Living a Life Worth Living – Writings by Robin McKinley
Matthew’s Gospel (good news) is in the Bible’s New Testament.
Matthew knew well the Bible’s Old Testament. In the past, God appointed people (called ‘prophets’) to write about the future. Many prophets described Jesus’ life and work. The things that the prophets wrote actually happened during Jesus’ life on earth. Matthew explained this to prove that Jesus is the Christ. (The ‘Christ’ means God’s king. The prophets said that the Christ would save us from the punishment for our evil deeds.)
Matthew’s Gospel is a book about Jesus’ life. Matthew wrote about the things that Jesus taught. His book includes a speech by Jesus, in Matthew chapters 5-7. This speech is called ‘The Sermon on the Mount’.
Matthew’s Gospel also explains that Jesus cured many ill people. Jesus caused blind people to see again. He caused deaf people to hear again. He freed people who had evil spirits.
But some important people hated Jesus. They killed Jesus on the cross. But Jesus knew that this would happen. The prophets had written that the Christ would die. When Jesus died, he suffered the punishment for our evil deeds.
But Jesus did not remain dead. God caused Jesus to live again (Matthew 28). And Jesus is alive today, in heaven.
The disciples of Jesus experienced a rough time the night they arrested Jesus. Judas completely failed while Peter had a recoverable setback. The Bible says none of the others stuck around. How do you handle it when your faith is tested? Judas, the one who would betray him, also asked, “Rabbi, am I the one?” … Read more
Storms create much interest and at the same time can generate fear. A storm at sea serves as an illustration in our scripture verse for today. It illustrates the storms that come against us. With that in mind, we must ask ourselves this question. Is my faith being tested during a storm in life? When … Read more
The wise men visited Herod to celebrate the birth of a newborn King. These men may have been surprised to find out that no one knew about Him. They, however, were on a mission, bearing gifts of value to present to this King. What valuable gift do you have to offer to the Lord? They … Read more
I’ve laid on my back in an open field gazing into the night sky. I observed some constellations and clusters of stars made up of bright ones and little ones. I wonder how can a star pinpoint something here on the earth? “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as … Read more
There is not much said in the scriptures about Joseph the carpenter. There was, however, something very special about him. He was a man who knew how to live a unique life of obedience to the Lord. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of … Read more
John the Baptist preached a message of repentance and forgiveness. His purpose was to be the forerunner for the Savior of the world who was Jesus. Jesus, however, went to John for him to baptize Him. Jesus neither needed forgiveness nor to repent. So, what was the significance of the baptism of Jesus? Matthew 3:16 … Read more
The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive will be caught up with them in the air. It’s all going to happen in the twinkling of an eye.
At the conclusion of the book of Matthew, Jesus gave us what we call the Great Commission. In it, He told us how each of us can be an effective and devoted disciple of Jesus. The commission contains 2 assurances. At the beginning of it, He said that He was given all authority in heaven … Read more
What Jesus accomplished on the day when He died on the cross was for all eternity. There were however some immediate results on this most difficult day of Holy Week. The lives of at least 3 people that we know of were impacted during the events of the day. The first was Simon who was … Read more
Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages teaching and announcing the good news of the kingdom of God. He was also healing all kinds of sicknesses. He compassionately observed how confused and helpless the crowds were that were following him. Are you confused and helpless or are you experiencing the compassion of the Good … Read more