At the end of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus asks, “Are you going to be part of the problem--a false disciple, or part of the solution--a true disciple?” “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father…” Jesus was a realist. He taught that in life we all have storms. What kind of disciple you are determines whether or not you will survive the storms.At the end of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus asks, “Are you going to be part of the problem--a false disciple, or part of the solution--a true disciple?” “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father…” Jesus was a realist. He taught that in life we all have storms. What kind of disciple you are determines whether or not you will survive the storms.
June 9, 2014
Jesus called His disciples to be passionate for God. Jesus used continuous verbs for “asking, seeking, and knocking,” in order to challenge His disciples to look up continuously and with perseverance. Seeking is repeated and intense asking, and knocking is repeated and intense seeking. He promised that everyone who asks, seeks, and knocks in this way will be answered. Then Jesus summed up His ethical teaching with the Golden Rule: “Do to others what you would have them do to you.”
June 5, 2014
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged” Jesus taught His disciples to look around, apply those blessed attitudes to their relationships, and then to look upward and receive from God the spiritual disciplines and values they needed to continue being fruitful disciples. The thrust of this teaching is that disciples of Jesus must deal with their personal problems before they can help others with theirs.
June 2, 2014
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life . . . But seek first His kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” This passage addresses anxiety, but at its core it is really teaching about our priorities. When we worry, we are showing what we value and how much we trust God to care for us. When God is our true priority, other values will hold the proper place in our hearts.
May 29, 2014
Disciples who have the right attitudes within them are living with the right values. Their priorities are based on eternity and not on earthly treasures. That is why disciples can have a salt and light influence in the world. According to Jesus, we can know what our values are by what we do with our time, what we think about, what anxieties and ambitions we have, and what we serve, because we cannot serve both God and money.
May 26, 2014
Disciples and fasting; like giving and praying, fasting also must be vertical, directed toward God and not to impress others. As with the other disciplines, God will reward what He sees: the motives of our heart. As giving provides an opportunity for us to measure our commitment to God, fasting gives us an opportunity to measure the degree to which we value the spiritual more than the physical aspects of our lives. It also demonstrates the sincerity of our prayers.
May 22, 2014
Jesus taught His disciples a model prayer, what we often call “The Lord’s Prayer,” but this prayer really should be called “the Disciples’ Prayer.” Jesus tells us to pray where there is no one to impress but God. The model prayer contains providential petitions, which are prayer requests that put God’s concerns first. It also contains personal petitions, which are prayer requests about the needs of the disciple. God answers our personal petitions when we have aligned our will with His.
May 19, 2014
In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus urges His disciples to follow certain spiritual or vertical, disciplines and values. The first spiritual discipline Jesus requires of those who want to be one of His solutions is the discipline of Biblical stewardship --- understanding that all we have and are belongs to God, and we are only managers. God rewards private and devout giving and openly rewards what is done in secret. It reflects a vertical focus on God rather than on impressing people.
May 15, 2014
If we follow Jesus and have His attitudes, we will be changed and become the salt of the earth and lights that shine in the world. That means we will not live the same way others live. We will be like Jesus because we have Jesus living in our hearts. We will have a greater love than the world knows and show greater grace and mercy than the world understands. In so doing, we will become like our Father in heaven.
May 12, 2014
Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” These verses are perhaps the most difficult in the teachings of Jesus to interpret and apply. They teach the highest ethic this world has ever heard. Loving our neighbors and even our enemies according to God’s standards is impossible, except for one thing: the true disciple has Jesus living in him or her. Jesus illustrated it best perhaps, in the story of the Good Samaritan.
May 8, 2014