Tuesday, April 29, 2025

Matthew 24

The Destruction of the Temple Foretold.

1* a Jesus left the temple area and was going away, when his disciples approached him to point out the temple buildings.

2* He said to them in reply, “You see all these things, do you not? Amen, I say to you, there will not be left here a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”

3 As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives,* the disciples approached him privately and said, “Tell us, when will this happen, and what sign will there be of your coming, and of the end of the age?”

4* Jesus said to them in reply, “See that no one deceives you.

5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many.

6b You will hear of wars* and reports of wars; see that you are not alarmed, for these things must happen, but it will not yet be the end.

7c Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be famines and earthquakes from place to place.

8* All these are the beginning of the labor pains.

9* d Then they will hand you over to persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name.

10 And then many will be led into sin; they will betray and hate one another.

11 Many false prophets will arise and deceive many;

12 and because of the increase of evildoing, the love of many will grow cold.

13e But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.

14f And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the world as a witness to all nations,* and then the end will come.

The Great Tribulation.*

15g “When you see the desolating abomination* spoken of through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),

16 then those in Judea must flee* to the mountains,

17* h a person on the housetop must not go down to get things out of his house,

18 a person in the field must not return to get his cloak.

19 Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days.

20* Pray that your flight not be in winter or on the sabbath,

21* i for at that time there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will be.

22 And if those days had not been shortened, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect they will be shortened.

23j If anyone says to you then, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.

24 False messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible, even the elect.

25 Behold, I have told it to you beforehand.

26 So if they say to you, ‘He is in the desert,’ do not go out there; if they say, ‘He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.*

27k For just as lightning comes from the east and is seen as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

The Coming of the Son of Man.

29* l “Immediately after the tribulation of those days,

the sun will be darkened,

and the moon will not give its light,

and the stars will fall from the sky,

and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

30m And then the sign of the Son of Man* will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31n And he will send out his angels* with a trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree.*

32 “Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near.

33 In the same way, when you see all these things, know that he is near, at the gates.

34 Amen, I say to you, this generation* will not pass away until all these things have taken place.

35o Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

The Unknown Day and Hour.*

36p “But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son,* but the Father alone.

37* q For as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

38 In [those] days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark.

39 They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be [also] at the coming of the Son of Man.

40* r Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left.

41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.

42* s Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.

43t Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into.

44 So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

The Faithful or the Unfaithful Servant.*

45u “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time?*

46 Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.

47 Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.

48* But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’

49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards,

50 the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour

51v and will punish him severely* and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/24


public domain via Wikimedia Commons


Saturday, April 26, 2025

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” Mat 11: 28-30

"If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.

Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry. Because of these the wrath of God is coming [upon the disobedient]. By these you too once conducted yourselves, when you lived in that way. But now you must put them all away: anger, fury, malice, slander, and obscene language out of your mouths. Stop lying to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all.

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 
Colossians 3: 1-17

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” 
Matthew 11: 28-30 






           faith 
                      hope 
                                  love






Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Matthew 8: 5-13

5 When he entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, 

6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.”

7 He said to him, “I will come and cure him.”

8 The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.

9 For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.

11 I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven,

12 but the children of the kingdom will be driven out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you.” And at that very hour [his] servant was healed. 



attribution: pcstratman and flickr


I relate to the centurion. My wife has dementia. I love her and she loves me. We both are suffering with her dementia. 

I'm not asking Jesus to heal her. But I am asking Jesus for a miracle.

Help me, Lord, to love Jenny as her dementia increases. She becomes frustrated. I become frustrated. Jesus, help me to be patient and loving. Help me to help her and love her as the stress and strain on both of us increases. Help me to love Jenny as You love her. 

Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and I will be healed.

Jesus, we believe in You.