Saturday, October 6, 2012

Matthew 11-12

Daily Reading
Matthew 11-12

Daily Thought

John the Baptist is the one prophesied to announce the coming of Messiah, "Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you" (Matthew 11:10; cf Malachi 3:1). Now in prison, he asks of Jesus, "Are you the one?" (Matthew 11:3). Jesus says just watch me, "the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them" (Matthew 11:5). You will know who I am by what I do.

This is true for each of us, "The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil" (Matthew 12:35), and the religious leaders fail miserably. They see the good Jesus does, healing a man with a withered hand, then another, a demon-possessed man both blind and mute. "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons," accused the Pharisees (Matthew 12:24); an accusation which Jesus says is unforgivable, "whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven" (Matthew 12:32). Apparently, what we say is just as important. Simply put, we must not only walk our talk, but talk our walk, as well.

"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." ~Matthew 12:34

Daily Prayer

God, thank You for rescuing me. Without You, my life was heading in the wrong direction. No direction, actually. Even the good things I did had little value. They made me feel better for a moment, but they were only bandages on a deeper wound. Your salvation gave birth to true love inside me. It is a love that sacrifices, that does not seek my own, but rather serves others in Your Name.

I did not recognize You at first. Who expects the God of the universe to come humbly and sacrifice Himself for my sake? What an amazing love. What an amazing Savior.

Amen

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