Agape Devotions

Read Matthew 10 Verses chosen for meditation: Matt 10: 1, 8b, 39, 42 ESV: 1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 8b You received without paying; give without pay. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” Reflect 1. Are there still apostles today? 2. Are there any applications for outreach and missions from the passage? Compare with the Great Commission in Matthew 28: 19, 20. 3. Are there any lessons about giving? Refer the above verses. Relate There is general consensus among Christian scholars and theologians today that apostleship is a thing of the past. Paul is often thought as the last of the apostles, as an apostle to the gentiles. The reason for such a conclusi...

TEXT TO REFLECT 5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done fo...

Read: Matthew 6:19-7:29 No devotional today (Sunday)

Read: Matthew 4:12-6:18 Verses chosen for reflection:  Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Reflection: Some of us might feel a sense of relief that we are finally reading the New Testament. The Old Testament had seem difficult to grasp and understand. Yet, as we read the first few chapters of the Gospel of Matthew, the Old Testament comes into the picture again.  Matthew 5:17-20 speaks pr...

READ : Matt.3:1 to 4:11 REFLECT : The Gospel of Matthew is teaching us who Jesus is by recording the events about his arrival in the first four chapters. God promised through the prophets that he would send a prophet before the glory of the Lord arrived. Isaiah said it would be a voice calling the wilderness (3:3; Isaiah 40:3-5). Malachi said that the Lord would send Elijah to turn the hearts of the people (Malachi 3:1; 4:5-6). Notice how the Lord prepares the way for the arrival of his king in the first six verses of Matthew 3. In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’” Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about t...

READ : Matthew 1-2 Verses chosen for meditation: Matthew 2:1-3 1  Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem,  2  saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”  3  When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; REFLECT With great excitement, we kick off the New Testament with the book of Matthew! One of 4 gospels, Matthew was written for the main audience of Jews. This can be seen in how the book starts: with genealogy, as the Jews place high importance in ancestry. But even in the genealogy, with some of its inclusion, barriers between men and women, Jews and Gentiles, good and bad people are broken down. The book wonderfully links Jesus with his Jewish origins and OT background, pointing the Jews forward to the missi...

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