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Matthew 4:8,9 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Having twice failed to cause Jesus to stumble, Satan swung big for…
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Matthew 4:6,7 If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you,”…. Jesus said to him, “It is written, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” I have often wondered if Christians need to wear seatbelts.  The train of thought goes…
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Matthew 4:2,3 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” When I got home from work last night, I was starving.  Perhaps I was far from actual starvation, but…
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Matthew 3:9,10 Do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father”… I recall the pride I felt when I was first issued a pager back in residency.  I had become someone important. That pager was my bat-signal and I was about to be the hero. Endless midnight phone calls about constipation…
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Matthew 3:7,8 When he (John the Baptist) saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming… he said to them, “You brood of vipers!… Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” Have you ever apologized, saying you were sorry, and then not actually changed anything?  Did the sorrowful behavior stop? I have been there.  As the consequences…
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Matthew 3:1,2 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” I am no prophet, but I am pretty good at seeing the destructive behavior in the lives of those around me.  I am quite skilled at looking past my own faults while maintaining…
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Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and killed all the male children in Bethlehem… who were two years old or under. As I was reading this passage, I reacted in typical revulsion at the story of Herod, who killed babies in his attempt…
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Matthew 2:1,2  Now after Jesus was born… wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he? … For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” In Matthew, we read the only account of those whom he refers to as Wise Men.  These learned men, Matthew reports,…
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Matthew 1:19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. When Joseph found out Mary was pregnant, he made the dignified decision to quietly end things with her.  He could have publicly objected to her apparent infidelity, but being a good man, he…
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Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. * I find it telling that God chose for Jesus’ story on Earth to begin in disgrace and…
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