The FEC Daily

Matt 6:19-21 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

If you have ever had your home burglarized you know how sobering it can be. Our first home in sub south was broken into while Leigh Ann and I were both gone to work. We came home to find our entrance door kicked in and our house ransacked as the burglars took anything and everything they felt was of value. In an instant you realize nothing you have is perfectly safe here on this earth. Whatever we have in the way of material goods is subject to be stolen by thieves. We can install security systems in our homes, monitor them from our phones, buy safes, stay on guard and still not be fully protected from thieves. The only perfectly safe place for our treasure is in heaven.

We also have to stay on guard as bad people can steal our identify and our funds online. Large companies spend millions of dollars on cyber security trying to protect their assets from online thieves as well. We can purchase security software, use good practices like not clicking on unknown links in a text or email and try our best to protect our credit and debit cards from bad actors all to no avail.

We are all also very aware that many material things show their age much sooner than we wish. My first car was a 1967 GTO that I bought in 1974. It was not a good purchase as I did not consult with my dad before buying it. It had a some pretty annoying mechanical problems and a lot of rust around the tail lights and on the hood. My dad, brother and I were regular customers at junk yards in middle Georgia as we did most of our own repairs on our cars and, at that time, you could buy used parts at junk yards for your cars. Walking junk yards and owning my GTO was a clear reminder to me that new cars do not stay new looking forever. Rust makes things not last and lose their value. Treasure in heaven lasts forever. 

It is not wrong to possess things. What is wrong is for things to possess us. If we strive to only gain material things for ourselves and this life we may well lose them and lose our hearts with them. However, if our hearts are focused on the eternal things of God and giving to enlarge His kingdom we will lay up treasure in heaven. My prayer for you is that you will be found faithfully giving to God’s work on this earth to support your church, help the needy, fund missions and reach out to the lost. Giving also protects our hearts from coveting things and loosens the grip that stuff can have on us. Plus, where our treasure is our hearts will be there as well.

Tim

Matthew 6:16-18- When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ¹⁷ But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

There have been only a few times in my life where I was really sick. In these situations.. the only thing I wanted was to be left alone. I didn’t want anyone coming in my room, offering something to eat or drink… I just wanted to sit by myself and wait it out. But when I have a little cold, also known as the “man cold,” I kind of enjoy a little more attention, especially from my nurse wife. (Hopefully she doesn’t read today’s blog!)

I’ve seen this in our boys as well. It must be a guy thing…. If one of the boys falls or what not, they usually pop right up and keep on keeping on. However, if we bring a little attention to the situation, they erupt like a volcano. They just want a little attention from mom and dad. They mope around and limp like a three-legged dog, so they will be noticed. If you’re a parent, you know the struggle…

This is what Jesus is warning His followers about when it comes to fasting. Jesus said, “when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.” In other words, don’t act like something is wrong to bring attention to yourself. Jesus recognized there were groups moping around, looking gloomy and worn out to gain attention from the crowd. We’ve all seen someone not looking so hot and ask them, “are you ok?” This is what’s happening. They want people to know that something is different so they could be perceived as righteous. However, Jesus calls this “look at me” mentality hypocritical. Unfortunately for the hypocrites, they get exactly what they want, accolades with people. From the world’s eyes, this looks great; however, they’ve missed out on the transforming power of the Father.

So how are Jesus’ followers to fast? First, we see Jesus is assuming that His disciples fast. Like prayer, Jesus expects fasting to be a part of their dedication and normal rhythm. Second, when you fast, clean yourself up! He said to “anoint your head and wash your face.” This could mean for us to shave… do our hair… put on some nice clothes… in other words, don’t try and look like something is wrong. Our goal should not be noticed and to gain accolades from man, however, our hope should be to connect with the God of the universe and experience His transformation power! The reward from the Father significantly outweighs the rewards of the world!

My encouragement for the week is to begin a rhythm of fasting. Specifically, if you are struggling with temptation from a particular sin, cover it in prayer and fasting. It teaches us to deny our bodies and rely on the Spirit of God. Fasting will take some time to adjust to… but hang in there. It will be one of the most transformative things in your life!

-Taylor

Matthew 6:14-15

“14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Throughout our journey in life, it is inevitable that we will encounter situations where individuals may cause us pain through their actions. These actions could lead us to feel as though we have been wronged or sinned against in some way. We are not in heaven yet, and we still have to deal with sin, and that includes the sins of others against us. When others sin against us, we have a choice to make: to either put on the likeness and attitude of Christ, forgiving others even when it is hardest, or act in the ways the world would, being bitter and unforgiving, not moving past the wrongdoing and letting it harbor up hate in your heart.

God calls us to use Christ as the measuring stick to which we compare ourselves, not other people. Jesus had his mindset on things above and the true kingdom that is to come. When we shift our focus to Jesus and his grace in moments of bitterness, it will shed new light on a situation, causing a moment of pain to turn into an opportunity for forgiveness. God calls us to take that opportunity to show grace where it is underserved, forgiving where it hurts to spread the undeserving love of God that he first showed to us. Doing this is no easy task, just as it wasn’t for Jesus either. Picture this for a second: Jesus, in every situation he faced where he was wronged all the way to his death on the cross, had the ability and power to stop it all, yet he didn’t. Can you imagine the torment at Calvery, especially knowing he could stop it all right then and there? The pain not only physically but mentally is immeasurable, yet he chose to choose forgiveness even in the hardest moment, leading to the greatest act of mercy ever shown.

God calls us to forgive in difficult moments, using the opportunity to extend the same mercy that was shown to us by Christ. Look to Jesus for strength, and he will help you in the act of forgiveness.

• Tyler

Matt 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

First of all, let’s be reminded that the Lord does not tempt anyone. No temptation comes from the Lord. The Bible makes this clear in James 1:13-14 “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” A comedian named Flip Wilson who had a popular TV show when I was growing up was famous for saying “the devil made me do it.” Flip was not entirely correct. The devil does tempt people, but, it is also true that individuals are also drawn away by their own desires.

Temptation is something we all have to deal with. What does the word temptation cause you to think of? Is it something, someone or some place? The good news is God is able to deliver His children from the schemes of the devil. A great promise concerning temptation is found in 1 Cor 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” Praise the Lord! What a great God we serve!

I have also found one of the best ways to deal with temptation is to stay away from the people, places or things that cause us to stumble. Many of us grew up hearing the saying that went like this, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Where possible, I encourage you to stay far away from the people, places or things that tempt you. God will honor this decision and come alongside to help you live in victory over temptation.

Jesus faced temptation when He walked this earth and never sinned. He understands well what temptation feels like. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 4:15-16 “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Jesus really does get us. He overcame temptation and will enable us to overcome it as well. I encourage you to go boldly into God’s throne room today knowing we serve a God who is able to deliver us from evil and anything else the devil throws our way.  

Tim

Good morning!

Matthew 6:12- “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

I hope you all have had a great weekend and have enjoyed walking through the Lord’s prayer together. What we have seen thus far is Jesus teaching His disciples how to pray. It’s clear that Jesus expects prayer to be a part of our default mode. As I mentioned last week, I am always fascinated that one of the main things the disciples wanted to learn from Jesus was how to pray! They saw Jesus’ prayers were different and packed a punch because something powerful often followed! In today’s passage, we see Jesus teaching His disciples that forgiveness is a vital component of His kingdom!

The first thing we see in this passage is Jesus acknowledging our debt. The Greek word for debt in the New Testament appears only here and in Romans 4:4, and it is clear that Matthew intended the word to mean “sin” (Luke 11:4). The choice of this word reflects the fact that all sins place us in debt to God. The Bible teaches in Romans 6:23, “for the wages of sin is death!” This doesn’t sound great for you and I! But God…. even at worst, sent His son Jesus to pay the ransom for our sin! 

If you are a born-again Christian, praise the Lord… your debt has been paid in full!

Now with that said…. forgiven people forgive people!  Let’s remember, we are people who have rebelled against God and have been forgiven at the cost of God’s own Son. Talk about mercy…  because we have been forgiven for so much, it is only natural for us to forgive others when we are wronged. Jesus tells us a parable to help us understand this concept in Matthew 18:21-35. The one who had been forgiven much should also forgive in return because of the tremendous amount forgiveness that was extended to him. It is the same with you and I…. because forgiven people forgive.

As we start off our week, I want to encourage you to do some honest inventory of your life.  First, have you asked for forgiveness of your sin? If so, is there someone in your life, right now, you need to forgive?  A spouse? A family member? A friend? A co-worker? Someone in your church? Who in your life are you holding hostage by bitterness and resentment?  This is no way to live and Jesus calls us to forgive as we have been forgiven!

Have a great week!

-Taylor 

Matthew 6:11 “Give us this day our daily bread”

Jesus, in his teachings, guides his disciples on the essence of prayer. He encourages us to initiate our prayers by addressing our Father in heaven. He wants us to understand that prayer is not a mere act or a set of rituals. It’s a personal conversation with our loving Father, who not only cares for us but also has the power and the will to love and care for us. The scripture we are exploring today truly reflects this intimate relationship with Him. “ Give us this day our daily bread.”

Today’s big idea is that God cares for your needs and wants you to learn to trust him one day at a time.

Every day, whether we acknowledge it or not, we are faced with the decision to rely on our own strength and will or to give the day to God, acknowledging he is the giver and where our help comes from. Through his prayer, Jesus is trying to teach us that we are truly made to live our days relying on God and serving him above our desires and worries that come with this life. Give us this day our daily bread is not simply a prayer for food; it is an act of submission, acknowledging that God knows our needs and will provide.

While preparing to write this blog post, I decided to look up a statistic on Google that might help illustrate the point I wanted to make about this verse. I typed, “How many times did God provide in the Bible?” Google didn’t have a specific number or static on this that I could find, but then it hit me. From the first verse to the last, the Bible is the testimony of God providing from the days of creation through all of the Old Testament stories to Christ and then on until now. This book is a testimony of God proving he is real, cares for us, and knows our needs and desires. This personal revelation made me realize the depth of God’s provision in my life and how it aligns with the message of the verse.

Then, the question came to my mind: Can you even put a number on how many times God has provided for you in this life? How many times has God made a way for you? My head began spinning, trying to comprehend all the times when God had made way for my needs, wants, and deepest desires. From the tiny details of my life all the way up to the big moments. I couldn’t even begin to count because God is always there, providing and caring, showing love for us.

I have a challenge for you: Take a moment today and try to comprehend all the times God has proved his faithfulness in your life. Think about all the times he has provided and made a way when there seemed to be no one. This should drive our hearts to surrender to him daily for our needs rather than relying on our strength. Then, we can truly and wholeheartedly pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” We know he loves us and has our best interests and deepest needs in mind.

• Tyler

Matt 6:10 Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Robert Law said “Prayer is a mighty thing, not for getting man’s will done in heaven, but for getting God’s will done in earth.” Therefore, we never want to ask God for anything that will dishonor His name, delay His kingdom or disturb His will on earth. God’s kingdom on earth is now largely an invisible kingdom. We are praying in essence that God’s kingdom will become seen…visible to everyone…visible through His children and His work. In John 18:36 Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” One day the church militant (still fighting the battle) will join the church triumphant (already in heaven) and Christ will set up His kingdom. What a day that will be! The petition “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” is a prayer that the reign of evil on earth may end, that sin may be forever destroyed and that the kingdom of righteousness will be fulfilled.

What else are we praying for when we pray this prayer? We are praying for the spread of the gospel, for revival and for the Lord’s return. We are also praying the prayer the Lord Jesus Christ prayed in Gethsemane “Not my will but thy will be done.” We are sharing our willingness to surrender our will to God’s will. Charles Allen said “It means I look at my heart and plead for God’s cleansing power. It means I bow before Him in faith and obedience. Thy kingdom come means I am willing to surrender everything I possess in order to possess God.” In faith we pray not my will but thy will be done recognizing that God’s grace will be sufficient no matter what comes our way.

May I remind you that God’s will is being done on earth. His laws govern the universe. For example, the law of gravity is still fully in force today. Another  example is you and I did not decide what century we would be born, we did not choose our parents, the color of our skin, our gender or our physical appearance. All were decided by God when we were fearfully and wonderfully made. Since our great and sovereign God is going to move according to His will it is best to always pray for God’s will to be done. It is a beneficial step of faith where we recognize the need to align our will with God’s will.

I pray you have a good day walking in the sufficiency of God’s grace.

Tim

Matthew 6:9- Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Good morning!

I hope you all have had a great start to the summer thus far. Before we dive into today’s passage, I want you to know we are going to change the schedule of the blog up a bit. Instead of Monday-Friday, we will be posting Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from here on out. We want to be sure to post quality content and having one day per staff member will allow us to do this more effectively. As we mentioned from the beginning, these devotionals are not intended to be a substitute for your personal Bible reading and devotions; rather, they are to encourage deeper and further reading. I pray they have been a blessing to you. With that said, let’s get into today’s passage.

Jesus, again, points us towards prayer. It’s clear that prayer should be a normal pattern in our life for He states, “pray then this way.” As I mentioned Friday, prayer is not something “we just get around to.” It should be a part of the normal rhythm of our day to day and thankfully Jesus teaches us His strategy.

It’s clear that Jesus’ prayers were different. One of my favorite passages in the Gospel is when the disciples ask Him to teach them to pray in Luke 11. Personally, if I were one of the twelve, I’d be asking, “Hey Jesus, is there any way you could show me how to walk on water? How about the fish and the bread multiplication? Any way you could show me how to do these things?” But here is what they saw in Jesus’ life… when Jesus prayed, amazing things happened. In other words, prayer equaled power, and now Jesus is teaching us that we could experience these things in our lives and gives us the recipe to do so…

How do we start? By “hallowing” God’s name. “Hallow” is not the most used word in our everyday language… so just for clarification, it means to sanctify. “Sanctify” means to make holy or treat as holy; therefore, when God sanctifies us, it means that He makes us holy. But when we sanctify God, it means that we treat Him as holy and that is exactly what Jesus is teaching here! Treat the name of God as holy!

So what does it mean to “treat God’s name as holy?” One of the practical ways we can sanctify God’s name is through obedience. When we break God’s commandments, we profane the name of God. In other words, we “take God’s name in vain.” As followers of Jesus, our goal should be to bring glory to God in all we say and do; so when we pray that God’s name be “hallowed,” it’s a request to God to enable us to live a life that brings Him glory!

My encouragement for you this week is to simply pray…. there is power in prayer! The good news is the one we’re praying to teaches us how!

-Taylor

Matthew 6: 5-8

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him”

Good morning!

The fact the God allows us to pray blows me away. We literally get to participate in the most powerful thing in the world because prayer moves the hand of the almighty! Wow!

In today’s passage, Jesus gives us instruction for when we pray. Notice, Jesus doesn’t say, “if you get around to pray.” Instead, He specifically says “when!” In other words, it’s expected…. If you’re going to be a person that follows Jesus, you must be a person of prayer…… it’s not something “we just get around to.”

For many of us, prayer can be intimidating. Maybe you’re like me and grew up in a tradition where church members prayed out loud to close the service. Every Sunday, our pastor would randomly call upon someone in the crowd, and I can vividly remember hearing grown men and women pour out their hearts to the Lord. Though I’m grateful for that experience, there was a time when I questioned the effectiveness of my prayers because they just simply didn’t sound as “good” as theirs…

Jesus isn’t necessarily prohibiting public prayer; rather, He prohibits praying for the purpose of public recognition. Prayer in the non-Jewish world was often characterized particularly by formal invocations and magical chants, in which the correct repetition counted rather than the worshipper’s attitude or intention. In Graeco-Roman religions, they believed their repetition would pester the gods to have their request granted. It’s clear that Jesus wasn’t interested in these thoughtless mechanical prayers…

So, what is He wanting from us when it comes to prayer? He wants prayer to flow from a heart of humility and dependence. He is more interested in the quality rather than the quantity of the utterance. He cares about our hearts… He cares about our desires to approach Him with the hopes of drawing near to Him. Sitting at the master’s feet… Drinking from the cup of his hand… overwhelmed in His presence!

Don’t miss out on the privilege of prayer! Because of Jesus, we can bring our hopes, desires, needs, and so on to the feet of the almighty, and more importantly, He wants to meet with you!

-Taylor

Matt 6:1-4 “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. 2 When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. 3 But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”

Be on guard…be alert…be careful…watch out! We use these phrases to warn each other that something bad could happen if we continue down a particular path. Here Jesus is warning us of two dangers concerning giving publicly. The first being we may find ourselves giving to seek the admiration of others who may say things like “Look how generous they are,” “Look at what a good heart they have,” and “Look at how much they give.” The second danger is we then lose out on being rewarded by our God in heaven for our giving. Jesus made clear in this passage that this is what hypocrites do. They call attention to their giving and, therefore, receive no reward from heaven. They only get their shallow reward here on earth. Let’s do all our good deeds, including our giving, for the applause of heaven and not get caught up in doing things to be praised by people here and now.

Jesus goes on and makes clear that the best giving is done privately where not even our left hand knows what our right hand is doing. I became convinced early in my ministry that our giving here at FEC should follow this pattern and be kept private. This is the reason why we never put names on anything when people give to purchase them here at FEC…not pews, chairs, furniture, buildings or anything else. Jesus said our giving should be done quietly and privately.

Notice also Jesus said twice in these four verses “when you give.” He also says “when you pray” three times in the following verses while teaching about how to best pray. Jesus said when, not, if. The Lord expects His followers to give just as He expects His followers to pray. We are all called to give. We are equally blessed that we get to give to the Lord and His work. It is also true that it is more blessed to give than to receive. I encourage you to trust God with your giving, do it privately and see up close just how faithful God will be to meet every need you have.

Tim