In the next 40 days, the weeks leading up to Easter, the posts on Glimpsed Glory will be different. I am reading through the New Testament during this time and I am hoping the Holy Spirit will lead me to a fresh revelation each and every day. I’m going into it with a prayerful heart and an expectant spirit but I will fully confess to you that my soul feels sluggish.

I have been in a place of exhaustion over these last months. My mind has been clouded, my body has ached and insomnia has been my companion since late December. The enemy has been and is still whispering in my ear that my Jesus has forgotten me . . . that He has finally tired of my imperfections and left me behind.

I’m not giving in to it! I am going to fight the good fight of faith and follow the example of my Nehemiah Man. I am going to stand firm in my faith because if I do not, I will not stand at all. I’m praising God for bringing me to a place of emptiness so that I can look to Him to fill my cup.

I’m coming before the Lord and I’m asking Him to do a new thing in me. To rouse my heart to His side and to draw me near in real and tangible ways. To plow through the fog that has settled over me in the form of health issues, physical stress, and emotional upheaval and lay a level path before me. I’m entering the throne room and I’m humbly reminding Him that He has invited me to come in my time of need. O Lord – be near to me. Love me where I am. Take me where I need to be.

That’s the cry of my heart Sweet Sister and I’m thinking that if I am in this place that perhaps you are too. It might be that different life situations have brought us here but here we are. If that’s the case, I want you to know that you are not alone and that you have a faith sister to walk through it with. We can do this together – you and I. It’s why God gave us to one another. We can join our hearts and we can offer up the next 40 days to the Beautiful One and trust Him to do the beautiful thing in us.

So here’s what I’ll do. I’ll post the daily reading on the blog (except for Sundays) and if you read the Scriptures not only will you have read through the entire New Testament by Easter but God promises that He’ll show you deep and unsearchable things you do not know. He promises that His word is alive and active and will transform your heart. I could use some transformation. What about you?

At the end of the daily passage, I’m going to share my “Lesson from Lent” – nothing long or drawn out just something that God uses to speak straight to my heart from the Scripture that day. I’m putting it at the end because if your time runs short on a particular day – I want you to skip reading my words, not His.

I’m hoping that you’ll start your own running record of what God is showing you. Maybe you’ll even be moved to leave a comment so your Sisters can glean from what you’re learning. No matter how you choose to keep track of all He shares with you . . . treasure it up in your heart Sweet One, meditate on it, mull it over, consider the whisper of the Lover of your soul. The God of the Universe is the only Voice we need to revive our tired souls. So, let’s you and I lean in close, pray for ears to hear and hearts to respond. Let’s dig in to the riches He has given us and prepare to be amazed by what He will reveal to our expectant hearts. O Sister, let’s boldly ask Him for a lesson from Lent and then brace ourselves for a glimpse of Glory!

DAY ONE

February 18, 2015 – Matthew Chapters One through Seven from the Amplified Bible

Footnotes: I left the footnote marking there if you would like to track down sources in word study and language. Please follow the link to each chapter and scroll to the bottom of the passage.

Matthew 1

The book of the ancestry (genealogy) of Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the son (descendant) of David, the son (descendant) of Abraham.

² Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,³ Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Aram,⁴ Aram the father of Aminadab, Aminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,⁵ Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,⁶ Jesse the father of King David, King David the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah,⁷ Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa,⁸ Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram [Jehoram], Joram the father of Uzziah,⁹ Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,¹⁰ Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah,¹¹ And Josiah became the father of Jeconiah [also called Coniah and Jehoiachin] and his brothers about the time of the removal (deportation) to Babylon.

¹² After the exile to Babylon, Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel [Salathiel], Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,¹³ Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor,¹⁴ Azor the father of Sadoc, Sadoc the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud,¹⁵ Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob,¹⁶ Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, Who is called the Christ. (the Messiah, the Anointed)

¹⁷ So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen, from David to the Babylonian exile (deportation) fourteen generations, from the Babylonian exile to the Christ fourteen generations.

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place under these circumstances: When His mother Mary had been promised in marriage to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be pregnant [through the power] of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹ And her [promised] husband Joseph, being a just and upright man and not willing to expose her publicly and to shame and disgrace her, decided to repudiate and dismiss (divorce) her quietly and secretly.

²⁰ But as he was thinking this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary [as] your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of (from, out of) the Holy Spirit.

²¹ She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus [the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua, which means Savior], for He will save His people from their sins [that is, prevent them from ^[a]failing and missing the true end and scope of life, which is God].

²² All this took place that it might be fulfilled which the Lord had spoken through the prophet,

²³ Behold, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel—which, when translated, means, God with us.

²⁴ Then Joseph, being aroused from his sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him: he took [her to his side as] his wife.

²⁵ But he had no union with her as her husband until she had borne her firstborn Son; and he called His name Jesus.

Matthew 2

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men [astrologers] from the east came to Jerusalem, asking,² Where is He Who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east ^[a]at its rising and have come to worship Him.

³ When Herod the king heard this, he was disturbed and troubled, and the whole of Jerusalem with him.

⁴ So he called together all the chief priests and learned men (scribes) of the people and ^[b]anxiously asked them where the Christ was to be born.

⁵ They replied to him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

⁶ And you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are not in any way least or insignificant among the ^[c]chief cities of Judah; for from you shall come a Ruler (^[d]Leader) Who will govern and ^[e]shepherd My people Israel.

⁷ Then Herod sent for the wise men [astrologers] secretly, and ^[f]accurately to the last point ascertained from them the time of the appearing of the star [that is, ^[g]how long the star had made itself visible since its rising in the east].

⁸ Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, Go and search for the Child carefully and diligently, and when you have found ^[h]Him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship Him.

⁹ When they had listened to the king, they went their way, and behold, the star which had been seen in the east ^[i]in its rising went before them until it came and stood over the place where the young Child was.

¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were thrilled with ecstatic joy.

¹¹ And on going into the house, they saw the Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then opening their treasure bags, they presented to Him gifts—gold and frankincense and myrrh.

¹² And ^[j]receiving an answer to their asking, they were divinely instructed and warned in a dream not to go back to Herod; so they departed to their own country by a different way.

¹³ Now after they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, Get up! [^[k]Tenderly] take unto you the young Child and His mother and flee to Egypt; and remain there till I tell you [otherwise], for Herod intends to search for the Child in order to destroy Him.

¹⁴ And having risen, he took the Child and His mother by night and withdrew to Egypt

¹⁵ And remained there until Herod’s death. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, Out of Egypt have I called My Son.

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he realized that he had been misled by the wise men, was furiously enraged, and he sent and put to death all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that territory who were two years old and under, reckoning according to the date which he had investigated diligently and had learned exactly from the wise men.

¹⁷ Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

¹⁸ A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they were no more.

¹⁹ But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt

²⁰ And said, Rise, [^[l]tenderly] take unto you the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.

²¹ Then he awoke and arose and [^[m]tenderly] took the Child and His mother and came into the land of Israel.

²² But because he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in the place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being divinely warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee.

²³ He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled: He shall be called a Nazarene [Branch, Separated One].

Matthew 3

In those days there appeared John the Baptist, preaching in the Wilderness (Desert) of Judea² And saying, Repent (^[a]think differently; change your mind, regretting your sins and changing your conduct), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

³ This is he who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah when he said, The voice of one crying in the wilderness (shouting in the desert), Prepare the road for the Lord, make His highways straight (level, ^[b]direct).

⁴ This same John’s garments were made of camel’s hair, and he wore a leather girdle about his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

⁵ Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the country round about the Jordan went out to him; ⁶And they were baptized in the Jordan by him, confessing their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee and escape from the wrath and indignation [of God against disobedience] that is coming?

⁸ Bring forth fruit that is consistent with repentance [let your lives prove your change of heart];

⁹ And do not presume to say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our forefather; for I tell you, God is able to raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones!

¹⁰ And already the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ I indeed baptize you ^[c]in (with) water ^[d]because of repentance [that is, because of your ^[e]changing your minds for the better, heartily amending your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins]. But He Who is coming after me is mightier than I, Whose sandals I am not worthy or fit to take off or carry; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

¹² His winnowing fan (shovel, fork) is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear out and clean His threshing floor and gather and store His wheat in His barn, but the chaff He will burn up with fire that cannot be put out.

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him.

¹⁴ But John ^[f]protested strenuously, having in mind to prevent Him, saying, It is I who have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?

¹⁵ But Jesus replied to him, ^[g]Permit it just now; for this is the fitting way for [both of] us to fulfill all righteousness [that is, to ^[h]perform completely whatever is right]. Then he permitted Him.

¹⁶ And when Jesus was baptized, He went up at once out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he [John] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him.

¹⁷ And behold, a voice from heaven said, This is My Son, My Beloved, in Whom I delight!

Matthew 4

4 Then Jesus was led (guided) by the [Holy] Spirit into the wilderness (desert) to be tempted (tested and tried) by the devil.

² And He went without food for forty days and forty nights, and later He was hungry.

³ And the tempter came and said to Him, If You are God’s Son, command these stones to be made [^[a]loaves of] bread.

⁴ But He replied, It has been written, Man shall not live and be upheld and sustained by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.

⁵ Then the devil took Him into the holy city and placed Him on ^[b]a turret (pinnacle, ^[c]gable) of the temple ^[d]sanctuary.

⁶ And he said to Him, If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, He will give His angels charge over you, and they will bear you up on their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

⁷ Jesus said to him, ^[e]On the other hand, it is written also, You shall not tempt, ^[f]test thoroughly, or ^[g]try exceedingly the Lord your God.

⁸ Again, the devil took Him up on a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory (the splendor, magnificence, preeminence, and excellence) of them.

⁹ And he said to Him, These things, all taken together, I will give You, if You will prostrate Yourself before me and do homage and worship me.

¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, Begone, Satan! For it has been written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve.

¹¹ Then the devil departed from Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

¹² Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested and put in prison, He withdrew into Galilee.

¹³ And leaving Nazareth, He went and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, in the country of Zebulun and Naphtali—

¹⁴ That what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be brought to pass:

¹⁵ The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, in the ^[h]way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles [of the ^[i]peoples who are not of Israel]—

¹⁶ The people who sat ^[j](dwelt enveloped) in darkness have seen a great Light, and for those who sat in the land and shadow of death Light has dawned.

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach, ^[k]crying out, Repent (^[l]change your mind for the better, heartily amend your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

¹⁸ As He was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He noticed two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, throwing a dragnet into the sea, for they were fishermen.

¹⁹ And He said to them, Come ^[m]after Me [as disciples—letting Me be your Guide], follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men!

²⁰ At once they left their nets and ^[n]became His disciples [sided with His party and followed Him].

²¹ And going on further from there He noticed two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets and putting them right; and He called them.

²² At once they left the boat and their father and ^[o]joined Jesus as disciples [sided with His party and followed Him].

²³ And He went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news (Gospel) of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every weakness and infirmity among the people.

²⁴ So the report of Him spread throughout all Syria, and they brought Him all who were sick, those afflicted with various diseases and torments, those under the power of demons, and epileptics, and paralyzed people, and He healed them.

²⁵ And great crowds joined and accompanied Him about, coming from Galilee and Decapolis [the district of the ten cities east of the Sea of Galilee] and Jerusalem and Judea and from the other [the east] side of the Jordan.

Matthew 5

5 Seeing the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and when He was seated, His disciples came to Him.

² Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

³ Blessed (happy, ^[a]to be envied, and ^[b]spiritually prosperous—^[c]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the poor in spirit (the humble, who rate themselves insignificant), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!

⁴ Blessed and enviably happy [with a ^[d]happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His matchless grace] are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted!

⁵ Blessed (happy, blithesome, joyous, ^[e]spiritually prosperous—^[f]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the meek (the mild, patient, long-suffering), for they shall inherit the earth!

⁶ Blessed and fortunate and happy and ^[g]spiritually prosperous (in that state in which the born-again child of God ^[h]enjoys His favor and salvation) are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God), for they shall be ^[i]completely satisfied!

⁷ Blessed (happy, ^[j]to be envied, and ^[k]spiritually prosperous—^[l]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy!

⁸ Blessed (happy, ^[m]enviably fortunate, and ^[n]spiritually prosperous—possessing the ^[o]happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His grace, regardless of their outward conditions) are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!

⁹ Blessed (enjoying ^[p]enviable happiness, ^[q]spiritually prosperous—^[r]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the makers and ^[s] maintainers of peace, for they shall be called the sons of God!

¹⁰ Blessed and happy and ^[t]enviably fortunate and ^[u]spiritually prosperous ^[v](in the state in which the born-again child of God enjoys and finds satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of his outward conditions) are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake (for being and doing right), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!

¹¹ Blessed (happy, ^[w]to be envied, and ^[x]spiritually prosperous—^[y]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of your outward conditions) are you when people revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you falsely on My account.

¹² Be glad and supremely joyful, for your reward in heaven is great (strong and intense), for in this same way people persecuted the prophets who were before you.

¹³ You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste (its strength, its quality), how can its saltness be restored? It is not good for anything any longer but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men.

¹⁴ You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

¹⁵ Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a peck measure, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.

¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men that they may see your ^[z]moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and ^[aa]recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.

¹⁷ Do not think that I have come to do away with or ^[ab]undo the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to do away with or undo but to complete and fulfill them.

¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until the sky and earth pass away and perish, not one smallest letter nor one little hook [identifying certain Hebrew letters] will pass from the Law until all things [it foreshadows] are accomplished.

¹⁹ Whoever then breaks or does away with or relaxes one of the least [important] of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least [important] in the kingdom of heaven, but he who practices them and teaches others to do so shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

²⁰ For I tell you, unless your righteousness (your uprightness and your right standing with God) is more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

²¹ You have heard that it was said to the men of old, You shall not kill, and whoever kills shall be ^[ac]liable to and unable to escape the punishment imposed by the court.

²² But I say to you that everyone who continues to be ^[ad]angry with his brother or harbors malice (enmity of heart) against him shall be ^[ae]liable to and unable to escape the punishment imposed by the court; and whoever speaks contemptuously and insultingly to his brother shall be ^[af]liable to and unable to escape the punishment imposed by the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, You ^[ag]cursed fool! [You empty-headed idiot!] shall be ^[ah]liable to and unable to escape the hell (Gehenna) of fire.

²³ So if when you are offering your gift at the altar you there remember that your brother has any [grievance] against you,

²⁴ Leave your gift at the altar and go. First make peace with your brother, and then come back and present your gift.

²⁵ Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way traveling with him, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.

²⁶ Truly I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last fraction of a penny.

²⁷ You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery.

²⁸ But I say to you that everyone who so much as looks at a woman with evil desire for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

²⁹ If your right eye serves as a trap to ensnare you or is an occasion for you to stumble and sin, pluck it out and throw it away. It is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be cast into hell (Gehenna).

³⁰ And if your right hand serves as a trap to ensnare you or is an occasion for you to stumble and sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better that you lose one of your members than that your entire body should be cast into hell (Gehenna).

³¹ It has also been said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.

³² But I tell you, Whoever dismisses and repudiates and divorces his wife, except on the grounds of unfaithfulness (sexual immorality), causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a woman who has been divorced commits adultery.

³³ Again, you have heard that it was said to the men of old, You shall not swear falsely, but you shall perform your oaths to the Lord [as a religious duty].

³⁴ But I tell you, Do not bind yourselves by an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is the throne of God;³⁵ Or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.

³⁶ And do not swear by your head, for you are not able to make a single hair white or black.

³⁷ Let your Yes be simply Yes, and your No be simply No; anything more than that comes from the evil one.

³⁸ You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.

³⁹ But I say to you, Do not resist the evil man [who injures you]; but if anyone strikes you on the right jaw or cheek, turn to him the other one too.

⁴⁰ And if anyone wants to sue you and take your undershirt (tunic), let him have your coat also.

⁴¹ And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two [miles].

⁴² Give to him who keeps on begging from you, and do not turn away from him who would borrow [^[ai]at interest] from you.

⁴³ You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy; ⁴⁴ But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,^45 [aj]To show that you are the children of your Father Who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the wicked and on the good, and makes the rain fall upon the upright and the wrongdoers [alike].

⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward can you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that?

⁴⁷ And if you greet only your brethren, what more than others are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles (the heathen) do that?

⁴⁸ You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete maturity of godliness in mind and character, having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 6

Take care not to do your good deeds publicly or before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you will have no reward [^[a]reserved for and awaiting you] with and from your Father Who is in heaven.

² Thus, whenever you give to the poor, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites in the synagogues and in the streets like to do, that they may be ^[b]recognized and honored and praised by men. Truly I tell you, they have their reward ^[c]in full already.

³ But when you give to charity, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

⁴ So that your deeds of charity may be in secret; and your Father Who sees in secret will reward you openly.

⁵ Also when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward ^[d]in full already.

⁶ But when you pray, go into your [most] private room, and, closing the door, pray to your Father, Who is in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open.

⁷ And when you pray, do not heap up phrases (multiply words, repeating the same ones over and over) as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking.

⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

⁹ Pray, therefore, like this: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed (kept holy) be Your name.

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

¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.

¹² And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven (^[e]left, remitted, and let go of the debts, and have ^[f]given up resentment against) our debtors.

¹³ And lead (bring) us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

¹⁴ For if you forgive people their trespasses [their ^[g]reckless and willful sins, ^[h]leaving them, letting them go, and ^[i]giving up resentment], your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others their trespasses [their ^[j]reckless and willful sins, ^[k]leaving them, letting them go, and ^[l]giving up resentment], neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses.

¹⁶ And whenever you are fasting, do not look gloomy and ^[m]sour and ^[n]dreary like the hypocrites, for they put on a dismal countenance, that their fasting may be apparent to and seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward ^[o]in full already.

¹⁷ But when you fast, perfume your head and wash your face,

¹⁸ So that your fasting may not be noticed by men but by your Father, Who sees in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open.

¹⁹ Do not ^[p]gather and heap up and store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust and worm consume and destroy, and where thieves break through and steal.

²⁰ But ^[q]gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal; ²¹ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

²² The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is sound, your entire body will be full of light.

²³ But if your eye is unsound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the very light in you [your ^[r]conscience] is darkened, how dense is that darkness!

²⁴ No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise and be ^[s]against the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (^[t]deceitful riches, money, possessions, or ^[u]whatever is trusted in).

²⁵ Therefore I tell you, stop being ^[v]perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried) about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life greater [in quality] than food, and the body [far above and more excellent] than clothing?

²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they?

²⁷ And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the ^[w]span of his life?

²⁸ And why should you be anxious about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field and ^[x]learn thoroughly how they grow; they neither toil nor spin.

²⁹ Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his ^[y]magnificence (excellence, dignity, and grace) was not arrayed like one of these.

³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith?

³¹ Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear?

³² For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all.

³³ But seek (^[z]aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (^[aa]His way of doing and being right), and then all these things ^[ab]taken together will be given you besides.

³⁴ So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.

Matthew 7

7 Do not judge and criticize and condemn others, so that you may not be judged and criticized and condemned yourselves.

² For just as you judge and criticize and condemn others, you will be judged and criticized and condemned, and in accordance with the measure you [use to] deal out to others, it will be dealt out again to you.

³ Why do you ^[a]stare from without at the ^[b]very small particle that is in your brother’s eye but do not become aware of and consider the beam ^[c]of timber that is in your own eye?

⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, Let me get the tiny particle out of your eye, when there is the beam ^[d]of timber in your own eye?

⁵ You hypocrite, first get the beam of timber out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the tiny particle out of your brother’s eye.

⁶ Do not give that which is holy (the sacred thing) to the dogs, and do not throw your pearls before hogs, lest they trample upon them with their feet and turn and tear you in pieces.

^7 [e]Keep on asking and it will be given you; ^[f] keep on seeking and you will find; ^[g]keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you.

⁸ For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened.

⁹ Or what man is there of you, if his son asks him for a loaf of bread, will hand him a stone?

¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will hand him a serpent?

¹¹ If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good and ^[h]advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father Who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give good and ^[i]advantageous things to those who ^[j]keep on asking Him!

¹² So then, whatever you desire that others would do to and for you, even so do also to and for them, for this is (sums up) the Law and the Prophets.

¹³ Enter through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and spacious and broad is the way that leads away to destruction, and many are those who are entering through it.

¹⁴ But the gate is narrow (contracted ^[k]by pressure) and the way is straitened and compressed that leads away to life, and few are those who find it.

¹⁵ Beware of false prophets, who come to you dressed as sheep, but inside they are devouring wolves.

¹⁶ You will ^[l]fully recognize them by their fruits. Do people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?

¹⁷ Even so, every healthy (sound) tree bears good fruit [^[m]worthy of admiration], but the sickly (decaying, worthless) tree bears bad (worthless) fruit.

¹⁸ A good (healthy) tree cannot bear bad (worthless) fruit, nor can a bad (diseased) tree bear ^[n]excellent fruit [worthy of admiration].

¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire.

²⁰ Therefore, you will ^[o]fully know them by their fruits.

²¹ Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven.

²² Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name?

²³ And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].

²⁴ So everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts upon them [obeying them] will be like a ^[p]sensible (prudent, practical, wise) man who built his house upon the rock.

²⁵ And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

²⁶ And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a stupid (foolish) man who built his house upon the sand.

²⁷ And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great and complete was the fall of it.

²⁸ When Jesus had finished these sayings [the Sermon on the Mount], the crowds were astonished and overwhelmed with bewildered wonder at His teaching,

²⁹ For He was teaching as One Who had [and was] authority, and not as [did] the scribes.

And the Women of God say “Amen” to the reading of His Word.

#Lessonsfromlent

¹⁹ And her [promised] husband Joseph, being a just and upright man and not willing to expose her publicly and to shame and disgrace her, decided to repudiate and dismiss (divorce) her quietly and secretly. Matthew 1:19

Lord,

Give me a heart like Joseph’s. Help me to stop being prepared to be offended or hurt by others. Give me a gracious spirit. . . one that forgives before it is asked. One that protects hearts rather than points fingers. Empty me of me and fill me with your grace. Bless me with humility and a merciful heart. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen

Tags: #lessonsfromlent, Easter, glimpsed glory, Lent, Matthew 1, Matthew 1:19, Matthew 2, Matthew 3, Matthew 4, Matthew 5, Matthew 6, Matthew 7