The FEC Daily

Matthew 5:9 “God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.”

Good morning!

We’re going to start off with a simple question that I hope stirs your heart. Is there a greater title than being a “child of God?”

I remember a time in my life when I wasn’t walking as strongly with with the Lord, and my goal was to obtain a title I could be proud of. The plan was to work as hard as I could in order to become “successful” and “wealthy.” According to the world’s standards this is what most people feel they need to achieve. This is a deceiving thought, and it is the main driving force behind the idea that our highest calling is to work to achieve only worldly success. When we let the truth of the gospel invade our hearts and lives, we can see clearly that the highest title we can achieve is being called a “child of God!” Our desire above all else should be to obtain a title that comes from God, not from the world! For we know that the things of this world and earthly “success” will pass away but our title as “a child of God” we will carry into eternity!

Matthew 5:9 “God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.”

I want us to notice something about this verse that is crucial in our efforts to be obedient children of God. It says God blesses those who work for peace! It doesn’t say God blesses those who love peace, or those who keep peace. It’s one thing to say that we love peace or we want to keep peace, but it’s another thing to put our money where our mouth and take action and work towards peace! If we are willing to work as hard as needed to become successful in this life, how much more should we desire to work to bring peace and be called “a child of God?” Can I remind you that the blessings that come from God far outweigh the rewards of this life! Let’s not just agree that we want peace, rather lets begin to work towards peace as the “children of God” should do!

Is there an area in your life that needs peace? As a child of God we should take the initiative to work for peace, not sit on the sideline. God will see your efforts, and he will aid you in your work, you will truly be blessed for it!

Have a good day!

-Tyler

Matt 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

The heart is where God looks. The Bible says in 1 Sam 16:7 “…For the Lord does not see as a man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” This is a good way for us to look at people as well. I have been blessed to serve here at the church for many years with people in ministry positions and volunteers who have and had such good hearts….hearts surrendered to God with strong convictions and full of love and compassion for people.

The heart is where the big issues of life are settled. It was said about Daniel in Daniel 1:8 “Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank…” Daniel shows us that when we want to settle issues and form lasting convictions of what is right and wrong it is important these issues get settled deep in our hearts. Daniel and the three Hebrew children were blessed much by God for the commitment they made and they were just young teens when this occurred.

The word pure in Matt 5:8 is translated from the Greek as clean or unmixed. David prayed in Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Do you believe God can do such a thing for us? I hope you do. King David did so I do as well. God put this prayer in His Word so we could claim such a work in our hearts. I grew up going to a church and camp meetings where I heard the saints testify how they stayed at the altar until God answered their prayer, a prayer that by faith they believed God could not only forgive their sin, but, that He could also cleanse their heart. They were also some of the most humble, godly people I knew.

This beatitude says the pure in heart will see God. This certainly refers to us being in heaven one day. It also speaks to the here and now as well. The pure in heart walk closely with God and are blessed to see God in His creation, in the way God works in their life and the lives of others, in events happening in the world and in God’s Word when they read it.

A good prayer to consider praying each day is found in Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.”

Have a great rest of your day!

Tim

Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

Good morning!

I hope you all had a great weekend celebrating Mother’s Day with your families! In my opinion, today’s verse couldn’t be more fitting because if anyone knows how to show mercy, it’s moms! The two people who have shown me the most mercy have been my mom and my wife… two wonderful moms!

As I mentioned last week, the Beatitudes are not just virtues that we are to pursue, but blessings to be experienced. In this chapter of scripture, I can almost see Jesus looking out at the crowd and seeing these different groups of people- the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek and so on… Let’s be honest for a second, there is no way our culture would ever describe these groups as “blessed.”  But in the “kingdom of Heaven,” they are indeed blessed! 

“Mercy” is a common word in our Christian circles… but for the sake of today’s devotion, I want to freshen our memory a bit.  If we were to “google it,” we’d see something similar: “Mercy- forgiveness or withholding punishment.” Though forgiveness and withholding punishment is a part of mercy, it also denotes a sense of compassion to those that are in a state of suffering, in need, or maybe even ill-deserving… those that need help! For example, when the blind beggar cries out to Jesus in Luke 18 saying “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me,” he is crying out for compassion from Him. 

So why is Jesus saying that those who show mercy are blessed? Because Jesus knew that mercy comes with a cost. Let’s be honest, showing mercy can be tough! It takes time… It can costs us financially, emotionally, and even physically…. We are forced to swallow our pride. 

I’ll never forget a conversation I had several years back with a student in our youth ministry.  This young man is blessed to have a Godly mom who is extremely involved with taking care of widows, caring for the poor, etc. The compassion that his mom was showing toward “the needy” began to cause frustration in his heart because he often saw her exhausted at the end of the day while experiencing heart ache caused by people she went out of her way to help, and so on. In other words, he saw that mercy and compassion  can come with  a cost. This led him to the question- why should she continue  going the extra mile to show mercy and compassion? 

Jesus answers this young man’s question in verse 7…. Because she will receive mercy! The cost is worth it! It’s going to get better because Jesus will show her mercy in return for the mercy she has shown! Can you think of anyone you’d rather have show you mercy than the King of Kings? Today’s reminder: blessed are those who show mercy because they will receive mercy!

Have a great Monday!

-Taylor

Matthew 5:6

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.”

Good morning!

Many of you may have gotten a sneak peak of today’s devotional in an email Wednesday night. Just for clarity, that was not intentional. As I mentioned in our first post, we are still working out some kinks and learning the software. With that said, I hope and pray God’s word speaks to your heart today!

Maybe you’re like me and read something so many times that the meaning behind it loses its power. This can often be the case with the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are so familiar to us that if we’re not careful, we can miss the radical nature of these teachings. With that said, I pray that as we continue to study these revolutionary teachings of Jesus, God’s word will be illuminated in a new and fresh way!

I think one of the things that I have come to notice about the Beatitudes is that they are not only virtues we are to pursue but are blessings to be experienced! For example, every culture has an underlying belief of who is blessed and who is not. Usually, it has a lot do with whether you have money or not… If you’re rich, you’re blessed and vice versa. Even nice guys finish last in our culture…. But here in the Beatitudes, Jesus begins to teach that even the ones that are not “culturally” seen as blessed, are indeed blessed in His kingdom!

In today’s passage, Jesus teaches that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied!

Have you ever been “hangry?” Yes, it’s a real thing… just google it! If you don’t know what “hangry” is, let me explain… To be hangry is when you’re so hungry that it turns to anger. Let’s be honest, we’ve all been there or have at least experienced the wrath of someone that has… When we’re in this state, we long for something to fill our hunger, and when we finally get to eat, we are satisfied and back to normal. Here, Jesus promises us that if we hunger and thirst for righteousness, He promises to satisfy our longing!
As in the verses before, hunger and thirst are characteristics, again, of the oppressed. Those who are not seen as blessed culturally… But in this kingdom, they will be satisfied.

I believe that Jesus is teaching about a group of people who both long for righteousness in their life and their culture. When we hunger and thirst to become close to Jesus and experience His righteousness, He promises us that He will satisfy us. Remember, if we seek Him, we will find Him when we seek Him with our whole heart…

However, I believe this teaching goes much deeper than just our personal spiritual lives and has a lot to do with our environment as well. In this passage, the word “righteousness” carries a connation of justice as well. Think back to the culture in which this was written. These people were in a difficult situation… being oppressed… working for wealthy landowners… experiencing roman rule…in other words- life was hard!

Jesus teaches that the group that longs for a sense of righteousness and justice in their cultural environment will one day be satisfied.. All of the evil… all of the oppression… these things are temporary and the group that longs to see things made right will be satisfied! A new heaven! A new earth! All things will be restored to what God intended it to be.
In a time where many of us hunger to see things return to where they should be, rest assured… you will be satisfied!

See you Monday,

-Taylor

The Red Letters

Matt 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

The word meek is often understood as being synonymous with the word weak. We tend to think of someone who is unable to stand firm on a position, is easy to persuade to the point of gullibility and in general is a weak-minded, weak-willed person. Meekness is anything but weakness. It is power under control. John Piper said “Meekness is the power to absorb adversity and criticism without lashing back.” It takes more power to stay under control than to blow up. Blowing up is easy. It takes more strength not to react than it does to retaliate.

A meek person is one whose strength is controlled by God. God’s control shows up in our thoughts, words, actions, will and emotions. The meek are those who submit, not to what others want, but to what God wants. The Greek word for meek, praus, was used to refer to domesticated animals. Praus does not refer to a wild, unruly animal, but to a powerful horse or ox that was trained so it could be controlled by man. The word meek as Jesus used it refers to a strong person who is under God’s control.

Two great examples of meekness in the Bible were Jesus and Moses. See here how Moses was described in Numbers 12:3…“Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.” Yet, Moses defied the Pharoah several times, stood alone against the Israelites on a number of occasions, rallied the Israelites to defeat their enemies and handed down judgments to those who disobeyed the commands of God. Jesus called himself meek in Matt 11:29 “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest for your souls.” This meek Jesus chased money changers out of the temple with a whip, publicly rebuked the Pharisees and religious leaders and stayed committed to doing God’s will even to His death.

Jesus and Moses are good examples to follow. A few fair questions to ask then are does God have control of your life? Do you include Him in your decisions and plans? Do you trust Him enough to give you both the right action and reaction in all circumstances? Let’s ask God to give us strength that is under His control.

Tim

Matthew 5:4
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall me comforted.”

The loss of a loved one is a tragic reality that we have to face in this life, and oftentimes it might come quick and unexpected. This can cause us to arrive at a state of hurting and deep discomfort within as we deal with such a loss. In times as such, we need to turn to God’s word and hold fast to the unchanging truth that lines the pages of scripture.
Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” This promise can leave us rest assured that in times of loss when we are left without words, God will provide a peace that will comfort us and truly bless our soul.

Here recently my grandfather went to be with the Lord and although he was in Christ it’s still challenging to part with someone you dearly loved. I received the news of his passing two hours before officiating my first wedding, so I had a brief moment to quickly gather myself so I could handle the wedding ceremony approaching. After a successful ceremony I went on to attend the wedding reception where the celebration of the marriage would take place, and as many of you know theres not too many places in this life that is as exciting and as lively than a wedding reception. The bride and groom are over the top excited, family and friends all gathered around eating and dancing truly having a time of celebration. It was at this moment that this verse from Matthew 5:4 came to life for me. As I looked around the room, God assured me that my grandfather was doing better than anyone in the room. He had made it to paradise a place well beyond our mere human imagination. This truth not only brought me comfort in my time of mourning but it blessed my soul and increased my faith. What a hope that us as Christians can have in a time of loss! That not only will we see our loved ones again because of Jesus, but they are at the truly doing better than ever!

Are you experiencing difficulty dealing with the loss of a loved one? If so turn to God’s word and his promises for comfort and rest, not the things of this world. We should hold fast and stand firm on the promises of God rather than let the heartache of loss consume us in tough times. Times of loss can become a testimony of God’s love and faithfulness if we choose to believe it over the circumstances at hand. Don’t let the tragedy consume you, stand firm on God’s promises and seek him through tough times. His word is unfailing and you will be blessed and comforted.

-Tyler

Matt 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

This verse is the first verse of an uninterrupted sermon from Jesus that takes up chapters five, six and seven of the gospel of Matthew and is known as the Sermon on the Mount. Matt 5:3 is also the first verse of a short section of verses that we refer to as the Beatitudes. I pray God will speak to our hearts as we take a closer look at the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount in the weeks ahead.  

The Greek word blessed in Matt 5:3 can also be translated as happy. Blessed (happy) are the poor in spirit. How can the poor in spirit be happy and blessed? Because the poor in spirit see their need of God while the proud do not see their need of God. Humility is the key to God’s help. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 5:5… “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” The poor in spirit are happy and blessed when they recognize their need of God because that is when God shows up to meet their need. We are poor in spirit without the Lord and are on the road to being happy and blessed when we realize it.

Jesus told a parable that fits this beatitude well. It is found in Luke 18:10-14 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” The tax collector is a perfect example of a person who was poor in spirit, but, went home justified as God proved faithful to meet his need.

A post I saw on FB the other day fits here…The poorest person is not the one without money. It is the one without God. Aren’t you thankful, like me, that you are a child of the living God?

Tim

Matthew 4:19- “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Good morning, everyone!
I hope you all had a great weekend! As we start this week’s devotionals, Matthew has just finished up Jesus’ “pre-ministry” phase and is now hitting the ground running with full on ministry. What we see in this passage is Jesus calling his first disciples to follow Him.

Jewish custom was for male students to graduate around 14 or 15 years of age. After they finished up their schooling, a rabbi would come and search for the brightest young men; once he found them, he would invite them to be his disciples by telling them to “follow me.” Essentially, the rabbi was inviting them to come sit under his teaching so they could learn from him.

Oftentimes, family and friends would gather around the student to celebrate and bless them as they went on their way. A common prayer of blessing was “may you be covered in the dust of your rabbi.” Their prayer for the young boy was that he would follow so closely to the rabbi that dust would fly up from the dirt roads and cover him.

Though this sounds a little odd, they knew one thing. To really learn from someone, you must be close to them. In other words, you must be in their presence! Here, Jesus is calling the first disciples to come be in His presence… to learn from Him. As He eats, as He teaches, as He works, and so on. He is calling them to learn by being with Him.

Knowing the cultural context of this passage helps me understand how revolutionary this really was. Here, Jesus doesn’t go to an Ivy League school to find the brightest of the bright to join His mission. He does just the opposite. … He goes down to the ocean where a bunch of uneducated fishermen were and begins to gather His troops….

He finds the ordinary and does the extraordinary through them!

This is where it all started for these men. Just a bunch of normal guys that no one had ever heard of before… A normal day at work…But after Jesus called them to follow Him, nothing was ever normal again. Don’t forget, one of these even became the “rock” on which Jesus built His church…. And though these men didn’t always get it right after this moment, they examplifed what it meant to really “follow” Jesus. To lay everything behind… to walk as closely as they possibly could… To just abide in His presence…

This should be an encouragement to all of us. We don’t have to be a “somebody” or qualified to be used by Jesus. We just have to be willing to truly follow Him. I believe with all my heart that if we strive to follow Him the way He intended us to, we will see things we could never imagine because when we are in His presence, we begin to experience His power!

-Taylor

Matthew 4:17 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

I think it’s only fitting that as we finish this week of devotions together, Matthew is finishing up this section of scripture. Up to this point, Matthew has explored the “pre-ministry” life of Jesus, but now we are about to see him break on scene and preach a life changing message! “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Jesus is saying that in and through Him the kingdom of heaven is breaking through this present world.

If you were to look up the word “repentance” in a Bible dictionary, you would probably see something that says, “A change of attitude and action from sin toward obedience to God.” Many of us would define repentance as a “turning” away from sin and towards God. Whatever terminology you want to use to describe this “turn” or “change,” I think we can all agree that to repent is to walk away from our old life and walk towards a new life in Jesus.
Repentance is tough. It takes humility… It takes us recognizing that what we’re doing is not working and something is missing! In our culture, the connotation of the word “repentance” almost seems offensive. But to call someone to repent is actually quite the opposite… it’s a message of love. It’s a message that leads to LIFE!

I believe the reason that repentance is difficult for humans is because we view it as leaving something behind. Somewhere over time, we have come to believe that Jesus wants to remove all the fun from our lives and give us a bunch of rules. This couldn’t be further from the truth! I can honestly say that I have had more fun, experienced more joy, and have a peace that surpasses all understanding since allowing Jesus to come into my heart, and I couldn’t imagine going back to my old life.

When I repented and walked away from my old life, Jesus gave me a new life better than I could have ever imagined!

As we finish up this week together, I want to keep this short and sweet just as Matthew did in this passage. If there is something in your life that is not pleasing to the Lord, repent… turn away from it… change your attitude from sin towards God. Walk away from it and walk towards Jesus!
Yes, you’ll be leaving something behind, but gaining so much more!

See you Monday,
Taylor

5/2/24

Matt 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

Jesus is again quoting scripture to Satan in response to this third and final temptation. Please allow me to share again that quoting from and/or recalling scripture is a great way to respond to temptation when it comes our way. The writer of the book of Psalms declared in Psalm 119:11 “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” A quote from D.L. Moody many of us heard growing up fits here as well, “The Bible will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the Bible.” The more we read the God’s Word…the more we memorize it…the more we meditate on it…the more we let it become a treasure hidden in our hearts…the more we will successfully deal with temptation. Christ gave us this pattern. Let’s use it to His glory!

Satan’s final temptation of Jesus is found in Matt 4:8-9 “Again the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’” I am so thankful Jesus did not accept this offer from the devil and chose instead to stay with God’s plan to go to the Cross and die a substitutionary death for our sins. Praise His holy name!

One of my favorite passages about Jesus is found in Phil 2:9-11 “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Jesus is being worshiped all day every day and will be worshiped forever and ever and ever! Long after Satan, who wanted Jesus to worship him, has been cast into the lake of fire. Not only should we worship and serve the Lord our God. We are blessed to get to worship and serve the Lord our God!

Pastor Tim