Tag: theology

Devotions, Family Devotionals

🏡 Kingdom Family Devotional — Day 6

Rooted & Raised

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

— Matthew 5:7 NASB1995

🤝 A Home Marked by Mercy

Mercy isn’t just about being nice—it’s about giving grace when it isn’t deserved. It’s choosing forgiveness over bitterness, compassion over judgment, and tenderness over retaliation. Jesus says those who show mercy are the ones who will receive it.

As your children grow, they’ll be wronged, misunderstood, and tempted to hold grudges. This is your opportunity to model the kind of mercy that flows from a heart shaped by Christ—not by emotion, but by obedience.

🕯 A Mother’s Role

Let your mercy lead. Be quick to forgive. Be patient when your teen is slow to understand or quick to react. Remind them (and yourself) that we extend mercy because we’ve been given mercy. It’s not weakness—it’s Kingdom strength.

📖 Talk About It:

  • Why is it hard to show mercy sometimes?
  • How has God shown mercy to you?

🧰 Kingdom Practice

This week, look for a real opportunity to practice mercy in your home. Whether it’s overlooking an attitude, helping a sibling, or speaking kindly when someone’s short-tempered—call it out, and talk about how it reflects Christ.

✍️ Prayer

Father, thank You for the mercy You’ve shown me. Help me extend that same mercy in my home. Teach me to lead my children with compassion, and may our household reflect the mercy of Your Kingdom. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Children's Devotionals, Devotions

🧒 Kingdom Kids Devotional — Day 6

Rooted & Raised

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

— Matthew 5:7 NASB1995

👐 Mercy Means Showing Kindness

Mercy is when we are kind—even when someone doesn’t deserve it. It means forgiving someone who hurt us, helping a friend who’s struggling, or not getting even when someone’s mean.

Jesus loves it when we show mercy—because that’s what He does! And when we give mercy, He promises we’ll receive it too.

🏛 A Long Time Ago…

Children in the early church were taught to be merciful, even when others were cruel or unfair. They learned to forgive quickly and love deeply, just like Jesus.

💡 Think About It:

  • Who do you need to forgive right now?
  • How can you show kindness to someone today?

🙏 Let’s Pray:

Jesus, thank You for being so kind to me. Help me to be merciful, even when it’s hard. I want to love like You do. Amen.

1–2 minutes

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Holy Days, Unleavened Bread

Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMatzot) — Buried with Christ, Made New

Rooted & Raised

Scripture Focus: Exodus 12:15–20; Leviticus 23:6–8; 1 Corinthians 5:6–8; Romans 6:4–11; John 6:35

The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on April 13, 2025, immediately following Passover, and continues for seven days. During this appointed time, the people of Israel were commanded to remove all leaven from their homes and eat only unleavened bread. This feast did not merely commemorate haste in Egypt—it proclaimed the sanctification that follows deliverance.

What Leaven Represents

Leaven in Scripture often symbolizes sin, corruption, and false teaching. Paul wrote, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened” (1 Corinthians 5:6–7). The call was not simply to remove yeast from bread, but to rid our lives of hypocrisy, wickedness, and doctrinal compromise.

Unleavened bread, in contrast, points to sincerity and truth (v. 8). It is the pure, unpolluted nourishment of the Word and of Christ Himself, who declared, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35).

The Burial of Christ and the Removal of Sin

The Feast of Unleavened Bread also prophetically coincides with the time Jesus’ body lay in the tomb. Having become sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21), He was buried—and with Him, our old man was crucified (Romans 6:6). “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death… so we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

Christ’s death and burial are not just facts to be affirmed; they are realities into which the believer is baptized. Just as Israel left Egypt in haste, leaving behind the leaven of bondage, so we are to leave behind the leaven of our former lives.

Living as Unleavened People

Paul did not tell the Corinthians to become unleavened—he told them they already were: “you are in fact unleavened.” This is a positional truth, grounded in Christ. Yet he also commanded, “Clean out the old leaven.” This is our response in obedience.

Our new identity in Christ demands a new walk: holy, distinct, and sincere. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a call to examine our hearts, to purge out the hidden things of darkness, and to walk as children of light.

Devotional Reflection: Sanctified by the Word and Spirit

Read Together: Exodus 12:15–20; 1 Corinthians 5:6–8; Romans 6:4–11

Discuss:

  • Why did God command the removal of all leaven?
  • How does leaven illustrate the dangers of sin or false teaching in our lives?
  • What does it mean that we are already “unleavened” in Christ?
  • How can we actively “clean out the old leaven” day by day?

Reflect: Spend time identifying areas where sin or compromise may have crept in unnoticed. Invite the Holy Spirit to search and purify. Remember that our sanctification is both a gift and a responsibility.

Pray: Father, You have delivered us not only from judgment but into a new and holy life. Cleanse us from hidden faults, and teach us to walk in sincerity and truth. Thank You for burying our old selves with Christ. Help us now to live as a new lump, pleasing in Your sight. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Let us walk as unleavened, for He who died was buried—and we with Him—so that we might truly live.

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Kingdom Discipleship, Kingdom Living

The Kingdom Constitution — Living the Sermon on the Mount

Rooted & Raised

When Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), He wasn’t giving inspirational sayings or poetic ideals. He was delivering the constitution of a new Kingdom—a Kingdom not of this world, where the citizens would reflect the heart, values, and priorities of their King.

To the early Church, especially the Ante-Nicene Christians, the Sermon on the Mount was not optional or symbolic. It was the blueprint for life—a radical call to holiness, humility, mercy, justice, and love. It governed how they lived, how they suffered, how they loved their enemies, and how they viewed themselves in this present world.

Not Just a Sermon, But a Standard

Jesus begins with the Beatitudes—blessings not on the powerful or influential, but on the meek, the merciful, the persecuted, and the pure in heart. In these verses, He is not describing ideal traits for a few spiritual elites—He is painting a picture of what every citizen of His Kingdom looks like.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
— Matthew 5:9

The Early Church Took It Literally

To them, Jesus’ words weren’t open to interpretation—they were a call to action. They blessed their persecutors, refused to retaliate, gave generously, avoided oaths, and turned the other cheek. They refused to participate in military service, capital punishment, or any action that would require harming others—because they believed that only the Kingdom of God deserved their ultimate allegiance.

They believed:

  • Christ was their only King
  • The Church was their true nation
  • The Sermon on the Mount was their law

Their citizenship was in heaven (Philippians 3:20), and they lived as ambassadors of a foreign Kingdom here on earth (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Aliens and Strangers in the World

Because of their unwavering obedience to Christ, the early Christians were often misunderstood. They did not engage in political power plays. They avoided civil posts that required judgment or violence. They obeyed the government—unless it contradicted the Word of God. Then, like the apostles before them, they practiced civil disobedience with peace and boldness.

“We must obey God rather than men.”
— Acts 5:29

This made them outcasts. It cost them status, jobs, homes, and sometimes their lives. But they would not trade Kingdom citizenship for worldly security.

Why It Matters Today

The modern Church often preaches about the Kingdom, but few live as citizens of it. We are quick to defend rights, fight enemies, and pursue comfort—often at the expense of Christ’s commands. But Jesus said:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father…”
— Matthew 7:21

Kingdom citizenship isn’t about belonging to a church. It’s about embodying the values of the King—here and now.

What We Must Recover

  1. A literal commitment to the Sermon on the Mount
  2. An identity rooted in the Kingdom of God, not the kingdoms of men
  3. An allegiance to Christ that shapes all relationships, actions, and responses
  4. A visible difference that causes the world to take notice

Sources:

  • The Holy Bible — Matthew 5–7; Philippians 3:20; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Acts 5:29
  • Letter to Diognetus, c. AD 130–200
  • Origen, Against Celsus (on refusal to join military)
  • Justin Martyr, First Apology (on obedience to Christ over Caesar)
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Devotions, Teen Devotions

😎 Kingdom Teen Devotional — Day 5

Rooted & Raised

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

— Matthew 5:6 NASB1995

🧃 What Are You Really Thirsty For?

Let’s be honest—most people your age are chasing something. Likes. Freedom. Identity. Comfort. Control. Jesus says there’s only one craving that satisfies: righteousness—a life that aligns with God’s truth.

This hunger isn’t about being “good” to look holy—it’s about wanting to live rightly because you love Him. When you hunger for what pleases God, you’ll find peace this world can’t offer—and a satisfaction no achievement or affirmation can match.

🔊 Real Talk:

  • What are you hungry for most right now—and is it filling or empty?
  • Where do you turn when you feel dry or empty inside?

✨ Try This:

Spend 24 hours asking this one question before every decision or post: Does this show I hunger for righteousness or something else? Write down what you notice.

✍️ Prayer:

God, give me a hunger that the world can’t satisfy—a hunger for You. Help me care more about living right than being liked. Fill the empty places in me with truth. Amen.

1–2 minutes

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Devotions, Women's Devotionals

🌿 Kingdom Living Devotional — Day 5

Rooted & Raised

Day 5 — A Holy Appetite

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
— Matthew 5:6, NASB1995

🍞 What Are You Craving?

This verse pierces straight to the heart. What do you hunger for most? Comfort? Success? Approval? Or do you long for righteousness—for a life that reflects the holiness, justice, and love of God?

Jesus speaks here of a craving deeper than a passing desire. It’s the hunger of a soul starving to be made right with God and to live rightly before Him. It’s the thirst that refuses to be quenched by anything this world offers. And the promise? Those who hunger like this will be satisfied—not someday, but even now, in the deep joy of knowing Him.

🕯 Ante-Nicene Reflection

The early Christian women lived in a culture filled with indulgence, but their hunger was for righteousness. They fasted regularly—not to earn God’s favor but to train their hearts to long for what is holy. Their satisfaction didn’t come from status or ease, but from walking in obedience and hope of the life to come.

💭 Reflect

  • What do my daily choices say about what I’m hungering for?
  • Do I truly crave righteousness—or do I settle for lesser things?

🙏 Prayer

Father, awaken in me a deep hunger for righteousness. Let me long for Your Word, Your will, and Your ways more than anything this world could offer. Satisfy my soul with You alone. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

1–2 minutes

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Children's Devotionals, Devotions

👑 Kingdom Kids Devotional — Day 5

Rooted & Raised

Day 5

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

— Matthew 5:6

🥪 Hungry for the Right Things

Have you ever been so hungry you couldn’t wait to eat? Jesus says we should feel that way about righteousness! That means we should really want to do what’s right and love what God loves—just like we want our favorite snack.

When we want God’s ways more than anything else, He promises to fill us up. Not with food, but with joy and peace and His Spirit!

🏠 What About Long Ago?

Long ago, children in the early church gave up little things they wanted to help others—because they wanted to follow Jesus more than anything. Their hearts were full because they were filled with God’s love and truth.

💡 Think About It:

  • What do you want more than anything right now?
  • How can we want God’s ways more than our own?

🙏 Let’s Pray:

Jesus, help me want what You want. Teach me to love what is good and right. Fill my heart with You every day. Amen.

1–2 minutes

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Devotions, Family Devotionals

🏡 Kingdom Family Devotional — Day 5

Rooted & Raised

Day 5

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

— Matthew 5:6

🔥 Cultivating Holy Hunger at Home

This verse reminds us that our deepest desires shape our lives. To hunger and thirst for righteousness is to long for God’s truth, holiness, and justice above all else. It’s not a casual interest—it’s a daily pursuit.

As a mother discipling older children, you have the opportunity to help them examine what they crave. Is it approval, entertainment, or ease—or do they long for a life that pleases the Lord? Your own hunger for righteousness becomes their example. Let them see you prioritize the Word, prayer, holiness, and obedience not as duty, but delight.

🕯 A Mother’s Role

Your children are nearing the age when their appetites are becoming their own. Use this season to train their tastebuds for righteousness. Speak often of God’s goodness, point them to Scripture when they’re hungry for answers, and live with a quiet joy that shows He satisfies.

📖 Talk About It:

  • What does it mean to “hunger and thirst” for righteousness?
  • Can we think of something we desire too much that might distract us from God?
  • How do we train our hearts to crave what is holy?

🧱 Kingdom Practice

As a family, choose to fast from something this week (social media, snacks, screen time, etc.) and replace that time with something that feeds your spirit—reading a Psalm, journaling a prayer, or talking about a verse at dinner.

🙏 Prayer

Lord, give our home a hunger for what is right. Teach us to long for Your Word and Your ways more than anything this world can offer. Help me, as a mother, to model this hunger with joy and lead my children to find their satisfaction in You alone. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

1–2 minutes

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Holy Days, Passover

🕊️ Passover: God’s Appointed Time

Rooted & Raised

Passover was instituted by God Himself:

“Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.”
— Exodus 12:14, NASB 1995

Jesus honored the Passover with His disciples the night He was betrayed (Matthew 26:17–19). He did not replace it, but fulfilled its meaning as the Lamb of God (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7).

The early Church—especially Jewish believers and even many Gentile believers—continued to commemorate Christ’s death and resurrection in the context of Passover, not outside of it.

⚔️ The Schism: From Obedience to Imperial Power

🔹 Ignatius of Antioch (Early 2nd Century)

  • One of the earliest voices urging a departure from “Judaizing.”
  • He instructed believers to no longer observe “the Sabbath” as Jews did, but to honor “the Lord’s Day” (Sunday) instead.

This wasn’t merely honoring Christ’s resurrection—it became a repudiation of the Jewish calendar and practice.

🔹 Quartodeciman Controversy (2nd Century)

  • Quartodecimans (Latin for “Fourteeners”) observed the death of Christ on the 14th of Nisan, the biblical Passover.
  • Others (especially in Rome and Alexandria) preferred celebrating on a Sunday—regardless of the biblical calendar—to distinguish themselves from Jewish practices.

This dispute was widespread and intense. Yet the Quartodecimans were simply following the pattern found in Scripture—what the Apostles and early Church had done.

🔥 Council of Nicaea (AD 325)

This is where the divide became enshrined by law.

Emperor Constantine, who presided over the council (despite being unbaptized and still involved in pagan worship), said:

“…it appeared an unworthy thing that in the celebration of this most holy feast we should follow the practice of the Jews… Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd…”
— Eusebius, Life of Constantine, Book III, Chapter 18

They decreed that the resurrection should be celebrated on a Sunday, not according to the Jewish calendar, and thus severed the Church’s celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection from its biblical roots.

⚠️ The Result: Easter Replaces Passover

  • “Easter” eventually became associated with the pagan spring festival to the goddess Eostre (from which the English name derives).*
  • Biblical timing was replaced with ecclesiastical calendars.
  • Man-made tradition overtook God’s ordained moedim (appointed times).

“Thus you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.”
— Matthew 15:6, NASB 1995

✝️ What Did the Early Believers Do?

The Ante-Nicene Church—those who followed Christ between the time of the Apostles and the Council of Nicaea—did not separate the crucifixion and resurrection from Passover. They recognized Jesus as the fulfillment of it, not a replacement.

They obeyed the appointed times (moedim) not as legalistic requirements but as prophetic celebrations pointing to Christ’s redemptive work.

🔥 Final Thoughts: Can Man Override God’s Calendar?

No.

Though councils may decree, emperors may impose, and theologians may rationalize, God’s Word stands.

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”
— Matthew 24:35, NASB 1995

God ordained the feasts as shadows of the substance in Christ (Colossians 2:16–17). They are not to be discarded, but fulfilled in truth and Spirit, not severed from their purpose.

✅ What We Know Historically

*The Name “Easter” Appears in English and German Only
The English word “Easter” is derived from the Old English Ēastre or Ēostre.

The 8th-century historian Bede (in De Natura Rerum and The Reckoning of Time) claimed that the month Ēosturmōnaþ (April) was named after a Saxon goddess called Ēostre, and that Christians adopted the name when celebrating Christ’s resurrection.

“Eosturmonath, which is now interpreted as the Paschal month, was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre…” — Bede, The Reckoning of Time, ch. 15

🔍 However:

Bede is the only ancient source who ever mentions this goddess.

There is no archaeological or written evidence (outside of Bede) for a goddess named Eostre being worshiped in Anglo-Saxon or Germanic paganism.

So, while the name might have originated from a springtime festival month, the goddess connection is weakly attested and largely speculative. Nevertheless, man-made tradition overtook God’s ordained moedim (appointed times).

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Holy Days, Passover

Passover (Pesach) — The Lamb, the Table, and the Bridegroom

Rooted & Raised

Scripture Focus: Exodus 12; Leviticus 23:4–5; Matthew 26:17–30; John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7; Revelation 19:7–9

As Passover begins at sundown on Saturday, April 12, 2025, we pause to remember a story of deliverance that God wrote into the very foundations of His covenant with Israel. Yet this deliverance was not just a shadow of things to come—it was a prophetic foreshadowing of a greater Lamb, a greater exodus, and a greater feast prepared for a Bride who has made herself ready.

The First Passover: A Sign of Substitutionary Deliverance

When the LORD instituted Passover in Exodus 12, He commanded each household to take a lamb, without blemish, and keep it until the fourteenth day of the first month. The lamb was not merely a ritual object—it was a substitute. It would die in place of the firstborn. Its blood was to be spread on the doorposts and lintel as a sign. The destroyer would pass over any home marked by the blood.

Here we see a vital gospel truth: Israel was not spared because of their own righteousness, but because of God’s mercy and provision. The blood of the lamb was the only difference between the spared and the struck.

Christ, Our Passover

The New Testament declares this plainly: “For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7b). John the Baptist recognized this when he cried, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). The Passover lamb was not just a memorial of Egypt—it was a prophetic picture of the Lamb who would come to bear the judgment of God for sin.

Every detail of the Passover lamb was fulfilled in Jesus:

  • Without blemish (Exodus 12:5) — Christ was sinless (Hebrews 4:15).
  • None of its bones broken (Exodus 12:46) — fulfilled in John 19:36.
  • Slain at twilight — Jesus died at the ninth hour, the time of the evening sacrifice (Mark 15:34).

The Last Supper: A Betrothal Meal

On the night He was betrayed, Jesus sat at table with His disciples to celebrate Passover. But this meal, the Last Supper, was unlike any before it. The Lamb Himself was hosting. He took the bread and the cup, symbols of affliction and redemption, and redefined them in His own body and blood: “This is My body, which is given for you… This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood” (Luke 22:19–20).

In Jewish wedding custom, a man would offer a cup of wine to the woman he desired to marry. If she accepted and drank, she agreed to become his bride. Jesus offered the cup that night to all who would enter covenant with Him. It was not only a remembrance of redemption but a proposal. In doing so, He wove wedding language into the Passover.

The Bridegroom’s Promise and the Wedding Feast

Jesus then said, “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). This is the language of betrothal. Just as the Jewish bridegroom would go to prepare a place for his bride and return for her, Jesus promised, “I go to prepare a place for you… I will come again and receive you to Myself” (John 14:2–3).

Thus, the Passover is not only a remembrance of Egypt but a rehearsal for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7–9). We, the Church, purified by the blood of the Lamb, are the Bride who waits, watches, and prepares herself in righteousness (Revelation 19:8).

Ramifications for the Disciple of Christ Today

  • Do we recognize the cost of our redemption? Passover demands that we never treat Christ’s body and blood as common or profane (Hebrews 10:29). To take communion without reverence is to forget the cross.
  • Are we living as a betrothed Bride? A woman betrothed in Jewish culture would remain faithful, pure, and expectant. Our lives should reflect the holiness and anticipation of the Bride awaiting her Bridegroom.
  • Are we ready for the feast? The parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1–13) reminds us that only those who were prepared entered with the Bridegroom. We are called to spiritual readiness, clothed in righteousness, with lamps burning.

Devotional Thought for Families or Small Groups

Read Exodus 12:1–30 and Matthew 26:17–30 together. Discuss the significance of the lamb’s blood, the cup, and Christ’s promise to return. Consider asking:

  • Why did God command Israel to remember the Passover year after year?
  • How is Jesus both our Passover Lamb and Bridegroom?
  • What does it mean to be ready for His return?

Reflect: Take a quiet moment as a family or group to think on the Lamb who was slain. Consider the weight of sin, the wonder of substitution, and the joyful hope of the coming wedding feast.

Pray: Father, thank You for the blood of the Lamb that covers and cleanses us. Thank You for redeeming us from slavery to sin and death. Help us to live as Your beloved Bride—faithful, watchful, and filled with Your Spirit. May we long for the day when the Bridegroom returns and the marriage supper begins. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Come, Lord Jesus.

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