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 will be awesome to them when he destroys all the gods of the land. The nations on every shore will worship him, every one in its own land. (NIV)
Zephaniah 2:11
Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” (NIV)
Revelation 4:9-11
Some Jews also were traveling around and making evil spirits go out of people. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus to force the evil spirits out. They would say, “By the same Jesus that Paul talks about, I order you to come out!” Seven sons of Sceva, a leading Jewish priest, were doing this. But one time an evil spirit said to them, “I know Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them. Because he was so much stronger than all of them, they ran away from the house naked and hurt. All the people in Ephesus—Jews and Greeks—learned about this and were filled with fear and gave great honor to the Lord Jesus. Many of the believers began to confess openly and tell all the evil things they had done. Some of them who had used magic brought their magic books and burned them before everyone. Those books were worth about fifty thousand silver coins. So in a powerful way the word of the Lord kept spreading and growing. (NCV)
Acts 18:13-20 |
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January 10
Of Deceit and Joy - Matthew 2:7-10
Then Herod had a secret meeting with the wise men and learned from them the exact time they first saw the star. 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.” 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. When the wise men saw the star, they were filled with joy.
Full Text
Key Thought
Herod is that great reminder of Satan's design for us: he is a liar and murderer, and has been since the beginning! (See John 8:44.) Under the pretense of worship, Herod seeks to eliminate God's choice for the throne Herod thinks he himself occupies. Satan had so blinded Herod that he would even use the truth of prophetic Scripture to kill God's chosen Messiah. Thwarted only because of God's timing and will, Herod anticipates Judas, who will betray the Lord for personal gain. The question we need to ask is this: "How many times have I betrayed him for nothing?”
Today's Prayer
Holy and Righteous Father, in the power of Jesus' name, please drive the influence of Satan's deceptions from my mind and heart. Give me the ability to see your truth and be protected from Satan's schemes to destroy me, my faith, and those I love. In Jesus' powerful name I pray. 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.”
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
Top of Page 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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