Sunday, January 12, 2014

FOCUS '14-MODELING JESUS-ENTRY 2

Hi Friends!

People awake every morning and immediately check the weather, the stock market, sports scores, you name it. I want to encourage you each day to check your heart...not the physical health of your heart that is best assessed by an MD...but the spiritual health of your heart which is best assessed by the teachings of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you have a pulse for God's Word?

More specifically do you have a pulse for the teachings of Jesus Christ?

Consider reading the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew Chapters 5-7) this week and reflecting upon what Jesus has to say about the Christian life. Warning: not all of His teachings are easy! Reward: all of His teachings are completely true and profitable for right living on earth and eternal life in heaven!

Having read the Sermon on the Mount take a few moments to record your spiritual pulse. Where by God's Grace and Obedience to His Word can you overcome sin and live a healthier spiritual life? Pick a pulse point and focus on your faith in Christ and ask Him to put you in perfect rhythm with His Will. The joy is in the journey...just check your spiritual pulse daily.

God's Peace,
Jeff

1 comment:

  1. A couple thoughts.

    It's easy to get into a routine where "if it's morning, then I have to do X", where X is saying the Lord's Prayer, or checking our spiritual heart health, or repeating the 23rd Psalm. We can be creatures of habit, and it's easy to fall into a repetition where doing the thing (and checking it off the list) becomes more important than what the thing was supposed to help with. In Matthew 6:7, immediately before the model prayer that we call The Lord's Prayer, Jesus says “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words." Meaningless repetition - saying something just to mouth the words and get it off our list - doesn't count for much in Jesus' book. He is a person, and wants a relationship with us.

    The other thing I wanted to bring up is something similar to the Sermon on the Mount. Our small group this week focused on Luke 6:20-39, which records the Sermon on the Plain - similar to the Sermon on the Mount, but not identical, and delivered at a different time. The fact that Jesus said similar things doesn't surprise me - He was consistent throughout His life and His preaching. And the fact that Jesus said similar but different things at two times doesn't shock me. It's very possible that one group needed to hear "Blessed are the poor in spirit", and another group needed to hear "Blessed are the poor". And we need to hear both of them.

    Endless repetition, and knowing the difference between the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain - these things do not make a bit of difference to God, and won't help you get to Heaven any more than knowing how to compute gasoline's octane number helps you get better mileage.

    And yet, with God smiling as He wrote this part of the Bible, Luke 18:7-8 records Jesus saying "will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly." The difference is that the endless repetition is just marks on a board, while the "crying to Him day and night" is children calling to a Father who loves them. Is your heart beating for external praise and recognition, or is your heart beating for God?

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