Category: Making Disciples

Pharaoh and the Parable of the Four Soils – Exodus 9 – 2025 Day 117

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 87, Exodus 9

Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Plead with the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” … But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses.

Exodus 9:27-28, 34-35 ESV

When I read Pharaoh’s emotional reaction to the seventh plague, I was reminded of the parable of the four soils in Matthew 13 which we read last month.

In this parable, a sower scatters seed in a variety of soils. Some soil is so hard that the seed never even begins to take root, and the seeds are eaten by birds before they even sprout. Other soil is rocky, but there’s enough good soil there that the seed begins to grow but it can never put down solid roots and persecution and tribulation causes these seeds to die. Still other seeds are scattered among thorny ground where the seeds are able to put down roots and even begin to grow, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the plant’s growth so it never bears any fruit. And then there’s the fourth soil, the good soil, that allows the seed to put down strong roots and bear fertile fruit, yielding thirty, sixty, or even a hundred-fold multiplication. (Read it for yourself in Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23)

First, let’s remember that these seeds were all scattered by the same sower. It’s not about using better techniques – speaking more eloquent words or drawing better diagrams. Moses’s faltering speech is not to blame for Pharaoh’s lack of true repentance. Yes, get trained to share the gospel … But don’t blame yourself when the seeds don’t take root.

The words of the young man who shared the gospel with me took root and bore fruit – not because he spoke “just the right words” (he didn’t) – but because God had prepared the soil of my heart.

If you share the gospel with someone and they aren’t brought to repentance and salvation, don’t be discouraged. Keep sharing. Keep scattering seed. God might be using you to prepare the soil for the next sower who comes along.

Secondly, remember the importance of continued outreach and discipleship after the seeds are scattered. Unfortunately, it seems that many people have misunderstood the Great Commission as being simply a charge to “preach the good news” rather than “go and make disciples.” Preaching the good news is the first step in making disciples, but our job doesn’t end there. Matthew 28:19-20 goes on to say that disciple makers are to baptize and teach the new disciples.

A lack of ongoing discipleship is one reason why thorns grow up and choke out the growth of newly planted seeds. New believers need to be encouraged and taught so they can bear fruit and keep those thorny cares of the world from choking them.

Finally, remember that we are working together as fellow workers, fellow laborers, fellow gardeners in God’s fields. Like Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:6-9, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.”

God is ultimately who gives the growth. Keep scattering. Keep watering. Keep going out into those fields with eyes open to the harvest, but remember that it is God who makes the soil, and the seed, and the sower and it’s up to Him to make it grow.

Please pray with me.

Heavenly Father, please grow us so we can send out a multitude of seeds and shoots and produce a plentiful harvest for Your glory. Make us like those bountiful mustard plants that take over whole fields. Make us faithful sowers and tenders and harvesters. Help us to be disciple-makers, laboring day after day in Your fields. Whether our labors bear ten-fold or hundred-fold, we know that it is You who bring the growth, so help us keep our eyes fixed on You and our minds set on the things that are above. We love You, and we trust You, for You are good and mighty, and Your Word is true and trustworthy. In the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.

Would you like to learn more about how to make disciples and be co-laborers in the harvest? Check out No Place Left for some great tools to help you!

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Keith and Kristyn Getty – By Faith

That All the Nations Might Know the Lord – Exodus 7-8 – 2025 Day 116

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 86, Exodus 7-8

I’ve always had a heart for the nations. As a little girl, I wanted a “rainbow family” of a dozen children adopted from all different nations. As a middle schooler, my closest friends were from the Middle East and the Far East. When I graduated high school, I spent a month in France putting those four years of French classes to use.

But all those years I was an atheist. I wasn’t trying to share the good news with anyone. I just liked traveling and trying new, interesting things.

Fast forward to present day, and God has fanned into flame my heart for the nations – because it’s His heart, too. Our Father God loves people from every different tribe and nation and tongue, every hair color and skin color and eye color. All are equally sinners in the sight of a perfectly holy God, and all are equally precious in the sight of a perfectly loving God.

“The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”

Exodus 7:5 ESV

God has dual purposes in bringing the plagues upon the people of Egypt. He is going to rescue His own people out of slavery, but He is also going to show Himself to the Egyptian people – that they will know that He is Jehovah, the Great I Am, the Lord God Almighty.

God has purpose for everything He does. Sometimes we can be so self-focused that we think that the things happening in our lives are all about us, forgetting that God is also showing Himself to the people around us through the trials and joys that we are in.

For me, losing a baby wasn’t just about me. It was also about my husband, and my older daughter, my in-laws and my neighbors, my friends at church and the people I’d meet twenty years later at the grocery store, and especially about a little boy who was going to be born halfway around the world and need a family.

Friends, if you know Jesus, then your life is no longer your own. You’ve been bought with a price so you can glorify God in your body. You have been made holy and acceptable to God through the sacrifice of His son, now let your life be a living sacrifice – an offering that keeps on offering itself day after day – back to Him, that all the nations might know that He alone is God. (See 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Romans 12:1-2, 1 Kings 8:60, Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:19-20)

Let’s pray together.

Heavenly Father, what a blessing and honor to be called Your child and to be used by You to accomplish Your purposes here on earth! There is none like You! We pray all that nations You have made will come and worship before You and glorify Your name. Help us to remember that we are no longer our own, that we have been bought with a price, not with worthless things like gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb of God. We love You, and we thank You for your mercy and grace. We pour our praise back to You with hearts full of gratitude. In the Name of our Savior and Lord Jesus we pray, Amen.

Psalm 86:8-12
There is None like You – Shane and Shane
There is None Like You – Pang –
with Chinese subtitles

O Lord, Why Did You Ever Send Me? – Exodus 5-6 – 2025 Day 115

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Read Through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 85, Exodus 5-6

People have often asked me my thoughts about sharing the gospel in places where there is a very real risk of persecution. My response has always been something along these lines, “This world is not our home. We are all just sojourners, passing through a foreign land on our way to our final destination: heaven or hell. We have to stop being so earthly minded. We have to fix our eyes – and our minds – on eternity. We have to be faithful to share the gospel and make disciples of all nations like Jesus commanded in Matthew 28.”

I was thinking about that today when I read,

Then Moses turned to the LORD
and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

Exodus 5:22-23 ESV

Do you believe that heaven and hell are real? Are they eternal? How is a person’s final destination determined?

The answers to those questions will determine the answers to these questions:

  • What if I study the Bible with someone and they end up losing their job because of their faith?
  • What if I tell someone about Jesus and their husband ends up leaving them as a result of their new faith?
  • What if I share the good news with someone and they end up in jail?

I’m not saying we should be reckless, cavalier, or foolish, but I am saying that if God is calling you to share the good news – which He is – you should be more concerned about the results of your disobedience to Him than the results of your obedience to Him.

It’s true that the Israelites faced greater  trials, albeit temporary ones, as a result of Moses’s confrontation with the Pharaoh, but it’s also true that much greater long-term joys of freedom were coming!

Will you pray with me?

Heavenly Father, You have told us to go and make disciples of all nations. You have promised that You will be with us. Please strengthen those who are living in dangerous lands, and please strengthen us who are living lives of such comfort and ease. Help us to know You more intimately that we might be willing to suffer for the gospel and for our brothers and sisters who are in harm’s way. Please protect us all from the enemy’s schemes and help us to keep our eyes fixed on You. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

Psalm 85 – Francesca LaRosa

Please, Lord, Send Someone Else! – Exodus 3-4 – 2025 Day 114

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 84, Exodus 3-4

Have you ever felt inadequate? Incapable? Inept? Have you ever felt like there was no way you could accomplish the task that has been set before you? Maybe you feel that way right now.

Maybe you can relate all too well to Moses’s words,

“Oh, my Lord,
please send someone else.”

Exodus 4:13 ESV

As a new homeschooling mom, I struggled for years with those kinds of feelings. “God, I can’t do this! It’s too hard! I don’t know what I’m doing! I’m going to ruin them! They’d be better off at school!”

So, every spring I’d make an appointment to go visit the local Christian school, and my husband and I would reconsider sending our kids there. But every spring we instead chose to recommit ourselves to the task that the Lord had given us to disciple our children at home.

This spring marks my 23rd and final year homeschooling. In 25 days, my youngest son will walk across the stage and receive his homeschool diploma. To God be the glory. The Lord has grown both my skills and my faith.  He remains faithful even when I am faithless, and His power is made perfect in my weakness. The Lord has given me and my family what we need to complete the tasks that He has entrusted to us.

But, friends, what if I had chosen to send my kids to school? What if I had complained and complained and complained and refused the task that the Lord had called me to? What then?

Well, here’s what I think — I think God would’ve sent someone else. Like God sent Aaron to help complete the job, God would’ve sent someone else to teach my children. My kids would’ve learned to read and write and spell under someone else’s instruction, and I would’ve missed the blessing of having discipled my kids hour after hour and day after day and year after year.

My children would’ve missed the blessings of figuring out how to get along with each other. My children would’ve missed the blessings of doing chores together and memorizing the Bible together and singing hymns off-key together. But they would’ve gotten through school somehow.

God would’ve made a way, because He is God and my children are His workmanship.

Listen, friends, if you don’t tell that person at the grocery store about Jesus, God will send someone else. If you don’t share the gospel with that lady sitting next to you at your son’s Little League baseball game, God will send someone else. If you don’t raise your children to trust in Christ, God will send someone else. I’m walking proof of that.

  • Jonah tried to run, but God sent a whale to change his mind.
  • Pharaoh tried to kill all the Hebrew baby boys, but Moses was spared.
  • Saul tried to wipe out the Christians, but God chose to open his eyes and open his mouth and make him His mouthpiece for the gospel.

God’s purposes will stand. No purpose of His can be thwarted. (Job 42:2) You aren’t that important. You aren’t that powerful. You can’t stand in God’s way.

But, friends, the joys and blessings that you’ll miss!!! Oh, to look back on the fullness of the last 23 years! To remember how the Lord carried us. To see how the Lord worked in me and through me, growing me and growing my kids! I would’ve missed it.

To see the people that you’ve discipled growing in their faith, there’s nothing like it. I don’t want to miss fulfilling God’s calling … and neither do you!

So, friends, let me encourage you: don’t be like Moses, complaining that you can’t do it and begging God to send someone else. Rather, cling to the words of Mordecai to Esther,

“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Esther 4:14

Ephesians 2:10 ESV — For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Isaiah 14:27 ESV — For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?

Daniel 4:35 ESV — all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

Proverbs 19:21 ESV — Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.

Heavenly Father,

What a blessing it is to know my life has purpose! What a blessing it is to be Your child and to serve you! What a blessing it is to be Your workmanship and to know that You have prepared good works for me to do, and that I can walk in them by Your Spirit at work in me.

I pray that I will be faithful to accomplish each of the tasks that You have given me to do. I pray that my eyes will be fixed on You, the One who is able to do far more abundantly than I could ever ask or imagine! You are the God of the impossible.

Help me not to trust in my own strength or my own abilities, but to trust in You who is able to do all things. It is in the mighty name of Jesus Christ that I pray, Amen.

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Psalm 84 I’m Home – Shane and Shane
Better is One Day – Matt Redman

The Spreading Power of Persecution – Exodus 1 – 2025 Day 113

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 82, Exodus 1

But the more they were oppressed,
the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad.

Exodus 1:12a

I recently read a quote that went something like, “When the authorities loosen their grip, the gospel spreads … and when the authorities tighten their grip, the church is trained and becomes more disciplined … but always we are in God’s hands.”

Today in reading the story of the persecution of the young Hebrew nation in Exodus 1, I saw the Lord’s hand in both spreading and training His people, but in this case, persecution is actually what caused the people to spread abroad.

Isn’t that what happened in the dispersion of the new disciples of Jesus Christ who were persecuted for their faith? And how about what happened when God confused the people’s languages at the tower of Babel in Genesis 11? God’s people were dispersed over the face of all the earth as a result of their suffering and hardship, but all the time they were in God’s hands.

I am reminded again and again as I read through the scriptures that my ways are not God’s ways. So often the very thing that seems straight from the pit of hell is exactly what God uses for His glory and my good – if I only keep my eyes open to it. No matter what, I can trust that I am in God’s hands.

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, Help us to trust You no matter what. Help us to believe that You are in control even when life feels out of control. You are always on Your throne. You are working all things together for good. Let us not be ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation for all who believe, both the Jew and the Gentile. Help us to want for the good even of those who persecute us and shame us and say all kinds of evil about us falsely on Your account. We love You and we trust You. Increase our faith, Father. In the matchless name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

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People of the Cross – Selah – Prayer for the Persecuted Church

Making Disciples of All Nations – Matthew 28 – 2025 Day 112

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 81, Matthew 28

The ending of Matthew’s very thorough account of Jesus’s life and ministry feels so sudden. After reading twenty-seven lengthy chapters, Matthew 28 contains only twenty verses, summarizing the resurrection of Christ, Jesus’s appearance to the Mary’s, the bribing of the Roman guards by the Jewish leaders, and some of Jesus’s final words to His disciples,

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20 ESV

So, as we wrap up four weeks spent studying the words of Matthew, let these be my concluding words to you.

Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth. He can do it. Nothing is impossible for Him. You can trust Him. Therefore, you can go with confidence, under His authority, by the power of His Holy Spirit, and make disciples of all nations. He wants to use you. You don’t need to be a ordained minister to share the good news. You don’t need a seminary degree to tell people how to trust in Christ. His Spirit and His Word are all you need. He wants you to share the good news with those who have never heard. But don’t stop there – teach them to observe all that He has commanded in His word. Being a disciple is so much more than just being a fan.

The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. If you’d like to join me in international ministry, leave a comment or send me a message. I’d love to help you get plugged in! Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, What a blessing it is to be a laborer in the harvest! I am so thankful for Your Holy Spirit who lives in me and gives me wisdom. I pray that Your Spirit would guide me to those who are hungering to hear the good news and those who need to be discipled to obey Your commands. In the powerful Name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord we pray, Amen.

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Are You Ready? – Matthew 24 – 2025 Day 108

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Read Through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 77, Matthew 24

I remember many summers when I was growing up and was left home under my big sister’s care while my parents went to work. We knew that our parents would be home sometime before dinner, but we never really knew exactly when that would be. When my sister would hear the back door opening, she’d demand, “Stop screaming, Kim! Be good! Mom and Dad are home,” and my steady stream of bickering would come to sudden hault. I didn’t want my parents to walk in on us mid-argument.

Fast-forward thirty years and I remember countless days when I’d have my kids clean up the house at 4:30pm, so we were ready for their dad to get home. I wanted my husband to open the door to me preparing dinner in the kitchen, while the kids played quietly on the floor, the school books and toys put away. I hated the idea of him walking into the middle of the chaos that four rambunctious, homeschooling kids can produce.

Matthew 24 explains that though we won’t know the precise day or hour, we will know the season when Jesus’s return is near. Like “the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matthew 24:37) If the people of Noah’s time had paid attention, they would have seen Noah building a boat and known that a flood must be coming … but they remained ignorant until the flood swept them away.

Friends, listen to me! Open your eyes and ears! The days are near. The hours are coming to a close. Jesus is coming soon. He will not tarry forever! Stay awake. Be alert. Keep watch. Though we do not know what day our Lord is coming, we can know that it will be soon. (Matthew 24:42)

Are you ready for Jesus to return?

Are you like that faithful and wise servant who is busy doing his master’s work, or like that wicked servant who is going to be caught unaware when his master returns?

Are you anxiously looking forward to your groom to arrive and call out, “Honey, I’m home” or are you distracted by the trappings of this world?

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, You are giving us so many signs that the days are short. Let us be about our Master’s business. Strengthen us for the task that You have given to us. Let us not be distracted by all that glitters and calls for our attention. Help us to keep our hands to the plow and our eyes fixed on the heavens, from where our Savior will return for His bride.

Please prepare our American brothers and sisters for persecution, and please help our Asian brothers and sisters to stand firm and hold fast. Help us all to keep HOT our love for our neighbor and for You. Make us faithful laborers in the fields – scattering seeds, maturing seedlings, and bringing in the ripe grain.

In the perfect and holy name of Jesus Christ our Lord we pray, Amen.

When I Think about the Lord – Christ for the Nations
Days of Elijah – Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
“Prepare to Stand” Playlist – Andrew Brunson

More information about “Prepare to Stand” including a free study guide and access to download the videos!

Do You Have Your Wedding Garments On? – Matthew 22 – 2025 Day 106

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 75, Matthew 22

“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.

Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'”

Matthew 22:8-13 ESV

I remember one time shortly after moving to the South when I went to a “Moms Night Out” gathering for homeschooling moms. It was in the evening, and it was being hosted in a fellow homeschooling mom’s home. I showed up in what I’d been wearing all day – what I wore every day – a Christian t-shirt and jeans. My curly hair was unbrushed, and my face was make-up free. I walked into that room full of strangers and immediately wanted to turn around and walk back to the car.

Apparently I’d missed the memo that said, “Before you come, make sure you brush your hair, and put on some makeup and stylish mom-wear.”

This is not at all what Jesus was referring to in this parable of the wedding feast. Jesus doesn’t care about your makeup. He doesn’t care if you’ve brushed your hair or put on a cute new outfit. He doesn’t care how much money is in your bank account, how many square feet are in your home, or which side of the train tracks you live on. He doesn’t care how tall you are or what color your skin is. He doesn’t care about your ACT score or what kind of grades you got in high school. In fact, He doesn’t care whether you’re from the North or the South, the East or the West.

The banqueting table of the Lord is long and wide. He has invited all kinds of people – men and women, rich and poor, and every shade of skin, eye, and hair color – to His wedding feast.

Like Jesus’s parable of the net (Matthew 13:47-50), at the end of the age every kind of fish will be gathered – trout and salmon and tuna, brim and red snapper. But, ultimately, there are only two kinds of fish: good fish and bad fish.

When you breathe your last breath, what’s going to matter is this: Are you wearing a wedding garment?

This isn’t a multiple choice test where you’re offered a whole list of choices A, B, C, D, or E.

There will only be two choices: Yes or No.  You are either wearing your wedding garments or you aren’t.

And there’s only one way to get those wedding garments. They must be given to you by the groom, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the man on the middle cross.

So, I’ve got to ask you: Has Jesus given you the wedding garments? Or are you trying to get in with clothes of your own making and design, not realizing they are only filthy rags?

Friends, God knows your heart. No amount of makeup or hair styling or clothing or good deeds can cover up your need for a Savior.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.””

Revelation 21:1-8 ESV

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV

Have you been given the groom’s pure white wedding clothes?

Have your sins been washed away by blood of the Lamb?

May today be the day of salvation for people all around the globe, and may we be faithful heralds of the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Father, I come humbly before Your throne of grace and ask You to send out Your Word. Draw many into Your kingdom and clothe them in the pure white garments of the Lamb without blemish. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit and make us hate sin like You do. Be our God and make us Your people. Make us new, and wash us clean in the spring of living water. Thank You for Your grace. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

The Man on the Middle Cross Said I Could Come – Sermon clip – Alistair Begg
Man on the Middle Cross – Rhett Walker

The Tale of Two Sons – Matthew 21 – 2025 Day 106

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Read Through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 74, Matthew 21

“A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went.

And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go.

Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.”

Matthew 21:28-32 ESV

Think of how deeply this parable must have resonated with Matthew. I can just imagine Matthew writing furiously, trying to record every word as Jesus spoke. Matthew had been a tax collector when the Lord called him. Yet, Matthew was a Jew, grieving that his fellow Jews were missing the Messiah! Matthew was like that first son who had said, “I will not,” but later had obeyed. Matthew himself had rejected the ways of God, but later he had “changed his mind and he had believed” like he wrote in verse 32.

I’m so thankful that the Lord led Matthew to record this parable for us. And I’m doubly thankful that the Lord has made a way for those of us who were once running headlong away from God – like Matthew and like me – to enter the kingdom.

Let’s pray today for those who think they are following God, who are saying with their lips, “Oh, yes, sir, I’m going,” but who are heading the wrong direction, trusting in their own good deeds to be saved, rather than the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Father, I lift up before Your throne of grace those who think they are following You, heading toward You, but will one day hear, ‘I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” I pray that You would open their eyes and soften their hearts to the truth that we can only be saved through trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Wake them up to this reality before it’s too late. In the Good and Gracious Name of Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.

Only a Holy God – City Alight

Living like Jesus – Matthew 20 – 2025 Day 105

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Read Through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 73, Matthew 20

Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Matthew 20:26b-28 ESV

Being a disciple is more than just being a student. Being a disciple is modeling your life after your teacher.

Jesus modeled for us what it meant to serve, willingly giving up His own life — not just preaching, healing, and multiplying bread — and being a servant even to the point of death.

If you’re like me, it’s hard to get your husband a glass of water from the kitchen. If you’re like me, it’s hard to clean up after your kids. If you’re like me, it’s hard to quit wasting time on my phone and instead start spending time wisely with my  friends IRL (“in real life”).

But … I choose to do it, even though it’s hard, because I want others to be able to model their lives after mine, as I model my life after my Master’s.

My children are watching me. My brothers and sisters are watching me. Those who don’t know Christ yet are watching me.

Am I the real deal? I want to be.

Am I perfect? No. No, I’m not. Only God is perfect. But I’m not who I was…. And I pray that my changed life is evidence of Christ in me and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

I am no longer my own. I’ve been bought with a price and Christ has changed me from the inside out. I want to be a walking billboard that says, “I’M A NEW CREATION! CHRIST HAS MADE ME NEW! THE OLD IS GONE! BEHOLD THE NEW HAS COME!”

Heavenly Father, Make us more like Your Son. Help us to die to ourselves and live for You. Help us to remember that Jesus died for us and that we have the power through the Holy Spirit to overwhelmingly conquer! Teach us to be servants, servants of Christ and servants of our neighbors. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Perfect Master and Teacher and King. Amen.

Make Me a Servant – Maranatha Music