June 26, 2020

We are going to spend the next two weeks together as a church reading Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount! The Sermon on the Mount is the first of Jesus’ major teachings recorded in the gospel of Matthew. In it, Jesus explains the ethics and values of the kingdom of Heaven as opposed to the ethics and values of the world. The values and principles that are to govern our lives as followers of Jesus and citizens of the kingdom of Heaven are wildly different from those that govern the various cultures of our world, including the culture in which we live.

Over the next two weeks, allow the words of the Lord Jesus to challenge the way you think, expose the worldly and idolatrous values and desires of your heart, and transform you to live in the new way that He has laid before us!

In the first part of this passage Jesus encourages us to pray with faith, with great confidence that God will do what is best for us. Jesus compares God to an earthly father who, though he loves his children and wants the best for them, is still marred and corrupted by sin. The heavenly Father is not corrupted by sin and always does what is best for His children; we can and should present our requests to Him with boldness and trust Him with absolute confidence!

In verse 12 Jesus gives us “the golden rule” and tells us that to put this into practice is to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. When we truly do for others as we would have them do for us, we cannot possibly contradict the principles of God’s Word!

Finally, Jesus warns us of how difficult the way which leads to life is and how few actually find it. The way of the world is easy and comfortable, and it is so easy to be deceived into believing that it is actually the right way. Jesus calls us to walk in the commands and principles He has been outlining throughout this sermon, to have our lives be characterized by self-denial, radical integrity, and selfless love and service towards others. In the end, Jesus calls us to follow Him in His death (Matthew 16:24-25), so that we might also participate in His life!

We know that, ultimately, Jesus is the only way to life (John 14:6). Jesus is the narrow gate by which we enter into life, the only place where true life can be found. He calls us to walk the narrow and difficult road, but in the end we get Him, and there is no greater prize!

Matthew 7:7-14

Ask, and It Will Be Given

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

The Golden Rule

12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • How can death actually be the pathway to life? What does it look like for us to walk the “narrow path” which Jesus calls us to on a day-to-day basis?

18 thoughts on “Daily Devotional-June 26”

  1. Father, thank you for your love towards me. I am so undeserving. Plant my feet on the pathway that leads to heaven. This day Father, may your light shine brightly through me in all my words and actions. Help me to treat others with such tenderness and love that resembles the tenderness and love you show me. Your will is that no one be lost. So, let’s be going together to find one more for your son, Jesus. Amen

  2. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. So thankful I am one of the few.

    1. I am so grateful to be a servant to my father. I need help to walk the straight and narrow path. I feel I have accomplished what I have started to do. I know my heavenly Father is showing me the the way. I ask all of this and more in Jesus name Amen

  3. Heavenly Father, help us go global with the golden rule for Your glory.

    “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

    1. Amen! Going global with the golden rule is my motto to ponder and put into action.

  4. Dear Heavenly Father,
    We have been taught that there is only one way to You, the straight and narrow path. Very few choose to follow that path as they think it is too hard and restricting. However,to know You is to love You . Anything worth having has to be worked for not just given to us. Help me to do unto others as You would have us do and to follow Your commandments. I want to be with You in Eternity and whatever it takes I am willing to follow. Guide my footsteps so that they align with Yours. In Jesus name.Amen.

  5. I’d rather walk for a short while through the narrow path that leads to eternal life than to enjoy for a short time walking through a wide path that leads to eternal damnation. And though the path is narrow and hard, my Father in heaven walks with me and takes care of all my needs. Thank you Father for showing me the way the path that leads to victory through Jesus, Your Son. Amen!

  6. Loving others …

    May my thoughts, actions and words reveal the love of Christ that lives within me, I pray.

    In your precious name, Lord.

    Amen

  7. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
    Let’s ask God to drench us in His love every morning. Let each one of us carry that love out into the world. Let His light shine through us so that we can encourage others to want to know Jesus. We definitely need to do unto others what we would want them to do to us. Remember to always be kind.

  10. Heavenly Father, I pray our world will begin to treat others as they want to be treated. Help us to quit all the hate & violence & begin loving others. Thank you for all my blessings. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

  11. Heavenly Father,
    Although this world is in such chaos you are still in control. Help us all to not only be hears of your word but also doers of your word. Jesus, my prayer is that you would continue to use me to glorify you and help me to see the heart of a person as you do. Continue to remind us all of the love and grace that you give us, we should also return to others. I come knocking and seeking for you to have us to show love to everyone as LOVE conquers all. As we continue to strive to stay on the narrow path help us to keep our eyes on the prize and that is Jesus Christ. Amen

  12. Thank you Lord for being my father and for caring enough to teach me your ways through your Word.

  13. A famous painting of this Scripture hangs in the basement of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Wikipedia “Behold I stand at the door and knock” and you can read about it. There is no door knob on the outside of the door in the painting…..the meaning being, that it can only be opened from the inside i.e. just as our hearts can only be opened to the Good News of Jesus from its inside.

    1. Praise the Lord for whom our blessings flow, so Good to know Jesus. Father you are faithful, Thank you for your flesh powerful Word. I pray your word will continue to shine in our heart’s IJN

  14. Praise the Lord for whom our blessings flow, so Good to know Jesus. Father you are faithful, Thank you for your flesh powerful Word. I pray your word will continue to shine in our heart’s IJN

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