Tag Archives: Jesus

Jesus points us towards the narrow gate (Matthew 7: 13-14)

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Bible Summary:

Jesus says the gate to hell is wide, the road is easy, and many follow it there. The gate to life is narrow, the way hard, and few find it.

My Thoughts:

Choices: Every day greets us with choices. I was going to say many are easy to make, like what to eat or what to wear, and then talk about the hard ones, but even these “easy” choices are difficult. You can choose to eat high-caloric items that will add pounds or wear that revealing outfit – or not. Every choice you make, from the mundane every-day ones made out of habit to the earth-shattering ones that can dramatically change your life, is a point where you should stop and rethink what God would want you to do if He were standing beside you. It is a narrow and hard way, but the results will amaze you.

Ask and you will receive (Matthew 7: 7-12)

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Bible Summary:

Jesus says, “Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened.” Just like you give good things to your children, God gives good things to those who ask. He also says the Law of Moses means to do for others what you would want them to do for you.

My Thoughts:

Action: Everything you want in life requires action – ask, seek, open, etc. If you want to make things better, step up and take action. Take a chance, you will be pleasantly surprised what happens.

Good for good: I believe Jesus put a different spin on Moses’ “eye-for-an-eye” law in this passage changing it to “good for good”. If you do good for others, you will receive good.

Jesus says to judge not (Matthew 7: 1-6)

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Bible Summary:

Jesus says not to judge others or God will judge you the same way. He asks why you point out the speck in your brother’s eye and miss the log in your own. “You hypocrite!” He further says not give what is holy to dogs, they will only turn on you, and not to throw pearls to pigs, they will only trample them.

My Thoughts:

Parables: Not judging others is a pretty clear message from Jesus, but many others are less direct and in parable form, like the part about the dogs and pigs. This could mean many things, like if you try to speak the word of God to people who do not believe, they will only attack you and speak against your pearls of wisdom.

Jesus says to live for today (Matthew 6: 24-34)

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Bible Summary:

Jesus tells the crowd during the Sermon on the Mount, “No one can be a slave of two masters; he will hate one and love the other; he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” He says not to worry about food, drink or clothes. Life is more than that. God feeds the birds and clothes wild grass – “that is here today and gone tomorrow” – and wild flowers with beautiful colors. You of little faith should not worry about tomorrow, but be concerned with what God requires of you, and then He will provide all you need.

My Thoughts:

Serving two masters: You cannot serve God and money. Hmm? I have heard people use this phrase to admonish the rich for accumulating wealth and not sharing through charity, but Jesus did not target the rich in this part of the story. His message was very basic – down to food and clothing – that refers to every man, woman and child.

Worry and Stress: The real message is about worry and stress, which doctors today are confirming can shorten your life. Jesus tells everyone not to worry about tomorrow that God will provide enough of your basic needs as long as you serve Him.

Life is short: Jesus essentially said to live for today since life is short – “here today and gone tomorrow.” You really only have today, this moment. All the guilt or concern over what you did or failed to do, or wrongs that happened to you in the past are just that, in the past. There is nothing you can do to change what happened then. And, the future is but a dream. Planning is good so you have a road map where you would like to go – your hopes and dreams – but they are only accomplished by living and acting upon them today. So, start those dreams today, even by taking just small steps in that direction. God is looking for you to answer his call – start now.

Jesus says to focus on riches in heaven (Matthew 6: 19-23)

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Bible Summary:

Jesus tells the crowd at the Sermon on the Mount to store up riches in heaven instead of the ones on earth that can be destroyed or stolen. He says, “Your heart will always be where your riches are” and your eyes are a lamp of your body, so see light and your body will not be in darkness.

My Thoughts:

You receive what you focus on: Focus on money and you will receive money, but maybe at a high price – sacrifice of your family, your honor, and your soul. Storing up riches in heaven means casting aside the concern for money and focusing instead on making life better for as many other people as possible.

Enough: So, know when you have enough – food, shelter, clothes, and other possessions – to live in this world, and then focus all of your time on doing good. It will make all the difference in your life.

Jesus teaches not to draw attention (Matthew 6: 16-18)

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Bible Summary:

Jesus teaches the crowd during the Sermon on the Mount not to draw attention to themselves during fasting, but to wash their faces and comb their hair so people cannot tell, since fasting is a private matter with God.

My Thoughts:

Compliments: Sometimes we all want to be noticed, to be told we look nice, that we are successful, that we are doing something right. If we do not receive compliments then we will seek attention in other ways. People do not seem to give out compliments enough, so try to start a trend and maybe it will come around to greet you at a later date.

The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6: 7-15)

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Bible Summary:

Jesus says not to use a lot of meaningless words when you pray and offers the crowd at the Sermon on the Mount the Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be thy name;
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us;
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.

He further says if you forgive others their wrongs then God will forgive you.

My Thoughts:

What a compact prayer that teaches everyone to:

  • Worship God
  • Accept God’s will
  • Live for today – not in the past or the future
  • Know when you have enough – our daily bread
  • Forgive yourself (i.e. don’t beat yourself up over mistakes) and forgive others (they make mistakes too)
  • Help keep us away from temptation
  • Keep us safe – from evil

Amen!

Jesus teaches to do charity anonymously (Matthew 6: 1-6)

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Bible Summary:

Jesus tells the crowd at the Sermon on the Mount to do religious duties and charitable works privately such that even your closest friends do not know about it.

My Thoughts:

Public Display of Charity: I wrote yesterday about a woman who did 26 random acts of kindness in a day. She posted her experience on Facebook “to inspire more people,” but according to Jesus the woman “will not have any reward from your Father in heaven” because she did the acts publicly. At first, I was thinking the same thing – that she did it for attention, especially handing out balloons to kids in front of Target! But, at the end of her project she posted a summary of what she learned, including tearing up at another woman’s really thankful response to paying for her groceries. So, I think the kindness made its impact on the giver too.

Piousness: I think Jesus was warning everyone about piousness – tell them to not go to church or do charitable works just to show others you are better than them. These are private affairs between you and God that should make you feel good inside just for the doing.

Even though it is best to do good privately, it is better to do them any way you see fit than not at all. So, do not let this warning hamper you from doing an act of kindness directly to someone or in front of others, just don’t brag about it!

Jesus teaches to love your enemy (Matthew 5: 43-48)

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Bible Summary:

Jesus tells the crowd at the Sermon on the Mount to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. He says God makes sun and rain fall on good and bad people alike so we must become perfect and love everyone too.

My Thoughts:

Non-Violence Training: Jesus continues his non-violence training by going beyond the thought of not seeking revenge to actually loving your enemies. A small group of people cannot change the belief of the majority by force, but has a good chance by following the ways of Jesus.

Love Your Enemies: Now that is a hard pill to swallow. How can you love your enemy when they are causing you grief? Think how angry we get when someone cuts us off on the highway. But, loving your enemy is the only long-term solution. Retaliation causes retaliation and escalation. Instead, look for common ground with your enemy. Find something to talk about. Try to compliment them. The best scenario is to turn them into a friend, then you no longer have an enemy.

Flipping the Lens on Stereotyping: We should be very careful not to stereotype people because of the actions of a few. It was real easy to think badly about all Muslims because of a few extremists who orchestrated the 9/11 attacks, but most Muslims are actually very nice, Godly (“Allah” to them) people. Their religion also comes from Abraham and teaches their faithful to believe in Jesus as a messenger of God.

Jesus teaches against revenge (Matthew 5: 38-42)

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Bible Summary:

Jesus tells the crowd at the Sermon on the Mount not to seek revenge as the old “eye for an eye” laws say, but to offer the other cheek to your aggressor, to give the thief your coat as well, and to give whenever someone asks.

My Thoughts:

Teaching meekness?: It sure seems Jesus is teaching everyone to be meek, to roll over and accept all the bad in life with a smile on their face. In reality, he is teaching them the strength of not allowing their emotions to take over a situation, getting them further into trouble. He is also teaching them not to seek revenge to remove the strife which can last for generations as long, drawn-out feuds between families where the descendants do not even know the original reason for the disagreement.

Teaching Followers Non-Violence: I believe Jesus had the foresight to realize his followers would be persecuted by the authorities for his beliefs which were different than the established laws and customs of the time. It does not matter that he was teaching good, just that it was different. To reduce this persecution, he conducted the first campaign of non-violence that set in motion a religion that would dwarf the Jewish faith and now encompasses one-third of the people around the world.

Mohandas Gandhi copied these non-violent methods to free India from British rule and Martin Luther King, Jr. copied them to gain civil rights for all Americans regardless of race, religion, or any other reason to separate people.  Non-violence works.

Walk Away: So the next time you are in a quarrel, put yourself in good company like Jesus, Dr. King, and Gandhi, and be strong enough to walk away until the other person cools off.