From reading Matthew 5-7,
are you amazed by or aghast at Jesus’ authority to teach?

Who does Jesus think he is
when he calls us to confess our spiritual poverty,
and to reject our spiritual pride?
when he calls us to stop superficial Law-keeping
and to embrace spirited God-pleasing?

If Jesus did not call out the murderous anger in my heart,
I might end up a forever angry man or woman.

If Jesus did not expose my lustful eyes,
I might devolve into a forever adulterer in my heart.

If Jesus did not reveal my double-minded heart,
I will be forever untrustworthy with my promises.

If Jesus did not warn me of my vengeful thoughts,
I will forever be at war in my heart against others.

If Jesus did not shine the light on my ring-fenced love,
I would forever justify my unlove “of others” different to me.

From reading Matthew 8-9,
are you amazed by or aghast at Jesus’
authority to heal,
authority over the storm,
authority over demons,
authority over Death,
signalling his supreme authority as God’s rightful ruler over
our sin-wrecked lives?

Let us always choose to be so humbly amazed by Jesus,
so that all I truly need for all of life’s moments
is Jesus’ saving power and sacrificial love,
so fully demonstrated at the Cross and so fully displayed in my conflicted heart.

When a child wears me down
endlessly with cries through the night,
when an amnesiac parent nags me
repeatedly through the day,
when a spouse takes me for granted
increasingly through the years,
when my conversations degenerate
habitually into fights,
when my childhood dreams vaporise
consistently into shattered adult hopes,
when my feelings
perpetually fall short of my expectations,
when life consistently turns South,

I pray ceaselessly to truly know that all
I desperately need is
to be amazed afresh in each moment by Jesus’ saving power and sacrificial love.

That is how we must always respond to Jesus. Amen.