Day 10 Matthew 8:5-13 I should have despised him. He should have belittled and mistreated me. That was the way of things here, our Roman lords strutting around and putting us in our place. It was how I was prepared to see him when he first brought me into his home as a servant. I … Continue reading The Faith of a Friend
Day 9 Matthew 8:1-4 He covers his face. He is supposed to be in quarantine. He is supposed to be separate, away from sight. Away with others like him, marked with a disease no one understands and everyone fears. How long has he been living this measured death, this steady rotting of flesh once held … Continue reading Reach
Days 7 & 8 Matthew 5:17-7:29 He comes to fulfill the law. He comes to show us a righteousness greater than the self-rightness of the religious leaders, the outward rule-following that swells up self, calls the world to look at me! See how zealous I am! In the end we all serve self, much as … Continue reading How to Build on the Rock
Day 6 Matthew 5:13-16 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him. Psalm 34:8 He shows us how His kingdom comes. (See yesterday’s post or Matthew 5:1-11.) Our relinquishing, oddly enough, brings a filling, builds a place of mercy and truth. When this happens, He says, … Continue reading Taste and See
Days 4 & 5 Matthew 5:1-12 We are little gods and goddesses of our domains. You are waiting give Your kingdom. But we cannot receive it when our hands are stuffed so full of ourselves, when we carry about with us our doings, praying for You to come even as we put hammer to nail … Continue reading Kingdom Come
Day 3 Matthew 4:12-25; Luke 5:1-11; John 1:35-42 So He leaves the wilderness and comes among us. Can you feel what it was like, those early days, when He first began to heal? The boy you have known from childhood who could barely walk, now running. The old man who hasn’t left his bed for … Continue reading Something Better
Lent, Day 2 Matthew 4:1-11 “After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came” (Mt. 4:2-3). The tempter comes. I like to think that by this point in their battle, the enemy feels somewhat desperate at his lack of success. He knows Jesus is winning. So, three times he offers … Continue reading Show Them Who You Are
Ash Wednesday Matthew 3:1-4:11 He comes to the river that day and His cousin, who wants to worship Him, baptizes Him instead. John’s hands of flesh bear God down into the water, down into death—a foreshadowing. And as Jesus rises, the Spirit descends visibly, the voice of God speaks audibly. “This is My Son, with … Continue reading Proving Ground
They had the best of plans. At least, given the circumstances. They had prepared a special place. Joseph had carefully smoothed the wood of the cradle while Mary sewed soft blankets. They talked about where the birth would happen and who would be with them. They dreamed of how this most special of infants would … Continue reading All treasure
“I want to have a simple Christmas,” you say, while rushing your children from school to the practice for the church nativity play, then home for dinner just in time for homework and bed. “Let’s slow down for Christmas this year,” you say, while dashing off happy Christmas cards in between checking emails, finishing that … Continue reading The Myth of a Simple Christmas
View from the Valley 