (meaning “master”). Jesus said that His true servant “does the will of My Father who is in heaven” (v. 21). It is more than just doing the deeds of the Father, but also doing His will. Strangely, verse 22 seems to imply that some lost people could accomplish miraculous things in the name of Jesus. That could emphasize just how powerful the name of Jesus is, or it might suggest that there was some human deception involved. The seven Jewish sons of Sceva were comically unsuccessful in attempting to cast out a demon in the name of Jesus (Acts 19:13-17). At the end, the bottom line will show that entering heaven is not based on words or works, but rather on relationship (“I never knew you”—v. 23). It is only after one personally surrenders to Jesus, having His Spirit dwell in the heart, that the words and the works can be meaningful and effective. That is why we Christians can experience a bit of heaven here on earth.
Lord, We Hear Your Word with Gladness – YouTube
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April 13, Thursday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Hearing and Doing — There is only one variable in this comparative story. The words of Jesus were the same and the threat of the storm was the same. The only difference was application—some only heard the words, while others applied them to their lives in obedience. Hearing the words of Jesus was superficial—everyone heard them. Believing and applying them were actions of a wise man or woman who recognized that the foundation of their life must be set on something solid. Jesus’ teaching was very different from what the crowd was used to hearing. The scribes taught by quoting what previous rabbis had said about certain passages of Scripture. When Jesus taught, He offered only His own opinion about what the Law and the Prophets had said. He was the authority. Although “the crowds were astonished at His teaching” (Matt. 7:28), only some of them were willing to believe and obey the words they heard. When we read these passages every day, let’s ask ourselves, “How can I apply this to my life today?” That is foundation-thinking.
How Firm a Foundation – YouTube
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April 14, Friday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Worthy Faith — I was struck by the difference between the centurion’s humility and the Jewish leader’s evaluation of him. The Jewish elders said, “He is worthy … he loves our nation and … built us our synagogue” (vv. 4-5). The basis of their plea for Jesus’ help was the centurion’s value—He deserved it! On the other hand, the centurion showed great humility, saying, “I am not good enough … I did not even consider myself worthy…” (vv. 6-7). The centurion was right and the elders wrong: He wasn’t worthy—He didn’t deserve Jesus’ help—he needed grace. Jesus responded positively to humility. When we pray, asking for divine help, we need to remember humility. Secondly, Jesus responded to faith. The centurion understood authority and the chain of command in the military. Somehow, he also seemed to know that the same structure existed in the spiritual realm: Jesus had been sent by the Father and was under His authority, but He also had authority over other things, like sickness. It was a remarkable expression of faith, and Jesus “marveled at him” and called it “great faith” (v. 9). The Gentile centurion wasn’t worthy, but he had worthy faith.
My Faith Looks Up To Thee – YouTube
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April 15, Saturday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Feeling Compassion — This is the second of six encounters Jesus had with people in which it is recorded that a miracle was motivated by His compassion. The first one was the ceremonially unclean leper who came to ask Jesus to heal him (Mark 1:41). Jesus didn’t become unclean when He touched him, but He made it possible for him to be clean through healing. In today’s reading, Jesus also touched something ceremonially unclean—the coffin of a dead man being carried out of a city for burial (Luke 7:14). Again, Jesus was not negatively affected by the touch, but a dead man was given life. In the case of the leper, Jesus seemed to have been moved with compassion because of the man’s physical hopelessness and his expressed faith. With the dead man, however, Jesus seemed to be moved only with compassion for the need of the mother. This mother had a great emotional need; she had lost her only son and was understandably crying (v. 13). There was also a great economic need—she was a widow, with no husband to support her, and her only son had been her sole hope for future financial support. Jesus cares! He cares about both our emotional and economic needs. This is the first of only a few records we have of Jesus raising a dead person to life again, and many people witnessed it. There was “a large crowd” (v. 11) with Jesus, and there was “a sizeable crowd” (v. 12) in the funeral procession leaving the city. When they saw the miracle, “fear gripped them all” (v. 16a), which was a positive fear in the sense of awe because their response was that of “glorifying God.” They were right when they said, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited His people!” (v. 16b). God is still visiting people in spiritual ways in our time, too, as probably thousands of people are being raised to new life every day through being born again.
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