The Holy Spirit and fire
Read Matthew 3:11-12 . Many people admire Jesus’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount without knowing much about the Teacher. But if we...
Children of Abraham
Read Matthew 3:9-10 . The national pride of the Jews stemmed from Abraham being their ancestor. They knew God had chosen him to be the...
The fruit of repentance
Read Matthew 3:7-8 . John didn’t pull his punches! His message was uncompromising, especially when addressing the Jewish spiritual...
Repentance and forgiveness
Read Matthew 3:4-6 . For 400 years there had been no prophet in Israel and Jewish people were now under the rule of Rome. So the...
God's kingdom is near
Read Matthew 3:1-3 . This is where Matthew’s Gospel really begins. The Christmas story, in both Matthew and Luke, is a much-loved...
Self-control
Self-control is the quality of holding firm in our daily living to what we know to be right. It has a particular application in matters...
Gentleness
Meekness is an equally valid translation of this Greek word, as in “Blessed are the meek” (Matt.5:5). The same word is also found in...
Faithfulness
The Greek word pistis means both faith and faithfulness. It’s used primarily in regard to having faith in God and Jesus, or about what we...
Goodness
“The Lord is good and his love endures for ever” (Ps.100:5; 107:1). The goodness of God is at the heart of his nature (Matt.19:17) and...
Kindness
Kindness requires us to be friendly and generous to people, showing them loving consideration in words and action. So it’s certainly not...