Grains of Sand

I'm not naive enough to expect regenerate behaviour from the unregenerate, but those who call themselves "Christians?" This post won't take long. It will be a simple question for all of us who claim to have a personal relationship with Christ through faith, and who say that we are committed to following Him. Matthew 7:12 says: " So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. " Everything. Now the question: What do I need to do today to make Jesus' teaching a reality in my life? What a different world it would be if believers, from whom regenerate behaviour IS expected, lived out this truth.

What looks like one thing often turns out to be something different when seen in its context. That's true with this well-known verse of Scripture: " Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened " —Matthew 7:7, 8. And everyone rushes into God's presence with his wish list. Since Jesus used an illustration about food to describe God's perfect responses to this prayer, we immediately think material things when we claim this verse. But context is everything. In Luke's Gospel, these verses are summed up this way: " If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! " (11:13). Holy Spirit? What's He got to do with food, clothing, financial security, health, job opportunities—all the things o...

Up to this point in Jesus' famous sermon, the disciples probably figured that the theme didn't have much to do with them. The majority were fishermen. They had no "treasure" as far as material things were concerned, so focusing on the Kingdom was easy—well, until they thought about the cost of the commitment they had made to their Rabbi. Just a little while earlier, Jesus had taught them His prayer. In that prayer appears the phrase: " Give us today our daily bread " —Matthew 6:11. I imagine that this immediately sparked some chaotic thoughts in the minds of the men who had left their livelihood behind them to follow Christ. In the euphoria of the moment, they might not have not thought about how their families were going to survive without that income. That phrase in the prayer was a reminder of who they were dependent upon to meet those needs. But Jesus knew that His followers would have moments of anxious concern about the practical realities of life, so ...

When does providing for your family turn into an obsession with more? When does making a living become living for the making of that living? Jesus is almost brutal in this statement in Matthew: " No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money " —Matthew 6:24. We tend to focus on the word " money " in this verse, but perhaps we would have a better understanding of what Jesus is saying if we considered these words: " serve ," " love ," and " devoted ." Those words should only apply to our relationship with God. When they apply to our relationship with the world, then we are in big trouble. Then we have not only divided loyalties, but only one loyalty. And wherever those words apply is where our " treasure " is stored (See yesterday's post). The Lord isn't saying that making a living and loving God, a...

If there ever was a question that requires constant self-examination, this one is it: "What should be your priorities today, Lynda?" I read Matthew 6:21 this morning, and while the context has to do with our attitude toward material things, the verse can be applied to everything else in life, everything and anything that might be "treasure." Matthew writes: " For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also " (Matthew 6:21). What, or who, do I treasure most? What, or who, receives the majority of my attention and effort? What am I most anxious to obtain? Who am I most anxious to please? The context of this verse carries a warning label. This passage is part of the famous Sermon on the Mount. Jesus tells His listeners to examine the durability of their treasures and to make a priority of those things that have eternal value. It's a good criteria by which to measure all the activities of today: "Does _____________ have eternal value?" ...

Most of the time we ignore this addition to The Lord's Prayer as we find it in Matthew. It's an uncomfortable codicil that we'd rather not deal with. " Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation. but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, you heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sin, your Father will not forgive your sins. " —Matthew 6:12-15 (Emphasis mine) Masticating these verses would take much more space that this short blog post can give, but here's the gist. Placement is everything here; notice how the phrase about temptation and being delivered from Satan is tucked between the two statements on forgiveness, like peanut butter between two slices of bread. We ask God for forgiveness, but while we are unwilling to forgive whatever anyone else has done to us, the evil one rejoices—we have succumbed to the temptation to refuse to d...

Jesus had some strong words for those whose prayers bounce right off of heaven to fall upon the admiring ears of a much more human audience. " And when you pray, " He says in Matthew 6:5, 6, " do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. " There is plenty of biblical basis for corporate prayer. The Lord's Prayer begins with " Our Father… " The church met to pray Peter out of prison. The Lord isn't saying that corporate prayer is to be avoided, but rather practiced with a closet mentality—as though no one else were present but God and I. That's hard, even when we don't pray for the purpose of being admired for our eloquent prayers. We are onl...