Hebrews 11:3
3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. - Hebrews 11:3
Dear Jesus,
I think about you helping the Father create the world and I think mostly about you redeeming my soul by your sacrificial life. But I don't think often about your holding all things together in the entire universe by the power of your word. This verse reminds me that you are the glue holding all things together in our lives. You govern, gravity, the orbits of the solar system, the weather and all of the laws of nature. Everything is held together by your word. When you speak, things are allowed to happen. You are God. You are Savior. And you are Sustainer! It gives me peace of mind knowing that your scarred hands are holding the whole world. I will live with confidence today no matter what happens in the weather or otherwise. You get all the glory and praise for the way I get my corner of your world today.
Amen
Pastor Donald Patterson
God takes care of what he made down to the greatest detail.
Additional Reading: Psalm 104
1 Corinthians 15:19
If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. - 1 Corinthians 15:19
Dear Jesus,
What a waste your life would have been if you only came to teach us how to live our best life now. We'd all still be left with a damnable end! Your message and ours is not as much about this life as it is about eternal life. I'm excited to know that I am already in that eternal life. (John 17:3) I will follow you in my earthly life because I trust I will be with you forever in my heavenly life. You take care of me now and you will forever too. You are the coolest God this universe could ever hope for!
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
God took care of every little thing and the biggest thing all by that one single solitary life, Jesus!
Additional Reading: Colossians 1 and 2
Romans 10:17
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. - Romans 10:17
Dear Heavenly Father,
I've noticed over many years of spiritual pursuit that faith never comes to me through my own pondering. I have to hear your word and then it stirs up faith in my soul. My heart cannot produce the goods needed to produce faith. Left to my heart's desire I will wander off into wild places where there is no peace or power to live a godly life. But if I stay close to your word and listen to good Bible teaching, my faith is invigorated and grows. I make better decisions and bless more people. There it is in this passage; "Faith comes from hearing the message about Christ." You knew all along what we needed and so you planted the word on earth and in every generation you raise up preachers and teachers to drive it into our hearts. Thank you for not leaving me to find my way alone. Your grace made you fill my life with your word.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
Don't try to think your way through challenges, find a Bible passage and let it light the way for you.
Additional Reading: Psalm 1, Psalm 110, 2 Timothy 3:15-17, Hebrews 4:12
Matthew 27:57-61
As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb. - Matthew 27:57-61
Dear Jesus,
In Isaiah 53 you had him prophecy that although you would be killed with the wicked, you would be buried with the rich in your death. No one could have guessed how it would all come true. Joseph of Arimathea made happen. He was a member of the council that condemned you but he was not in compliance with them. By handling your body he became unclean and could not celebrate the rest of the Passover festivities. He was outed by his faith filled actions. His life would never be the same but somehow I think it was just fine with him. He believed in you and had peace of mind and singularity of heart. He was a Christian sharing in the hope of eternal life. He didn't really know you wouldn't need his grave very long. I wonder how he ever looked at his family grave the same. His bones are buried there somewhere from where yours arose. Thank you for leading him to fulfill Scripture and for giving Matthew the wisdom to tell us about it. In this Holy week, give me the brave and loving faith of Joseph so I will unashamedly show my devotion to you in any circumstance.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
Faith is like electricity. It cannot help but generate power in a person's life.
Additional Reading: Romans 10
Matthew 27:52-53
…and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. - Matthew 27:52-53
Dear Jesus,
You give us one verse about this crazy phenomenon that happened Easter weekend and leave us with so many questions. Which saints got to come back to life and walk the earth? How long were they here? Who did they show themselves too? When did they leave again? All tantalizing questions! But this I do get; Your death and resurrection was underscored by their resurrection. You really did conquer death for us. They were the early fruit after your first fruit resurrection. I will be next along with millions of other Christians who will arise on the last day and live forever in glorified flesh and blood. I look forward to that day and find great comfort in believing this truth, especially when I consider the way my body is slowing down and showing it's mileage. Thank you for raising those folks to encourage me about my future.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
Additional Reading: Colossians 1:15-20
Matthew 24:1-2
Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
Matthew 24:1-2
Dear Jesus,
How hard it must have been for you to foretell the destruction of your Father’s house! Jews loved it as their national treasure. You loved it because it was your Father’s house. There his name was glorified and proclaimed. But his new home would be human hearts. He wouldn’t need this obsolete place anymore. Your saving work would make true spirituality portable. It would go wherever your people went. Where they go, there is your active love, giving and forgiving. The disciples couldn’t wrap their minds around the thought that the destruction of the temple was the birth of the church. They just wanted to know when this would all take place. But you changed their hearts at Pentecost. They never needed a place very much anymore. Now they were the place. In their hearts they had the Holy Spirit. I do too. Give me the wisdom and faith to not need a place on earth as my holy place. Help me live as your “holy place” wherever my body goes since you live in my heart.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
God decided that his most favorite place on earth would be in your heart. Make him feel welcome there.
Additional Reading:
John 4, 1 Corinthians 6
Matthew 23:13-15
13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. 15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are. - Matthew 23:13-15
Dear Jesus,
You didn't pull any punches in your final day of teaching in the temple during your last week. You exposed for me that the measure of a person's religion is not whether they work hard at it or not. It's about truth. If they don't point people to who you are and what you have done for us, they are just law-teachers that lead people to trust in themselves. It's a recipe for disaster. Lord, help Christian teachers everywhere to allow the gospel to predominate their teaching so those who are searching can find the real you. Keep me from being a moralist who lives and teaches as if keeping the law is the supreme goal of spirituality. Help me to live in the Gospel not just give it lip service.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
Without Jesus and his completed work, the finest religious teaching is a heap of rubble.
Additional Reading: 1 Timothy 1:7-9
Matthew 22:41-45
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied. 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, 44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ 45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions. - Matthew 22:41-45
Dear Jesus,
You didn't need the affirmation, but they needed the information. They never dreamed that Messiah would be both man and God at the same time. So, you pointed them to their own Bible to teach them that you weren't just claiming this for yourself. It was intrinsic to the entire plan to save humanity. God the Son would become flesh and do what we could never do; offer himself as the perfect sacrifice for all people. Old king David saw this 1000 years before it happened and called you Lord! When I look at my flawed, aging body, it's hard for me to imagine that you had one of these just like mine. You are God and yet you took on flesh just like ours. What intimate love that is; that you would become one of us trapped in a body destined to die. Thank you for dying so that I might live. It gives me hope in the face of grave medical difficulties. It gives me peace as one by one, my dear friends lose their bodies to death and decay. It gives me triumphant thoughts when I think about the end of all things when you step on death's neck forever. Help me live in this Easter feeling during this entire spring, even in the days of Lent.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
You cannot figure out how God could also be man anymore than you can figure out that light has no mass yet bounces off things.
Additional Reading: Acts 20:28, 1 Corinthians 15:20-28
Matthew 22:34-40
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” - Matthew 22:34-40
Dear Jesus,
I do love you, the Father and Holy Spirit and I do love the people around me, but I know my love for God and my neighbor is deeply flawed. I often choose myself over everyone else and when I meet someone hard to love, I easily justify turning away from them. I repent of such fickle love. Lord, fill me with your unconditional love for everyone. Make me love my enemies as much as my dearest friend. Give me the love that you demand. I don't have the wherewithal to love like you want unless you give me your enabling grace. I know that by meditating on your cross I can see and feel the love I'm praying for. So, that will be meditation today, you on the cross for all other sinners and me.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
Love is life's goal and love from God is the power to reach it.
Additional Reading: 1 John 4 and 5
Genesis 28:20-22
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God 22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”- Genesis 28:20-22
Dear Heavenly Father,
Jacob had ruined his family and his testimony. He stole the blessing you were going to give him anyway. Then you chased him down, but not to hurt him. No, you chased him down to restore him in redeeming grace. What an amazing Creator you are! You must have smiled with parental, condescending mercy when he promised that if you would travel with him, he'd bless you with a 10th of all you gave him. How patient you are with us people who flatter ourselves when we give back to you part of what you already owned anyway! Thank you for the grace you have in every corner of our stinking lives. It's the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food that we crave. Accept my small life as my way of saying thanks for chasing me down to save me.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
When you give something to God from your heart, don't forget to thank him for the privilege of participating in his universe.
Additional Reading: 2 Corinthians 8 and 9.
Matthew 21:24-27
24 Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25 John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.- Matthew 21:24-27
Dear Jesus,
How carefully you exposed their unwillingness to humbly trust in you. You had cleansed the temple and taken away their earthly gain from the commerce there. You had condemned their leadership for allowing it too. You had gathered hundreds to hear your word. You had healed droves of people even moments before. But they were still hardened to you. They would not believe that you had come to save their souls. So, they tried to trap you with the question about why you felt you had authority to act without their approval. It was the same question they posed to John the Baptist in John 1. They refused to believe that God had visited them according to prophecy. Lord Jesus, I know what authority sent you. It was the authority of your Father's love for me. You obeyed that authority because I haven't. You followed his will to get rid of the rap sheet I had amassed. I'm so grateful today that on that day in the temple you stood up to those men. In doing so, you stayed on track to save the world. Give me the courage to speak up for you among my friends and family because you spoke up for me in the temple courts on the week you died for me. Make me a light to people that shines so brightly they have to reckon with who you are one way or another. Make my life count for something other than just me.
Amen
Find out what "Truth" thinks before you worry about what people think and you will always find your way through any dilemma.
Additional Reading: Luke 6
Matthew 21:12-13
Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’ ””
Matthew 21:12-13
Dear Jesus,
What zeal you had for the Lord’s house, but it was more than that. It was a zeal for souls to find God. The temple was a place for people, even Gentiles, to connect with your Father. Through the word preached there and the prayers learned it would open the channels of communication between God and people. That’s what our churches are supposed to be. Give me the same zeal for your churches so I don’t first see them as race, music style or social connections. Help my church be a place where people find you through good word of God teaching and and true prayer that connects hearts to you. Empower pastors to preach from your heart to human hearts so people’s lives are forever changed, especially mine.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
Jesus was eaten up with the desire for people to find his father through the word. He wants us to be the same.
Additional Reading: Isaiah 55 and 56.
Matthew 20:17-19
17 Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, 18 “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” - Matthew 20:17-19
Dear Jesus,
You knew so much more about how your earthly life would unravel than I know about mine. But you faced it all with a faithful and loving heart. I don't have to know how my life turns out because I know how yours turned out. You followed the plan, even though it meant a terrible death. When you took the twelve aside to prepare them, it blew right over their heads, but it doesn't blow over. You win me over by the willing way you faced the worst torture in order to free me from my terrible mistakes. I'm glad you knew about your resurrection too. It gave you a light at the end of the tunnel. (Hebrews 12) Your light is my light too. I have hope in my own resurrection to eternal life. Help me live in hope today no matter what challenges you unfold for me.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
He endured the worst for the worst so I might live the best.
Additional Reading: Romans 3, 5
Matthew 20:1-16
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. 3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ 7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ 8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ 9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ 13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” - Matthew 20:1-16
Dear Jesus,
Peter wanted to know that you would take care of him since he had left all things to follow you. You told him that you would bless him with friends, family and possessions in this life mixed with trouble and persecution (Mark 10) too. You knew that below his question stuck the thought, "I want God to be fair with me compared to others." So, you told him there would be some who were last but they would enter heaven first. You told him there were some who were first that would be moved the end of the line too. You would not be trapped by our childish desire to compare our lot in life with others. You love us all the same while you give everyone a unique path in life. Some live longer and sin harder before they are saved. Others trudge along as Christian foot soldiers for decades before being relieved by heaven. You reverse the right to hide your plan for each with letting them be compared. All of us receive the same grace, the same love, the same inheritance in heaven. Use this beautiful parable about your equal grace to unequal people to jar me out of my natural inclination to compare my life to others. Help me freely love forgive and hold grace out to everyone without discrimination regarding their sins or spiritual stature.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
Two undeniable truths collide when you meet God: 1) He loves everyone the same. 2) He treats everyone differently in regard to their earthly life.
Additional Reading: Romans 2, 3, Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, 2 Corinthians 1
Matthew 18:21-35
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. (The Parable of the unmerciful servant.) 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” - Matthew 18:21-35
Dear Jesus,
I cannot count how many times I've asked the very same question Peter asked. "How long must I be gracious with this person?" No matter how logical it sounds and how fair, it's just not the right question. Here's the right question, "Lord, please give me the power to forgive him/her for what they did?" I know you forgive everyone, even the worst perpetrator. But I have a hard time forgiving even my loved ones. Oh, Jesus, make me a grace filled soul that doles out mercy like water at a Vacation Bible School. I want to be freed by a merciful heart. Help me tear up the score card and erase the memory of my hurts. Give me the freshness of a new morning mercy for every person.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
The air we breathe in God's kingdom is his unconditional grace. Not forgiving someone is like holding your breath there.
Additional Reading: Ephesians 4
Matthew 18:12-14
12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish. - Matthew 18:12-14
Dear Heavenly Father,
I am thankful for how Jesus showed us your heart with this little parable. You value every soul. It reminds me why you have sent people to confront and comfort me. You didn't want me to be lost in sin and guilt. Give me love and spiritual maturity to value every human being the same way. Help me see beyond my own front yard to find people who need your love and truth. Make me a protector of human hearts and lives. Give me the eyes of faith to see and rejoice when anyone comes back to you in their hearts. Finally, help me give up my desire to get what I want in every relationship so I can't seek what you want instead.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
Additional Reading: Luke 15
Matthew 18:5-6; 10
5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. 6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. ... 10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. - Matthew 18:5-6; 10
Dear Jesus,
Every single person is your special creation. You number the hairs on each head. You know the thoughts in every mind and the words that escape every tongue. You love each and every one, not wanting anyone to perish but wanting everyone to come to a knowledge of the truth. I know I don't love everyone like you do, but I want to. Please help me to stop devaluing certain people because they annoy me or let me down. Make me sensitive to avoid tempting anyone to sin. It's way too easy to tempt people to gossip by sharing a juicy fact, or to tempt someone to covet by boasting, or to tempt someone to lust by dressing scantily. Oh, Lord, "I am my brother's keeper." I willingly take responsibility to love people honestly even though I cannot love them perfectly. Thank you for giving everyone angels to protect them even while we fellow humans neglect their spiritual and physical safety.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
God wants people to take care of people the way that angels do.
Additional Reading: James 2, 1 John 2, 4 and 5
Matthew 17:22-23
And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; 23 and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved. - Matthew 17:22-23
Dear Jesus,
I would have been grieved too if you looked me in the eye and told me you were going to be betrayed by a friend and that it would mean your death. Now that we have time to watch this unfold and contemplate the meaning of your life, we can see the committed love with which you navigated the disciples. Your goal is not that we avoid suffering but that we understand the meaning of life, yours and ours. How easily we lose track and get lost in denial. Thank you for patiently saying the hard thing. But many more thanks that you broke into this veil of tears and used your death to bring us life. I have hope in the resurrection because you willingly paid for my sins and left them behind in the grave on the third day. Give me the supernatural power to live in this hope today.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
If you know that you will ultimately cheat death, every other problem looks smaller.
Additional Reading: 1 Peter 1
Matthew 17:19-20
Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” 20 And He *said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. - Matthew 17:19-20
Dear Jesus,
It cannot be that you were holding out for more faith before you would let your disciples cast out that demon. It must have been that they didn't really trust you had the power or interest to help them. I too have been embarrassed by just how willing you are to help if we will but trust you. I love your hyperbole. If I just trust you enough to ask you, then if it is in your will for me, you will do it. Give me that faith to ask you expectantly for help in every situation. Come and deliver my loved ones and me from our troubles. Help us with our difficulties that seem like there is no solution for them. Be our God and savior and fix our lives by your grace and mercy. Give us the faith to cast all of our cares on you.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
If trusting Jesus only a little gets him to act, imagine what trusting him a lot would do!
Additional Reading: Luke 18:1-8
Matthew 16:21-22
“From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!””
Matthew 16:21-22
Dear Jesus,
I have to confess that even though I know we must all die, I never want it to happen to those I love or me. Sometimes really “good people” die young while rascals live 80+ years. It always amazes me that you allow this. You were not just good. You were perfect. So, it cut against the grain of Peter’s sense of right and wrong. Unwittingly he tried to persuade you. My salvation hung in the balance. Thank you for seeing how Satan was using Peter to tempt you to avoid the cross that saved me. I get the gospel: the only righteous person to ever live was sacrificed for everyone who has ever lived because we are unrighteous. Your love for humanity made you accept being treated inhumanely. Help me to approach my life with the same grace filled heart, avoiding self vindication and getting lost serving others.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
Jesus suffered wrong for doing right to cover all of us who suffered right by doing wrong.
Additional Reading: 1 Peter 1