Matthew 16:14
    There was an idea going around that Jesus was John the Baptist come back from the dead. This was, of course, a spectacularly ridiculous notion. But, such ideas held great sway with the superstitious, like Herod, for example. The second conjecture of the people was more biblical, but still ridiculous. To identify Jesus as Elijah, one would have to ignore, or be ignorant of, the entire ministry of John the Baptist. The Jeremiah idea was connected to some of the Jewish traditions that Jeremiah would be the prophet greater than Moses who would come to them.
   Thus, we see, all of these conjectures were based upon shaky, questionable, ideas. Very, very few thought about Jesus long enough and hard enough to come to anything like the right conclusion about him. The same thing is true today. There are many missing the path to life through Christ on the right hand and the left. Only a few are making it. Only a few realize Who He really is.

Bible Reading: Ecclesiastes 7:1-10:20

Scripture Memory: 1 John 4:7 “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for those times when You choose to bless us so much that we are amazed. Your blessings are always a mercy to us, but sometimes they are just overwhelming. Thank You for willingly giving to us in spite of ourselves. You are so gracious! How can we thank You enough for all that You do? Oh Father, You are the most important One in our lives! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for a man with a tumor in his intestines. Pray for two men with cancer.

Journal Entry #13308

Mattthe  16:13

Matthew 16:12
   Notice how little explanation was required for the disciples to jump to the correct conclusion. Jesus did not have to connect many dots. The disciples already had an inkling of what he had meant, but were so distracted by present circumstances as to miss the truth. This happens often with us. The truth is sitting right beside us, but we miss it because of our tunnel vision. We are focused on things of this earth too much, and not things above enough.

Bible Reading: Proverbs 31:1-Ecclesiastes 2:26

Scripture Memory: 1 John 4:7 “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, bring revival to our hearts! You are glorified by Your works. And revival is very clearly Your work. You make it possible. You power it. You guide it. True revival is Your business, not ours. May we be ready for it in our hearts. You are so good to us, may we respond to Your greatness as we should. Thank You for all that You have done. Thank You for Jesus! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for  a woman with chronic health issues. Pray for missionaries all over the world. Pray for revival in America.

Journal Entry #13306

Matthew 16:11
   This verse is a beautiful picture of the mercy of God. Jesus knew the answer to his question, yet he asked anyway. It is a great mercy that, though God knows our nature, he has made a way of salvation. He does not simply lose patience and destroy us all.

Bible Reading: Proverbs 28:1-30:33

Scripture Memory: 1 John 4:6 “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us, he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for this day. You always have a load of blessings in store for each day. You know just exactly the encouragements that we need along the way. Thank You for the truths that we find in Your Word. What a blessing your Bible is! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for two people with cancer. Pray for a man with a broken leg.

Journal Entry #13305

Matthew 16:10
   One of the things we might easily miss here is actually really cool. Jesus specifically states the numbers of people involved in the two feedings. This is not simply a gloss on the part of Matthew when he was writing the account. Jesus knew how many people were fed not only because he knows everything, but because they were counted. Jesus had overseen the feedings and had made the disciples carry the whole thing out in an orderly fashion. The people sat down in groups. The disciples knew how many were in each group. They knew as well as Jesus how many were fed. The number counted was the number of men because the people would divide up by families. The men would, as a result, be easily counted. Due to this fact, it is all that much more amazing that the disciples had forgotten these miracles.

Bible Reading: Proverbs 25:1-27:27

Scripture Memory: 1 John 4:6 “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us, he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for Your goodness to us. You are very specific with Your Truth. You don’t leave us hanging on broad generalities. You get down to the details. Though we often miss it, this is a great mercy. When it comes to our eternal destiny, no amount of detail is overdone. We want to know all of the specifics that we need. And, in Your Word, we find those details. Thank You! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for a family that just lost a loved one. Pray for a man who is working a long way from his family. Pray for a woman trying to win back her husband.

Journal Entry #13304

Matthew 16:9
    Notice here the first thing Jesus asks the disciples. He does not ask them first if they remembered the miraculous feedings. That is the obvious question to ask, and he does ask it. But, first, he asks if they understood the miracles. This is a crucial question. And, it reveals much about Christ’s intentions. His bottom line is for people to understand. That is his main thing. He wants his disciples to get it. He wants them to comprehend what all of these things mean.
   It was amazing that they had apparently forgotten these miracles. But, far more important than that, they had evidently failed to understand their meaning. They had failed to see that, as the Messiah, Jesus is not just a great prophet, he is THE great prophet. He is not just one of the best of men, he is the PERFECT man. He is not just the servant of God, he is GOD. So many who know about him fail to understand who he is.

Bible Reading: Proverbs 22:1-24:34

Scripture Memory: 1 John 4:6 “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us, he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.”

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank You for Jesus! We will never stop thanking You for him. He is the blessing we all need. He is the answer to every problem. Thank You for making him available to us. You are so wise and good. You have done the best. You always do what is best. Your way is the best way for us. May we submit to Your will. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for a man who is in very poor health. Pray for a man having trouble with a coworker. Pray for a man who is struggling with cancer.

Journal Entry #13303

Matthew 16:8
   The lack of faith on the part of the disciples is easy to pounce on from our vantage point. However, this kind of thing happens all the time. The disciples were not stupid. They were not simply hard of hearing or blind. They were distracted. This is the great enemy of faith. Many are they who would believe, if they ever stopped long enough to really think about it.
   What I am getting at is the easily forgotten sin of complacency. It is perhaps the most forgotten problem we face. Complacency kills faith. It puts faith off. It sacrifices the urgent on the altar of the circumstantial. It makes the strongest of Christians forget God. It is dangerous. Those who fall prey to it a often they who will succeed in fighting other temptations. The disciples were right there with Christ. Certain sins would have been unthinkable at the time. But, complacency, it is always there.

Bible Reading: Proverbs 19:1-21:31

Scripture Memory: 1 John 4:6 “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us, he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, may we escape complacency! Your greatness is enough to snap us out of it. You can draw us out of ourselves and our circumstances. You can bring us to reality. Thank You for Your nature! It calls us to consider what we would never imagine in this world of complacency. Thank You for Your Son and Your salvation through him! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for a man with a broken leg. Pray for a man who needs salvation. Pray for the persecuted church.

Journal Entry #13302

Matthew 16:7
    Many times we find the disciples discussing things among themselves. They had a tendency to do this. It seems that they never seemed to think Jesus knew what they were thinking. Even up to the last few days before his death, the disciples still had conversations among themselves that they did not share with Christ.
   This betrays a natural part of human nature. We feel that, no matter what, we can be alone with our own thoughts. We think, also, that we can maintain a group of close friends with which we share certain things. We have this idea that we can ‘keep a secret’ from God. This is due to our misconception of reality. We work with limitations so much that we think God must be somehow limited too. We forget the reality of the Infinite One. We forget that every thought that has ever gone through our heads has already been recorded. He already knows about all of it.

Bible Reading: Proverbs 16:1-18:24

Scripture Memory: 1 John 4:6 “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us, he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for another day of life. You are so good to us. Thank You for working in our lives in spite of our forgetfulness. You are faithful even when we forget You are there. You always watch over us and take care of us. You are so great and mighty! Thank You for Your power on our behalf. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for a woman who is going for medical testing. Pray for a man who just had a stroke. Pray for a man with bad headaches.

Journal Entry #13301

Matthew 16:6
    Jesus makes it clear in his teachings that there are few who teach the truth. Lies are common, and false teachers abound. Thus, there will be many in this world who, like the Pharisees and Sadducees, come into condemnation for leading men in the wrong way.
   The influence of their teachings is like a disease, which spreads quickly among the less educated. Although God wants every individual to know his Word, there will be those who are teachers. Some will teach, having more opportunity and skill in the area of study. Pastors, Sunday school teachers, evangelists, missionaries, and the like will be held to a high standard as leaders in this way. There will be many who will lead others astray. Thus, this warning about the Pharisees and Sadducees can serve as a warning to us today. We cannot simply swallow all that is taught. We must check it by Scripture.

Bible Reading: Proverbs 13:1-15:33

Scripture Memory: 1 John 4:5 “They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for this wonderful beautiful day to serve You. Thank You for good teachers. We need to hear Your Word. We need to be encouraged to find truth in Your book. We need examples of learning and exhortation to learn. Thank You for the truth you have given us, and for helping us to understand it. You are the best teacher. Your Spirit is a blessing to us as You teach us Your Word. Thank You! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for a woman without work who is not feeling well. Pray for a man with kidney failure. Pray for a man with bad back pain.

Journal Entry #13300