Matthew 7:15-20 (NIV) 15  “Watch out for false prophets.

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 (NIV) 24  Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like

Matthew 16:13-20 (NIV) 13  When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples

Matthew 18:15-18 (NIV) 15  “If your brother or sister sins [against you], go and point out their fault you have won them over. 16  But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter who would follow Him would often wander away (which is what the parable right before this passage in Matthew But as Jesus explains the process here in Matthew 18, notice who the primary active agent is.

It's good to pray for what you want, but it's better to pray that you'll want what God wants. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 124 Q. What does the third request mean? A. “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” means, Help us and all people to reject our own wills and to obey your will without any back talk. Your will alone is good. Help us one and all to carry out the work we are called to, as willingly and faithfully as the angels in heaven. Summary Jesus explains the discipleship paradox: if you want to be Jesus' disciple, you must deny what you want. He goes on to explain that whoever wants to get what they want will not only not get what they want, but they'll end up getting what they don't want. When viewed on their own, Jesus' words here don't make very much sense. But when we look at the context they come in, in which Peter is trying to make Jesus into the savior that both he the world really wants, rather than one who provides sacrificial obedience, then what Jesus is saying here comes into sharper focus. What Jesus is telling Peter, and us, is that if you want to be His disciple, then you must want what Jesus wants, not what the world wants. He says that following Him requires you to stop wanting worldly things which end up sucking the life out of your soul. Instead, you must want to nail these worldly wants to the cross. Yet even as you follow Him, you'll get what you both truly want and need: eternal reward from the Son of Man. Dig Deeper If all of this talk about what you want seems confusing, Jesus presents this entire concept much more simply when He taught us to pray: "Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." When you pray those very simple words, or ones like them, you're praying for a very profound thing: that God, through the Holy Spirit, will help you to reject your sin-stained will and obey God's holy and perfect will without any hesitation or back talk. This is the simplest definition of what a disciple is: a person who wants to do what God wants done. Make alignment a key element in every prayer that you pray, that you would deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose Son will come in His Father's glory with His angels to reward each person according to what they have done; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you would not want worldly things, but would instead want what your Father wants. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 4

Matthew record of Peter's confession comes in chapter 16, and as soon as Peter exclaims that Jesus "is the whole church, but even as few as a couple of representatives of it - comes into agreement on a matter of discipline, the matter is as settled (bound) in heaven as it is in the Church.

we need to know now: that when people say things we instinctively know is wrong, it probably is, no matter You must certainly trust the Lord, but: do not put the Lord your God to the test (Matt. 4:7, Deut 6:16

Summary Matthew’s Gospel closes with Jesus giving the Great Commission to the Disciples.

Christ teaches us this in summary in Matthew 22— Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with Simply put, anyone who loves God and their neighbor the way Jesus teaches will not be lacking in matters

in you; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 1 Corinthians 6