a 365 day trip through Matthew with a key thought, prayer, focus verse and contextual verses for each day
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The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you continue to feel sorry for Saul? I have rejected him as king of Israel. Fill your container with olive oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse who lives in Bethlehem, because I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” (NCV)
1 Samuel 16:1-2
David was in a stronghold, and some of the Philistines were in Bethlehem. David had a strong desire for some water. He said, “Oh, I wish someone would get me water from the well near the city gate of Bethlehem!” So the Three broke through the Philistine army and took water from the well near the city gate in Bethlehem. Then they brought it to David, but he refused to drink it. He poured it out before the Lord, saying, “May God keep me from drinking this water! It would be like drinking the blood of the men who risked their lives to bring it to me!” So David refused to drink it. (NCV)
1 Chronicles 11:16-19
Others said, “He is the Christ.” Still others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee. The Scripture says that the Christ will come from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived.” (NCV)
John 7:41-42 |
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January 9
God's Word in the Wrong Hands - Matthew 2:3-6
When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, as well as all the people in Jerusalem. Herod called a meeting of all the leading priests and teachers of the law and asked them where the Christ would be born. They answered, “In the town of Bethlehem in Judea. The prophet wrote about this in the Scriptures: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are important among the tribes of Judah. A ruler will come from you who will be like a shepherd for my people Israel.’ ”
Full Text
Key Thought
While God is full of surprises, he has repeatedly given his people help in understanding, even anticipating, his greatest works of salvation. The prophets had seen a new David coming to redeem and lead God's people. Like David of old, this new David would also be a shepherd from the town of Bethlehem. But, like so many in our time, Herod was more interested in using this understanding of God's plan to help himself rather than being molded into a person of God. We must learn that God's Word in Scripture is given to us to help us know, obey, and worship him, not simply to collect a set of facts to use for our own personal advantage.
Today's Prayer
Dear Father, I want to know your Word so I may more perfectly obey your will. Please help me to find your truth and live it, not just discuss it or use it for my own selfish purposes. I pray this in the name of the Living Word. Amen.
Today's Verses with Jesus
(key verses in bold)
1 Jesus was born in the town of
Bethlehem in Judea during the time when Herod was king. When Jesus was born,
some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem. 2 They asked, “Where is the
baby who was born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and
have come to worship him.”
Top of Page 3 When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, as well as all
the people in Jerusalem. 4 Herod called a meeting of all the leading priests
and teachers of the law and asked them where the Christ would be born. 5 They
answered, “In the town of Bethlehem in Judea. The prophet wrote about this
in the Scriptures: 6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are
important among the tribes of Judah. A ruler will come from you who will be
like a shepherd for my people Israel.’”see Micah 5:2
7 Then Herod had a secret meeting with the wise men and learned from them
the exact time they first saw the star. 8 He sent the wise men to Bethlehem,
saying, “Look carefully for the child. When you find him, come tell me so
I can worship him too.” 9 After the wise men heard the king, they left.
The star that they had seen in the east went before them until it stopped above
the place where the child was. 10 When the wise men saw the star, they were
filled with joy.
11 They came to the house where the child was and saw him with his mother,
Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their gifts and gave
him treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 But God warned the wise men
in a dream not to go back to Herod, so they returned to their own country by a
different way.
13 After they left, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream and said,
“Get up! Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt, because Herod
is starting to look for the child so he can kill him. Stay in Egypt until I
tell you to return.”
14 So Joseph got up and left for Egypt during the night with the child and
his mother. 15 And Joseph stayed in Egypt until Herod died. This happened to
bring about what the Lord had said through the prophet: “I called my son
out of Egypt.”
16 When Herod saw that the wise men had tricked him, he was furious. So he
gave an order to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and in the surrounding
area who were two years old or younger. This was in keeping with the time he
learned from the wise men. 17 So what God had said through the prophet Jeremiah
came true: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah of painful crying and deep
sadness: Rachel crying for her children. She refused to be comforted, because
her children are dead.” Jeremiah 31:15
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph in a dream while
he was in Egypt. 20 The angel said, “Get up! Take the child and his mother
and go to the land of Israel, because the people who were trying to kill the
child are now dead.”
21 So Joseph took the child and his mother and went to Israel. 22 But he
heard that Archelaus was now king in Judea since his father Herod had died. So
Joseph was afraid to go there. After being warned in a dream, he went to the
area of Galilee, 23 to a town called Nazareth, and lived there. And so what God
had said through the prophets came true: “He will be called a
Nazarene.”
(NCV) The New Century Version, (Dallas, Texas:
Word Publishing) 1987, 1988, 1991.
Used by permission.
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