January 24, 2026

The Sermon On The Mount: Ask, and It Will Be Given 

Jesus’s Words:

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Matthew 7:7-8

Ask, seek, knock. In other words, pray, pray, pray. Do you get the feeling that Jesus wants us to be constant in prayer? Pray, fast, and if you want something, ask! We ask God for a lot of things, but some things might not be good for us, so you can expect those prayers to go unanswered. He can see where they lead, and it may not be healthy for us. However, don’t stop asking, keep knocking at his door, and pester Him. He would rather hear you begging than not hear from you at all. It might take a while, but He will eventually answer you. I’ve had childhood prayers answered as an adult, things that I never fathomed He would ever answer, and they were big prayers for material things, not just spiritual things. Ask for it, even if it seems outlandish, because you never know God’s intentions for your life, and it’s better if you’ve asked for it before He gives it to you, because then you will recognize His provision. 

January 23, 2026

The Sermon On The Mount: Judging Others

Jesus’s Words:

Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:1-2

The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. Luke 6:40

Occasionally, you will find yourself in a situation that calls for discernment. When you think all is well, the enemy will rear his ugly head and show you the truth. It can be a good thing because even though the sorting process is painful and the burning off of the dross seems like a loss, it isn't; pure gold is showing itself clean and pure, and the only loss is the trash that shouldn't have been there in the first place. Are we part of the dross? Let's hope not. We don't always know the whole truth about what causes a breakdown; all we know is how we should react to it. We must be careful not to act as a judge in this situation, because, believe me, we have no right to judge someone's character when we have issues with our own. God help the people who place themselves in the position of a righteous judge when they are barely wet behind the ears, still feasting on milk, and haven't even started on solid food. The gist of this is to be careful; if you aren't 100% free of any unrepentant, ongoing sin, you have no right to judge anyone, and even if you're squeaky clean, you will look like a Pharisee or a Sadducee if you sit in the place of judgment. No one wants to be compared to them.  Jesus is our judge; let him sort out the details. He is the only one righteous enough to sit in that position.

January 22, 2026

The Sermon On The Mount: Do Not Be Anxious 

Jesus’s Words:

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Matthew 6:33-34

Anxiety is probably one of the everyday things that we've all dealt with at some point in our lives. It doesn't take much to set it in motion and cause us to overthink our situation, and yet we cannot always control the outcome, even though we may try, which in turn causes us more anxiety. Jesus wants us to let it go, live in peace, and trust him. One thing I practice that helps me let go is thinking through to the worst-case scenario, which for me might be jail or death. Jail might be bad, but death wouldn't be bad because of my salvation. After I get that out of my head, I can forget about it because it is unlikely my worst-case scenario will happen. All we need is Jesus, so if our entire life is torn apart, but we still have Jesus, and he has promised never to leave or forsake us, then we have it all. Living with someone anxious is a different story; they can cause you stress if you don't react to their anxiety the way they think you should; keep your peace anyway because you can't control their feelings; that's Jesus's job. Things happen in God's time, so there's nothing you can do about it anyway, so you may as well keep your peace.

January 21, 2026

The Sermon On The Mount: Lay Up Treasures in Heaven 

Jesus’s Words:

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matthew 6:20-21

What are some of the treasures you can store in heaven? Though they have little value here on earth, they may be a currency that gains significant interest in the kingdom of heaven. Paul lays this idea out very nicely to the Galatians in this verse:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Jesus speaks well for himself and doesn’t need Paul to clarify his commands, but to give us more context in this matter and provide extra substance to his words, we can see that the fruits of the Spirit are a commodity worth trading in and collecting as our treasure for the kingdom of heaven. We have no choice but to deal in earthly treasure; otherwise, we couldn’t eat or have a shelter. However, if you want something that has lasting value, collect the fruits of the Spirit; they are more valuable than anything else and are approved by Jesus as a treasure that won’t rust or devalue. These spiritual fruits should be easy for the Christ-follower to collect and store in heaven, and they line up perfectly with the godly life we should all be leading. 

January 20, 2026

The Sermon On The Mount: Fasting

Jesus’s Words:

That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. Matthew 6:18

As with giving and praying, fasting shouldn’t be a spectacle or observable by men. Fasting is a private thing between you and God. Once you make others aware of what you are doing, it loses its meaning, and you receive no reward. However, if you do it right, keep it private, God will reward you openly. Fasting is good for you and should be practiced often. It gives your body time to reset, burn off the bad cells, and replace them with new cells, a process called autophagy. It clears out the waste and helps to renew your mind. The sad thing is that you don’t hear much about fasting from the pulpit, even though it is an essential part of being a Christ-follower. If it weren’t important, Jesus wouldn’t have mentioned it. You don’t have to go full bore to begin with; start small and work your way up to total food elimination. You might start by cutting out sugar or bread, and if successful, the next time you eliminate more. Another way to fast is intermittent fasting, where you skip meals and eat only once a day; it’s not that hard, and eventually you’ll get used to it. You will realize that God stands right beside you as you walk out this discipline. You will be surprised at how clear His voice becomes, and you hear Him like never before. Don’t dismiss something because you don’t understand it; look it up; there’s plenty of information out there that will help get you started. 

January 19, 2026

The Sermon On The Mount: The Lord’s Prayer

Jesus’s Words:

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. Matthew 6:9-13

Jesus gave us a beautiful prayer. I pray his prayer daily, and when my words aren’t there, I offer him back his own. God expects us to meet with Him privately, not with long-winded prayers that drag out the content to be heard. It’s better to get to the point rather than make our prayer a show. Think about children, when they need something, they don’t give you a song and dance, they tell you straight, I’m hungry, or my head hurts. Our Father expects us to meet with Him like a child to a parent. When my heart is heavy, sometimes words aren’t enough, but my tears reach heaven quicker than any other expression. 

Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. Psalms 39:12

The point of this scripture is to be real because God sees you as you are. Remember that trying to impress others who are just dust and ashes like you is futile. God is our source, not others.

January 18, 2026

The Sermon On The Mount: Giving To The Needy

Jesus’s Words:

But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. Matthew 6:3-4

Obviously, you use social media, or otherwise you wouldn’t see my devotional. So, you know as well as I do that there are people who video their giving to the underprivileged and tout it to anyone who watches. It is those people who receive all their reward right here on earth, and whatever treasure they would have had was eaten up by their need for notoriety rather than actually helping people in need. Personally, I like watching those videos and seeing how people receiving a handful of cash react to having their lives changed. However, God sees it differently: He wants us to give in secret, not put it on display for the world to see. Like prayer and fasting, it is our duty to give, but we must do it from the heart and not be compelled by the reward. Those who see your giving will provide you with praise, but when you keep it secret, God, whom I would rather receive my reward from, will reward you openly. It doesn’t get any better than that. Give from your heart, but don’t tell anyone, and watch how God works that out in your life.