Share your daily reflections

Matt 5 cont'd
Jesus makes a point about being angry with another person following God. This anger is defined in the Greek as a fixed anger. It's not just a reactionary response, rather one that has settled in and seeks some kind of hostile resolution to the person they are angry with. As we know, there is a righteous anger and a sinful anger. Examples of righteous anger are how we feel about murder, child abuse, and Jesus’ most notable time in the Temple with the money-changers. Was Jesus reacting toward people who follow Him? I doubt it, and it wasn't an uncalculated response either. It was a righteous anger calling out those interested in profiting from the sacrifices God directed His people to offer. Did He have to react so violently? Maybe not, but it definitely set the tone for how God feels about those who try to use God to benefit themselves. Therefore, if we stay silent to injustice, we will be held accountable. Jesus sounds like He called them worse than just fools by saying they are all part of a den of robbers. Naturally, we have no problem with this when there is no doubt regarding their sin, we absolutely must have the facts and not just hearsay when we are called to speak up. Not if, but when.
Since we expect the suspected perpetrator to be held accountable, we had better be right about our claim because we will be held accountable also. Jesus goes on to say we are in danger of the fire of hell even if we label them as fools. Everyone deserves the fire of hell for sin, but our forgiveness has been paid for by Jesus.
My take-a-way is to have a cool head and warm heart. Stay cool, allow time to receive God's direction of a response. This can happen by remembering His Word, the Spirit coming upon us, not allowing our sinful nature to dominate our response, and being clever with a good line to diffuse the situation. Often silence alone does the trick. Secondly, never allow a wrong linger in your heart. Deal with it before it festers and anger explodes without control.

Matt 5 cont'd
It's not natural to think of being great or least in the kingdom of heaven. Does having this status pertain to our time before heaven or both now and then? Either way, Jesus clearly states there is a distinction betwee the two for believers. The more pertinent question is whether practicing rules and behavior is the goal or being with Jesus. We absolutely are expected to live right and rely on forgiveness to do it right next time, but if this is our purpose; public recognition may become the reward we seek. Oh, no it's not we say? We do it because we should. It's what is expected. That's a great start because God expects us to follow His ways. Only God knows who is in the book of life for sure, but many do miracles and wonders in His name, yet for some He will tell them to get lost because He never knew them. Yes, Jesus just made a point of letting those who hunger and thirst for righteousness know they will be filled, but is that a promise only fulfilled in heaven? What if we don't seek the Spirit, mourn because sin separates us from God, or desire the meekness of dependence on God? These traits aren't about doing right in themselves, they are about being connected with Jesus. Is it about being good or being with Jesus? The rich young ruler struggled with this exact topic. He called Jesus good, and Jesus said only God is good. This should have caused the ruler to hesitate, but since his motives weren't to be with Jesus, he continued to march straight into the trap of his making. Jesus didn't deny his commitment to doing right, but cut straight to his heart. What and who is most important? The rich young ruler was challenged with the core of his motivation. Allow God to cut through the lines we use and get to our heart's true desire. We believe our lies and deceive ourselves. Get real or get lost.

Matt 5 cont'd
Salt and light. You are either in or out. There is no middle. Most people who follow Jesus say, yeah, duh. The part that should be unsettling relates to those who think they're in, but still believe they are entitled to enjoy their comforts and other pleasures while saying they "plan on getting" to a more disciplined walk with Jesus. A city on a hill can't stop their light from shining. It's just a cause and effect. You don't turn on the light and then cover it. It's inconsistent. You are either salt or not. Practice the faith or hear the line, "away from me, I never knew you."

Matt5 cont'd
Who are the ones who give you the treatment for following Jesus? It's those who don't, those who think they follow, those who should follow better, and even those who usually follow just like us. Getting the bad deal comes from everuy angle, not just where we would expect it. The promise is still good for all of us who stop, allow Jesus to forgive, get help, and do better. Oh, better? Yeah, if we marginalize our efforts, how can we mean it when we want to do better and don't use the help of the Spirit? It's not our job to say who's faith is good enough, it's our job to start over and follow.

Matt 5 cont'd
The term we use to describe the different types of awareness Jesus refers to in the sermon on the mount are called beattitudes. This term refers to a perfect joy. This divine happiness is what we all seek in various ways, but only one source continues to yeild the results we want. Unless we truly desire God's nature that produces this fruit, our short cuts to the goal will continue to end in failure. It's pretty much saying we want all God's benefits without really wanting God. Do we want to go to heaven because we want to be with God or because it will be the perfect comfort zone?

Matt 5
What was Jesus message immediately after being baptized by John and going into the wilderness? Repent. What is the first beatitude from the sermon on the mount? Poor in spirit. What is the main message to master when following Jesus? Knowing your role.

Matt 4 cont'd
Jesus goes fishing with miracles of compassion. They come, he heals them of their physical needs as the bait to share how their forever needs can be met through Him. Some aren't interested, some are catch and self-imposed release, and some of us want the truth.

Matt 4 cont'd
When we fish for people, we don't use nets to catch them, unless you consider them nets of love. Rather, we put the message of hope out there for those who want the truth. If our lives don't reflect contentment, our talk, and the hope we have; we may not even have accepted the truth into our lives at all. It certainly doesn't support what God is doing. We're not the ones "catching" anyone either. God catches us as we fall away from Him.

Matt 4 cont'd
Always good to see the response Nicodemus could have used to put Caiaphas in his place. God made sure Isaiah said it, but Nic didn't use it when told to look it up because no prophet was to come from Galilee.

Matt 4
When we really get on board with our submission to God's will, we get closer and closer to being true followers of Jesus. Since we truly want to do it right, we want nothing to do with anything short of His ways. The problem is that we lose our dependency then. Yes, He wants us to act justly. Do what's right always, but not at the expense our need for Jesus. The design is for one Savior. We embrace His mercy, stay dependent, and walk humbly. He expects us to overcome with the help of His Spirit, but He also expects us to know our role. We are servants and sons. We don't deserve, but we get to ask for help as sons.