October 1: Matthew 1-9

Matthew 6 was laid on my heart today. Ever feel like God wrote certain scriptures for you personally to give you instructions that are so applicable to your life at the time that it just about scares you? I like to imagine God folding his arms, leaning against a door jam (those pearly gates have to hang on something, right?) and smirking when that happens. Like a father smirks when he catches his son following and passing along advice that as a child couldn't fathom following. Like a teacher smirks when her student has tried every-which-way to do a task until they just read the instructions and realize out...duh, it was all spelled out for me if I just would have taken the time to read it.

God, my Father and Teacher told me today:

• Give to the needy-but not to be honored by men.
• Pray- you don't even do it in private as I've commanded, so don't be so smug you aren't caught praying on the streetcorners.
• Fast- you don't even know the history/purpose/value of this practice.
• Do not store up treasures on earth where moth and rust (and current financial markets) destroy. All that money you put into retirement savings didn't make you feel as secure as you thought it would.
• You cannot serve both God and Money-you think about Money enough (and with a capital M). Time to spend some time thinking about God, your real master.
• Do not worry-about food, drink clothes, or tomorrow.

I really feel like I need to be serious about this "30 Days of Scripture" and wasn't sure how to get in the right mindset. God spoke again through my friend from Small Group who emailed a group of people today inviting them to join him in fasting and prayer...tomorrow. He had also read The Sermon on the Mount recently as our church's "Read through the Bible in a Year" schedule coincided (coincidentally? don't think so) with the start of my own schedule. I had never really considered fasting before and did some research to find out the who, what, why, and how of this practice. I found this outline by Mark A. Copeland and this explanation by Arthur Walkington Pink helpful. I have decided to join this 24-hour fast in order to focus on prayer, meditation on the word, and listening to God's will for my life and to pray for the upcoming re-organization of our Small Groups. More thoughts on this tomorrow...