Salt and Light
April 9, 2012
We live in a competitive world. Jesus’ teaching is clear in how we are to relate with our with “competitors,” or adversaries. Disciples who are peacemakers do not try to get even with their enemies. Jesus taught us how to relate to the opposite sex. If we really want to be part of the solution as salt and light, we must learn how to control our sexual desires. Jesus taught that divorce was never God’s intention for marriage.
References:
Matthew 5:13-16
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Jesus taught that it is critical for believers to cultivate and maintain strong, loving relationships. Those who have Jesus’ attitude of mercy are to show it; not to do so will affect our private worship. We must make sure we are not alienated from anyone who Jesus calls our “brother.” Anger and feelings of disgust toward our brothers and sisters must be reconciled if we want to have a relationship with them that is pleasing to God.
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April 5, 2012
Many people think Jesus contradicted the Old Testament, but He was only confronting the teaching of the religious leaders. He was telling His disciples: “Everything I am teaching you is found in the Word of God, but what I am teaching is in direct conflict with what your religious leaders have been teaching you.” Jesus explained the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. He taught that the Law was to be internal, not merely external.
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April 2, 2012
True disciples will not be able to hide it and Jesus uses to revolutionize the culture. His followers are like a city on a hill or a candle on a candlestick. Christians are the only source of light for multitudes living in darkness. If His disciples do not fulfill their role as salt and light, no one else is left to fulfill it. Disciples are sent into the world as God’s solution in order to shine for all to see.
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March 29, 2012
The Beatitudes are the essence of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. They describe a godly character that can change the world. Next, Jesus provides commentary and application to teach the role His followers are to have transforming the culture and society in which they live. When disciples with Christ-like attitudes are “rubbed into” the people of the world, they are like salt rubbed into meat; their influence will keep the world from total corruption, and are a valuable commodity Jesus uses.
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March 26, 2012
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” There is a reason the beatitude about peacemakers is followed by the beatitude about persecution. Those who become ministers of reconciliation often suffer; even lose their lives, because they have identified themselves with Jesus Christ. The true disciple, who is like Jesus, who has the “beautiful attitudes,” confronts people with a model of what they should be and often suffers for Jesus.
March 22, 2012
The seventh beatitude (Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God) speaks to the mission of those who are part of God’s solution. Mankind is alienated from God. If we have been reconciled with God—made right in our relationship with Him—it is only right that God would use us to help others be reconciled with Him. He will also help us find reconciliation in our own relationships and use us to help others find reconciliation in theirs.
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March 19, 2012
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” The word “mercy” means “unconditional love.” This is the kind of love for others that disciples must have to become channels of God’s love. When we are merciful, our motives are often questioned because unconditional love is hard to understand, especially for people who have never seen it before. When we love unconditionally, as God loves us, our motives are pure.
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March 15, 2012
To hunger and thirst for righteousness is to zealously desire to know what is right. What you do and how you act are important to God. We are called to do what is right—not just what is expedient. We see a pattern in the beatitudes. They come in pairs. We mourn while we are learning to be poor in spirit, and when we become meek, we will hunger and thirst for righteousness. The promise is we will be filled completely.
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March 12, 2012
Disciples must learn what it means to mourn and be meek. Believers sometimes think it is wrong to show signs of mourning. God wants to use our mourning to help us ask the right questions, to seek God’s answers, and help us accept the blessing God provides. The Bible describes Moses as the meekest man who ever lived. Meekness is power under control – yielded to the Master’s control. A meek disciple disciplines himself to live under the yoke of the Father.
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March 8, 2012
Jesus begins teaching His disciples eight attitudes—called, the “beatitudes”, or “blessed attitudes.” Jesus gives a promise to bless the disciple who has each one of these attitudes. These blessed attitudes profile the mind-set, or way of thinking, that affects the behavior of a disciple of Jesus so he can be part of the solution and answer of Christ to all the suffering in the world. The first is “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”Download the Free study booklet HERE
March 5, 2012
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Featured Offer
Read how God gives hope in the face of persecution!
Read about courageous men and women whose faith is flourishing in the face of ISIS and other terrorists. You’ll weep at believers’ suffering and losses . . . and laugh at the creative audacity of indigenous church planters who just won’t take “no” for an answer, whether in the former Soviet Union, in corners of India where Hindu extremists are burning churches, in communist holdouts in other parts of Asia, or in challenging places in Africa and Latin America.