Key Passage: Matthew 8:14-17 

Topic: Jesus

That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. (Matthew 8:16, ESV)

Healing sickness was one of the hallmarks of Jesus’ ministry on earth. In this chapter of Matthew alone we’ve seen a leper, a servant, and a mother-in-law healed. Not to mention the “many” in verse 16 and the two demon-possessed men a few verses later. And that’s just this chapter.

It’s easy to wonder about the motivations of the people who came to be healed. Did they come because the genuinely wanted to see and follow Jesus? Or did they come just to be healed?

But just as important as why they came is who they found.

People come to Jesus for different reasons. Some reasons are “good” and some aren’t. Some people approach Jesus to attack Him, to call Him a liar and a cheat. Some come to have Him fix a problem in their lives. And others come out of a desire to serve and honor Him as Lord. All of them find a God who loves them and feels compassion for them.

Many well-meaning Christians today try to “protect” God from people who don’t meet a certain standard. They’ll tell a person, “Clean up your life and get rid of those piercings before coming to Jesus.” They’ll insist that you have to give up something, like a style of music (Christian or not), or a certain group of friends before Jesus will have anything to do with you.

The message of the Bible is just the opposite.

Whoever you, wherever you are, for whatever reasons, come to Jesus today. Get to know Him in the Bible and judge for yourself if He really is as accepting and loving as people say He is. Don’t worry right now about making yourself “pure” or “holy.” Jesus will meet you where you are, and take you to where you need to be. Because, after all, this isn’t a religion we’re talking about.

It’s a relationship.

Key Passage: Matthew 9:18-26

Topic: God’s Love; Jesus

Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. (Matthew 9:22, ESV)

Have you ever dealt with something for so long that it’s become a part of your life? You’ve tried and tried but you don’t see any hope. You actually believe that this drain on your life is a permanent fixture and you’ll just have to get used to it.

What would you do if you met someone with the power to fix all of that? Would you rush up and beg them to help? Would you be intimidated and hang back, trying to get up the nerve?

This woman heard that Jesus was in town and believed He could deliver her from a problem that had afflicted her life for 12 long years. She knew if she was ever to be well, she had to get to Jesus.

So this dirty, scorned woman ventured out to find the One who could make her whole. As she drew near to Jesus, she thought, “If only I can touch His robe, I will be healed.” She knew He was the answer but didn’t want to waste His time. She figured that she’d just touch His robe and let Him go on about His business.

Was the power to heal in His robe? Of course not. It was in the One who wore the robe. Over the last several days, you’ve read devotions that relate to Jesus healing people. This is one of the ways that Jesus demonstrated that both He and His message were from God. But the common factor is Jesus. The power is His. The need is ours.

The woman in today’s story was in for quite a surprise. Not only was she healed (as she believed she would be), but Jesus stopped. He turned, He looked right at her and He spoke to her. Jesus showed her love in a way that she had not felt for a long time.

Today Jesus offers you that same love—a love that reaches down to heal the spiritual wounds in your life. Jesus gave Himself for you because He loves you.

Key Passage: Matthew 9:27-34

Topic: Faith/Trust

Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” (Matthew 9:29, ESV)

What would it be to like to be born blind? It’s really difficult to even imagine if you haven’t experienced it.

But what if it happened to you, or to someone you love, a brother or sister maybe? How would it affect your life if you never saw a sunset? A cloud? A mountain or the ocean?

Then one day you learn about a physician who could restore your sight. You hear the stories about the miracles this guy can do. What if you had to travel to another country just to see Him, would you go?

Let’s say you got an appointment, walked into his office and said, “Please help me.” And he replied, “Do you believe I can make you see?” What would you say? Something like, “Well, other people say you can.” Or, “I don’t know, seems a little impossible.” And the doctor said to you, “I can’t help you because you don’t believe.”

That’s similar to these two guys in the Bible, but their story had a happier ending. Both were blind. Both heard about Jesus and the miracles He could do. So they found Jesus and ask Him for help. And Jesus heals them!

Now here’s the crazy part of the whole story. Jesus says they’re healed because of their faith. Because they believe Jesus can, He does. Jesus says it’s all about faith. Jesus didn’t heal everyone—and He still doesn’t. But we’re called to have faith—not in miracles but in who Jesus is.

So what about you? Do you believe? Do you have faith? Do you believe Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins? Do you believe He will never leave or forsake you? Do you believe He can change your life?

Got faith?

Key Passage: Matthew 10:21-23 

Topic: Christian Living

“And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:22, ESV)

In today’s passage, Jesus commissions His disciples to send them out to share the news that the Messiah (the expected deliverer of the Jewish people) has come. And that He, Jesus, is that Messiah. He’s also giving them instructions as well as warnings about what will happen to them as they take this news from place to place.

He warns them that because they believe He’s the Son of God, they can expect things like hatred: “You will be hated because you are my followers” and betrayal: “Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death” (Matthew 10:21, ESV).

How are Jesus’ disciples to respond to this abuse?

Jesus tells them, “When you’re persecuted in one town, go on to the next.” Don’t spend time arguing. Don’t fight for your rights. Don’t feel bad because you’re treated unfairly. Just do what you’ve been sent to do and keep on going.

Just like He knew what the apostles would face, Jesus knows what you’re going through right now. You may or may not be facing persecution because of your faith in Christ. But we are all living in this world the life God gave us. And sometimes that includes things we can’t change or make better.

And just like the apostles, we have to persevere. We have to keep following Jesus and doing what He asks us to do. He rewards endurance. As the apostle Paul said, “Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1, ESV).

You may be struggling now but keep on keeping on. The best part of life is yet to come.

Key Passage: Matthew 5:17-20 

Topic: Jesus
“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20, ESV)

Wow! It sounds like Jesus is setting us up for failure right here. Surely, if anyone is good at obeying God, it’s the religious teachers and leaders. And they got that way by years and years of studying. So what chance do you or I have?

That’s exactly the point of this passage known as the Sermon on the Mount. People in Jesus’ day thought like we do today—that only the most religious people, the people who can quote any verse of the Bible, the people who apparently never sin, can go to heaven.

The Pharisees Jesus mentioned were the religious big-shots back then. They were “holier-than-thou” and they didn’t mind telling you. They believed, and wanted everyone else to believe, that only people who were as “religious” as they were would go to heaven.

But Jesus surprised everyone (and angered the Pharisees) when He made the claim that anyone could enter heaven.

In God’s eyes, the Pharisees weren’t obeying the law at all. They thought they were. But as Jesus points out, obeying the law is more than just following the letter of the law, it’s following the spirit of the law. And behind every one of God’s laws are the ideas of loving God, and loving others. The Pharisees didn’t do this. They loved themselves and hated everyone who wasn’t like them.

In today’s world, most of us who read these verses aren’t Jewish, so the letter of the law spelled out in the Old Testament doesn’t apply to us. But the spirit of the law is for everyone to follow and Jesus made that possible.

Getting to heaven isn’t a matter of following religious rules; it’s about maintaining good relationships, first with God, then with each other.

Key Passage: Matthew 11:1-19 

Topic: Jesus; Doubt/Fear

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 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. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” (Matthew 11:2-6, ESV)

John is sitting in Herod’s prison, and he knows it’s not likely to end well. He looks over his life: preaching to people about their sin, calling them to prepare for the Messiah and baptizing them. But here he sits, maybe a little discouraged or doubtful, and wondering if all that he’d poured his life into was really worth it.

Jesus sends back a message to John that says, “Yes, it was worth it; you did the right thing; I’m exactly who you said I was. We’re accomplishing the mission; don’t lose heart.”

We could stop with these words of reassurance and hope for a man with questions. But look at what Jesus does next.

He turns to the crowd, and He commends John before them. He talks about Moses and the prophets—men who were highly revered by the Jews—and He says that John, that wild-looking and outspoken wilderness preacher, is greater than all of them before God! John was the one in the prophecies who paved the way for Jesus, the Messiah.

But for all that he knew and did to prepare people for Jesus, John only saw part of the story. He wouldn’t be around for Jesus’ death on the cross as the perfect Lamb, sacrificed for sin, once and for all. He didn’t know about the resurrected Jesus, the One who conquered sin and death to offer eternal life for all who believe.

John didn’t see all that. He was left with only part of the story, a few questions…and the praise of Jesus.

It’s OK to ask questions about your service to God, to want to know if what you’ve done or are doing is what God asks of you. But don’t lose faith; don’t turn away in your doubts. You see only part of God’s unfolding story.

Christians under fire in Khartoum, Sudan

(Source: Middle East Concern)

There have been several attacks on Christians in Sudan’s Khartoum region in recent weeks.

On April 19, in Burri, a group of 130 university students of South Sudanese origin were detained and given seven days to leave Sudan after being accused of celebrating South Sudan’s invasion of the Heglig oil field within South Kordofan province. The students denied that they had held any such celebration. The day before, churches in Al-Baraka, Dar el Salam, and Takamul districts received notice that their properties would be demolished because of lack of structural integrity. Church leaders complained that the Ministry of Planning and Urban Development had not informed them of required changes to the buildings. Church leaders have reportedly been informally notified that the orders have been reversed.On April 21, a church building in Sawafi was attacked by a mob provoked by a radical Muslim leader. Security forces stopped the mob. However, some found an alternate route, enabling them to ransack and burn down the building. The same day, a Bible School located on a church compound in Al-Gereif was badly damaged in an arson attack by a Muslim mob. The church had received threats of violence in late March and early April. Office equipment, library resources, and students’ personal belongings were destroyed.

Meanwhile, the April 8 deadline for those of South Sudanese origin (many of whom are Christian) to leave Sudan following the secession of South Sudan in July 2011 has been postponed for 30 days (for more information on the deadline, click here).

Pray that Christians in Khartoum will know the peace, presence and protection of Jesus. Pray that the detained students will be released. Pray that all demolition orders will be officially withdrawn. Please ask God that church leaders will know the Spirit’s guidance and wisdom at this time.

For more information on the trials Christians face in Sudan, go to the Sudan Country Report.

Key Passage: Matthew 11:25-30 

Topic: Christian Living

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28, ESV)

Don’t those words make you feel relaxed and relieved? They’re so compassionate. You know that Jesus is Someone who understands and wants to give you rest from all the worry and fear you haul around daily.

Jesus tells us in the next few verses to “take His yoke”: trade in the cares, oppression and confusion you’re carrying for the yoke that He is offering.

What is His “yoke”? It’s serving and obeying God. It’s believing that God wants a relationship with you and that He loves you.

Certainly, during the time Jesus was physically on earth, obedience to God was easier than breaking under the burden of all the imposed rules the religious teachers piled upon their people.

Certainly the requirements to follow Christ (to believe He is God’s Son and receive Him into your life) are lighter than the massive weight of sin and guilt we have to bear before we come to know Jesus.

But maybe what makes this yoke that Jesus gives easy is that He helps us bear it. He never leaves us or forsakes us (Hebrews 13:5). And we bear the yoke of obedience to God out of love for Him.

We have a relationship with Someone who loves us and, therefore, we love Him.

Key Passage: Matthew 12:1-14 

Topic: Relationships

“And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:7-8, ESV)

Religion can be an ugly thing. In fact, being religious can make us ugly people. And being religious can often lead us away from God rather than to Him.

This is exactly what Jesus encountered with the religious leaders of His day. They were a group who didn’t like the way Jesus did things because He didn’t follow their religious customs. These religious leaders were arrogant, selfish and insensitive to the needs of others.

In one particular incident where Jesus and His disciples had a run-in with them, the religious leaders accused the disciples of breaking the law and condemned them. Jesus responded by quoting a verse from the Old Testament, “I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.” Jesus reminded them that mercy is more important than religion.

In other words, how you treat people is of greater concern than religious duties. You see, the religious leaders had a heart problem. They were quick to judge and condemn people and failed to show mercy, love and forgiveness. They placed a higher importance on following religious traditions than on being compassionate.

So how about you? Where’s your heart? Are you more concerned about showing mercy or following the rules? Do you care about a person or just about their outward actions?