Treasure in Heaven Devo

July 17th, 2016

Devotional

“The Gospel of Matthew: Treasures in Heaven” - Matthew 6: 7-21

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Hallowed” - Matthew 6: 7-9, Luke 15: 11-32

Christ our Lord and Savior invites us into this house of God by telling his disciples to pray saying, “Our Father”. For some of us the image of Father brings up problems. It drags up painful memories of our own fathers who may have hurt us physically or emotionally. Or abandoned us. For others it is a beautiful reflection of our own Father’s love for us. But how many of us when we hear the words “Our Father” think first to the story Jesus tells of the prodigal son. The son who disowned his father, squandered his inheritance, and then returned thinking he would work for his father as a hired hand, only to find out that he celebrated, love, reinstated. We were once far from our Heavenly Father, separated by sin. But now we are welcomed into the Kingdom in loving arms. This is the Father we pray to. The one who loves us unconditional, with an eternal forgiveness. The one who reminds us that while we may want to stop being God’s child, disowning Him, he will never stop being our Father.

The word used in scripture is even more intimate. Abba. Our Daddy. The one that we run to as children when we have a scraped knee, a bruised heart, or have accomplished something wonderful during the day. A family relationship that we are welcomed in to through the blood of Jesus Christ.

How do you imagine God?

How do you relate to God?

Prayer: God, we confess that we often imagine you as far off from us or distant from our personal struggles and problems. Yet you say that you are our heavenly parents. Help us to draw close to you this day and always as we communicate with you through prayer. 

Tuesday: “Thy Kingdom Come” - Matthew 6:10

Jesus tells us not only to pray that the Kingdom of God come, but that God’s will be done. But once again, do we realize the power behind what we are praying? Time and time again in scripture we see the disciples just not getting it. They expect Jesus to come and overthrow the Roman government, even though Jesus came to overthrow the power of sin and death. They expect him to be a conquering King, not a humble Messiah. The walked with Christ for three years and still didn’t get what the will of God was.

Many of us know the verse from Jeremiah that states, I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper and not harm you. But we don’t know what those plans are. We don’t understand the will of God in our own lives, let alone the will of God for our world. How can we discover what the will of God is and pray together in hope and certainty “Thy Will be Done”?

What does God’s Kingdom look like?

Do you mean it when you pray that God’s will be done? What potential stumbling blocks are in your life from embracing this part of the Lord’s Prayer?

Prayer: Almighty God, we at times don’t pray as if we really want your Kingdom to come. We are comfortable with how things are, comfortable with our own ways. Forgive us Lord. Let us truly seek your Kingdom and will in our lives and the life of the world in which we live. Amen.

Wednesday: “Daily Bread” - Matthew 6: 11

It seems like such an abrupt change, from asking for God’s kingdom to come, to asking for our daily bread. But they are connected. For it is only after we know who God is that we can begin to seek God to fulfill our needs. Trust that the God of the universe is concerned about our daily needs. For this reason, in the words of Pastor Max Lucado, the prayer is structured to “reveal God to us before revealing our needs to God.”

The story is told that during the bombing raids of World War II, thousands of children were orphaned and left to starve. Some were rescued and put in refugee camps where they were given plenty of food and good care. But the care givers soon realized that they had a problem, these children who had lost so much - their family, their home, their security - could not sleep at night. They were afraid that one day they would wake up and find themselves again without a home and food. Even the care they were receiving and the bounty of the food around them could not calm their fears. Then one of the care givers had an idea - give each of the children a piece of bread to hold during bed time. The children, holding the bread, could finally sleep in peace as they were reassured, “today I ate and tomorrow I will eat again.”

The Lord’s Prayer has the same reassurance for us. That today we were provided for by God and tomorrow we will be provided for as well. Yet all too often we hesitate to ask God for what we need, hesitate to show our dependance on God.

How does your life reflect a dependance upon God?

Prayer: God, help us come before you daily to meet our needs. We know that we seemingly need so much Lord, food, water, shelter, community - the list goes on and on. Yet, you remind us that you will provide for our needs. Help us give up our sense of control and lean into your provision and grace. Amen.

Thursday: “Forgive Us” - Matthew 6: 12-15

Because of the Fall, we hurt each other. We may not mean to. We may try our very best, but angry words still slip out. Intentions are misunderstood. And other times we intentionally hurt each other. We live in a broken world as broken people. It is easy to see how we accumulate debts against each other. Hold grudges. But we owed another type of debt as well. A debt to God. For all of us have sinned against God and fallen short of the glory that was prepared for us. When we don’t follow God’s leading. When we purposely do something we know we shouldn’t. This is sin. This is a debt against God. Its the debt that a simple apology and future good intentions couldn’t erase. A spiritual debt the wage of which was death.

And yet, Christ paid our debt for us. A debt that he did not owe. He paid our debt out of loving kindness.  Because of the cross and resurrection our debt is covered by the grace of God. When we pray “Forgive us our debts as we have been forgiven” we remember the powerful truth of the cross. We remember the undeserved and unearned grace that we received through Jesus Christ and we desire to show others that grace, letting it shine through our lives.

Who do you need to forgive in your life?

Who do you need to approach and ask for forgiveness?

Prayer: God, we thank you for the gift of forgiveness. The gift of having our debts forgiven because of the cross. Let us extend that forgiveness to others so that we can live peaceably with all. Amen. 

Friday: “Deliver Us” - Matthew 6:13

The ironic this is, the more Satan tries to tempt humans, the more God overrides him with his power for redemption. Just look at scriptures. Think back to Job. How Satan asked God if he could bring calamity to Job’s life to prove that he only serves God because God so richly blesses him. God allows it, with the caveat that Satan cannot kill Job. But no matter what Satan did or how much his wife and friends tried to argue that Job must have offended God, he stuck to his deep devotion and trust to God. Even though he didn’t understand what was happening, he believed in God’s redemption. Satan didn’t get the upper hand.

But how exactly does Satan tempt us? The ways seem to be endless, which is why we need to fervently pray that Satan does not get a foothold. For some examples, look again to scripture. Think back to Paul and how highly he thought of himself. He proclaims that he was the Pharisee among Pharisees, the top notch of his class, well respected amongst his kin. Yet, all of his accomplishments and hastiness seemed to block him from hearing the call of God, until God had to literally blind him to get his attention. When we think too highly of ourselves we become deceived into thinking that we don’t need God. That we are the center of the universe. That we can do it on our own, which are all lies.

Another way Satan gets a foothold is causing mayhem amongst the body of Christ. When we forget that we need each other. When one thinks themselves to be more vital than another. When we argue and bicker. That is Satan trying to rip us apart and all too often we let him succeed. 

But take hope! For in the midst of the many ways we can be tempted by the Evil One, we have a hope in Jesus Christ. For in Christ we have the power to pray that Satan not lead us into temptation and that we are delivered from evil. We can pray that prayer because Christ defeated death and Satan’s plan. We share in his victory, if only we ask for God’s guidance, strength, and help.

What temptations do you struggle with? How do you give God the power over these temptations?

Prayer: We want to be people who make it on our own, but in doing so often make our lives harder. We forget that you want to help us defeat the power the Satan in our lives - in fact, it is you alone, O God, who can have this victory in our lives. Let us hand our temptations over to you, so the victory may be won. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “The Gospel of Matthew: A Servant’s Heart” - Matthew 14: 15-21

Family Activity: Write down your prayer requests and put them on slips of paper. Pull each of them out and see how they fit in with the Lord’s Prayer.