For Giving the Great Gift!- The Master Teacher- Matthew 6:12-15

Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:37

Are you carrying a grudge? Is your pride more sacred to you than your relationship to other people? Do the words “I’m sorry,” and “I forgive you,” seem like a foreign language to your soul? Sorry seems to be the hardest word to say, but forgiving an offense can be the hardest action to take. We all have trouble at times forming the words, “I forgive you.” Pride gets in our way. “Then Peter came to Him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”

“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “But seventy times seven!” Matthew 18:21-22. Peter asked the question because he really wanted to hold the grudge. Maybe he’d just turned to Andrew and said, “I’ve had it up to here with you, Andy! That’s the eighth time today!” Andrew might have run around the back of Jesus for protection, and so Peter asked the question, hoping that as an oldest brother himself Jesus would have moved to the right so that Andrew would have been exposed and Peter could clobber him.

Yet Jesus stands his ground, like the Master Teacher He was, and tells him, (paraphrasing is mine) “innumerably more times more than your precious pride wants you to. It’s necessary for you to be wronged for the sake of the kingdom.” It was not the first time Peter had been taught about forgiveness. The Master Teacher held class on it for the masses, and he was there that day, with his brother, and many of those who had hurt and injured his pride. Many people had made that trip to the top of that hill, and probably along the way had carried the burden of a grudge up with them. When Jesus is teaching them to pray, He spends a lot of time on forgiveness, so it must be right up there with the sovereignty and power of God.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

 Matthew 6:12-15

I’m going to ask that you give me a little lee-way here, brothers and sisters, and allow me to paraphrase the Lord’s prayer in this passage because sometimes we hear it so often that we don’t really hear the words that coming out of our mouths unless we stop and reword them. Jesus says, “Forgive us the way we forgive those that have wronged us, and don’t allow us stray into the ways that got us there to begin with so that we are in the wrong that leads to sin, against ourselves and others, because evil is enticing and ensnaring, so we need You to keep us from it. Ultimately, You are God, and we are not and You have the power and dominion over us, because we are members of Your Kingdom. So it is and will ever be.”

There is only one choice to be made when you’ve been wronged by someone. You either pick it up and carry it, with all the hurt and anger, or you don’t. At times, when things are rightfully causes of hurt and anger, you can’t help but carry things for a while. It’s human nature to be hurt. When someone dies, when someone leaves you, when someone injures you or someone you love, or when some other injustice occurs in your life, it is the human condition to be carrying some grievance against another person, but a grievance and a grudge are two different things. A grievance is a result of an unfair act or injustice requiring an act of arbitration or retribution so that it’s made right. A grudge is a feeling of resentment and bitterness that can lead to hatred, envy, jealousy and even murderous thoughts. We are warned about bearing grudges because they are so heavy. “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” Lev. 19:18 & Eph.4:30-32, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God in Christ forgave you.”  God is such a good Father that He does not want us to carry a load we were not meant to carry, physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. The stress created by unforgiveness is intense, and God knows just how it interferes with the joy He intends for us. The unforgiveness is what gets in the way.

Practically, what does forgiveness look like? Well, it’s hard! That’s why Jesus had to repeat it so often. Think about all the times He told people their sins were forgiven. Isn’t that the message of the Gospel? Forgiveness? Wasn’t that what the life Jesus lived all about? Our forgiveness? So yes, it’s hard! It’s very hard to walk in forgiveness when we are being continually wronged. We are judged by people who don’t live in our skin, don’t think our thoughts, and haven’t walked in our steps, and yet we do the same to them as well. And it’s so hard! So what’s the answer?

GRACE!  The answer is grace. Grace is giving what you don’t have to give, yet it seems to abundantly come from God because it’s so sweet and so good it couldn’t come from anywhere else. Grace is giving what is undeserved to those who don’t deserve it, unexpectedly. In our world today there seems to be a misunderstanding of grace. People either swing from one end of the pendulum to the other. They either believe it is earned, like a grade, and only those who meet certain qualifiers will receive it, or everyone gets it and its blanket grace and covers everyone, everywhere, simultaneously, regardless of whether or not they want it. The people in the first category comfort themselves by viewing grace as being something that their good works will merit them. I like to call them competitive gracer. They want to be in first place when it comes to receiving grace, but giving it? They don’t like giving away the prize to just anyone; it should be awarded to those who are truly deemed worthy by working out. The second camp of grace believes in a form of universal grace, where everyone wins regardless of their eternal perspective. Grace is a blanket that falls from heaven and covers or ‘smothers’ everyone.  This form of grace comforts believers in this concept because then everyone goes to ‘a better place’ when they die. They believe there is no need for adherence to God’s laws because of this free-flowing river of grace. The issue with both points of view is that grace is a gift, and like all gifts it’s not reliant upon the receiver, but upon the giver. Imagine if you were to go to your bed tonight and there was a gift there for you. It was something you always wanted and needed, as if the giver had been in your mind all along and knew you so well, better still it was unique to you, and no one else had anything like it. That’s what grace is like. Grace is not being super strong; it’s being weak and finding the strength within the weakness to know it's okay to be weak. It’s not for everyone, because it is a choice for the Giver. “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Cor.12:9

God is graceful, as we know, but how do we become so graceful that we can forgive those who do wrong to us? The world would tell you to assess your feelings and decide how to best express them in some conflict resolution model in which you and the other party could arrive at a resolution which may leave you both feeling that you had lost something by compromising. Sometimes you’d give a lot, and at other times you’d give a little. It’s never a fifty-fifty split. With forgiving it always puts the forgiver in the driver’s seat giving them full power and the receiver in the position of getting a gift of great value. If you’ve ever been a victim of someone, and you forgive them, you’ve taken the power back from them. They can no longer victimize you. In that sense, forgiveness is of great value for the one who forgives. If you’ve ever been the one who has wronged someone and been forgiven, you do know the value of a restored relationship and the liberty that comes when the guilt is released from your consciousness. Forgiveness is a win-win for everyone because it’s God’s grace distributed through His children.

One last issue in forgiveness is the emotional investment that it requires. The truth is there are times when it’s easy to forgive an offense, and there are times when it is extremely difficult to forgive someone. I have been truly touched and brought to tears by the family members of murder victims, or other victims of brutal crimes who forgive the perpetrators in open court.  I believe they do it for themselves, because if they don’t these people will continue to hold power over them for the rest of their lives. The more difficult it is to forgive someone due to our emotions the more we need to bring it to God for healing. It’s usually our wounds that need the healing from the injury inflicted, but forgiving them will heal that too. God created us with emotions, and sometimes we do get angry. It is what we do with our anger that can get us into trouble. “Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed and be still.” Psalm 4:4 We must check our emotions in the forgiving process and vent them to the One who can hold them for us, not as the world tells us to do and vent them at every opportunity. “A fool vents all his feelings, But a wise man holds them back.” Prov. 29:11 So if we don’t entertain our feelings of being wronged then it is easier to forgive.

If God, who we have wronged repeatedly, who we have denied and refused in our rebellion and sin, could forgive us our sins in such a manner as to make atonement for us through Jesus, who are we to hold anything against each other?  I pray this blog has caused you to think of those you have been carrying a grudge against. I pray you now recognize how heavy a load you’ve been carrying, and you are ready to lay it down. If so, you may have to make a call or send a simple text that either says those hard things, “I’m sorry,” or “I forgive you.” If you do it, and you don’t hear back you did your part and the Father knows it. You have done well. God will work on it from there.

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered.” Ps. 32:1

Want versus Need- Master Teacher- Matthew 6:11

 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”
 John 6:35

Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’re not a needy person. You probably have a lot more than most people in the world, and you don’t really think about it that much. You may own more than one pair of shoes, have a closet full of clothing, in your home that is not made from substandard materials, and you may even be enjoying a delightful beverage that you paid an amount that someone in a third world nation would consider a day’s wage. You might not be as blessed as many in the society around you, but you know in your heart that God has provided abundantly for you, and you’re grateful for it…sometimes. Yet, most of the time you don’t really stop and think about it because of the business of life. There may even be some among us that are dissatisfied with what they have, and maybe they want more and don’t understand why they can’t have it. Why hasn’t God favored them in abundance?

Maybe you’re looking at it all wrong. Remember: “No temptation has over taken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” 1 Cor.10:13  To paraphrase that verse, God doesn’t give us more than we can handle, even when it comes to wealth and material possessions. We can squander what He does give us, or we can invest it for Him in the eternal Kingdom. This is what we see as the Master Teacher continues His lesson on prayer on the Sermon on the Mount. One simple sentence is loaded with such wisdom. This week we’ll look at this simple statement and see how it is like a thermometer that takes the temperature of our spiritual well-being with God.

“Give us this day our daily bread.” Matt.6:11

Our dependence on God is our blessed position with Him. Like a child in the arms of a protective parent, our needs are met when we look to Him for the provision. God is a good Father. He does provide for His children. He provides for what they need, when they need it, and how they need it.

 It is difficult to understand how that works when we live in a world where children do go to bed hungry while others enjoy feasts. We do suffer even though we are His beloved. We are not impervious to the consequences of the sinful world. Remember that the prophets were not immune to the suffering of the people they were called to prophesy to. Daniel went into the lion’s den. Isaiah was killed by being sawn in two, Jeremiah was dropped into a cistern by his adversaries and Ezekiel was carried into the Babylonian captivity. Those called by Jesus suffered martyrdom in the first century. The church today is suffering persecution in record numbers. And we comment that we need a cup of coffee? No, we want a cup of coffee. We need to wake up.

So, what is it that we should be asking God for when we ask for our ‘daily bread’?

As human beings we have physical needs. We must have those needs met so that we can function and complete the work God has ordained for us to do. When you’re going to run a marathon you have to carb load to fuel up for the race ahead. We have to do the same when we pray. We have to ask God to meet our physical needs, but be aware of when we’re asking with the wrong motives. What we need is what scientist would call homeostasis. That is a perfect state of equilibrium so that we can fully function without physical, cognitive, or social hindrance. If our physical and mental needs aren’t met we can get bogged down and not be about God’s business.  

Jesus said, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more of value than they?” Matthew 6:25-26 We are of so much more value to God than anything else in creation. He loves us. He loves us so much that He paid the ultimate price for us, as we know. He has redeemed us with the atonement of the cross. “The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” Jeremiah 31:3 Because of this great love, He provides all that we need for us on a daily basis.

God loves to provide for us, and He has been doing so since the beginning. He provided the garden as a place of fellowship for Himself and Man, then when Man fell, He provided a covering for the shame Man felt. (Genesis 2-3) When the relationship was broken God gave the Law as a means for man to come into covenant. In our rebellion, we seek to break the law, even reveling in our lawlessness. Still, God pursues us, continuing to provide even when it cost Him all. “ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”John3:16-17 Therefore, God is not just our provider, but the provision as well.

Yet, we remain unsatisfied, and the sin of covetousness remains at the core of our being, spurring us on to jealousy and envy, making us prideful, greedy, and materialistic. We trade away our Creator for possessions. What we were meant to have dominion over ends up having dominion over us. We wrongfully assume that having more stuff gives us more status, and more status gives us more power. In reality we have no power. We control very little outside of the space we occupy. In our arrogance, we can assume that we do hold the ability to rule over kingdoms of our own creation. We can even create gods for ourselves that will agree with the way we feel the world should be, but at the end of the day we find ourselves as unhappy as ever. Even Solomon, who had everything the world could offer, fame, fortune, and the world’s admiration, said, ”Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: ‘Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing.’” Ecc. 12:13-14 We long for what we had in Eden, face to face communion with our God. Until we have that, we will not be fulfilled. Only God can fill us.

Jesus is what we need every day, but have you considered what He needs? What is it that God needs? God obviously doesn’t need us. He doesn’t need us to fulfill any lack He has in himself. He is sufficient in Himself. So, why us? That is what is truly amazing about God. Even though God doesn’t need you, HE WANTS YOU! God has a desire for you and me to be with Him. His amazing love for us consumes Him.  

If someone loves you that much, how can you ignore that love? It requires action on your part. So what does Jesus ask in return? He asks that we love Him too, and that love becomes a passionate motivator encompassing our lives. He doesn’t want our love to be something we take for granted. So, when we ask Him for our daily portion, we are coming to Him expectantly, depending on Him to meet the day’s needs, and trusting that He has our best interest at heart. 

“Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:3-4

The Kingdom of God-Master Teacher-Matthew 6:10

For the Kingdom of GOD is not a matter of talk, but of power.” 1 Cor. 4:20

Have you had a hard day? Have you been pushed, bullied, lost your way, felt like you blended into the walls and no one cared that you were there? Hold your head up. You are a child of the King! He loves you so much He went the distance for you and paid the ultimate cost for you. He defeated your worst enemy. Someday He will take you away to His home where He sits on the throne and judges the world. If the world is taking you captive, remember you are His beloved.

All that sounds good, but how does it apply practically? Exactly what does it mean to live a victorious life just because we are Christians, and as such have an inheritance in Christ when we can’t even manage to keep our relationships here on earth peaceable, much less handle the daily stresses of life? Why aren’t we conquerors, when the word promises that we’re more than that? Sometimes we’re victims, not victors. At least that’s what it feels like when the world is laughing at us, right?

Take heart. As it says in Hebrews 4:14-16, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. 

Practically speaking it really takes adjusting our entire outlook on life. I’m talking about a major paradigm shift from how we think we exist in the context of our life, our history, and our society. It’s taking our Christianity from a moral code of ethics, and putting our citizenship, our social position, and our very identity completely into submission to the sovereignty of God most High, and understanding how completely dependent on Him that makes us. It is to surrender all, without so much as a whimper of protest, as we see all that we’ve invested in being stripped away from us. All because we stand to gain what He has for us, even though we haven’t seen what’s behind door number three, but we know it’s got to be better than what was behind doors one and two. It’s trusting in the LORD, and not ourselves.

As the Master Teacher continued to expound on the approach we ought to take in prayer at the sermon on the mount, He offered three lines that speak to our relationship with the Father while acknowledging His position as King.  

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:10

Overall, these three lines of the Lord’s prayer often are over looked and rushed right through without given much thought. Most people would see them as a desire to have Jesus return and establish His kingdom, but why would Jesus be telling the people there on the mount to pray for what was already happening right before their eyes? He was there with them. He was directing them to pray, in such a way as to establish God’s kingdom within them. “Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold the kingdom is in the midst of you.” Luke 17:20-21 When we look at the placement of these lines in the prayer, it is clear the first part, as established in the last blog/teaching, was to identify God’s supremacy, and now these lines establish His sovereignty. It is saying, “God, you govern me.

When God established Israel as a people through Jacob, He changed Jacob’s name from ‘Heel grabber’ or what could be translated as one who trips another up, like a usurper or supplanter, to Israel which means “one who triumphs or contends with God.” It was meant to show that Jacob had subjected himself to the will of God. Another translation is “Governed by God.”

In our day to be under the submission of governing authorities has become something to be put down. Our media has made the once honored positions of government fodder for a Roman circus rather than an esteemed and highly sought after position of public service. Instead of the dream being that any young man or woman growing up to be president, it’s easier to change the world by going on a reality television show. At least then the person has a better chance of being admired than a candidate for public office does. Yet, there is a blessing in submission and subjecting oneself to the will of God.

Jacob wrestled with God, holding fast to Him, all night long. If we picture what that must have been like we can compare it to the child who is about to be left by the parent, and the child will not let go. I was a Navy brat. One time, my father had been on the ship for months, and I was about ten-years-old. We lived a few states away because my parents owned a house there, so when my dad came off the ship he would drive back to our house two states from the base, about a fourteen-hour drive. It was a Saturday morning and I was doing my chores, and I heard a knock on the door. I went to the door, and there he was, “Daddy!” I screamed. My poor exhausted father was knocked on his rear as I tackled him. I flew at him, all arms and legs, like a monkey flying through a tree. As soon as he could get up, and I let him go, boom! My sister hit him with the same velocity as I did. She was bigger and heavier than I was. Still, he loved it! My brothers joined the dog pile, and then my mom. I picture Jacob’s wrestling like that. He was going home, and he needed God with him. Just like us kids needed our dad, He wasn’t going to let go until he was assured it really was Him, and he wasn’t alone. He said as much. “Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.’ But he said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’” Genesis 32:26.

So, Jesus says to say, “Your kingdom come.” These words are not merely asking God to come and rule over the earth. He is the creator; He does rule over the earth. These three words are much more than that. These three words are both an invitation and a pledge for those who are citizens of the kingdom. When a soldier goes into the service he pledges to defend the country from enemies, both foreign and domestic unto death. This is quite a promise. When we say the words “Your kingdom come” we are basically doing the same thing. We are submitting ourselves totally to the call of the kingdom on our lives. We are saying, “The Kingdom comes first. I’ve counted all as lost. I move toward the upward call of Jesus on my life.” If we aren’t ready to do that, we shouldn’t say it. No soldier wants to be in the heat of battle and have the guy beside him say, “I’m done with this, it’s not what I expected, I’m out, see ya,” and just leave his brothers without cover. Every soldier trains for that moment, and they go in equipped mentally, knowing they might not come out of it. That’s why we owe them our gratitude. And that’s why when we say the words, “Your kingdom come,” even if we view it as when Jesus returns, we should not take it lightly. We must see ourselves as enlisted in the kingdom as well, and as such we must submit.

There is a blessing in submission. “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” God’s will being done in the believer’s life is totally up to the believer. Now, let me restate that. For God’s will to be done in the believer’s life, it is totally up to the believer. Why? Because, as it says in Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Love is a choice we make. I encourage you to read Romans 8 with that thought in mind. We must continually choose God, not just once, but every moment of every day. God’s will in our lives can only be done if we’re not in rebellion to it. We are either choosing to do His will or we’re in rebellion. There is no middle ground. People would love to read the first half of Romans 8:28, but they miss the second part, especially the submission part. That’s because people would rather have God working for them instead of having to submit to God. Newsflash—His way is much better and easier. And I can prove it!

Garden of Eden- God’s way- one commandment- Don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but you can eat every other tree, note- before that we could eat of the tree of life, but not after. Man’s way-rebellion to God’s command got us out of the garden, no more tree of life, and more commandments because God now had to warn us because we now ‘know’ what’s good and bad and choose to do bad.

The Wilderness- God’s way- three-day journey across the Red Sea and back to the land of Canaan to inherit the “Land flowing with Milk and Honey”. Man’s way—Barely left Egypt and start complaining, and the moment Moses’ back is turned they form their own god so they can practice whatever they want. Rebellion ensues and they spend 40 years wandering through the desert until the last of that generation  died off.

Taking the land- God gives them the land all way back to the Euphrates and to the North as far as the mountains of Ararat. Israel stops short, due to the years of war, and everyone decides enough is enough, so they stop a third of the way in, as a result Israel is at war with their neighbors throughout their history and is eventually carried off by a people group they could have defeated had they just obeyed in the first place.

Failing to acknowledge Jesus as Messiah- God’s way was to provide for the redemption of Israel as a nation, and in doing so he provided for the ransom of the whole world as spelled out in Isaiah 51-53. Man’s way—to fail to admit Jesus as the atonement for sin and therefore suffer the continual consequence for sin. “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire had conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. James 1:14-15

 Refusing to call upon the Name of the Lord- God’s way- “For ‘whoever calls on the name of LORD shall be saved.” Romans 10:13 Man’s way--
The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, there is none who does good.” Psalm 14:1

Living out the will of God requires sacrifice. Jesus said to be his disciple we must pick up our cross and follow Him. We must realize that we are carrying a cross, an object of death to self, and we are taking it to a place where we will be sacrificing as He did, putting aside our sin to take up a new life. This new life can only be found in the kingdom of God, where our King sits on the throne. The blessing of submitting to His authority is knowing that we serve a King who loves us enough to have carried the cross for us to the death we deserved and suffered it for us. It’s Jesus switching his cross for ours, and taking what we deserve to give us His victory. None of the kings of this world would do that for their subjects. Their expectation is for their subjects’ allegiance to be to the death, but not the king’s death but for the king’s gain of worldly wealth and riches, which will perish. Our King’s gain is us, because He loves us.   

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, not any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39 

Username: Jesus- The Master Teacher- Matthew 6:9

“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name” Philippians 2:9

Can you imagine what it would be like if to enter heaven you had to have a username and password, but you forgot it? Imagine the frustration you would feel if there was no forgot username/password available to you. Of course, you try all the old usernames and passwords you could remember, but what if you were immediately blocked from continuing to try, and there was no customer service contact to email you a link to fix it. That name, that one username, would become very important to you if it was linked to your eternal destination. After all, we get upset if we forget our online banking information and suffer the inconvenience of an actual brick and mortar branch to get access to our money. That’s temporary. When eternity is on the line it would be insufferable. It would be… Hell to pay.

Now imagine if you could get anything on the internet, access to anything you wanted, at an amazing speed, without having to surf through the identification firewalls, all because you had a username that you logged on with only once. The world was at your disposal, and every grain of knowledge out there was yours for the asking simply because of the initial keystrokes you made. Google was at your command, nothing was blocked, and every published work that ever existed was at your beck and call, free of charge, just because of the username. What power would that wield? Could you handle it?  Would you resort to feeding your fleshly desires, or your mind, or your spirit? It’s such a temptation, isn’t it?

But what if, that username came with one condition? What if that username belonged to someone else, and you just had access to it? What if when you used it, the navigations you made reflected on that person? Would that make a difference to you? Would it make you feel more or less responsible for your actions?

This scenario is one I encourage us to consider as we go through our lives and act as “Christians”. As we come to the next lesson our Master Teacher calls us to, and we examine only one verse in the Bible, we need to consider   which manner we carry His name into our daily lives.

“Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father who is in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Matt.6:9

The very idea, at the time, that Jesus gave instruction on how to pray to the multitude was mind blowing, but to take the next step, and to lay out the actual manner of approaching God, the Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with words from their mouths, was something they could not understand. In their culture, it was the priests who spoke to God on their behalf. They gathered in corporate settings or at appointed times to make contrition to God. They needed an intermediary in their worldview, but for the average Jew to pray was something he could only hope to do, but for the most part didn’t expect that he alone could be heard without a priest making intercession for him. Yet Jesus had just told them that God did hear their prayers. The average man sitting there was probably thinking, “Then what do I say to Him?” So, Jesus began to lay it out by taking them to the base, the foundation of the relationship. First, everyone needs to know the username.

          “Our Father,”

          Wow! That is not what they, or we should expect. Jesus calls on the person to have a relationship with the God of the universe, the great Creator, the One who spoke everything into existence, and address Him as Father. What does that mean? If you were blessed to have a good father, it means love and affection, and if you didn’t it means you can finally have what you missed from your fleshly parent. God is the best Father. He lavishes His love on us. “The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” Zeph.3:17 This is the image of a Father who loves His child, and you are that child. Put that into perspective. Wouldn’t that child then reach up to the Father and in love be ready to receive whatever good thing He has for him or her?

          The next two words give further definition to the greatness of God, our Father. “in heaven”. There is something here I want to make clear. Heaven isn’t a place. It’s a presence. It is being in the presence of God. There are places within that presence that we will occupy, but it is to be in the presence of God and not be able to be separated from Him. Hell, on the other hand, is to be out of His presence. Where He is not, I do not want to be. “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Ps. 84:10 

What does it mean to be “Hallowed?” I know it means to be revered and honored, but in the words, “Hallowed be Your Name” what is the point the Teacher is making? We tend to brush over it and say it without ruminating on it. The dictionary doesn’t really give credence to it because in our time we’ve lost the ability to know what it means to honor someone just because of their position. Yet, as believers we are supposed to give honor to those in authority over us, regardless of whether we ‘voted’ for them. “Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.” Titus 3:1-2 If we can’t be honoring to those we can see, how do we expect to be honoring to the One we can’t see? If we understood the power that His Name wields when we use it, then we could give it the Honor it deserves.

          In Exodus 3:14, Moses asks God who he should tell the Israelites has sent him. And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Why would God choose those two words for His name? The answer is because of the questions we ask Him. “Who’s going to help me with this problem?” His answer, “I AM.”  “How will I pay this bill; make it through this illness; see the end of the situation alone; is anyone there?”  He says, “I AM.”  It’s the perfect Name for a perfect God who loves us perfectly.  For the Israelites their question was, “Who will lead us?”  Isn’t that the same question we ask today? Who will lead us? God says, “I AM.”

      There is no doubt that when you name drop ‘Jesus’ in a public forum it stirs up controversy at the very least, and, more often than not, it will divide people. There are people who will come to blows over our right to say His name, or not to say His name in a school, court, or other ‘public’ building. The Name has power. It was prophesied in Acts 3:38-39 when Gamaliel spoke of him saying, “And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.” People still react with the same vehemence they did back then to the Name of Jesus. It’s almost as though it’s a forbidden word, yet we hear cuss words dropped in conversation as though it was proper etiquette to use them. Jesus told us this would happen. “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also.” John 15:20 If it was happening two millennia ago on the heels of the resurrection, why would we expect the enemy to have changed his strategy since then?

          How we act as believers is a direct reflection on our LORD as long as we are claiming His Name as our identity. When you wear that t-shirt with He>I, or the fish symbol on your car, or you blast the gospel music out your windows, you are reflecting Christ, no matter what your countenance is like. If that t-shirt houses an angry, tense body, that car is cutting people off and breaking the rules of the road with total disregard for every other driver, and that music is to drown out the conversations of people around you, then perhaps the vision of what the world sees as Jesus is skewed. We all fall short in our representation of our Lord, but we should strive to be better each time we’re sent out. As the moon, which is just a rock floating in space, reflects the light of the sun, so we should reflect the light of Christ. Sometimes we aren’t so bright, but at other times we make that night is day. Our life username gives or denies us access to more than just what we can find on the internet. But in the light of eternity, what name we place our faith in is where our identity really lies.

 “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Col.3:17

The Position of Prayer- Master Teacher-Matthew 6:5-8

 “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” 1 John 5:14

As you approach the stadium, the concert hall, the school auditorium, or even the church parking lot you think about the time and how inconvenient open seating will be. Lines of people are already forming, and you find yourself praying for a parking spot close to the entrance. Then, viola, there it is, an empty spot that seems to have your name on it, as if an angel was standing guard for you. Answered prayer, you think. Then, you’re in dire straits over the bigger matters in life such as health issues, financial needs, family problems, and you think “why doesn’t God answer me? My prayers don’t’ seem to go any further than the ceiling?” Unanswered prayer, you think. Maybe it’s not that God hasn’t answered in both cases, maybe you’re reception of the answer is just off a little.

I heard a person say that God answers prayers in three ways, “yes, no, and not yet.” I think He answers prayer in one way, “I’ll do what’s best for all concerned.” Sometimes we must walk a great distance and we miss the opening act for a reason. We don’t understand, but God does. Sometimes our prayers for healing go unheeded, and suffering happens, and to us it seems unfair, but God is still at work there too. Sometimes the prodigal does return, and our prayers are answered, and we still doubt the repentant person’s motives, and that doubt causes the person to return to the pig sty because we didn’t see the answered prayer as the answer. We didn’t trust in our own answer, and we changed the answer before accepting the test result. We ask for something, yet when we get the answer, we don’t accept it, because of the position we went into it with. Prayer is positional. It’s a heart check.

Our Master Teacher looked out at the multitude gathered on the mount near the sea of Galilee, and like us, they needed a little check on their position when they entered into prayer, and so as He taught on how to pray He gave instruction on the position we ought to assume when we pray. He said,

“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Matt.6:5-6

I’ve seen these heathen praying before, and they do like to bring attention to themselves when they pray. There are different types of the hypocritical prayer warriors. There are the loud “In the name of… Halleluia,” and by the time they get to what they were praying for they’ve forgotten the need, so they make things up. Then there are the “I claim it for…” prayer warriors, who go about claiming, binding, and loosing all kinds of things, and then walking away leaving a mess in their wake because they don’t bother to look into the lives of why they’re asking to begin with, but they believe it is their anointing to lay hands on people and pray, as long as it’s during the meeting, but you ask them to pray in the parking lot, and they’ve got to go. Then there is the pray the gossip people. We all know them. They’re the ones that when prayer requests are asked they let it be known we ought to be praying for sister so-and-so because her husband is stepping out on her with sister-so-and-so, followed by an uh-huh, and an amen by her equally prayer gossiping friend who has another juicy request. These hypocrites hurry through the healing prayers by shouting over them, “Yes, Lord! Yes, Lord!” They’re not interested in the actual healing, because then what would they pray for?

Sometimes they can be downright intimidating. Just remember that God knows the heart. He knows why they’re asking, and if they’re truly concerned about the people they’re petitioning on behalf of, or if it’s themselves they care about.

Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:  “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’  And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house- justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14

Have you ever given much thought to the actual act of prayer? It’s a very humbling activity to do. Prayer requires the person to come to the end of themselves and admit they don’t have the power, strength, or ability to do for themselves or for another person. It’s a complete loss of control. It is complete and utter humility. So how then can prayer be prideful? “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” James 4:3 Some would turn around and say, “But God wants His children to have good things,” and I would agree. God does want His children to have good things, but He is the one who decides what those good things are, not us.

Personally, I do believe that I’ve prayed for things that God has not given me for a great reason, mainly because my Creator knows this creation intimately better than I know myself. He knows I can’t handle what I’m asking for. He knows at what level the temptations will push me over the edge, and yet at what level I need the struggle to grow. See, the thing about growing pains is that they are just that, growing pains. We are growing toward His perfection, daily. I am being created every day, regenerated. As the scripture says, “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:4-7 In this we can see that the process is continual, and so then our prayer life should be consistently seeking what is next.

But have you ever been in a situation where someone is just talking too much? Is it possible to say too much to God? The answer is yes, when you’re doing it for the wrong reasons.

“And when you pray, Do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows what you have need of before you ask Him.” Matt.6:7-8

When we are young we are taught many things by rote memorization. We are taught our alphabet, our multiplication tables, even patriotism through repeating phrases. It’s necessary to learn things in this manner because it sticks in our memory, but does it stick in our hearts? What happens when we get to a point in our development when we can reason beyond that memorization? While it is true our faith should be like a child’s in that we are to believe with wide-eyed wonderment and trust that God, our Father, is caring for us, He also wants us to mature so that we can make choices. “Come now, and let us reason together, Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red as crimson, They shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword”; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” Isaiah 1:18-20 Our willingness is what drives and motivates our spirit to lock into God. It’s our abiding in him, our junction box that allows that connection of spiritual energy to continue or to be cut off. It’s the free will He created in us. Our prayer life hinges on this. It’s not rote memorization, or chanting He desires to hear. He wants us to express our individuality, because that’s how he created us.

Imagine if you go into an art museum and every single painting is exactly the same painting with absolutely no variation at all. In fact, imagine a world of paintings with no variation at all. Imagine that every art class all over the world teaches every student to paint only that painting. It wouldn’t matter how lovely the masterpiece. It would be about as ordinary and unexceptional as it could be. It just wouldn’t be worth looking at, would it?

So it is with those prayers we repeatedly pray without stopping to mean them. Most among them is the “The LORD’s prayer” which we will be looking at in the next few blogs, so hold on to your hats! I promise, you’ll never say it without meaning again. God wants us to mean what we say, especially to Him. “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” Hebrews 4:13 If God, our Father, wants us to not use repeating when we come to Him, then why pray? After all, Jesus also told the story of the widow who pestered the judge to give her justice over her adversary. Shouldn’t we continually ask? He said we should ask, right? Yes, we should ask. But then He says that our Heavenly Father knows what we need before we ask, so why ask? That’s actually a simple answer. Communication is the key to a great relationship. Just because I know something, doesn’t make me party to the relationship unless I’m asked to be a part of it. I can know there’s a wedding, but unless I’m invited to it I’m not a guest. I might know my neighbor is in financial need, but not know how to help unless they ask. God actually knows the need, but He’s not going to bully His way in and override your freewill and step all over your pride. Nope, if you want to do it yourself, He will let you try. And if you get the point where you realize that just maybe this is too big for you, and it’s time to humbly ask for the help, He’ll do what’s best for you.

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

James 4:10

  

It's Personal: Master Teacher - Matthew 6:1-4

“Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.”

 1 Cor 10:24

Who are you when no one else is looking? Are you looking for the spot light? Are you seeking the approval of others to validate who you are? Is your identity wrapped up with how close or distant you are to others, and how many likes you get on your last post? How we define our self goes to the core of our spirituality. It was the linchpin of the fall of man. “The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Gen. 3:4-5

 Wanting to be god of our own universe has been our downfall since the beginning, and the cause of losing our identity. We lost our identity. We were assured our position, and had dominion over all living things. Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Gen. 1:26-28

The rejection of our identity of who we were created to be goes to the core of every problem we will face in our life. The question is, who are you? When you are alone, really alone, just you and the Creator, are you going to be able to be searchable, or will you be lost without definition because you don’t know who you are in the light of His glory?

The class is called back into session, and the Master Teacher has just told us to pray for our enemies. He’s left us dumbfounded. We are without excuse, with no cards to hold up, but maybe that all too familiar, “But I’m a good person,” that we can fall back on. We can all compare ourselves to someone worse than ourselves. We’ve been doing it since we were kids. Remember the bully who bullied you, and your mother, or some other well-meaning adult, told you to pity him or her because they were probably being picked on too somewhere so they were very insecure. That never helped your own insecurities or freed you from the abuse you suffered, but it did teach you that there is always someone weaker down the chain, or that eventually the bully would meet a bigger bully.  We prayed for our enemy; usually for retribution to be quick in coming. Our Master knows this about us as we think these thoughts. We comfort ourselves by thinking on all the good works we have done, all the accolades we could claim.

“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deed before men to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Matthew 6:1  

He just took away our brag-imonie, the testimony we give to say how bad or good we’ve become. Now how are we supposed to get any notoriety? WE aren’t. That’s where the identity comes in. If we read this verse carefully we find the marks of identification in the last four words of the verse: “your Father in heaven.”  These words are powerful words, just as they were for the audience sitting on the mount 2000 years ago.

When God the Father called out in the garden of Eden, “Adam, where are you?” after the fall of man. It wasn’t because God the Father didn’t know. It wasn’t some cosmic game of hide-and-go-seek for the Father. It was so Adam would understand, and his eyes would be opened, and he would know there was a difference, and he had positionally changed himself in relationship with God. Adam had made a choice, and he continued to make choices, bad choices. When God asked him the next questions, Adam continued to let sin into the mix by not taking up his role, and blaming not just Eve, but God Himself for the fall.  The man said, ”The woman whom YOU gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree and I ate.” Gen. 3:12 (emphasis mine).

I have often wondered what would have happened if repentance would have occurred right then. If Adam would have run to God’s arms and said, “I’m sorry! I did it! I ate that nasty fruit! I disobeyed You, Dad!” If he would have wept bitter tears, and Eve, being a woman, would have joined him in one big family hug of sorrowful crying, I wonder what would have happened? Instead there was just the “Yep, this is what happened, so what are you going to do about it?” The insolence of man’s heart remained. While the art work of the Romantic period might show the downcast Adam going out of garden, I feel it was much more sorrowful for heaven than for earth at the time.

“Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.” Matt. 6:2 

Would you give to a charity if it wasn’t a tax write off? Would you volunteer your time to an organization if you didn’t get something back from it at work or if it wasn’t a ‘networking’ opportunity? I recently was honored to write the biography of an elderly woman who spent years volunteering for many organizations, and to my knowledge she hasn’t been honored by a single one. She has worked in their thrift stores, sorting clothing, she’s done community gardening projects, worked on renovation projects, and many other unsung hero type events. She’s always been the behind the scenes person, and she has energy to burn. I was so inspired by her. She continues to give of her time in her eighties, using her hands to do the work, as long as she is able. What would we do without such people? We need these people.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8

I so appreciate the people who clean the church, the ones who stay after service and lock up, the nursery workers who make sure the toys are sanitized (I’ve done that job). All the hands that make church happen, they make church happen on Sunday morning, regardless of whether or not they get to Cracker Barrel afterward or if they get to sing on the worship team. Sometimes they’re not even in the sanctuary because they’re in the nursery, or watching your empty car in the parking lot, just so you can go in and hear the word of God. I think of these people who are willing to sacrifice their time and energy when I hear Christians who say they don’t go to church because they find that people who go to church are hypocrites. I hear them say that and I want to hand them a mirror, or I want to walk them through a church when a service is going on, and show them the hypocrites doing those jobs. But, then I’d have to put a mirror in my face too, for all the times the church has asked for help in those areas, and I’ve not wanted to give it.

Men seeking the praise of others will always be there. Who doesn’t like a “good job,” or a pat on the back when they’ve worked for something, but the point is that shouldn’t be the reason we do for others. We should do simply because it needs to be done, without considering ourselves first. This is the mark of the Teacher, and this is the mark of the student as well. In the garden, when man fell, God still clothed him, He still saw to man’s needs, prior to setting him out of the garden. God even gave him instruction how he was to eat so that man would not starve. God still loved, and He wants us to love and put that love into action.

“But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.” Matt.6:3-4

          It’s the things we do without the concern of recognition that are precious to God. As a parent, I can think on those cute things my children did when it was just our family, and those are the things I treasure most. The snuggling moments, the times when my children wanted to brush my hair, or the feel of my child’s arms going around my leg when we were in a crowd. I had a long braid that my oldest son would hold as we walked places. It was the sign that all the younger children were in place, he had everyone in front of him, like a train conductor swinging a lantern to the engineer, and I can remember the feel of that pressure on the back of my head when he took hold of it; the gentle tug that let me know he was there and literally had my back. Those are the secret things that that Father stores in His heart as well. He sees the things you do for His other children without regard for yourself, because it’s just what you do because you’re part of the family.

          God rewards us openly. He lavishes blessings on us because he knows our hearts. He knows the ways of man. He knows that when someone is prospering, people want to know why. I’m not talking about financial gain. I’m talking about being joyous no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in.  “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:2-4   The reward of doing good is the joy of the Lord within our souls, and that is a peace that surpasses all understanding.

          Having a spirit of serving is not an easy thing to develop. It requires tough spiritual conditioning. “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” 1 Cor. 9:24-27  

Practically speaking we are to pour out to others, but in doing so we reap a harvest of plenty. There is so much to be said about investing in others. Think about it. If you spend your time doing for others, just getting things done for them, be it getting to work and doing all you’re asked in the best way you can, or rising above and doing not just your best but encouraging others to do their best as well, doesn’t it make everyone feel better? If someone is having a hard time, doesn’t it make you feel better to go up and say, “What can I help you with?” Sometimes they need more help than we can give, but we can do what we can, even if it’s to ask for the help they can’t ask for. There is the expression that the Church is the hospital, it exists to cure the sick. The Church does more than that, the Church also is where the Physician does His work. Our reward is to send out more live patients than dead bodies. God has wired us to derive a sense of pleasure when we have helped someone. That’s why we smile when we say, “You’re welcome.”

 Let your light shine before men in such a way that may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matt. 5:16