Why we Pray? (EQUALS) How we Pray?

Verses:  Matthew 6:5-15

My thoughts about the verses:

Why do we pray?  Do we pray because we want people to see us pray and go there is a good Christian?  Do we pray because God deserves praises for the things that happen in our life?  Do we pray because we want to ask God to help us in our time of need?  Do we pray because of the group of people we are with?  Do we pray because we feel led by our heart?  Do we pray because we feel led to because of our way of thinking?

Think about this a moment the reason we pray does affect how we pray.  We pray for so many different reasons and how we pray reflects this.  Our prayers are so different depending on the situation.  Our thoughts and mind will reflect what we are thinking about at the time of our prayer.  We need to think about this when we pray to God.

The easiest two examples to understand this phenomenon of why we pray leading to how we pray are praise and prayer request to God.  Let us start by first looking at when we pray to God to thanking God for all of our blessings.  Our prayers will be one of thankfulness.  We will pray not asking God for anything instead we will pray to God because of the joy that is in our life.  We will feel led by our Spirit to lift up our voice in prayer.  This type of prayer can be considered an opening of our heart to rejoice with God for the wholeness that we will feel at this moment.

The second thing we want to look at is prayer request.  We have times in our lives in which things seem to be overwhelming.  We do not know how to solve the problem ourselves.  We then realize that the only thing that we can do is go to God.  We ask God to help us with the situation.  We ask for God to heal our bodies, souls and minds.  We often even ask others to pray for us.  We feel humbled because we need God.  Our prayers often include praises because we feel that we need to thank God for answered prayers.  We feel led to give over all of our issues and in the process we feel a spiritual healing.

Looking at these two examples we can see that our reason for prayer explains the difference in how we pray.  Yet, even though it is easy to understand this we have to look at something that Jesus talked about and that is when to pray.  God says it is best to pray in secret.  We are encouraged to go to God not because we want to be seen, but because we want to worship God through our prayers.  Yet, how many of us are tempted to pray where others can see us.  Are there times that praying in public is the right thing to do.  We can probably say that we have all done both of these things.

Let us start with prayer when it is done in public at the right time.  Let us look at this closer have you ever been out in public and felt the need to pray for someone you are with.  In those moments, you feel this overwhelming need just to surround the person with prayer.  I believe that one of the gifts that God has given me is the gift to pray for others.  Often times I feel this overcoming need to offer prayer at that moment.  When I have that feeling I either pray for them by myself or I ask if I can pray with them.  It isn’t that I am trying to be seen it is a deep spiritual calling.  I feel that this is why some prayers are not inappropriate in the public.

Yet, there are more examples of prayer that are done in public.  Churches spend a lot of time in prayer.  When we think of these prayers we see them as the Church calling the Spirit into the presence of all those gathered.  These prayers are a time that the Church as a whole can offer praise and prayers to God.  It isn’t a time when people are just proving that they are Christians.  It is the opposite.  The prayers are a way of showing how much God loves us and provides for us daily.  It isn’t because we want people to know we are Christians it is so we can walk closer to God as a body of Christ.

Yet, there are those times that we catch ourselves praying in public to be seen.  We talk about the fact that we are Christians and want others to see it.  We then prove it by praying in public.  This is similar to what the Sadducees and Pharisees did.  They would walk out in public and pray so that people could see them.  They acted like they were pious Jews when in fact they were doing it for the attention they got.  It made people think that they were better Jews than they were.  People wanted to be like them so the display of praying had spread.  Many people had taken up prayers in public. 

Yet, what they were really missing was the fact that why they were praying was wrong.  They needed to pray to be in commune with God.  Instead they were praying for attention.  We have to remember anytime that we pray that if we are doing it for attention we are not praying when we should be praying.  We need to pray so that we are in commune with God.  Opening our lives up to the one up above instead of praying so people think we are better Christians.

Prayer:

We praise you God.  We thank you for all the prayers you answer daily in our life.  We thank you for the blessings that you give to all of us.  Help us sty focused on you.  Help us to always remember that we are to use prayer as a time to be with you instead of a time for others to see us.  Help us pray to you throughout our life.  Help us be the Christian you call us to be.  In the name of the Almighty we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Why do you pray?  How do you pray?  Are you praying for the right reasons?  Are you praying for people to see you?  Are you praying so that you can be in commune with God?

Be Humble when You Give to God

Verses:  Matthew 6:1-4

My thoughts about the verses:

God wants us to be humble when we give to God.  Many people give to God all the time and do it in a way in which people do not know that it is them.  They make sure not to give by check.  They do not fill out offering envelopes.  Instead they give their money in cash because they think no one should know what they have given.

Others give so that the Church can know who has given.  Especially in a church that asks people to pledge so much a year to help with the budget.  By keeping track with how much money that they give they are able to make sure that they will meet budget needs.  These sample people never take their donation off their taxes.  They believe that it is not something that the government needs to know about what they have given.

Then there are people who boast about what they give to God.  They make sure that people see them giving money.  They want people to know that they are giving God not only their tithe but also extra money.  They are not humble and many times they intimidate those that cannot give as much.

Giving is something that you need to do out of your devotion to God.  Instead of boasting of what you give be humble.  It is not wrong to let a church know what you are pledging.  Yet, you do not need to share that information with everyone you know.  You need to remember that there are times that some people that give the smallest amount of money are giving all they have.  Do not impede people to give that small amount by boasting what you have given.

At the same time remember that God wants you to give out of love.  If you are giving so people will know what you have given and it is a thing of boasting you are missing what God is saying.  Make sure that you give to God because you feel blessed by God.  Do not give just because you are doing it because you have to.  Give out of devotion and love.

Prayer:

We thank you for all that you have given to us.  We praise you God for the gift of everlasting life.  Help us give out of humbleness.  Help us to remember that we must not brag about our gifts to God.  Help us remember not to intimidate that cannot give the same amount that we give by being boastful.  Help us give out of love and dedication to you.  In the name of the Giver of Everlasting Life we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Do you give to God out of love?  Do you give because you want others to know how good you are?  Do you give in humbleness or pride?

You Need to Love Your Enemies

Verses:  Matthew 5:43-48

My thoughts about the verses:

It is easy to love your friends and family.  It is easy to be kind to those that are kind to you.  It is easy to show respect to those that respect us.  It is easy to want good things to those that show us love.

At the same time it is hard to love people that hurt us.  It is hard to be kind to those that stand up against us.  It is hard to respect people that do not respect us.  It is easy to wish bad things to happen to our enemies.

Yet, Jesus calls us to love our enemies.  One of the hardest things that Jesus tells us to do is be kind to those that hurt us.  It is hard to accept that God brings good to those that stand up against us.  Loving our enemies is foreign concepts to people that are not Christians.  Loving our enemies is also a hard concept for Christians to do.

We need to accept that loving our enemies is something that we must do.  People that we consider our enemies need to be forgiven by us.  We need to show all of our neighbors love.  Imagine what would have happened in our life if the person that told us about Christ didn’t love us because of who we were.  We need to remember that the only way our neighbors can love God is seeing love in us.

We need to walk through life loving our neighbors.  We need to remember that God does not want us to pick and choose who we love.  We are to love all people so that they can see Jesus in us.  We need to remember that if we are Christians many of our enemies have not accepted Jesus in their life.

Now here is where it gets touchy.  What do we do when people who are Christians become our enemies?  We have to remember that they are children of God just like we are.  We have to show them love.  We do not have to agree with them.  Yet, what we need to do is ask Jesus to intervene in the situation.  Therefor we need to realize when we show brotherly and sisterly love to those that are against us we are taking one step closer to changing the relationship.

We need to always need to remember that God’s love is for all.  Since God’s love is for all we need to show that same love.  We need to turn away from our hate to people and turn to love.  It doesn’t matter what the other person does.  What is important is what we do to others.  We need to show love and let God handle the rest.

Prayer:

We thank you for your love.  We praise you for loving us when we didn’t deserve it.  Help us accept the calling to love all people.  Help us be the people that always show Christian love no matter what.  In the name of the Peacemaker we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Do you show love to those that are your enemies?  Do you accept the calling of God to ask for blessings even for those that are against us?  Are we willing to love those that dislike us?  Are we willing to change so that we can love those that do not return love?  Can we learn to respect those that do not respect us?  Are we willing today to love others with brotherly or sisterly love no matter what the situation is?

Do Good at All Cost

Verses:  Matthew 5:38-42

My thoughts about the verses:

Have you ever been in a situation where someone is doing hurtful things to you?  It might be physical, emotional or spiritual.  Deep down inside we want to strike back.  We want them to pay for the hurt that they have done to them.  We spend a lot of our time living in anger.  We are so hurt that we take it out on people that haven’t done anything to us.

I know that I have personally have done this multiple times in my life.  I am mad because something that one person does but without meaning to I take it out on someone else.  Even worse I spend days trying to figure out how to get revenge on the person that has hurt me.  The sad part is when I do this it actually makes me feel guilty. 

Jesus wants us to not plot revenge against someone.  In reality we should be praying for them.  We need to ask God to take the hurt away from us.  We need to ask God to help the person that is hurting us to realize what they are doing.

People have taken this very literally.  They believe if someone has hurt us we should not fight back at all.  We should stand back and let them hurt us over and over again.  Yet, there are times that we have to speak out against people that have hurt us.  We have to understand that there are some kinds of hurt that need to be stopped. We need to understand that people who do things that hurt us may also do things that are hurting others.  There are times that we have to stand up and fight back by telling what we know. 

We need to work with authorities to make sure that someone does not cause harm to others or hurt us again.  Physical and emotional abuse is something that you or no one else deserves to live with.  God will not judge us if we make sure that they are stopped because we tell those in authority (police) about the abuse.  God doesn’t judge us if we take a stand in court asking for justice.  Yet, at the same time we need to forgive the person so that we can live without anger.  We need to forgive them so we can take a step toward healing.

Now, I want to turn to spiritual abuse.  Many of us face this each and every day.  Ever since the Supreme Court stated that all same sex couples have the same right to marry there has been a lot of both positive and negative points of view.  Yet, some of the people who consider themselves “Righteous” Christians are actually spiritually hurting people.  Their spiritual abuse is hurting them to the point that they do not want anything to do with God.

I have a hard time accepting the county clerk in my Grandmother’s hometown standing up and saying he isn’t going to do his job.  It hurts deep down inside because of the way some of my family respects me for who I am.  I am not sure how many of them know that I am actually a Lesbian yet they have never treated me with anything but Godly love.  Yes, Casey County Kentucky is a very rural county.  Many of the people are very religious. 

I almost went to the rally that was in support of Same Sex Marriage.  Yet, I realized that I couldn’t take the pain if any of my family was on the other side standing up for the County Clerk.  I want to think that they would never intentionally spiritually hurt me.  Yet, I know if I had seen any of them protesting against same sex marriage that I would feel rejected by my family.

Churches are also guilty of spiritual hurt.  Many Christians do not want to hurt others.  They know that they are representatives of Jesus Christ.  They accept that they are not perfect and that is only through the saving grace of God that they would not be saved from their own sins.  Yet, there are other Christians that have spiritually hurt people to the point that they want nothing to do with God.

I know how that feels.  This week has been a very emotional week.  I had to watch someone that I considered my mentor.  He was someone that I wanted to grow up and be like.  Once again state that I am a sinner.  I really wanted people to see that spiritual hurt can spread to other feelings and actions.  I know for me when I was spiritually hurt as a very young adult I was one of those young people that thought that I had no reason to live.  I felt that I was unworthy.  When someone you trust tells you that your lifestyle is a choice that you need to ask God to change was devastating.  I felt that all the things that I had done to serve God was useless.

Yet, I had one man that saved my life.  He was someone that was spiritual and also one of my professors in college.  He saw the signs of the depression and was afraid that I was on the wrong path.  He made arrangements for me to see his pastor.  This man taught me that I was a Child of God.  He taught me that my lifestyle wasn’t a choice.  He taught me that God did not create anything wrong.  Therefor I being a Lesbian was part of God’s plan.  I wish I could remember his name because I would like to tell him how much he helped heal me spiritually.

We need to make sure that we do not hurt others.  We need to make sure that we do not retaliate when people do us wrong.  We need to remember to pray for those that hurt us.  We need to accept that there are times that the only way to stop someone from hurting someone is to make sure they go away to jail.  The biggest thing to remember is that we can do the same things to other if we fall for causing people to feel bad about them.  We have to stop patterns of anger by asking God to be in our life. 

We need to make sure our churches and other Christians do not represent the way that we feel.  We need to make sure that we show the world that we are Christians that accept all.  We are called to do this and we must follow the plan of Jesus.  We need to teach and not judge.  We need to open our doors and hearts so that people can come to accept Jesus.  We need to help heal people through our love so they can heal spiritually.

Prayer:

Dear God we thank you for your love.  We thank you for helping us when others are hurting us.  We praise you for giving us the gift of salvation.  We ask that you help us keep from hurting others.  Help us let go of our anger.  Help us speak up when emotional and physical abuse our hurting ourselves or others.  Help us not hurt people spiritually.  Help us open our arms to help those that have been hurt.  In the name of the Savior we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Are you holding onto anger because the pain someone has put you through?  Are you causing pain to others?  Are you being a stumbling block for people to accept God?  Are you helping others recover from physical, emotional and spiritual hurt?  What action do you need to do today to stop violence in this world?

Say Only What You Mean and Nothing Else

Verses:  Matthew 5:33-37

My thoughts about the verses:

Let your yes be yes and your no be no.  We all know hard this is.  We want so much to please people that we agree things that we really do not want to do because of peer pressure.  We also say no to things out of peer pressure.  We do things that are against God because of peer pressure.  At other times we do not do what God calls us to do because of the same peer pressure.

Let us look at this closely.  How can we succumb to peer pressure when we have God living in our heart.  Do we not sin every day?  It is because of our own desires to fit in and desire to be within the in crowd that we do things that we know we shouldn’t do. 

Yet, this goes much deeper.  We need to live a life in which people accept our word.  We need to show people that we will not just go along with the crowd.  We have to stand up and say this is not right.  We have to stand up and say this is what we should do.  There is not one person on Earth that we should follow.  We need to put our trust solely on God.

When people see that you are doing what God has called you to do they will start believing you.  See isn’t that what an oath is?  I often think of court cases.  We have to swear that we will say the truth and nothing else.  The Judges do not know you but they feel if you are willing to believe that if you promise to say something in truth that you will.

We need to be the kind of people that do not have to say an oath for people to believe us.  We need to be the kind of person that when people see us they agree that we are living a life that reflects the truth in all that we do.  When we say that we are against something people shouldn’t suspect that we will do the same thing in private.  We also need to be able to say yes and begrudging doing something that we feel is wrong.

People watch us each and every day.  When they look at us we should desire to see us as truthful people.  If they catch us doing things that we say we are against they will start distrusting us.  If they catch us talking bad about something that we said yes to we start distrusting us.

We need to make sure that our life proves what we believe inside.  Let your yes be yes and your no be no.  Soon you will find that people will believe you and trust you.  You can become an example of someone that is trustworthy.  Pray daily that you will not fall into peer pressure.  Instead pray that God will give you the ability to say yes to things that we believe in and no to things we do not believe in.

Prayer:

Dear God we praise you for your trust.  We thank you for blessing us each and every day.  Help us be the people that you want us to be.  Help us live a life that builds trust with others.  Help us stand up to peer pressure.  Help us show to others that our yes is a yes and our no is a no.  In the name of the Almighty we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Do you live the life in which people trust you?  Do you fall into peer pressure and later on feel guilty for what you have or haven’t done?  Are you asking God for wisdom?  Are you living a life in which all people will know that your yes is a yes and your no is a no?

Why Do We Force People to Separate from the Bride (Church) of Jesus?

Verses:  Matthew 5:31-32

My thoughts about the verses:

We read these words and we think it is against the will of God to divorce.  These verses have been used by so many Churches to alienate people who are divorced.  They say that those that are divorced cannot partake in the sacraments of the Church.  The sacraments that they are usually are denied are Marriage and the Eucharist.

Yet, I want to ask us why we separate people from Church when they are at the lowest point of their life.  People who are struggling need God more in those moments than people who are not struggling.  Many churches push those that they feel are not up to the same spiritual aptitude to the side.  They often judge certain sins as so much worse than what they themselves do that they do not accept them.

Imagine if Jesus had done this.  Where would anyone of us do if Jesus said I am only going to save people that do not have sin?  See isn’t that what churches are doing if they push people away.  They are telling them that they are not worthy enough to be part of the family.  Yet, look closely Jesus did the exact opposite.

Jesus did not condemn those that were the outcast of the society.  In fact, these were the people that he preached to.  He went out of his way to show us that we are to have a Church family that makes up many different people.  Jesus didn’t pick and choose who he would allow into the Kingdom of God.

Jesus also made it very clear that those that think their better are not in the eyes of God.  A lot of people act like the Pharisees and Sadducees.  They walk around letting people see them praying.  They want people to think of them as the perfect Christian.  They judge people.  They set the rules on who can be a true Christian.

With this is mind we have to ask are we living in Jesus’s example.  Are we choosing to eliminate people from the Church (Bride of Christ)?  The most important thing to remember is that we have no right to push people away from the Church.  Often those that we push away are the ones that Jesus says are the ones who will inherit the Kingdom of God.

Forcing people out of the Church in their time of need is absolutely against the teachings of Jesus.  Choosing to judge people is against the will of God.  We have to open not only our churches but our hearts.  We have to remember that we should never exclude someone from Church just because we think they are worthy to come to our Church.  When we do this we have to think back to this verse. 

The fact is that when you exclude people that have accepted Jesus out of the Church you are technically divorcing them.  Here is the miracle of Jesus he doesn’t follow the rules of these Churches.  Just because one Church may establish a particular group that they feel are not worthy Jesus says come.  Come to me and do not worry about those that will push you to the side.  Once you are a child of God you can never be taken out of God’s hand.

I also want people to know that Jesus doesn’t say that only this group can come to accept the salvation that Jesus gives to the world.  There are so many Churches that follow the example that God has.  We can find a Church that accepts us for who we are.  If one Church says that you are not worthy.  Then search for a Church that has open arms.  You will soon find that these Churches are blessed by God.  They are growing and doing amazing work in the name of Christ.  Do not think that if you find a Church that accepts you for who you are not blessed by God.  We have to remember this as we go forward and find churches that do not pick and choose who can serve God.

Prayer:

Dear God we thank you for your love.  We thank you for choosing to die for us.  We thank you for accepting us as Children if we will only accept you as our savior.  Help us to open our arms and churches.  Help us dear God not to push people away from the Church.  Help us remember that you are the judge.  In the name of the Holy One we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you given your life over to God?  Are you accepting people into your hearts and church no matter what they have or will do?  Are you forcing people out because of your fears?  Are you walking around acting like a Pharisee or Sadducee acting that you are a better Christian?  Do you choose to live in the example of Jesus?

Do not Become a Stumbling Block to Others

Verses:  Matthew 5:27-30

My thoughts about the verses:

Christians often think that I have Jesus in my lie so I don’t have to worry about the sins I have committed.  We think God overlooks them so it is okay f I do little sins.  We think that God overlooks the thoughts we do as long as we do not commit the action. 

It is true that if you are a Christian God covers your sins.  No longer will God see the sins you did in the past or sins that you will commit in the future.  Yet, even though God doesn't see it people see them.  If we are committing sins are we not becoming stumbling blocks for others that see it?

I want to go one step further that this applies to the Church as a whole.  The Church has to make sure that it follows the rules that God has established.  Amazingly when we look at the Bible the thing that we find is that love is the most important thing that Jesus teaches.  Therefor the Church has to put love before anything else.  Love is the key ingredient to a successful and influential Church.

Yet, isn’t it sad how many Churches alienate people.  They pick and choose who can be members.  They forget to minister to those in greatest need.  They choose that what they think are the worse sins.  They chose to eliminate people who cannot accept their way of thinking.

Listen to what Jesus says we must remove the body part that would make us commit sin.  Therefor do whatever you can to keep from sinning.  Yes, you are forgiven but why go out to commit sin like you have an open permit to do whatever you can.  We have to prepare each and every day through prayer and the study of the word not to commit acts that can become stumbling blocks to others.

This also goes for Churches.  Churches should never be stumbling blocks on someone’s journey to salvation.  We need to understand as the Church as a whole that we are called to be opening and loving to all.  Jesus says that we should love our neighbor.  The only way to love your neighbor is to welcome them into the Church body.  Any Church that acts against this is acting out against the will of God.

Now being someone that was confronted and dismissed as not being a Christian because of being a Lesbian I have another view on this topic. After many years of dealing with this rejection I came to conclusions about the word of God.  I have also come to accept that I wasn’t the stumbling block.  I was being led by God to a place where I could be there for others that had reached these stumbling blocks in their home Churches.

It is hard to accept that a Church will not open its doors to all people.  It is just as hard to accept that Christians believe that they can sin in ways that go against the teachings of Jesus.  In both of these situations they are becoming stumbling blocks.  The Church as a whole has to come to the conclusion that they will no longer condone this behavior.  Any Church that is teaching the love of Jesus to all people needs to pluck those Churches that are going against the will of God. 

Prayer:

We thank you God for your gift of salvation.  We praise you for saving us when we were not worthy.  We thank you for teaching the story of love.  We ask that you help us not sin and become stumbling blocks.  We pray for those churches that do not accept all of your children.  Help Christians and Churches become places of love.  In the name of the Savior we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you accepted God in your life?  Are you trying daily not to become a stumbling block to others?  Are you praying for churches and others to show the love of Jesus by opening their doors and life’s to all?

How Does Anger Affect You?

Verses:  Matthew 5:21-26

My thoughts about the verses:

When we think about the Ten Commandments we respect the fact that we are not to murder.  Murdering is the taking of a life and no one other than God has that right.  Yet, do we really stop and think about the many ways that we murder people each day without hurting a hair on their body?  Do we think about how our decisions can affect a person’s life forever?  Do we hold grudges that defile us in front of God’s eyes?

See anger is as much murder as is actually killing someone.  I know this is hard for us to accept.  Yet, we all have people in our life that we have never forgiven.  We carry that grudge and anger in our life each and every day.  We might even have to be around this person on a daily basis yet our anger allows us to treat them bad.

I have seen numerous times where I would rather know that you dislike me than be a friend that stabs me in my back.  These are those grudges that we hold onto for years and years.  We are all smiles around the person.  Yet, when we get away from them we immediately start talking bad about them.  We turn our smiles into frowns. 

We have to realize that what God wants us to do in reconcile with those that we are angry with.  It is amazing when someone comes to you and tells you that something that you did made them angry.  In fact, you may have never known that you had hurt them.  Yet, they have held that anger that hurt in their life and it has affected multiple relationships.

We then have to look at our own life is there people that we are angry with.  Do we have grudges that we have held onto?  Think about what it does to a body to hold that anger inside.  Jesus makes it clear that we have to forgive those that have hurt us.  We also have to ask forgiveness from those that we have hurt.

See what we miss is that anger keeps us from being the children that God wants us to be.  You cannot fully serve God when you are angry.  When you hold grudges you cannot truly worship God.  You may think that it isn’t interfering with your relationship with God but how can you fully serve God when your life is full of anger.

We need to remember that Jesus set the example that we need to follow.  We were not worthy of the love and grace of God.  Yet, God didn’t hold an eternal grudge against us.  God chose to send Jesus as a way of reconciling us with the one who created us.  We will never be perfect but if we accept the gift of forgiveness that Jesus offers our life will change forever. 

God not only forgives us but forgets the things we have done against God.  The concept is that we have to come to that point that we accept that God not only forgives us but we are totally loved.  The anger that could have been there is nonexistent.  Imagine a life in which the only thing that you have for others is love.  We need to make this a priority in our life.

That is why Jesus says that offering up sacrifices or repentance to God isn’t enough.  We have to go to those that we have hurt and ask for forgiveness.  Now there are times that we cannot actually do this because of distance, their death or not knowing how to get in touch with them.  In those moments we need to ask God to accept our apology.  At the same time ask God to forgive us for letting time and boundaries from keeping us from asking for forgiveness. 

Now what we should also do is freely give forgiveness to those that ask for forgiveness.  This not only helps them but it also helps you.  Again there maybe times that this can’t happen face to face.  So here is where you have the power.  You can forgive them through prayer.  They might not be ready to ask for forgiveness.  Yet, it will help you and will help you keep from allowing anger feel your life.

I am thinking about those that were studying the Bible and communing with God.  They openly welcomed a stranger to come in and worship God with them.  Yet before the night was over 9 would lay dead.  That isn’t the end of the story what I think was the most amazing part is what the families did during the arraignment.  They did something that many of us would have a hard time to do.  They forgave him for his actions.  It doesn’t mean that they condoned what happened.  It doesn’t mean that they were not in grief.  It doesn’t mean that they were going to forget what happened.  It didn’t mean that they didn’t want to see justice for their loved ones.  What it did was free their spirit of anger and hate.  They were able to reconnect with God and to start the healing process.

We need to remember that forgiveness is something that we can freely give.  Allowing yourself to let go of anger and grudges will free you from the hurt in your life.  Follow the example that Jesus gives us.  Don’t ask God to forgive you until you ask forgiveness for what you have done.  It is in that act that you show God that you have a heart of love.  Follow this rule and you will soon find out that your life is changed for the good.

Prayer:

We thank you for your love.  We praise you God for your forgiveness.  We thank you for forgetting the things that we do wrong when you accept us in our life.  Help us ask for forgiveness when we need to.  Help us forgive those that have hurt us.  Help us most importantly God to ask for your forgiveness by asking Jesus in our life.  In the name of the Messiah we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you asked God to forgive you for all that you have or will do?  Do you have the faith to accept God’s everlasting love?  Are you willing to forgive those that have hurt you?  Are you ready to ask for forgiveness for the people that you have hurt?  Are you ready to show people the love that Jesus has shown to you?

Jesus is the fulfilment of the Law

Verses:  Matthew 5:17-20

My thoughts about the verses:

We need to look back to the law.  The law was written in a time when a new nation was being formed.  The book of Leviticus is directions put in place to ensure that the Jewish community would flourish as they started growing as a community. We have to remember this as we hear the words from Jesus.

Many of the people who were listening to the stories were Jews.  There were many in the community that not only believed in the laws of Leviticus they also practiced the rules that the Pharisees and Sadducees had established.  They believed that if they stayed within law they were pleasing God.

At the time sacrifices were made to cleanse them from the wrong they had done.  The sacrificial animal’s blood is what was needed for the cleansing of the people’s sin.  We have to understand the role Jesus played in this sacrament of the Jewish community. 

We have to go back to the story of Abraham and his son Isaac.  God called Abraham to take his son and sacrifice him as an offering to God.  Abraham out of his faith took Isaac to offer him up to God.  Yet, God was only testing his faith.  God provided a ram for that sacrifice.

Yet, if we look back at it from a different perspective we can understand how Jesus fulfilled the law.  The law required blood to cleanse the world.  Abraham showed through his faith what the final fulfillment of the law would be.  God would have to send the son to be the fulfillment of the law. 

Jesus’s blood paid the final atonement for the whole world.  Just like Abraham had faith in God when he took Isaac to the altar we have to have that faith in Jesus.  Imagine how hard it would be to let your son die for people who were unclean.  Yet, knowing through that sacrifice they would become clean.  Abraham had experienced it yet he was stopped.  Therefor he grew stronger in his faith for he knew that God would provide.

Today we need to understand that God did provide that last sacrifice.  Jesus will be there for anyone who will accept the gift Jesus is offering. Once you accept Jesus into your life your sins are forever forgiven and forgotten by God.  God no longer sees you as unclean.  You can come straight to God for all of your needs because you have the blood of the lamb cleansing your life.

There are so many who need to feel that cleansing power.  Yet, they do not understand that all it takes is faith.  They try so many ways to follow a set of laws.  They try to do the right thing.  They put themselves on a pedestal and believe that they have done enough good in life.  Yet, they lack faith in the power of Jesus.  They believe that they can do it all by themselves.  Yet, if they would just accept Jesus in their life things would change forever. 

Yet, Jesus tells us that the law was to be followed until the law was fulfilled.  The moment Jesus went to the cross the last sacrifice was fulfilled.  When Jesus rose from the grave the law ended.  Jesus became the lamb that gave his life willingly so that we may have eternal life.  God provided the lamb for us just like he provided the ram for Abraham. 

We can embrace this or we can choose not to.  This is the only thing left for us to do to have eternal life.  We have a choice to make.  We do not have to make sacrifices because the blood has cleansed all that will say yes to Jesus.  Giving your life over to Jesus allows the cleansing blood to cover all your sins. 

Prayer:

Dear God we praise you for your love.  We thank you for your sacrifice.  We praise you for your sacrifice of the perfect lamb.  We ask that you come into our life and cleanse us.  Help us be the people that you want in our life.  In the name of the Law Fulfiller we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you accepted God in your life?  Have your shared your gift of salvation with others around you?  

The Light has Entered the World

Verses:  Matthew 5:13-16

My thoughts about the verses:

Let us look closely at the light that has entered the world.  Before Jesus came into the world the world was without light.  Now people get very confused at this thought.  People have heard or read the Creation story and understand that God created stars, sun and moon that produced the light for the world.  Yet, that light was only a physical light. 

Spiritual light came into the world when Jesus was born.  Think back to the bright star that shined over the babe.  The light guided people to the feet of Jesus.  Jesus walked in this light his entire life. Yet, his walk wasn’t in the light of the star.  Jesus’s walk was in the spiritual light of God.

Jesus did not store up the light for himself.  His sole purpose of being born was to share the spiritual light to the whole world.  Jesus was the gift that the world had long needed.  Jesus was the Light which would take the world out of spiritual darkness and bring it into spiritual awakens.

We need to understand that Jesus did not come to persecute us but to heal us.  Jesus did not come into the world to judge us but to save us.  Jesus did not come into the world to condemn us but to set us free.  Jesus did not come into the world so that we may die he came so we could live. 

We have the opportunity to accept the Light that Jesus brought into the world today.  We have the opportunity to be set free from all the things that have keep us bound to our life of sin.  The gift is totally free no strings attached.  If you choose to accept Jesus in your life your soul will become awakened.  The light that came to the world will shine through your life.  You will be a new being.

True there are no strings attached to accept Jesus’s gift of salvation. Yet, here is where the awakening of the new being comes into play.  When you ask Jesus in your life your soul becomes flooded with light.  The Holy Spirit lives within you and you are changed.  You no longer desire to do the things that you did while you were in the darkness.  You will want to live your light for God because the light of Jesus is working within your life.

As a receiver of the light of God there will be things that are changed forever.  One of the things will change is the way you interact with others.  Christians understand that they need to share the light of God.  We have to understand that the light that we receive is a flame we cannot contain.  Therefor we are called to share the love of Jesus.

The question comes into play how do I show people the light that lives in our life.  First you can treat people equally.  Do not judge people that do not live up to your expectations.  Imagine what the world would be if Christians shared the gift of salvation with people just like them.  I have a feeling that the light would never had gotten to us.  Jesus did not pick and choose who was giving the gift of salvation.  He did not separate it by who people loved, what race people were, what abilities that they had or what their original religious beliefs were.  We as Christians are called to do the same thing Jesus did.

Secondly you will come to realize that people are watching the way you are living your life.  When you live your life putting God first you will see the true change that comes from having Jesus in your life.  Others will see this and will come to desire the contentment that we have.  For you will see that even when things seem impossible you will not fear because you know that Jesus is with you.  People who do not have Christ in their life will wonder how we can overcome obstacles that seem impossible.  The answer is simple we have a light that is faith in Jesus when we need it, it is there for us. 

It is through our example that others will find Jesus and understand the darkness that they are in.  They will come to accept that Jesus can give them strength that they need.  People will see the changes in your life and want the same thing for themselves.  They will be ready for you to tell them about God.  The truth is a church has only a few times a week to reach souls during worship and other activities.  Yet, Christians have every day all day long to share the love of Jesus. 

We can share the light of Jesus to the world.  Live your life so that others can see the power of Jesus in your life.  Share the story of how Jesus has changed your life.  Know that when things see impossible God will be there.  Allow others to see the strength that comes from your belief in Jesus.  Let the world see the light so you can pass and ember off to others.  As you pass the ember the person through faith can accept or deny Jesus.  If they accept Jesus that ember will become a new flame and the person will become a new creation in the light of Jesus.

Prayer:

We praise you for your love.  We thank you for the gift of eternal life.  We thank you for bringing an end to spiritual darkness.  Help us use the light that you have placed in our life to spread embers in other peoples life.  In the name of the Light of the World we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you asked the Light of the World to come into your life?  Are you living a life so that others can feel the light of the world?  Are you walking with God as the center of your life?  Are you allowing God to spark embers everywhere you go?

Believers will receive Blessings from God

Verses:  Matthew 5:1-12

My thoughts about the verses:

The majority of Christians have study the Beatitudes.  We think of them as the way to live our life.  We have learned to accept that we are to be humble.  We accept that we have to put God first.  We even accept that we are to treat others the way we want to be treated.  Yet, there is more to the lesson.

Reading the last line of the verses you will see that when we leave the beatitudes we will be persecuted.  We must go through hard times to really accept the love of God.  We are blessed if we accept the love and abundance of God. 

Yet, what does it take to truly understand the need of being persecuted.  Think back to the prophets.  Their lives were not easy.  Many of them went through difficult times.  They declared that the destruction of the Jewish nation was coming because of their sins.    The saddest part is that many of them lived through the persecution.  They were chosen by God to spread the news.  Yet the leaders and the community didn’t ask for forgiveness and turn from their ways.  Imagine trusting God and know what is coming and have to live through it because people didn’t accept the words given to you by God.  Therefor they lived through times of persecution.

The first beatitude talks about those that have great struggles.  When you struggle you come to accept that you need God in your life.  You become stronger in your relationship with God out of your need.  If you spend your whole life without struggles it is easy to think you do not need God in your life.  There is a highlight in the life that those who struggle.  In fact, there is a gift waiting for all that accept Jesus and that is the blessings of receive the gift of salvation.

The second beatitude talks about those that know that they sin.  They feel the need to have salvation.  They are searching for anything that can take away the sin and evil in their life.  People that do not think they do wrong do not feel the need of salvation.  They do not know what it is to mourn for a life without sin.  Yet, Jesus promises those that mourn over their sin.  The promise is that Jesus will give you comfort.  Through the gift of salvation you will find love peace and hope.  Your mourning over your sin will turn to happiness if you accept the gift of everlasting life.

The third beatitude talks about those that humbly come to God.  They realize that they are no match to the forgiveness and power of God.  They realize that they have to turn their lives over to God.  They realize that they need God in their life so that they can find peace.  People that do not understand how it is to respect God have a hard time of accepting the blessings God offers.  They believe that do not have to have God in their life.  Yet, those that come to God in humbleness will receive the promises given in times of Abraham.  They are given the blessings of ultimate peace for they inherit the gifts of eternal life. 

The fourth beatitude talks about those that seek the gift of forgiveness.  They feel deep inside that the only thing that will save them from the sin in their life is God.  They understand the need for God in their life.  Those that do not seek the forgiveness of God believe that they can do it on their own.  They see no need to have anyone save them from their life.  In fact, they do not understand that they have faults in their life that need to be forgiven by God.  Those that search for the forgiveness of God will be given that forgiveness.  They will have their need for the gift of salvation completed when they accept God in their life.

The fifth beatitude talks about those that do well for others.  They realize that they need to be kind and compassionate to others.  They have the ability to be merciful to others because of their commitment to God.  They are able to show mercy for they have received mercy from God for the sins that they have committed.  They have already found the gift of salvation and want to show that mercy to others.  On the other hand you have those that are unfair to others.  They misuse people because they have not accepted God in their life.  They walk around the world acting as if they are the judges of life.  Yet, they miss the fact that they are not the judges.  They do not understand that the only judge in life is God.  Those that show mercy understand that God is the giver of mercy.  They have felt that gift and they want to share that with others.

The sixth beatitude talks again about those that have had their heart purified.  They have accepted the gift of salvation in their life.  They now have seen the very glory of God.  It is through their acceptance of God that they are able to witness the love they need here on Earth.  Their acceptance of Christ allows them to internally know the Spirit of God in their lives.  Those that do not have a purified heart will never feel the presence of Jesus in their life.  They will live their life without being able to see the glory of Jesus.  The fact is that we all have a choice to have a purified heart.  Yet, there are so many do not accept Jesus in their life and therefor walk this world without feeling the very presence of God in their life.

The seventh beatitude talks about those that have made peace with God.  Simply put they have accepted the grace of God.  In accepting that grace they have become the

Children of God.  Those that have made peace with God are further called to help others find the peace that they have.  They need to show others what God has done in their life.  They need to tell people how to receive the peace that they have in their own life.  Yet, those that do not accept that peace will never find comfort in this life.  They may think that all is well yet when they pass from this Earth they will not have the gift of eternal life.  Peacemakers become the Children of God because they have loved God and God returns the love to them.  They have the gift of eternal life and have found the peace that outlasts this world.

The eighth beatitude talks about the persecution that believers face.  Believer’s lives are not always easy.  There are so many times that we face hardships.  We face people that reject us.  Being a child of God doesn’t mean that we live a life of complete peace.  Many times we struggle with illnesses and lost.  We struggle internally with doing the right thing.  Yet, there is a gift that believers are promised.  We are promised the gift of eternal life.  Even through our struggles we have the understanding that we will receive the gift of going to the Kingdom that God has established for all that believe.  This knowledge should help us overcome our struggles.  Those that do not have this eternal knowledge do not have God helping them through life.  Instead they have to face it head on.  Their lack of accepting God will lead to not having the promise of everlasting life.

The last beatitude goes back to the fact that people will attack those that believe.  Those that believe will be ridiculed.  People will stand up against them.  What makes it much harder for many to accept is that people who call themselves Christian will do some of the attacking.  We need to understand that not all people that call themselves Christian will believe the same way that we do.  It is crazy to think that persecution can come for those that are also persecuted.  We have to accept that we will have to deal with persecution because of our choice of accepting the gift of life.  Yet, there is also a reward for those that are persecuted and treated badly by others.  Those that are persecuted will receive blessings and rewards in the next life.  As long as you stay focused on serving God you will receive the blessings that no one can fully understand. 

We have to remember that struggles are going to happen in our lives.  Some will endure more struggles than others.  Yet, through our struggles we can grow closer to the one that can save us from ourselves.  We will be able to go before God with a pure blessed heart.  No matter what you are going through do not lest the struggles of this world keep you from knowing the promise that is to come.  The prophets were persecuted yet they live in abundant peace and love form their creator.  If we follow this same goal we will find peace and comfort.

Prayer:

We love you God.  We thank you for dying for our sins.  Help us to accept the gifts that you have in our life.  Help us understand that though we struggle if we have accepted you we will overcome.  Thank you for the gift of salvation.  Help us be the best Christians we can be.  Help us not fight with other Christians because of it leading to others accept you in their life. In the name of the Messiah we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you accepted Jesus in your life?  Are you struggling today with something that you feel that you will never overcome?  Do you need to grow your faith so that you can be there for others?

Are You Ready to Come to Jesus?

Verses:  Matthew 4:23-25

My thoughts about the verses:

When you read these verses you see Jesus’s gift to heal the physical ailments of humans.  Many people at the time were following Jesus and bringing their sick for this healing.  They had come to trust that he could heal anyone from any ailment.  They believed that he only had to touch him and they would be healed.

Yet, this was not the most important thing that Jesus did in this time.  Jesus was using his gift of healing to create a following.  One that would come to trust him and what he was saying.  He was able to preach to them and they continued to follow.

His gift of eternal healing was impacting their life.  They may not have understood what was truly happening in their life.  Yet, they knew that there was something special about this rabbi.  He was gifted not only with healing but also eloquent speaking.

They came from many different places around the area to see Jesus.  Jesus didn’t choose to heal people from one area his was there for all.  He didn’t choose to only heal people with certain illnesses he was there to heal all.

These lessons are something that we need to learn about Jesus.  Jesus is there for all who will come.  Jesus doesn’t and pick who he will heal.  We are given the healing that we need.  We often think that the most important thing that we need is our body healed.  Yet, there are many more times that it’s our Spiritual side that needs to be healed.  Know that if you reach out to Jesus you will be saved.

We also need to follow Jesus.  We need to understand that Jesus calls us to follow him wherever he may lead.  We have to understand that we need to come to Jesus.  Jesus is there calling us to come.  Jesus is there offering the gift of healing.  Jesus is there are offering the power of salvation.  Yet, it is up to us to go to Jesus to receive what we need.   

Prayer:

We thank you God for you ever enduring love.  We thank you Jesus for your love.  Help stir our minds and spirits to follow you.  Help us to accept the gifts that you have in store for us.  In the name of the Great Physician we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Are you willing to follow Jesus?  Are you ready to accept the gifts Jesus has for your life?