Today's Readings: New Testament -
Matthew 7:1-14
2 Timothy 4
Old Testament -
Proverbs 13:13-25
Nehemiah 11
Click on Text Links to Read Online
Focus Verses: Matthew 7:7-8
7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Insight:
Giving and receiving are central to meaningful and loving relationships. The bonds of love are both demonstrated and deepened when one has the freedom to make a request and another has the will to grant it. Just as neighbors open their doors for each other, and just as parents are ready to provide for their children, our Father in heaven is ready to give us good gifts. He also calls us to be ready to treat others with the same goodwill we would like to receive.
Response & Action:
God has invited me to a relationship with him through Christ Jesus. He wants me to seek him out, to knock on his door, and to ask him for help. He promises I will find, the door to be opened, and my needs provided. This is the way God demonstrates his love for me; it is also the way I can demonstrate love for others. In the same way that I receive grace and love in my relationship with God, I should extend grace and love in my relationships with others.
O God, help me to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love others as myself. Thank you that I can come to you with my requests and needs--that you can be found, your door is open, and you are giving. Grant me a sensitivity toward the needs of others around me. Help me to be available, approachable, and generous. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.
Spiritual Formation Verses: James 1:17-18
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
Resources:
The Message of the Sermon on the Mount: Christian Counter-Culture
by John Stott
