And Jesus answered and said to them, “Take heed that no one deceives you.” Matthew 24:4
Lord it is so easy to be deceived. You were warning Your disciples not to be deceived and You warn us today also.
Thank You for watching over us.
Thank You for helping us make the right choices.
Thank You for calling us to come closer to You.
Thank You.
Thank You Lord.
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Now as He (Jesus) sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and the end of the age?” Matthew 24:3
Lord, Your disciples loved You. They were asking questions because they wanted to know what was ahead of them.
Thank You Lord for choosing these 12 men to be Your disciples. They were all men that were just like we are today. They left their jobs to follow You. Rather amazing Lord when I think about it and I thank You for their obedience.
Thank You for helping us obey You and Your calling on our lives today Lord. We can’t do it without Your power and Your strength and oh how we thank You for that provision. We are truly blessed to have You with us each moment of every day. Oh how we thank You. Thank You Lord. Thank You.
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Jesus left the temple and was going away, when His disciples came to point out to Him the buildings of the temple. But He answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly I say to You, there will not be left here one stone upon another, that will not be thrown down.” Matthew 24:1, 2
Lord You continued to tell Your disciples what was going to happen. You shared things with them so that when You were gone they would know that You truly were the Son of God.
Thank You for our Bibles that tell us about You and record Your words for us.
Oh how fortunate we are Lord to be able to read Your words and let Your life change us. Oh how we thank You.
Thank You Lord.
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(Jesus continued talking about the scribes and Pharisees) “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold your house is forsaken and desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Matthew 23:37 – 39
Lord I can feel sadness in this scripture. Disappointment. There was the desire for intimacy on Your part but not a desire on the part of the scribes and Pharisees. They wanted to go their own way and act pious but inwardly they were not one of Yours. They totally rejected You. How sad it must have made You.
Lord I know we are all given the opportunity to follow You just like these scribes and Pharisees were. You have given us free will. It is our choice. I am so glad that when You called me as a child of eight I said yes to You. My life was changed in an instance as I knelt beside my parents bed and my father prayed with me. Oh how well I remember those moments yet today and how thankful I have been to be one of Your children. It’s been a long journey and one that brings me closer to You every day. I am so thankful I said YES to You.
Thank You for Your guidance and direction. Oh how I love and appreciate You.
Thank You.
Thank You Lord.
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(Jesus continued) “You , you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell. Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zachariah the son Barachiah, whom you murder between the sanctuary and the alter. Truly, I say to you, all this will come upon this generation.” Matthew 23:33-36
Thanks You Lord that You want to guide and direct our live and give us peace.
Oh how we need You, Oh how we want you. Thank You for ALWAYS being with us.
Thank You!! Thank you Lord.
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(Jesus continued) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Thus you witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. Matthew 23:29 – 32
Lord You continued to show those listening what the scribes and Pharisees were like. Each time You speak You show them something different. They looked so pious but internally they were rotten.
Thank You Lord for loving us enough to want us to see ourselves as we truly are.
Thank You for showing these scribes and Pharisees what they were like and that they were not getting away with the way they were living their lives.
You know us Lord and You love us enough to want us to change.
Thank You…..Thank You Lord.
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(Jesus continued) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Matthew 24:27, 28
Lord, You just cannot give up exposing the scribes and Pharisees and all they are. What a great lesson for all of us to see. There are many people today that look so righteous on the outside and are full of corruption within. Often the truth comes to light after they have died. Books are written that show who they truly were. We can’t always believe what we read though because there are those that would love to destroy others to make money or make themselves something other than they are. You are the only one that knows the total truth about us.
Lord I am so glad You love me as You do with an unconditional love that calls me on to become more and more like You. Oh how I fall so often and yet You are always there to pick me up and help me on my way. Thank You for being with me and never giving up.
Thank You Lord.
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(Jesus continued) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel. Matthew 23:23 – 25
Lord, You continued to show them what they were doing wrong. All this did was make them more and more upset because You were exposing who they really were…..hypocrites….saying one thing and doing another. Acting as if they were pious when they were just the opposite.
Lord You shine Your spotlight on us today too. You want us to be the best we can be. It is Your spotlight that helps us to see ourselves as we truly are. Thank You that we can ask for Your help and strive to be changed into Your image.
Oh how we thank You that each moment of every day we can grow and change as we look to You and trust.
Thank You! Thank You Lord.
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(Jesus continued) “Woe to you, blind guides, who say; ‘If any one swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath. You blind fools! for which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? So he who swears by the alter, swears by it and by everything on it; and he who swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it; and he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by him, who sits upon it.” Matthew 23:16 – 22
Lord, You knew their hearts and You had seen them in operation. You knew exactly what they were up to and could not let them get by with it.
Thank You Lord that You know our motives and our desires.
Thank You for Your guidance and direction because it is ALWAYS right.
Oh how we praise and thank You for never leaving or forsaking us.
Thank You Lord.
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(Jesus continued) “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. Matthew 23:13 – 15
Lord You were not saying very nice things to these men. You saw their hearts and You knew their thoughts. They were doing everything they could to trip You up so they could arrest you.
Thank You for exposing our ways that are not what You want us to be. It is with Your gentle nudge that we can change more and more into Your likeness.
Oh how we need that Lord. Oh how we thank You.
Thank You Lord.
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