a 365 day trip through Matthew with a key thought, prayer, focus verse and contextual verses for each day
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If the Lord had not helped me, I would have died in a minute. I said, “I am about to fall,” but, Lord, your love kept me safe. I was very worried, but you comforted me and made me happy. (NCV)
Psalm 94:19-20
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought. (NIV)
Jeremiah 17:7-8
See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
Hebrews 3:12-13 |
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March 20
Tomorrow - Matthew 6:34
"So don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have its own worries. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Full Text
Key Thought
Most of us have battled worry at some point in our lives. We go to bed with that nagging concern about what will happen "tomorrow" (clearly Jesus is referring to worrying about what will happen in the future and not just literally tomorrow). It may be a conflict that troubles us. It may be a mess at the office that must be confronted. It may be facing someone who has hurt us or that we have hurt. It may be that financial doubt about paying bills and having to face the note holders.
Jesus wants us to let go of our anxiety. We must live in the present moment. There are too many opportunities we could miss today by worrying about what might happen tomorrow. The Lord could come between now and tomorrow and all our worry would have been silliness. The Lord may be at work in the situation during today, in ways we could not foresee, and our problems are not so insurmountable as they seem today. Or, even if the bad thing were to happen, our worry will have needlessly stolen the joy out of today. Let's make sure we fill up today with God's Kingdom priorities and then we can deal with tomorrow’s mess when, and if, it ever comes.
Today's Prayer
Almighty and sustaining God, I believe tomorrow is in your hands, so I will rest myself in your grace today as I seek to live for you. Please open my eyes to see your opportunities you provide today so that I can serve you and do your Kingdom work with focus, courage, and clarity. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Today's Verses with Jesus
(key verses in bold)
19 “Don’t store treasures for yourselves here on
earth where moths and rust will destroy them and thieves can
break in and steal them. 20 But store your treasures in heaven
where they cannot be destroyed by moths or rust and where
thieves cannot break in and steal them. 21 Your heart will be
where your treasure is.
22 “The eye is a light for the body. If your eyes are
good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes
are evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. And if the
only light you have is really darkness, then you have the worst
darkness.
24 “No one can serve two masters. The person will hate one
master and love the other, or will follow one master and refuse
to follow the other. You cannot serve both God and worldly
riches.
25 “So I tell you, don’t worry about the food or
drink you need to live, or about the clothes you need for your
body. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes.
26 Look at the birds in the air. They don’t plant or
harvest or store food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds
them. And you know that you are worth much more than the birds.
27 You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it.
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? Look at how the
lilies in the field grow. They don’t work or make clothes
for themselves. 29 But I tell you that even Solomon with his
riches was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers.
30 God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today but
tomorrow is thrown into the fire. So you can be even more sure
that God will clothe you. Don’t have so little faith!
31 Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What
will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 The
people who don’t know God keep trying to get these things,
and your Father in heaven knows you need them. 33 The thing you
should want most is God’s kingdom and doing what God wants.
Then all these other things you need will be given to you.
Top of Page
34 So don’t worry about tomorrow,
because tomorrow will have its own worries. Each day has enough
trouble of its own.
(NCV) The New Century Version, (Dallas, Texas:
Word Publishing) 1987, 1988, 1991.
Used by permission.
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