Joe Barnett

This, then, is how you should pray.                —Matthew 6:9 We know it as “The Lord’s Prayer”—the prayer Jesus taught his disciples.The first half runs: “hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done.” Three phrases that exalt God— His name; His kingdom; His will. The second […]

Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them.             —Matthew 6:1 The Pharisees had a ravenous appetite for human praise: “they loved praise from men more than praise from God” (Jno. 12:43). Compassion, mercy, and generosity are godly traits, but become contaminated

Blessed are the merciful.       —Matthew 5:7 Mercy has three elements: 1) Conception—seeing the need; 2) Compassion—being touched by the need; 3) Consummation—meeting the need. In Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan, the priest and the Levite both saw the need (conception), but neither was touched by the need (compassion), or met the

He will save his people from their sins.                       —Matthew 1:21 When John opened his Gospel pointing to Jesus as the Life and the Light, he eliminated comparison, competition, or compromise. God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He

The sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.            —Malachi 4:2 All the prophets were dead except Malachi. His was the last prophetic voice of the Old Testament. There wouldn’t be another until John the Baptist, 400 years later. Malachi is a somber book; God’s people had become

Show mercy and compassion to one another.                                  —Zechariah 7:9 The returned remnant of the exile worshipped God in Babylon for 70 years, but their sincerity was dubious: “Did you really do it for me?” the Lord asked (Zech. 7:5

Give careful thought to your ways.                        —Haggai 1:5 Returned exiles of Babylonian captivity were driven by the excitement of rebuilding the Temple. But after laying the foundation, their enthusiasm faded and Temple work came to a halt. For the next sixteen years they ignored

The Lord your God is with you … He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love.                                  —Zephaniah 3:17 Zephaniah’s little four-chapter book begins with sadness, but ends with singing. Its opening salvos trumpet

I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.             —Habakkuk 3:18 The nation was in chaos: the economy was in the tank, and a war they couldn’t win was coming at them. Habakkuk was terrified: his heart was pounding, his lips were quivering, and

The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.                 —Nahum 1:7 Arthur Rank decided to do all of his worrying on Wednesdays. When he was worried, he wrote a note specifying what was troubling him and dropped it