We are weak but we are warned.

Mat 5:2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying…

 

Mat 5:33  Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:

Mat 5:34  But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:

Mat 5:35  Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

Mat 5:36  Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

Mat 5:37  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

 

This reminds me a bit of Paul -

 

1Co 7:8  I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.

1Co 7:9  But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.

 

It is better NOT to swear, not to make oaths to GOD or anything that is GOD'S, but the swearing, the making of vows to God was something done.  Jesus Himself did say- 'ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time…'

 

In old time , this was said--

 

Ecc 5:4  When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.

Ecc 5:5  Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.

Ecc 5:6  Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?

 

Suffer NOT thy mouth to cause they flesh to sin.

 

Maybe today we don't make vows like they did in old OLD times.  A man seldom uses his word for anything at all. We need contracts and signatures in triplicate in order for our vows and oaths to mean anything to us.  A man's word USED to be his bond, but no longer is that true not in reality. It becomes heresy instantly when the word is broken. Men think very little of perjuring themselves even in court. They make a big deal over it, but in truth you have to prove perjury and when all you have is someone's word there is little proof- it just becomes a he said, she said, or he said, he said, or she said, she said kind of thing and you need to decide who to believe without knowing factually what is true.

 

The thing is, with God, He knows and NEEDS no proof from any one, HE knows the truth- all of it. He knows how easy it is for us to break our word even when we don't mean to.  Yet even though you don't mean to break your vow and were sincere when you made it, the action of breaking it remains and has a cost. 

It is better NEVER to EVER swear by GOD or anything- because ALL things are GOD'S, that to RISK being in a situation of having to break that vow, that oath, that swearing.

 

Why do we make vows?

Why do we swear by God?

Why do we make oaths?

 

Some do these very flippantly without any real regard to the importance of what they are doing. God does not turn a blind eye to such things. Jesus is TEACHING us, remember?

 

 

Mat 5:33  Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:

Mat 5:34  But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:

Mat 5:35  Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

Mat 5:36  Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

Mat 5:37  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

 

Yes or no - without any EMPHASIS.  Without anything more to add to those words. You can say Yes, but mean no-- you are lying. But when you say yes, and swear by God or any thing that is HIS then but then you lie, YOU are daring to LIE directly to YOUR Creator, YOUR Redeemer!

 

Lies..

 

We know who the father of lies is --

 

Joh_8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

 

When you choose to lie you are choosing SATAN.

When you choose to swear by God and inevitably there comes an occasion to break the oath you've made- because SATAN wants us to join him in his hideous well deserved fate of eternal death- then you are choosing SATAN, choosing DEATH.

 

We are weak but we are WARNED!

 

Our strength is CHRIST.

 

CHRIST tells us JUST to say YES or NO, do NOT invoke God's name on anything we are vowing, upon anything we are making an oath towards we have not right to do that, we are WEAK and Satan will exploit us at every opportunity. Our SAVIOR does not want us lost! Our SAVIOR does not want us to put ourselves in the position of choosing Satan over God.

 

Our SAVIOR is trying to teach us, we must learn.

Our SAVIOR is showing us LOVE.

We must surrender to HIS LOVE.

We must believe all these things He is trying to teach us are for our GOOD!

 

BY the grace of GOD may we LEARN, may we LEARN LOVE.

 

Please Lord, please keep us from making oaths, for making vows, for swearing in Your HOLY NAME, please! Save us!

 

In YOUR LOVE!

 

AMAZING LOVE!

When is the last time you suffered?

Mat 5:2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying…

 

 

 

Mat 5:31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:

 

Mat 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

 

 

Jesus knew. He knew that people who had not embraced the spirit of God's laws were twisting them to suit their evil ways. They took the law and did like so many people love to do, they debated its meaning rather than seek the truth.

 

Whosoever shall put away his wife.

 

 

Put her away.

 

 

Make it so she is no longer his wife.

 

 

Used and then tossed aside.

 

 

Unsuited upon facing the test of marriage, so just write her off.

 

 

I'm not saying the women were not to blame here either. We know how Proverbs speaks of some wives.

 

 

Pro_21:19 It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.

 

 

 

Pro_27:15 A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.

 

 

 

Pro_21:9 It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.

 

 

Better to live in the wilderness, or in a corner of the housetop-the attic. The monotonous, unending rain dropping can grate on a person's nerves, and being with a contentious woman is just like that- grating on the nerves. These are TRUTHS.

 

 

How many men put away their wives for their brawling and contentiousness? Jesus came to say that divorce for anything other than adultery was WRONG. So what, the wife is no longer the beauty you married. So what, the wife is a nagging woman. So what, the wife is a jealous shrew. And the list is endless.

 

 

The importance of the married act- the symbolic attributes of marriage were being completely ignored.

 

 

The Bride and the Bridegroom.

 

The Church and Jesus Christ.

 

The People of God and their Savior.

 

 

When you divorce save for adultery you are in essence ripping apart God's people from their Savior- saying that any little thing can do this. Rather than remaining together and SUFFERING, they divorce. Did you catch that word I emphasized with all capitals? SUFFERING.

 

 

 

Remember yesterday's blog? SUFFERING.

 

Yes, it's better to HIDE than stay in the presence of a bitter woman, but it did NOT say it's better to divorce the bitter woman than stay with her.

 

 

 

SUFFERING.

 

Now I've had this discussion several times with others about a woman in an abusive marriage and her *right* to divorce him. I take the very UNPOPULAR position that it's NOT right to divorce him. Leave him, YES, but divorce Him, NO. The marriage was made, the covenant of marriage was utilized. The symbolic ceremony of TWO becoming ONE yet remaining TWO separate beings took place. To rip that apart for anything short of ONE of those TWO joining wrongly with another, thus breaking the bond of that ONENESS, it would be WRONG to divorce. Some might arguing that separating from your husband is just as bad but it's not- you are NOT ripping apart that covenant by putting protective distance between you and your abuser.

 

Suffering-

 

 

 

It's something we all HATE.

 

We've taught ourselves that to suffer is torturous and wrong.

 

An old woman who put up with a cranky, unaffectionate husband for fifty years is someone we've pitied and told ourselves is very sad. The truth is while the woman may have suffered terribly through the crankiness and lack of affection, she's built herself a very strong wall that is set upon the Foundation of Christ Himself. Yes, she's suffered, but she's endured.

 

 

 

When is the last time you suffered?

 

 

 

You might be able to say you suffered just a few moments ago and you suffer every day on a constant basis. In your suffering do you consider it unjust? Do you question 'why you'? Do you blame God? Do you believe truly that here and now on earth you shouldn't have to suffer?

 

We do all those things don't we?

 

 

 

We believe we should not have to suffer, not even in the slightest way. We truly believe we shouldn't suffer occasionally, let alone chronically.

 

Jas_5:10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

 

1Pe_2:19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.

 

Endure, not necessarily be ecstatic in your suffering.

 

1Co_10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

 

 

 

Jas 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

 

Jas 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

 

Jas 1:4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

 

Truth.

 

 

 

When we are tempted it is the very first step towards lust conception and what lust has been conceived it is sin.

 

We are tempted A LOT because Satan would have us to be HIS and has thrown in the face of God that most of these created beings of His called humans will choose to give into temptation rather than suffer, rather than take the escape route that calls for great suffering. Most will not want their faith tried, they simply want to exist in peace, in comfort, in a place of no suffering physically, mentally, or emotionally.

 

 

 

Our Savior understands our suffering and if you want to believe that He couldn't possibly understand then imagine for a moment you transport yourself into the body of a beast of burden and even then it can't compare to a GOD taking on the constraints of human flesh. He suffered more than we can possibly comprehend in ways we cannot comprehend. He endured far greater suffering than we will ever endure. He could have called TEN THOUSAND angels to set Him free of it all- He HAD that ability to give up, to not drink the cup poured for Him, but He endured. We suffer on another level and call it worse because we can't call ten thousand angels to stop our suffering, we HAVE to go through it. But honestly what is worse? Doing something you HAVE to do without the ability to change it, or having the ability and knowing that if you choose to use that ability everything is lost for all humanity? Suffering with that knowledge, we can't comprehend what that had to be like. So while we might want to say Jesus didn't suffer like we suffer and mean that we some how suffer more in a worse way, how silly is that, how incredibly naïve is that, truthfully, how stupid is that of us?

 

 

 

Jesus meant what He said when He expounded on marriage and divorce. If you are called to suffer except for the utter betrayal of a spouse with another, then you suffer. If you must leave that spouse you must not divorce them and no, you must not join with another once you've left. You must suffer the separation regardless of how great the suffering is. This isn't going to be popular with ANYONE reading it, not in the least. People will make great excuses to get around these truths. In the end it is Christ who said these words--

 

Mat 5:31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:

 

Mat 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

 

-- not me.

 

 

 

For those of us who have sinned in this manner, we truly need to seek a real repentance, and a very real forgiveness from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

Lord please, please help us to live Your truths! Please LORD, help us to accept suffering over sinning.

 

 

 

ALL BY YOUR GRACE, through the HOLY SPIRIT!

 

IN YOUR LOVE!

Sugar Coated FALSE Christianity

Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying...

 

Mat 5:29  And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

Mat 5:30  And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

 

Truthfully our Savior is NOT telling us to mutilate our bodies. If He were advocating this drastic measure don't you think we'd hear of many cases of it occurring from then on? Wouldn't Paul have cut off parts of his body that caused Him to say -

 

Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

 

The point being emphasized here is how important it is to CONTROL all the we CAN control, without making up excuses for ourselves. Jesus HIMSELF is teaching us, telling us that we must at great sacrifice to our flesh desires cast out all that would become the seeds of lust in ourselves, seeds that will germinate and grow into full blown sin. 

 

The gravity of the situation being -that it would be better to blind ourselves than give into the lust our sight is tempting us towards. It would be better to cut off our hands rather than let the sins produced by our actions remain.  Unchecked temptation leads to lust and lust once it has been allowed to conceive in our hearts is sin, and sin leads to death- everlasting death- permanent annihilation.

 

Rev_20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

 

It is better for us to SUFFER now than suffer the loss of eternity.

 

We don't want that though. We don't want to suffer. It's as if we don't truly believe in eternity, because if we truly believed in eternity wouldn't it be worth suffering ANY deprivation here and now in order to receive eternity? Seriously, wouldn't it?

 

Doesn't it all come down to whether or not we believe in the Gospel of Christ, the Kingdom of Heaven?

 

How often do people suffer for things they truly believe in?

 

Your paycheck is a reality to you so you suffer the work necessary to receive the paycheck.

 

While you are working you usually don't see the money you'll receive, but you have faith that you will get a paycheck after you work. Would you work for very long if you weren't receiving the paycheck? No. At some point you'd most likely stop working because why suffer to do the work when you get nothing from it, no money and therefore no compensation for your time, no earning to make your living and keep you in your necessities in which to live.

 

So it comes down to FAITH.

 

Do we BELIEVE in CHRIST'S MESSAGE?  Watch out, if you say yes then you are agreeing that you must suffer, truly suffer here and now in this world if you want the next world.  Are you prepared to SUFFER now?

 

You might not be suffering under the physical abuse from a group of non-believers threatening your very life because of what you believe, but you will be called to suffer to NOT give into lusting whatever lust you are tempted towards. And ask almost anyone trying to abstain from giving into sin- IT'S NOT EASY! IT IS SUFFERING! REAL, REAL SUFFERING that we are called to suffer!

 

Our SAVIOR tells us to CUT OFF a body part! To PLUCK OUT and eye!  No, He isn't telling us to do that literally, He is stressing just  how extremely important it is that we KEEP from allowing lust have it's way in us!

 

We just shrug it off so much, we just say- oh well, I'm human and He knows that. We love to make excuses for ourselves so that we CANNOT SUFFER what it would take to keep from indulging our lusts.

 

We don't want to suffer and that's the bottom line.

 

Would Jesus have spoken these words-

 

Joh_5:14  Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

 

Joh_8:11  She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

 

Sin no more.

 

Would He have said those words if He didn't mean them?

 

Jesus was telling the man in the temple that his sins have consequences. Jesus was telling the adulteress that she shouldn't continue in her sinful behavior that resulted in the condemnation of her. She was forgiven but that was not a license to continue in her sin.

 

Jesus knows what it means to suffer.

Jesus know what it means to be tempted.

 

Heb_4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

 

Jokingly one of my sisters replied that Jesus didn't have to resist chocolate cake.  She's right. But He had things equivalent to chocolate cake that tempted Him just as much as that chocolate cake is tempting us. 

 

We have trained ourselves to be indulgent, especially those of us who live in countries filled with encouragement to excess, to indulgence under the guise of labeling it prosperity, or labeling it our due because we are not prosperous, either way we've got it covered- the rich and poor. We believe we are OWED self-indulgence and because of this we have trained ourselves to sin willfully and NOT to call it sin, NOT to call it everlasting death, NOT to call it loss of salvation,  NOT to call it the loss of eternity, NOT to call it the loss of LOVE, NOT to call it the loss of JESUS CHRIST OUR SAVIOR! We label it under so many different names and believe it to be so many things other than what it really is!  We do that so we can indulge without repentance, so that we can pat ourselves on the back and tell ourselves it's okay.

 

Why, tell me WHY, Jesus would speak these very HARSH truths to us if we were not supposed to LEARN from  them?! If we were NOT supposed to think about the outcome, the results of our sinning then WHY, again I ask, tell me WHY Jesus is teaching this way?!

 

You want soft sugar coated Christianity, I tell you there is NO SUCH THING as soft sugar coated Christianity, but there IS such a thing as soft sugar coated FALSE Christianity and many, many love that sweet, soothing, indulgent religion.

 

Please LORD, please teach us Your TRUTHS! Help us LORD to LEARN Your TRUTHS! Please LORD be with us, let the HOLY SPIRIT keep us in YOU! Forgive us LORD, forgive us! Help us! SAVE US!

 

All in YOUR LOVE! YOUR AMAZING LOVE!

 

Amen.

Lust is the first inkling of sin, the seed of sin seeking fertile ground in which to grow.

Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying...

 

Mat 5:27  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

Mat 5:28  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

 

This goes hand in hand with this--

 

Jas_1:15  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

 

Lust.

 

We've been taught that LUST is normal.

 

Why have we been taught this? Because people want to make sin acceptable because once sin is labeled acceptable it is no longer sin, no longer wrong.  Tell me something though, has God EVER changed sin to make it acceptable?  Is sin always sin?

 

We'd much rather change our ideas of what sin is than stop sinning.  If we can't stop the sin,  we stop calling it sin, people do it ALL the time.

 

Jesus said that from old you've been told NOT to commit adultery.  Adultery is taking the wife of another sexually.  Jesus magnified that law to get to the MEANING behind the law, to the depths of the law. The depths, the meaning being there is MORE than the outcome of sin, that the sinning starts before the act brought about as a consequence of indulging the sin.  

 

Sin will occur without lust, without forethought. We even have sins of ignorance.

 

Sins brought about by lust, intentional sin is something we allow ourselves to indulge in.  This is much like the difference between murder and manslaughter.   Both murder and manslaughter are wrong but murder is more grievous and punished much more severely- understandably so.  Our LUSTS are sins.  Our LUSTS lead to greater sin.   We don't want to believe this because people say our natural desire is to lust and it's harmless. It's far from harmless.  Yes, we have natural desires, but we INDULGE what is natural to the point of making it unnatural, and that is wrong.  We were given the desire to procreate, it was made enjoyable, that does not mean because we were given this special gift of intimacy that we are to pervert it.

 

Having a desire for someone is different from indulged lust.

 

Lust is an INTENSE desire.

 

We can fuel our desires and turn them into lusts.

 

Jas 1:14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Jas 1:15  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

 

Tempted by our lust, enticed towards our LUST  being conceived-   being conceived is what leads towards being born.  Our conceived lusts bear the fruit of sin.  We cannot let our LUST be conceived, set in our hearts, our minds, our thoughts, our lives so it brings for sin!

 

We all know the process, but we'd much rather not think about that process. If we think about the process then we are held accountable for our knowledge of that process and how it works in us.

 

Jesus told us it was SIN to lust, and it is a sin to let LUST conceive in our hearts because it leads to greater SIN.

 

We all know sin is sin, and all sin deserves death.

All sin must be repented up as we seek forgiveness from our Savior.

 

Jesus doesn't want us to sin.

Jesus doesn't want us to let lust conceive inside us, because that lust is the first  inkling of sin, the seed of sin seeking fertile ground in which to grow.

 

We are being taught!

We must learn!

 

Let us, by the grace of GOD recognize the first twinge of desire that goes awry so that we might not let it be conceived into sin.

 

Please LORD help us!

 

Help us to learn what You are teaching, truly learn so that we can LIVE as You want us to live- in YOU always!

 

In Your LOVE.

 

 

Agree with your adversary quickly

Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying…

 

Mat 5:25  Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

Mat 5:26  Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

 

Be reconciled with our enemies.

 

It's true that people who purposely set out to hurt others and do as much damage to them as possible will not generally be swayed from that course of action. But while a situation is developing if at all possible we must do everything we possibly can - as children of God - to defuse it.  We ARE NOT to be stubborn- this is NOT what God wants of us, this is not what Christ is teaching us.  We ARE NOT to hold fast to our pride at the expense of all else.  A person who can, will make someone pay to the uttermost for any slight incurred- whether deliberate or not. When we get a hold of our pride and let it run away with us the damage it is causing can be irreparable.

 

Have you ever had an argument with someone that went on far longer than it had to because you held fast to your pride?

 

We are to be selfless, not prideful.

 

Even if we are RIGHT a person arguing how much they are right, refusing to just let a situation go, will often suffer for their insistence at being right.

 

I'm not talking about denouncing Christ or our walk with God, I'm talking about arguing over mundane things. Does the fact we are right- perhaps someone took money from us, stole from us and we know it but they insist they didn't. Do we hold fast to our belief that they stole from us to the point they are able to convince a judge that we are bad mouthing them, slandering them because we have no proof of the theft? Does the fact we are in the right mean that much to us? Should it?

 

The ultimate Judge, our God, our Savior will judge in truth knowing all things, nothing hidden from them. Rather than our desire to be RIGHT being paramount, we should be desiring leniency, desiring a way to reveal forgiveness and love even to those who do not want to admit to wrong doing.

 

Our Savior stood before judges and they ordered Him crucified. Did He throw a fit trying to convince them of His innocence?  Did He submit to His sentence, though it was of the grossest injustice? How did He behave as One who was completely innocent?  He is our EXAMPLE in all things.

 

We are NOT to give in to arguing and fighting - even if it's just verbally- with anyone  over anything.  

 

We do though. We argue all the time. Maybe not huge fights but little spats.  Is it possible our little spats are just as bad as larger arguments?  Is it better to have 100 little spats or 10 large fights?  Who determines all this?  The truth is  - it's better not to argue at all- a little bit, or a lot and this is what our SAVIOR was trying to teach us.  Not to be prone to arguing for ANY REASON AT ALL!

 

We don't know when any argument we have might snowball out of control far beyond anything we ever imagined.

 

Arguing is wrong.

 

We will pay in some way for all our arguing because all our arguing has consequences.

 

By the grace of God may we STOP fighting with others, STOP arguing, STOP trying to prove our rightness even if we are as right as right can be.  May we ever remember our SAVIOR standing before His judges and how He behaved. May we ever recall how our SAVIOR treated those who taunted Him.  May we LIVE with CHRIST ever our EXAMPLE, ever before us, ever in our LIVES.

 

All in HIS LOVE!

Reconciled

Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying

 

Mat 5:23  Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;

Mat 5:24  Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

 

God does NOT want us to be HIS if we aren't right with OTHERS.

 

We are NOT GOD'S if we have others against us and do NOTHING to be reconciled to them.  If we have angst with others we are NOT being God's.  If we've made others turn against us by our actions WE are NOT being GOD'S.

 

Jesus is teaching us to LOVE above ALL else.

 

To CHOOSE the good of others even before we choose our own good.

 

So we do NOT dare insult our God by trying to show our love to HIM when we will not show love to others as HE WANTS US TO DO!

 

He is our example. We talked yesterday about imitating Christ and we can ONLY do this through the GRACE of Christ, through HIS power, through the HOLY SPIRIT.  When we submit to God, when we surrender to God, when we allow ourselves to hold God as our CREATOR, our REDEEMER, we are INVITING HIM to take over our lives.  As He takes over our lives, we are able to imitate HIM.  When we are living IN HIM and HE in US, we will LOVE OTHERS as HE intends us to love them.

 

We will have NOTHING against others and we can freely offer to God all that we are.

 

Reconciled to our brothers.

 

Webster's -  'To conciliate anew; to call back into union and friendship the affections which have been alienated; to restore to friendship or favor after estrangement; as, to reconcile men or parties that have been at variance.'

 

If we believe we can hold grudges against others for wrongs they may have done to us, we are wrong.  Forgiveness to ALL.  We have no right to hold back forgiveness, none.

 

If we hold back forgiveness then WE ARE NOT FORGIVEN.

 

Remember this--

 

Mat 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

 

We truly are forgiven as we forgive.

 

How we live our lives with others is what God sees, what God knows of us and our Savior is teaching us how we MUST love others. 

 

We must, by HIS GRACE, learn love.

Imitate Christ

Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying…

 

Mat 5:20  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 5:21  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

Mat 5:22  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

 

 

We are being taught by our Savior.

 

The lesson-

 

Our righteousness must NOT be for show.

Our love for our fellow man must NOT be for show.

 

We can try to  manufacture our own brand of righteousness, we can do our best and none of that will be good enough. We - in and of ourselves - have no real saving righteousness.  We must learn of our Savior HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, we must learn of our Savior HIS LOVE FOR US.

 

His LOVE goes far beyond our strict interpretation of the moral law.

 

The Scribes and Pharisees worked it so they could get around the moral laws by adding their own interpretations of them.

 

When the law says 'Thou shalt not kill' , the scribes and pharisees hold that to be true but have NO law against feeling hatred towards others, NO law against wanting to kill others, NO law against bad mouthing others, NO law against demeaning others.   They might not have killed anyone in reality but they tortured them unjustly in other ways.

 

How many people out there are brutal towards others all the while patting themselves on the back for not being like those sicko psycho murderers that come along?  They are honestly believing they much better than a murderer because they don't take that life. Their brutality with their words and actions that can kill another in other ways, means nothing to them.

 

Our Savior clarified, He magnified the law. He put the law under that microscope and called on us to look at it closer, to see the TRUTH in it that goes far beyond merely staying our hands from ending a life.

 

LOVE is the truth.

 

TRUE love as HE LOVES.

 

We can't imagine our SAVIOR treating us brutally, can we?  Take a moment and think about it. Can you imagine Jesus Christ our Lord being viciously nasty, cruel, snide, hateful, unkind, unloving in any way towards us?

 

We can't imagine it because HE lived the law in it's fullest, in all it's LOVE.

 

He LOVED, He is LOVE, we can ONLY imitate that love and cling to HIM allowing HIM to love in the reality what we can only strive towards.

 

Eph 5:1  Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children

 

The word for followers is this--

 

- Transliteration: Mimetes

- Phonetic: mim-ay-tace'

- Definition:

1. an imitator

 

IMITATOR!

 

The Literal Translation of the Holy Bible - interprets Eph. 5:1 this way--

 

Eph 5:1  Then become imitators of God, as beloved children

 

Imitators of God.

 

What does it mean to be an imitator?

 

Webster-

Imitate

IMI'TATE, v.t. [L. imitor; allied perhaps to Gr. similar, equal.]

 

1. To follow in manners; to copy in form, color or quality. We imitate another in dress or manners; we imitate a statue, a painting, a sound, an action, when we make or do that which resembles it. We should seek the best models to imitate, and in morals and piety, it is our duty to imitate the example of our Savior. But as we cannot always make an exact similitude of the original,hence,

 

2. To attempt or endeavor to copy or resemble; as, to imitate the colors of the rainbow, or any of the beauties of nature. Cicero appears to have imitated the Greek orators.

 

3. To counterfeit.

 

This hand appear'd a shining sword to wield,

 

And that sustain'd an imitated shield.

 

4. To pursue the course of a composition, so as to use like images and examples.

 

*******

 

Eph 5:1  Then become imitators of God, as beloved children

 

As beloved children.

 

A beloved child  will imitate it's parents- you see it all the time. Right now I have a young 11month old niece a few weeks shy of being a year old and she imitates so much it amazes me!  We know that she is learning as she imitates, taking everything in, absorbing it all like a sponge as her intellect grows as she matures.   I have a step great niece three years old whom I've seen pictures of as she imitates her mother's hair stylist job.  Children imitate and as they do they truly are learning.

 

We are to imitate GOD, to imitate CHRIST! He is teaching us to do this! He wants us to do this! We can only truly strive to do this and in doing so we will learn to LOVE as HE would have us LOVE, as HE LOVES.

 

Our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the supposed religious leaders, those who claim to be closest to God, and the only way this can be is if we seek CHRIST and in seeking Him we seek to IMITATE HIM- we- His beloved children.

 

All by HIS LOVE!

All by HIS GRACE!

All by HIS MERCY!