Matthew 1:1

Have you ever opened the New Testament, started reading the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew Chapter 1, and wondered why it is structured the way it is?

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5, NIV). The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Genesis 2:9, NIV). The genealogy tree and Jesus’s ministry started at 30 coincidentally.

This morning, as I meditated on Matthew 1:1, the Holy Spirit began to open my eyes—enlightening the eyes of my understanding, just as Paul prayed in Ephesians 1:18. I began to see a profound connection between biblical covenants, historical captivity, and the strategic timing of God.

If you have ever felt like your season of waiting or labor is random, looking closely at the mathematics of God’s Word will show you that everything in your life is operating under a divine design.

The Divine Blueprint: 14 + 14 + 14

In Matthew 1:17, the Bible explicitly points out a highly deliberate structure:

“Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.”

When you add these three eras together (14 + 14 + 14), you get 42 generations. In biblical numerology, if you break down 42 (4 + 2), it brings you to the number 6.

As we know, 6 is the number of man, representing the day man was created in Genesis to have dominion, as well as the seasons of human labor. We are currently in the sixth month of the year, a season spiritually designated for man to walk out his divine mandate.

But to understand how we got here, we have to look at what those three distinct sets of 14 generations actually represent in the economy of God.

1. The First 14: The Covenant Generation (Abraham to David)

This first era represents the foundation of promise. It stretches from the Abrahamic Covenant—where God swore to make Abraham a great nation and a blessing to all families of the earth—to the Davidic Covenant, established as an unbreakable “covenant of salt” ensuring that David’s royal lineage would endure forever. This was the era of building the chosen line.

2. The Second 14: The Captivity of Sin (David to Babylon)

The second era takes a dark turn. It covers the reign of the kings of Judah up until the horrific destruction of Jerusalem and Israel’s forced exile into Babylon. Why did this happen? Because Israel repeatedly broke their conditional agreement with God (the Mosaic Covenant) through rebellion and idolatry. This second set of 14 generations represents the heavy consequence of human sin—captivity, displacement, and bondage.

3. The Third 14: The Era of Redemption (Babylon to Christ)

The final era spans the quiet, grueling centuries of Israel waiting in the dark, wondering if God had forgotten them. But right at the appointed time, Jesus Christ was born. This final 14 represents absolute redemption. Where man failed and succumbed to captivity, God stepped in to fulfill the ancient promise He made in Eden (the Adamic Covenant of Genesis 3:15)—sending the Seed of the woman to crush the enemy’s head and rescue man from his brokenness.

Moving from Insight to Action: Having Dominion Through Service

God did not orchestrate 42 generations of history just for us to read it as a history lesson. He did it to show us our current positioning.

If Christ has already come and completed the third set of 14 generations, then where do we stand today?

We are living in the reality of the redeemed. And in this sixth month—the month of man—our mandate is to exercise the original dominion God gave us in Eden. But true dominion in the Kingdom of God doesn’t look like worldly power; it looks like stewardship and service. In Genesis 2:15, before sin ever entered the world, God put man in the Garden “to dress it and to keep it.” True dominion is laborious; it requires us to roll up our sleeves and serve the needs of others.

On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1-2). Its 12 calendar months may we bear fruit every month. He was crucified on a tree.

[ Genesis 2 ] [ The Gospels ] [ Revelation 22 ]
Tree of Life (Lost) —> The Tree of Calvary —> Tree of Life (Restored)
(Man’s Failure) (Christ’s Sacrifice) (Man’s Dominion)

I read Psalm 8 today.

One of the verses that gripped me was verse 6:

“Who is man that you are mindful of him? And the son of man that you visited him? Thou made him a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor. Thou hast made him to have dominion over the works of thy hands and has put all things under his feet.”

We are in the sixth month of the year 2026, and opening to this exact scripture felt deeply intentional. It stood out to me that when God created man on the sixth day, He immediately granted him dominion over everything on the earth. Right then, it became my watchword for the month ahead.

The Divine Detour

The day started out rough, and by the time I was heading home from work, I was exhausted. I stopped at the ATM to withdraw some cash for my evening errands. On my way, I caught a glimpse of the church bus. A quiet nudge suggested I go inside, but I immediately talked myself out of it. “No, no, don’t go,” I told myself. A voice in my head even reasoned, “Why bother? You missed service on Sunday, why go now?” The funny thing is someone was preaching as I highlighted the bus that got me home.

So, I turned and walked toward my house.

On getting down down my street, I stopped to buy something for an acquaintance. That was when I realized I was missing my umbrella—a dangerous oversight in the middle of the rainy season. Where did I drop it? I searched everywhere nearby and retraced my steps to the shop, but it was nowhere to be found.

Reluctantly, I paid another transport fare back to the ATM to look for it. Lo and behold, I found it at the security post. The guard had picked it up and set it aside, just standing there waiting for me.

Standing there with my umbrella, a realization hit me: Why would God bring me all the way back to the exact spot where the church was? Since the divine detour had already overwritten my original plans, I decided to stop fighting it. I walked past the ATM and stepped into the church.

A Space Orchestrated for Me

The moment I crossed the threshold, the atmosphere shifted. It felt like God was directly whispering, “You need to be here today.” It was the very first day of June, and the message alignment was undeniable.

When I read Psalm 8 this morning, it hadn’t clicked that man was created on the sixth day and given dominion. But sitting in fellowship, the revelation opened up. The pastor preached about June being the month of service. It is the month of service because just as man was created on the sixth day to serve God, the rest of creation was designed to serve man.

The sermon emphasized how we, as servants of God, must pray for others to be equipped with strength and might to carry out His work. The word reminded us that the husbandman that laboreth must be the first partaker of the fruits. This hit home deeply. I had already quietly resolved in my mind to do something special for the house of God this month—a private commitment between me and Him. The message felt like a direct validation of the desires of my heart. I needed that word of encouragement.

The prayers were tailored exactly for those who labor in God’s house, for those who feel weary, and for those who have lost hope. We prayed for the global body of Christ to be strengthened in mind and spirit.

Structural Comfort and Restoration

Another beautiful highlight was when the pastor spoke on God equipping us to be a source of comfort to those around us, referencing Isaiah: “Comfort ye my people, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem.” He prayed that we would be supernaturally equipped to preach and share His word.

I cannot fully express how edified I felt. I had originally planned to just attend the mid-week Wednesday service, but being there on Monday felt like standing under an open heaven. There is an indescribable joy in hearing a congregation pray in one accord.

The intercessions grew heavy and touching as we prayed for those who have been kidnapped, asking God to turn again the captivity of Zion. We remembered those in prison—as if bound with them—and those enduring bitter hardship and suffering.

Through scriptures like Hebrews 13:3, it became clear: June is a month to exercise our earthly dominion and authority as men, but it is equally a month to remember our core purpose—to serve God without growing weary. We prayed for a total restoration of the years the locusts have eaten.

A Heart Renewed

Some people are naturally gifted with comforting words. I sometimes wish I had that specific vocabulary, but my gifts are different. Still, it is a beautiful thing to watch people use the gift of encouragement to build up others. As they prayed for the comfort of Zion, I was called forward and prayed for individually.

In that moment, I felt the tangible presence of God. I walked out feeling like an entirely different person.

The word of God is going to grow deep roots in our hearts this month. I look back and smile at how I didn’t just stumble into church unexpectedly; God literally dragged me there for His divine purpose. He orchestrated a forgotten umbrella just to ensure I wouldn’t miss His timing. It was only while sitting in the pew that it fully registered that it was June 1st. There was truly no better place in the world to begin my month.

Yesterday, I was feeling completely overwhelmed. I looked at a picture of children who were killed in my country, and I just didn’t have the words. On top of that, I saw a poster for a research project involving internal bodily biometrics. My mind was flooded, and I was carrying a heavy load of worries.

I listen to quite a lot of preachers. One day, David Jeremiah—who is a wonderful preacher—was attempting to help people see scriptures through the lens of the Psalms. Of course, if you belong to the house of David, you naturally see these things. In Revelation 3, scripture tells us exactly which churches are already arising in these last days. It occurred to me yesterday that God is always doing something powerful, even while the world is doing its own thing. Sometimes, when I am overwhelmed, I lose sight of that. While we cannot stop what is coming into the world, we must always fix our eyes on what is happening in the Kingdom of God.

Revelation 3 speaks of the churches: the church in Sardis, the Laodicean church, and the churches of Thyatira and Smyrna. It also speaks of the church in Philadelphia, which is holy and true, and holds the “key of David” (Revelation 3:7). If you don’t have the key of David, you cannot truly understand what the scriptures in the Psalms are saying; it will just seem like gibberish to you because you do not belong to the house of David. I have come to recognize fellow Christians by what comes out of their mouths. When people speak extensively on the Psalms, I know which church they belong to. Because of this, I am not really fazed by what is happening now—the church of the last days is already forming.

When I first encountered the Psalms, I always knew they were about praying for the church. Consider how God’s work with humanity evolved. From the time of Adam, through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the relationship shifted. Adam didn’t get to fully walk out that journey because he fell into sin. The true, revealed walk of faith began with Abraham, the father of faith. God started with a single family, which later became a congregation, then a house, then a gathering when Jesus arrived, and finally metamorphosed into the church. That is why Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). Jesus dealt with gatherings; we often saw Him on the mountainside with the multitudes. King David was the one who received the spiritual blueprint and picture of this house, but he passed that vision onto his son, Solomon, who ran with it to build the physical house of God.

Because you are of the house of David, you understand the things of David. Pastor David Jeremiah attempts to explain this to everyone, but not everyone in these last days will comprehend it—only those of the house of David. In his early years, King David possessed a profound heart for the poor and the sufferings of the weak. As a Christian, if you do not have that same heart, something is deeply wrong. I can recognize people who belong to the house of David because they mention it all the time and anchor themselves in these scriptures. I even know Christians whom I can recognize as belonging to the house of Simeon, because I can figure these things out. Where other people stand is not my concern.

Yesterday, amidst my overwhelming grief, I remembered the words of Psalm 74 and Psalm 75 before going to bed. This morning, I realized exactly what God was saying to me.

In Psalm 74:2, David writes: “Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.” David was asking God to lift up His fist against the perpetual desolation happening in the sanctuary. When I first saw this scripture, I thought it was simply a general prayer for the church. Now, I understand that it was a prayer of spiritual coverage for the church against the active works of the enemy.

The Psalm continues: “Thine enemies roar in the midst of your congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs. A man was famous according to as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees” (Psalm 74:4-5). In this context, the thickets represent the churches, and the famous, wealthy people of the world are lifting their hands against God’s congregation. David possessed such incredible resilience. The scripture laments how they “have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground” (Psalm 74:7). These powerful figures said in their hearts, “Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land” (Psalm 74:8). They wanted to eradicate everything associated with the house of God. David saw this in the spiritual realm, just as it physically manifested later during the times of the Apostle Paul and the Corinthian church.

David makes a powerful plea, asking why God withdraws His hand, even His right hand, pleading for Him to pluck it out of His bosom (Psalm 74:11). He reminds himself of God’s sovereignty: “For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth” (Psalm 74:12). He speaks of how God divides the sea by His strength and breaks the heads of the dragons in the waters, proving that God can shatter the head of even the most vicious spiritual beasts, like Leviathan. What can our God not do? He prepared the light, the sun, the day, and the night.

Listening to Pastor David Jeremiah talk about remembering the calling of God, I knew he had read these very Psalms. David is always saying “remember this” to those who walk faithfully.

The scripture notes: “Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name” (Psalm 74:18). In the Psalms, a fool is defined as one who says in their heart that there is no God (Psalm 14:1). David then cries out: “O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever” (Psalm 74:19).

A dove represents a pure, innocent person. The soul of a dove is like the soul of an innocent child. David had such a deep burden for the helpless and the poor within the house of God. As I meditated on this, I realized this was the exact scripture I needed to pray over our current reality. I used it to pray for the helpless people, the little doves, and the children who have been kidnapped: Lord, do not forget them.

Scripture says: “Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty” (Psalm 74:20). When you look at the world today, the darkness is filled with unspeakable cruelty inflicted upon the innocent. But David provides comfort: “O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name. Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily” (Psalm 74:21-22). When cruelty happens to the poor and vulnerable in the congregation of God, it is as if it is happening directly to us.

Psalm 75 brought me further comfort, showing that God does not just hear our suffering—He actively sees it. It begins with praise: “Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks… for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare” (Psalm 75:1). God promises, “When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly. The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it” (Psalm 75:2-3). God warns the fools not to deal foolishly, and tells the wicked not to lift up their horns.

We are reminded that “promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another” (Psalm 75:6-7). God is in complete control. The Psalm describes a cup in the hand of the Lord, full of mixture, which He pours out, forcing the wicked of the earth to wring out the dregs and drink them (Psalm 75:8). Meanwhile, the horns of the righteous will be exalted.

Reading these Psalms washed a profound, supernatural peace over me. It wasn’t because the external circumstances or the tragic reality of those who were kidnapped had suddenly changed, but because I could finally pray about it through the Word. Knowing that God fully understood the weight on my mind gave me rest. That is the great peace we receive when we choose to look at what God is doing, in spite of all the chaos happening around us. I woke up this morning, stepped into prayer, and realized: even in a time like this, I still see God.

In the house of David, they suffer why will anyone want to come to a house of Philadelphia where there is suffering. I think King David made it so because he suffered most of his life and bared burden for his people and his criteria is the same as Jesus’ suffering for righteousness’s sake. You will know each house/church by their characteristics open your eyes.

Matthew 15 is one of those passages. It delivers a sharp, threefold shift in perspective that challenges how we look at religious duty, our individual callings, and the sheer boundary-breaking power of faith. It forces us to confront an essential question: Are we operating from an outward posture of tradition, or an inward posture of life?

1. The Posture of Heart: Honor vs. Defilement

The chapter opens with Jesus addressing the Pharisees and religious leaders, exposing a massive gap between external religious performance and internal reality. He calls them out directly for failing to honor their fathers and mothers.

The leaders had constructed a convenient religious loophole. They believed that by giving gifts, dedicating material assets to God, or performing visible acts of service, they had checked the box of the commandment. But Jesus pulls back the veil on this outward posture. He shows the deep contradiction in their actions: they were cursing and neglecting their parents in reality, while simultaneously handing over ritual gifts to look righteous.

Jesus exposes this hypocrisy by pointing to the root of human nature in Matthew 15:13:

“Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.”

True approval comes only from what the Heavenly Father builds from within. When the Pharisees take offense, Jesus shifts the focus to spiritual blindness, uttering the sobering warning: “Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into a ditch.”

This leads directly into a radical redefinition of defilement. The religious system was obsessed with ceremonial handwashing and external purity, but Jesus completely reverses the paradigm:

• What enters a man goes into the stomach and is eliminated. It cannot defile the soul.
• What comes out of a man is what truly defiles him, because it originates directly from the heart.

Defilement is an overflow of the interior life. The heart is the processing center. Whether it produces good thoughts or pours out evil thoughts, murders, fornications, and false witness, the mouth only speaks what is already deeply placed inside.

2. Knowing Where You Are Sent

As the narrative shifts in verse 21, the focus moves from internal defilement to the nature of divine mission. Every servant in Scripture is chosen and directed with geographic and demographic precision:

• Jonah was sent specifically to the great city of Nineveh to preach a message of general repentance.
• Elijah was sent to a widow in Zarephath (and later Elisha to Naaman the Syrian) for a specific, targeted miracle.
• The Disciples were sent out by Jesus, two by two, to preach the gospel to local towns.
• Simon Peter was sent directly to the house of Cornelius (the centurion who was already giving alms and praying), following a vivid three-part vision where God told him not to call anything unclean that He had cleansed.
• Jesus said I am sent but to the lost tribe of Isreal.

Where God has prepared a harvest for you to plow, He opens the way, speaks a straight word, and clears the path.

Yet, when a Syrophoenician approaches Jesus crying out for her daughter, Jesus states His boundaries clearly:

“I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew 15:24)

In ministry and in life, knowing where you are sent matters immensely. Some are called to the lost sheep—to recover those who have entirely wandered off the path. Others are called to the frontlines of evangelism to bring people into initial salvation. Sometimes you have to try a bit of everything to discover your alignment, but ultimately, clarity of mission protects the work. Jesus knew His primary earthly assignment was the household of Israel.

3. The Mercy Seat: Crumbs and the Bread of Life

What happens next is one of the most beautiful instances of boundary-breaking faith in the New Testament. The woman does not argue against Jesus’s mission; instead, she shifts her posture to worship, bowing down and saying, “Lord, help me.”

Jesus speaks a hard truth: “It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.” Her response is magnificent: “Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

This is the great irony of the human condition. Whether we are ministers or seekers, whether we feel chosen or completely lost, we are all ultimately sitting at the Mercy Seat. We are all looking for that bread from the Master’s table.

We see a historical prototype of this in Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9). He was lame in his feet, completely hidden away, and belonged to a fallen house. Yet, because of a covenant of mercy, King David sought him out, restored his inheritance, and commanded that he would always eat bread at the king’s table as one of the king’s own sons. Mephibosheth was a picture of the lost household of Israel eating the King’s bread.

The Canaanite woman recognized that even if she was technically outside the immediate scope of the assignment, the overflow of Jesus’s power was so vast that a mere crumb of His grace was more than enough to handle her entire crisis.

The Table of Compassion and Healing

This exchange is exactly why the communion table exists for us today. It is the place where we break bread and recognize the one who opens our eyes to His knowledge. We are all being sustained by the exact same source. As Psalm 104:15 beautifully outlines, God provides:

• Wine that maketh glad the heart of man,
• Oil to make his face to shine,
• And bread which strengthens man’s heart.

The bread of life is specifically designed to strengthen the human heart. And this is exactly where true healing enters the picture. Healing does not always begin on the exterior; it begins when the heart is internally strengthened by the Word of God that endures for eternity. Once that internal restoration takes place, healing breaks forth with healing in its wings.

Jesus looked at her with absolute eyes of compassion, looked past the dispensational boundaries, and rewarded her immense faith: “O woman, great is thy faith be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” The profound truth of her story is that her daughter was made completely whole not because she demanded acceptance based on legal right, but because she had the unshakeable faith to know that even if she wasn’t initially accepted, she was entirely welcome at the table of mercy.

The Lord keeps His own—
though I will not speak His Name aloud
as queens once trembled in foreign courts,
and prayers moved beneath silence
like rivers under stone.

So I write this
from the middle of a storm
with ash at the hem of my thoughts
and weariness sitting beside me
like an uninvited witness.

“Wine that maketh glad the heart of man.”
Even now, when grief sits heavily in the room
and silence leans against the walls,
there remains something Heaven pours
that sorrow cannot fully consume.

“Oil that makes his face to shine.”
There are nights the eyes are dim,
yet mercy still rests upon the weary
like light returning after a long fast of darkness.

“O seed of Abraham his servant,
ye children of Jacob I chose,”
for His judgements are in all the earth;
and this too is among His judgements:

“For I will show thee
what great things thou must suffer
for my name’s sake.”

Some call it affliction,
not knowing certain sufferings
follow only those marked for purpose.

“Bread that strengthens a man’s heart.”
For the road is long,
and the soul grows tired carrying invisible wars;
still, strength arrives daily
like manna no hand can explain.

“Touch not mine anointed,
and do my prophet no harm.”
So the enemy whispers in vain,
and the snare laid in darkness
waits for feet it shall never hold.

“Man goeth forth unto his work
and to his labor until the evening.”
So we rise again—
though burdened,
though uncertain,
though standing in the middle of battles
we cannot name aloud.

The staff of bread is broken,
yet when I ask for quails,
He satisfieth me
with the bread of heaven.

Yet the Lord keeps His own.
Quietly.
Hidden, as in the days of queens and decrees,
where His hand was never mentioned
yet remained upon every page.

When we look at the book of Job, chapters 29, 30, and 31. Job 28 and 29 tell us what wisdom is, and Job 30 shows us what wisdom looks like.

I begin with what Jesus said in Luke 12:2: “Nothing is hidden that will not be revealed.” Job 28:11 says that the thing that is hid is brought forth to light. And who is he that is bringing forth something to light? The personification of who Jesus is. As 1 Corinthians 1:30 reveals, Christ became wisdom for us.

Job 28:12 asks, “Where is wisdom found?” When you are looking for wisdom, the text states in verses 13 through 19 that wisdom is not found in the land of the living. It’s not found in the depth of the sea. It cannot be weighed as gold. It does not have a price. Priceless things do not equate to it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels. It cannot be compared to the topaz of Ethiopia.

As Job 28:21–22 explains, it is hid from the eyes of all the living and from the fowls of the air. Destruction and death say that they have heard of the fame of wisdom.

In Job 28:26, it tells us about He that made a decree for the rain—the decree that was made by God. Then, in Job 28:28, it tells us exactly what wisdom is. Notice the word “is”—that means continuous. Wisdom is the fear of Yahweh. To depart from evil is understanding. Notice the word “is” meaning that it is continuous.

So when we think of what wisdom is, it is the fear of the Lord. But if we think of what wisdom has become, that’s Christ.

In Job 29:4, it says that in my youth, the secret of Yahweh was upon my tabernacle. Young men run from wisdom. Here, in Job 29:11, eyes see wisdom and bless it; they witness it. Verse 14 talks about how wisdom puts on righteousness and judgment as a robe and a diadem. Job 29:15 continues that wisdom is an eye to the blind and a foot to them that are lame. As one that comforted mourners (Job 29:25), that’s what wisdom becomes. That’s what Jesus became for us.

So, in Job 30, it begins to tell you about the Calvary and how Jesus died. Job 30:1 says that younger people see wisdom and laugh at wisdom in derision. These are children of fools and children of base men, as Job 30:8 says, because if you see wisdom and you laugh at it, then you are a fool.

But that’s typically what people do. Job 30:9 says, “Now, I am their song, and I am their byword.” Verse 10 notes that they spit in His face—just as Jesus was spat on in Matthew 26:67. Job 30:11 continues, “He has loosed my cord and afflicted me; they have cast off the bridle before me.” The feet of wisdom.

Sometimes when we go through suffering, we gain wisdom. When we are rejected, we feel what it is to be as Christ was. Job 30:20 shows how Jesus embodied our sufferings so that we could have an exchange, so that we will have freedom through Him.

And we learn wisdom through suffering. Job 30:26 says that wisdom looks for good but evil came upon Him. He waited for light, but darkness fell upon Him. Jesus was put in Hades. As verses 29 through 31 beautifully cry out, He was a brother to dragons and a companion to owls. My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat. My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.

And that’s who became wisdom for us. Jesus.

Jesus, during his time with the religious leaders, had a few spats with them. By spats, I mean confrontations. However, looking at my last write-up, Matthew 23:37–39 and Luke 13:34–35 both end with Jesus saying the exact same thing to them.

Sin Comparison(s)

Jesus starts in Luke 13 by asking about the Galileans who were killed and whose blood was mingled with sacrifices; he saw that their deaths were not because they were worse sinners than others. He said they should repent or likewise perish. He also spoke about those eighteen people whom the tower of Siloam fell on, noting that they were not sinners above all other people. In other words, whether something good or bad happens to us, we are not sinners above others. He makes the sun rise on the just and the unjust—as it is with the good, so it is with the wicked.

In other words, when comparing sins, they were neither worse nor better, but they simply needed to repent. Sometimes, we think we have sinned far more than can be justified by Jesus. But Jesus shows that some who had not sinned as much faced calamity like the people in Siloam. He calls everyone everywhere, including myself, to repent. It is not about the size of the sin, but our decision to change for the better.

Jesus started by saying we need repentance in order to bear fruit and do the work of God. (By fruit, I mean the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22–23). He speaks about the fig tree in Luke 13:6–7. Jesus said he would come back in three years seeking fruit from the fig tree, and if he found none, he would cut it down because it cumbered the ground. As in John 15:2, just the way men want profit, Jesus wants fruit. Figs have seasons when they bear fruit, and the vinedresser advised him to give it one more year to bear fruit. (Ironically, figs represent Israel. Furthermore, the first covering Adam had was a fig tree leaf he used to cover himself because he knew the knowledge of good and evil).

Jesus’ Works

Jesus started doing the works of the Father by healing the woman with an infirmity, even on the Sabbath day, which caused the Pharisees to question him. Note that the kingdom of God is within us, and the kingdom of God is righteousness (doing what is right in the sight of God), which brings us peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Jesus likens the kingdom of God to a mustard seed that appears small but grows big, and he also likens it to leaven hidden in meals. So, the kingdom of God appears to be small and hidden, but it grows big and leavens the whole batch.

Encouragement From Jesus

Jesus encourages us with his words that we should strive to enter through the narrow gate, because narrow is the way that leads to life, and many who seek to enter through it may not be able to (Luke 13:24).

Examples of this:

Jesus, as the Master of the house of God, says that once he shuts the door upon his return, no one will enter (meaning there is no room for repentance anymore). In verse 26, the highlight for me is when he says some will say, “I have eaten and drunk in thy presence,” and he will reply, “Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity.” So, you can eat the bread of his presence and drink the wine to dwell with him, but if your works are in iniquity, it is meaningless. For this reason, the last shall be first, and the first last. The Pharisees, angered by Jesus, came to tell him to get out because Herod would kill him. (If we get to his presence, and we are not changed what good is it, James 1: 23 -24 “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.” When we come to the presence of God, we do see the law because God is perfect and we are changed in his presence.

His response highlighted his works and the perfect work of the Father. He said, and I quote, “Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.” I pray the works of the Father be perfected in us on the third day.

There is a paradox that the actual location of Siloam is very narrow, and some perished there. Indeed, narrow is the way that leads to life.

There’s something that came to my knowledge that some people are misinterpreting people who say “don’t sin” as being self-righteous.

I woke up this morning feeling fine, and this was on my heart strongly.

Some people are mistaking people who say “don’t sin” to be self-righteous. But Jesus Himself said the same thing. When He spoke to the woman caught in adultery, He told her:

“Go, and sin no more.” — John 8:11

So when I say I’m not endorsing sin, I’m saying exactly what Jesus said.

When I speak about Matthew 23, where Jesus spoke about the scribes and Pharisees who sit on Moses’ seat, notice carefully what Jesus said:

“The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.” — Matthew 23:2–3

Notice that Jesus also said:

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” — Matthew 23:23

Why did He call them hypocrites? Because they said one thing and did another.

Jesus said they tithed mint, anise, and cummin, but omitted the weightier matters of the law:

“Judgment, mercy, and faith.” — Matthew 23:23

So when I say somebody sits on the seat of the law, I mean that the person uses the law against others but does not keep the law themselves. They use the law to justify condemnation while ignoring their own condition.

That is what hypocrisy means.

If I sit at mercy’s seat, it means I’m sitting at the place where I’m looking to receive grace.

Jesus went on to characterize these people further. He said:

“They bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.” — Matthew 23:4

These are people who tell others what to do but refuse to live it themselves.

Jesus also said they did things to be seen by men:

“All their works they do for to be seen of men.” — Matthew 23:5

They loved status, greetings, titles, and public recognition.

Now, when Jesus spoke about beautiful stones and buildings that would be thrown down (Matthew 24:1–2), the deeper picture is that outward beauty means nothing if inwardly there is corruption.

That’s exactly how Jesus described the Pharisees:

“For ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.” — Matthew 23:25

And again:

“For ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.” — Matthew 23:27

So Jesus was not merely talking about outward appearances. He was talking about the intentions and condition of the heart.

If Jesus were against righteousness altogether, He would not have spoken about inward uncleanness.

So just because somebody tells you that something is wrong does not mean that person is self-righteous.

Uncleanness is inward first before it manifests outwardly.

If I come to you and tell you, “Don’t sin anymore, it is wrong,” that does not make me a lawgiver. I’m repeating what Jesus Himself told the woman:

“Go, and sin no more.” — John 8:11

I am not of the belief that people should continue sinning so that grace may abound.

The Bible already addresses that directly:

“Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid.” — Romans 6:1–2

A lot of Christians say, “Well, God uses sinners.” But there is a difference between having sin present in the flesh and making sin your practice.

The Bible says:

“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin…” — 1 John 3:9

And also:

“He that practiseth sin is of the devil.” — 1 John 3:8

This is speaking about a lifestyle and continual practice of sin, not occasional failure.

As believers, we still have flesh:

“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.” — Romans 7:18

So yes, sin is present in human flesh. But there is a difference between struggling against sin and surrendering yourself to it continuously.

When you become a Christian, you bear the image of God inwardly, and the Spirit convicts you toward righteousness.

So occasionally stumbling does not mean you are living in rebellion.

That’s why Scripture says:

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” — 1 John 1:9

Notice the words faithful and just. God shows mercy, but He is also just.

That’s why I believe justice should walk together with mercy.

Jesus showed mercy to the woman caught in adultery, but He also told her not to continue in sin.

Both things existed together:

• mercy,
• and repentance.

The law itself is not evil.

Paul said:

“Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” — Romans 7:12

The issue was never that the law was bad. The issue is that humanity was too weak to perfectly keep it.

The law reveals sin like a mirror.

Just because something is too good for you to keep does not make it evil. It reveals human inadequacy and our need for grace.

So people cannot simply say:
“Well, since nobody is perfect, I should just continue sinning.”

That is not the Gospel.

Jesus also described these religious leaders as greedy and self-serving. He said:

“Ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer.” — Matthew 23:14

He rebuked their obsession with money and outward religion.

These were people who loved appearances, loved titles, loved recognition, and loved being exalted publicly.

So when Jesus talked about heavy burdens, He was not condemning repentance itself.

Telling someone to repent is not a heavy burden.

The burden Jesus condemned was hypocrisy — demanding from others what you yourself refuse to live.

As Christians, we should read Scripture, pray, seek God, and pursue holiness. Those things bring us closer to God.

But nobody should force outward religion while inwardly remaining corrupt.

At the same time, freedom should not become an excuse for sin.

When you look at the full picture of what Jesus said about the Pharisees, He did not say they were wrong merely because they corrected people. He condemned:

• hypocrisy,
• pride,
• greed,
• outward performance,
• inward uncleanness,
• and using religion for self-exaltation.

So if someone tells you lovingly:
“Repent.”
“Turn away from sin.”
“Don’t continue in wrongdoing.”

That alone does not make them self-righteous.

Jesus Himself preached repentance.

Daniel 10: 11 says Daniel, you who are greatly beloved…, Daniel 10: 19 Do not be afraid, you who are beloved,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; and in Matthew 3: 17 This is my beloved Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. And I pray that you know that you are beloved of the Lord. John received this by revelation John 13: 23 the disciples whom Jesus loved.

So, Daniel starts with a ram with 2 horns then it pushes west wards -> north -> south. Daniel 8: 4 says it did according to his will. Then a He-goat came from the west, this goat with notable horn between his eyes. The he-goat that comes west goes to the ram with 2 horns and smote it and broke its two horns. The actions of the ram and the he-goat clearly stated.

THE BREAK DOWN

Daniel 7 says the ram moved with choler against him and Daniel 11: 11 say the King of the South will be moved with choler and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north. Meanwhile the he-goat from the west losses its own horn (but we were not told how); and gets four notables one towards the four winds of heaven which coincides with the four kings in Persia where 3 will stand but the fourth will be richer. The 4th King with the greater riches will have his Kingdom broken and divided towards the four winds of heaven. Daniel 8: 8, Daniel 11: 4; the little horn which waxed exceedingly great towards the south and the east and the pleasant land is directly referenced in Daniel 11: 15 -21, then the desolation will happen in the sanctuary (Daniel 11: 30) AT THE TIME OF THE END SHALL BE THE VISION -> Daniel 8: 17. The ram is the KING OF MEDIA AND PERSIA (Daniel 8: 20). The rough goat is the King of Grecia, the great horn that is between his eye is the first King (Daniel 8: 21) IN THE LATTER TIMES of their KINGDOM when transgressors have COME to the FULL, a KING of fierce countenance, with dark understanding will STAND UP.

THE ANTI CHRIST WILL PROSPER (LIAR), HIS POWER WILL NOT BE HIS OWN (Thief), DESTROY (the thief cometh but to steal (thief), kill (liar) and destroy) destroy the mighty and holy people. he will use policies to cause the craft of his hands to prosper and by peace destroy many Daniel 11: 24 says he will enter peaceably, he will raise tax (policies). In the voice of Daniel ” I did the Kings business (Daniel 8:27, Daniel 11: 7).

THE GREAT SEPERATION OF THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF

Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand we ought to prepare the way of the lord for his second coming and make his path straight. Matthew 3: 7 he saw many of the pharisee and Sadducees come to his baptism and said to them O generation of vipers, who warned you of the wrath to come.

Matthew 3: 8 The axe is laid unto the root of the trees; therefore, every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast in the fire (Matthew 3: 10). Indeed, I baptize you water unto repentance but he that cometh after me is MIGHTIER THAN I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear! he shall baptize you with the holy ghost and fire! whose fan is in hands (let the threshing begin), he will thoroughly purge the floor, gather the WHEAT into the garner; burn up the CHAFF with unquenchable fire. Matthew 8: 15

We will suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then suffered him.

One of the greatest pieces of advice I can give—the same advice that has guided me for years—is this:

Do whatever brings you peace with God.

Even when solving a mathematics problem, you do not move from the unknown to the known; you move from the known to the unknown. In the same way, the simple things you already know about God make understanding His will easier.

Once you discover that you have peace with God concerning a matter, it means your conscience agrees with what God says. There is no inner conflict because your heart is aligned with truth.

For me, that is one of the simplest definitions of peace with God.

Peace Is Not the Absence of Noise

Many people think peace comes from escaping distractions. They think peace means withdrawing from people, social media, work, responsibilities, or difficult environments.

But life will always come with distractions.

There will always be pressure.
There will always be interruptions.
There will always be people testing your patience.

I felt physically unwell recently, yet I still woke up and saw the mercy of God. Challenges do not stop existing simply because we desire peace.

Jesus Himself walked through storms, yet the storms never entered Him.

So, peace with God is not about removing every external disturbance. It is about remaining inwardly settled in the middle of life’s realities.

Whether you are online, at work, in church, in traffic, or dealing with difficult people, the deeper question is this:

Do you still have peace with God in the middle of it?

The Peace That Comes from Truth

Recently, I caught myself wanting to lie to my brother because I needed help. It seemed easier to manipulate the situation than to simply tell the truth.

But when I finally spoke to him, I told him the truth honestly.

And even though he still might not help me, there was peace in telling the truth.

I realized something important:
I did not need to become another version of myself just to get what I wanted.

That matters.

There is a kind of rest that comes from integrity. Your conscience stops fighting against you because you are no longer trying to sustain a false version of yourself.

“Thy Word Have I Hid in My Heart”

The very first scripture I memorized as a child was:

“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
— Psalm 119:11

That verse never left me.

The Word of God has a way of settling inside the human heart. Sometimes scriptures remain in your spirit long before you fully understand them intellectually.

Over time, you begin to realize that the Word shapes your conscience. It teaches you how to discern peace, truth, conviction, mercy, and wisdom.

Mercy, Holiness, and Perfection

Jesus said:

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
— Matthew 5:48

He also said:

“Be ye therefore merciful, as your father also is merciful.”
— Luke 6:36

And scripture repeatedly reminds us that God alone is truly holy.

At first, these verses can feel impossible. How can human beings ever become as perfect, merciful, or holy as God?

The reality is that we cannot fully attain those things in ourselves.

Holiness is imparted by God.
Mercy flows from God’s nature.
Perfection belongs completely to Him.

Yet we are still called to pursue these things because we were created in His image.

It is similar to aiming for excellence in an examination. You may aim for perfection, but you recognize that your current state still falls short. That awareness humbles you.

No one intentionally desires to become less merciful or less righteous. We naturally want to become closer to what God is.

But at the same time, we must acknowledge a difficult truth:
Human beings are not naturally as merciful as they imagine themselves to be.

David and the Mercy of God

One of the clearest biblical examples of this appears in 24:12–14.

After David conducted a census of Israel, the prophet Gad came to him with three judgments from God:

• Three years of famine
• Three months of fleeing from enemies
• Three days of plague in the land

David responded:

“Let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.”
— 2 Samuel 24:14

David who was to be shepherding his people left them to run under the hand of God. The plague affected the people but not him.

David understood something profound:
God is more merciful than men.

If he fled from enemies, there was no guarantee human beings would show compassion. Human nature can become cruel, especially when power, fear, revenge, or survival are involved.

So David chose to fall under the hand of God because even God’s judgment contains mercy.

That scripture reveals something deeply sobering about humanity.

Even righteous people know how dangerous human beings can become.

Human Mercy Has Limits

Many of us believe we are merciful until mercy begins to cost us something.

We think that if we were truly compassionate, we would help everyone, forgive everyone, and carry everyone’s burdens without difficulty.

But over time, life reveals our limitations.

During my master’s program, I went through one of the hardest seasons of my life. Yet strangely, it was also one of the periods where my heart sought God most deeply.

I remember helping someone during that season, and another person asked me:

“Why are you helping them? They do not deserve it.”

At the time, I could not fully explain why I was helping. I simply felt led to do it.

And that taught me something:
Sometimes kindness is not logical. Sometimes it is obedience.

When Kindness Is Misunderstood

There is another story in scripture that stayed with me.

After King Nahash of Ammon died, David sent servants to comfort his son Hanun because Nahash had once shown kindness to him. But Hanun suspected David’s servants were spies and humiliated them publicly, which eventually led to war.

This story is found in 10:1–5 and 19:1–5.

That story reminds me that not everybody receives kindness as kindness.

Some people respond to love with suspicion.
Some respond to generosity with hostility.
Some respond to mercy with abuse.

I have personally given to people who later insulted me.

Mercy should not merely be emotional impulse. There are moments where God specifically leads you to help someone, and there are moments where wisdom restrains you.

Forgiveness and Consequences

One of the hardest lessons I have learned is that forgiveness does not always remove consequences.

Jesus prayed on the cross:

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
— Luke 23:34

Yet history still unfolded painfully afterward.

Jerusalem was eventually destroyed in AD 70, and the Jewish people suffered greatly afterward. Forgiveness was offered, yet consequences still existed.

This does not mean forgiveness failed.
It means actions still carry weight.

God forgave David, yet consequences followed his actions.
A person may forgive someone genuinely, yet trust may still need rebuilding.
Mercy and justice can exist together.

This is one reason I cannot support injustice.

At the cross, innocent blood was condemned while guilt was released. Scripture says:

“He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.”
— Proverbs 17:15

Truth matters.
Justice matters.
Mercy matters.

And true mercy cannot exist without truth.

Final Thoughts

We live in a generation filled with constant noise and endless distractions. Whether through social media, work, church, relationships, or daily responsibilities, there will always be an influx competing for your attention.

You cannot completely escape life.

But even in the middle of all of it, peace with God is still possible.

And perhaps that peace begins with something very simple:
Telling the truth.
Walking honestly.
Listening to your conscience.
And remaining aligned with what God says within your heart.

Because at the end of the day, there is no greater safety than being at peace with God. Peace with God doesn’t always mean perfection but it means a knowing that God is with us even as we do what is right in God’s sight.