“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling” (Matthew 23:37).

The place which is supposed to be faithful is filled with wickedness.  Intrigue and sorrow abound.  It is sad when the place which is supposed to be a haven is a pit.  The wickedness of this world seeks to infect all places.  Look to the One who speaks truth and avoid the myriad traps of the wicked in this world.  The Lord will gather the faithful into the one true catholic and apostolic church, filled with the communion of saints.

Is there a prophetic voice in your midst?  Do not kill it.  If Christ crucified and resurrected is proclaimed, then live in the truth of the revelation.  Yes, the word of the Lord sometimes unsettles us, but do not be led by your feelings, but by the truth of the One who is the way, truth and life.  The Lord gathers those who will flock to Him.  He is watching out for all of the faithful.  Be counted amongst them.

Lord Jesus, in this troubled world, I am often at a loss for what to do.  I often do not know which way to turn.  Guide me into all goodness so that in Your mercy, I may live in the grace You give.  Help me to live according to Your word and never disregard it.  Help me to overcome my fears to live the life You have given me to live.  Lead me Lord in the way of everlasting life.  Amen.

“[S]o that upon you will fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation” (Matthew 23:35-36).

The blood of the righteous is spilled by the unrighteous who believe only in themselves.  It has happened over and over again.  The wicked of this world believe what they want to believe, and the righteous have received the truth.  If you hold to the truth, it will infuriate the wicked.  This world wants destruction, but the Lord of life offers truth.  The truth is what sets us free.

Lord, things really have not changed.  Styles and the particularities of culture and technology make us think things are different, but they are not and we are not.  Lead us in the way of truth.  Let us see through the fog of this age.  Help us to understand that only in You will we begin to understand this thing we call life.  You are the author of life and the author of true faith.  Help us see reality as You reveal truth.

Lord Jesus, You have come to reveal truth and lead any who will follow into genuine faith.  Guide me in the way of everlasting life so that I may humbly go where You lead.  Teach me the things I need to know and show me the right way of living so that I humbly walk with You, the author and finisher of my faith.  Lord, You know all that is needed.  Help me to joyfully receive all that You give.  Amen.

“Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city” (Matthew 23:34)

The word of the Lord will not be stopped.  The Lord sends those who are faithful, whom He has made righteous.  The word of the Lord will continue to reach out despite those who seek their own way.  The way of the Lord is the way He determines it needs to be done.  Sinners argue, but those who become faithful learn to trust the Lord and live according to His instruction.

Lord, I do like to pretend I am right.  I know how to sin. But I am often wrong.  Take me away from the way of self-righteousness into the true righteousness You offer.  Guide me in Your goodness and mercy to see that You alone are true.  Help me to seek truth in all things.  Guide me according to Your word to live the life You have given me, and to do so faithfully.

Lord Jesus, whether it is receiving Your word from another, or sharing Your word, guide me in Your goodness to live in the truth.  When I am in the place of untruth, convict me.  When it is the truth, grant me boldness.  Through all things, help me to be faithful.  Guide me in the way of righteousness.  Help me to hold fast to the true faith You have revealed.  Lead me into all truth.  Amen.

“You snakes, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?” (Matthew 23:33)

From Genesis Three of scripture, there is enmity with the serpent, the one who deceived.  Those who cling to the law as the means of salvation are deceived.  How will they escape condemnation?  The law condemns.  One has to overcome the law and there is only One who has.  The One speaking to the “vipers” is the One who has overcome for the sake all who believe.  Avoid the traps of the serpents.  Live out the promise of Christ.

Lord, the lure of doing it on my own is great.  I do not want to think I need help.  I pretend that I am okay with the world when, inside, I know I am often desperate because of the conflict with all of the evil in this world.  Lord, I deserve the sentence of hell, but You offer me a new life through grace.  Bring me out of the self-deception to come to the place where I realize I do need to be saved and You are the One who saves.

Lord Jesus, You were constantly confronted by very religious people who were vested in their own system.  I live in a world filled with people who are vested in their own self-serving beliefs.  Lead me so that I move away from this kind of thinking and into a place where I look to You alone as the source of all that I need.  Save me, Lord, and guide me in the way You know I need to go along the path of salvation. Amen.

“So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers” (Matthew 23:31-32).

Guilt is in this age.  There are many terrible things that have been done by those who have gone before us.  But that guilt is taken to the cross.  Yes, I am in bondage to sin, but Christ frees me from sin.  Should I go on sinning that grace may abound?  May it never be.  Instead, we are to humble ourselves so that we walk fully in the presence of the One who made us.  Live in the whole truth and know all of its blessings.

Lord, I become comfortable with the way things are.  Resurrect these white washed bones in order that I may live the life You have given me.  Guide me into the way of truth.  Yes, I have had my part of sin.  Teach me how to repent and walk in the way You have designed life to be lived.  Keep me from slipping back into the way of life that would trap me in this world’s lies.  Lead me into Your truth.

Lord Jesus, You speak the words of truth.  You have guided me into the truth of the goodness of the Father.  Lead me in the way You know I need to go so that truth abounds in me.  Let me never be puffed up, but help me to humbly walk in the way of truth that You have revealed.  You have given me grace upon grace so that the sin that binds me may be shed to prepare for the eternal life You have given me.  Keep me walking with You always.  Amen.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, and you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets’” (Matthew 23:29-30).

This world gives lip service to whatever seems profitable at the time.  Like the blowing wind, we are often in another place, honoring other things.  The word of the Lord is eternal.  He who created all things has given us His word and He speaks the truth.  Do not fall for the pablum of this age which promotes feelings, but live into the absolute truth of eternity.  God is the Lord of all.

Lord, I am often befuddled by the nonsense of this age.  I fall into the pit of thinking as the world thinks.  Lead me up and out of this muddled thinking to see more clearly the truth that You have proclaimed.  Guide me in the truth that I may be freed from this world’s murderous way of influencing my thoughts.  In the freedom You grant, show me the truth that I may think, live, and walk in the way of life instead of death.

Lord Jesus, You are the way, truth, and life.  You have come to set me free from the bondage of sin and death.  You have given me the ability to think.  Help me to think clearly and walk in the way You have established.  Guide me Lord in the way of truth.  Teach me how to live life in such a way that I remain in the liberty of Your word.  Keep me out of the pits of this age in order to live according to Your word.  Amen.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.  So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:27-28).

In this world, we are obsessed with how things look.  If it looks good on the outside, we are good with it.  The Lord is interested in who we are.  He has created us to be His children.  But something has gone quite wrong – we sin.  He has established the necessary provision to be made right again, from the inside out.  Do not be filled with lawlessness and hypocrisy, but come into the presence of the Lord and be saved.

Lord, You know that I am trapped in the games of this world.  Guide me, Jesus, so that I see the game for what it is.  Lead me up and out of the mess of this world’s thinking so that I may think clearly.  Help me to see things with the mind You have given me and lead me to understand things as they are and not as I wish them to be.  Let me not walk with dead bones, but live in the truth You have revealed.

Lord Jesus, You have come that we may have abundant life.  Lead me in the way of truth.  Guide my thinking to stand fully on what You declare to be right and true.  Help me to always see things as they are and to not see them as I want them to be.  From the inside out, help me to live the life You have given me and keep me from the wishful thinking life this world keeps selling.  Amen.

“You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may also become clean” (Matthew 23:26).

Inside out, not outside in.  So many focus upon doing things right rather than focusing upon being made righteous through the grace of our Savior.  It is really a matter of giving up control.  You and I are not and never will be in control of our own circumstances, let alone those around us.  The Lord is Lord of all.  Come into the salvation of Christ and be saved from the inside out.

Lord, it is simple and I see the truth of it.  There is so much pretentiousness in this world.  Everyone is posturing as if what we see is what matters.  Yet, I see quiet desperation as the way of the world presses in.  Lead me out of the insanity of this sinful world and into the quiet place of true salvation.  Guide me to understand and know Your goodness and mercy.  Keep me in all truth.

Lord Jesus, I know that I am a work in progress, but sometimes it seems as though I am not progressing well at all.  Let me be stripped even of this so that I look to You in, for, and through all things.  Guide me to understand that by Your grace and mercy alone do I have hope.  Lead me in that hope so that I live into the life to which You have called me.  Guide me in Your grace to be made whole from the inside out.  Amen.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence” (Matthew 23:25).

We all shall age and at the end of this life, be worn out.  The arrogance of youth will be replaced with  the wisdom of old age.  Who are you on the inside?  Every generation is filled with pretense, but the stages of life continue despite arrogant dreams.  Take from others and live for the self?  The Lord calls for us to have a new and clean heart.  The Lord gives us a renewed life that we may live into the life to which we have been called.

Why do you strive for what does not matter while not living in the truth which does matter?  Why indeed.  The illness of this world is deep, but deeper still is the grace of our Lord who will free us from the sickness that leads to death.  Take the new life that Christ gives and live into a true life.  It is who you are deep down, your character, that matters.  Pleasures are for a moment, but the life given by Christ is eternal.

Lord Jesus, You know the struggles of my heart.  Guide me into all goodness and mercy so that I live according to Your word.  Take away the hypocrisy that is in me and create one who is seeking after Your own heart, seeking for true love and justice.  Help me to follow You, Lord Jesus, so that I may be led by all that is true and right.  Keep me always, dear Savior, in the way of everlasting life.  Amen.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.  You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” (Matthew 23:23-24)

The world distracts us with a little seasoning and we settle for less.  We are all in need of grace and mercy.  True justice is trusting the Lord who knows all things and brings all things to the place where the Law, which explains true balance, is lived.  We are distracted and have our pet ideas that we want to be practised.  Our cross is to die to these things in order to live life in the Lord.

Lord, there are so many conflicting messages that I have received over my lifetime.  People believe all kinds of things.  Guide me in the goodness You give to live life in the way You have designed it to be lived.  Lead me away from the hypocritical false things in order to live life seeking Your justice.  Help me to love and obey Your law, and to look on others with mercy and compassion.

Lord Jesus, You know the state of my heart.  You know where I am contrary to the Law.  Guide me through the pitfalls of this age to see things more clearly and humbly walk in the truth of Your word.  Teach me to have grace toward others and to live Your word of truth.  Through all things, help me to look to You for the true justice You will establish when this age is over.  Amen.