Tag Archives: Jesus

2024-02-24 – The Parable of the Four Soils – Matthew 13:1-9

24 Saturday Feb 2024

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In Matthew 1:1-9 Jesus tells of the parable of the four soils, where a farmer plants seed but depending on where he plants, the yield is different. Some seed fell on a path where birds ate it. Some on rocky places that sprang up quickly but died in the heat of the sun. Others fell among the thorns where the plants were choked out. And finally some fell on good soil where it produced a good crop.

The parable is intended to teach us that not all of our actions, no matter how good, will produce good results. There is no perfect formula for obedience. However, we are called to be obedient. It is not our job to decide how and who accepts Christ, it is our job to share about Christ and to be a reflection of Him. When others choose to not follow Christ, it is not our place to judge. We can only share and pray for the Holy Spirit to move in them.

2024-02-18 – Jesus Makes Our Burdens Light – Matthew11:28-30

18 Sunday Feb 2024

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One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Matthew 11:28-30:

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

The interesting thing about this passage is it says Jesus will free us from our heavy burdens and will give us rest. The misconception from some people is in thinking Jesus will make life easy. Life doesn’t become easy, it just becomes filled with love, peace, and healing, and it also becomes filled with purpose.

Life is hard. And it has been that way by design since the fall in Eden. We are supposed to lean on God and know He is the one who provides all things for us. But that doesn’t mean we sit back and wait for it to drop from heaven. While we still need to put in the work, we can live with the peace and confidence in knowing we are not alone. God makes a way for us in all things, all the way through life here on earth and to eternity.

2024-02-14 – Lessons From Jesus Sending Out The 12 Disciples – Matthew 10:1-16

14 Wednesday Feb 2024

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As I read about Jesus sending out the 12 disciples this morning. It struck me there was a lot to the story we don’t often think about. For starters, Jesus didn’t send out the disciples alone, he sent them in twos. There is a lot of power in doing difficult things with a partner. A great example of this is marriage. While marriage can be difficult at times, having a partner to go through all of life’s joys, difficulties, and struggles is invaluable. The same applies for Jesus’ instructions around sending his disciples in twos. We need to keep in mind that the disciples were still pretty new to Jesus’ teachings. Jesus gave them a lot of power and instruction on how to deal with those they encountered. By going out and having the support of another made their trip possible. Jesus sent them out with nothing more than the clothes on their back and the tunics on their head. He told them if the people of the town or the village they encountered realized the disciple’s worth, then all of their needs would be supplied for them. However, if the people of the town or village did not see their value then they were to “shake the dust off of their feet” from that town and move on.

As a side note, the act of shaking off the dust from their feet is something the Jews did when they left a gentile or Samaritan town. It was a symbol of separating themselves from those who were not like them. Jesus used this symbolism to instruct the disciples to separate themselves from those who did not accept their teachings, miracles, and healing given to them from Jesus. As I read this, I realized there is a sub-lesson to what Jesus was trying to tell them, and it struck me that there are times I am around people who do not fully accept me. This often bothers me and causes me to either be sad or angry, or in some cases overcompensate to try to make them accept who I am. The reality is God created me and there is nothing lacking in his creation (not talking perfection here, just that God created me for a purpose). If someone doesn’t accept me, instead of being upset or trying to become someone I am not, I need to learn to “shake the dust off my feet” and move on with no ill feelings or feelings of inadequacy.

And since this is Valentine’s Day, it is a good reminder that God created my wife to be my partner and the one who loves me and accepts me just as I am, even with all my imperfections (and there are many!). As we do life together, I need to remind myself that I am not alone, I am with the person who God created to walk with me in all of life’s joys, hardships, and adventures. There is no one I need more than the partner He created for me. For those who aren’t married, keep in mind that a partner does not need to be a spouse. It could be a friend, it could be a colleague, or it could be someone we turn to when we need a helping hand. God will rarely leave us alone if we are willing to open ourselves to the people God puts in our paths.

2024-02-07 – The Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 5-7

07 Wednesday Feb 2024

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I spent the last few days reading through the Sermon on the Mount. And I am embarrassed to say in all the times I have read this sermon I never realized how long it was. I always thought it was part of Matthew 5, not realizing it spanned through chapter 7. In the past I assumed these passages were all part of Jesus’ continual teachings, but in reality it was all in one sitting and it probably spanned over the course of a few days. One of the things that strikes me about the Sermon on the Mount is how comprehensive it is. This should not surprise me, it is Jesus after all, but it did when I took it all in as a whole. Jesus leaves no stone unturned. The Beatitudes gives a glimpse of what the sermon would cover:

He said:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

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

7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

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

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Jesus leaves no one missing and he prepares his sermon to guide those who would dare to listen, understand, and obey. If you ever have a chance, take the time to read and absorb His words in the Sermon on the Mount. It alone can be life transforming if allowed to penetrate our heart and mind.

2024-01-31 – Matthew 5:21-37

31 Wednesday Jan 2024

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A couple days ago I started reading Matthew’s account of Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount, and even though I have read through these passages numerous times, I don’t think I realized the Sermon On The Mount spread across the entirety of Matthew chapter 5 through the end of Chapter 7. There is so much to absorb from Jesus’ words in that sermon, and to be honest there is quite a bit of conviction from reading His words. Today, the two biggest topics that got my attention were Jesus speaking about Anger (Matthew 5:21-26) and His teaching about Vows (Matthew 5:33-37).

To be honest, I often struggle with anger (not that this is a surprise to anyone who truly knows me). It’s not that I run around breaking things, it’s that I allow my indignation and sense of justice to get the better of me. There are things I should be angry about, but I should not be blinded by the circumstances and miss the opportunity for correction and understanding. Moreover, it should not cause strife with friends or family for an extended period of time. The longer anger is allowed to marinate, the harder it is to move past the anger and move closer to reconciliation.

As for Vows, I don’t want anyone to think I have a commitment issue or that I cannot be trusted, but what struck me about Jesus’ words is how much our society feels the need for vows to project meaning. In Matthew 5:37 Jesus says, “Simply let your ‘Yes” be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ be ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” We have become such an untrustworthy people we feel the need to vow our trustworthiness in order to have our words believed as true. If we are trustworthy in our character and show integrity in all our actions, then the need for vows is not necessary. Let us remember what Jesus’ expectation is of us and strive to live at that level on a constant basis, not just when we “really” mean it!

Restarting – January 27, 2024

27 Saturday Jan 2024

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It’s been over four years since my last post on this site, but after multiple years of reading through the Bible each year I needed a break. It actually pains me to say I needed a break from scripture. To clarify, I didn’t need a break from scripture itself, what I needed was a break from the grind of reading through scripture with little to no desire to absorb what God wanted to say to me through His word. I learned that reading without study bears no fruit, and I was tired of reading words and not taking the time to study and try to understand what those words had to say to me.

So, I took a break… a 4 year break. To be honest, I have no plans to post every single day and I have no plans to try and cram reading every word in the Bible into a 365 (366 this year) day year. My plan is to simply pick a different books in the Bible (right now I am in Matthew) and spend real time each morning (most) and read and study the notes until I feel like stopping for the day. Some days I will read chapters, and some days I will read a few verses… and that will have to be enough.

I will also be honest about something. I was not planning on restarting this blog. I was planning on leaving it alone. It was originally intended as a way for me to connect with others as we worked our way through the Bible. But in the end, as others dropped off, I was left with filling daily devotionals (Daili “Daily” Devotion “D”… get it? 😉) on my own. I felt that if nothing else my kids could one day go back and read my rambling thoughts. But in the end, it was simply a grind as I input half-hearted posts just to get it done each day. It benefited no one, least of all me.

I hope it is different this time around. I have already read through the middle of Matthew 4 and I was tempted to go back and write devotional posts for each of the day’s readings so far, but instead, I won’t. This post will serve as a “catch-up” for the restart of DailiD (Daily Devotion), and hopefully that’s ok. For me, it is just a place to jot down thoughts about what I have read and understood, and if anyone comes along, feel free to drop a comment. I really enjoy the interactions about scriptures with others. Let’s see where it takes us.

That’s it for now. See you next time.

— Dino

Ephesians 1:5

17 Tuesday Jan 2017

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Last night our community group from church started a new study in Ephesians. This will be an in-depth study of one of the most densely packed letters from the Apostle Paul to the church in Ephesus. As we started the study last night, one of the guys made a really interesting observation about Ephesians 1:5, which starts at the end of verse 4, In love, 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will. The observation was this: by being adopted, we skip to the front of the ancestry line of inheritance. We are  not the great, great, great…. grandchild of the King, we are the adopted child of the King. We have direct access. What a blessing it is to have direct access to our Father in heaven through Jesus Christ His Son. And what an interesting way to look at it, don’t you think?

2016 Day 236 – Hebrews 3

23 Tuesday Aug 2016

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When I first read the Bible all the way through a few years back, the biggest thing that struck me was the fact that there are no perfect people in the Bible; at least not until we reach Jesus. Every single character sinned and was saved by the redeeming blood of Christ. And, every single character’s purpose was to ultimately point everyone back to Christ. Hebrews 3:3 give a wonderful analogy of this: Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater than the house itself. No matter how great the individual is, we were all created to be a reflection of Christ and to point others to Him, without exception.

2015 Day 183 – Romans 7

02 Thursday Jul 2015

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Our sin nature will always be a force in our lives. It will always want to push us into doing the things we know are wrong even when we know the potential to hurt us. In Romans 7:15 Paul says I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. Without the power of the Holy Spirit in us to change, and the grace of God through Jesus Christ, we would forever face a losing battle. Praise God for showing us grace and giving us a a path to salvation.

2015 Day 108 – Acts 11

18 Saturday Apr 2015

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One of my favorite things in today’s reading comes at the end of Acts 11:26 where it says The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. In our present day many believers shy away from the word “Christian” as a title for who we are. But when you look at the word, it is meant to mean “Christ-like”. When we shy away from what we were intended to be, which is to be a reflection of Christ and thus Christ-like, we fail to fulfill our calling. In the end, we are not trying to bring others to a place where they are more like us, but more like Christ. To be called a Christian does not make us better than anyone, it simply makes us forgiven and identifiable with our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.