Pray to the Father

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

Mat 6:5  And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Prayer-

Entreat, make supplication, intercede.

When you pray.

Not IF you pray, but when you PRAY.

You WILL pray, and when you pray Jesus is telling them and us, that we aren't to pray like those who LOVE to pray in public, desiring to be seen by others. 

Prayer is talking to God- entreating God, making supplication to God, asking for intercession from God. Prayer isn't something you EVER do to be seen by others. Your relationship with God isn't something you use to impress ANYONE, ever! If we are praying in public to use that image to impress others then we are very far from knowing God, let alone truly speaking with Him. Those who USE God in this way have a reward and it's NOT the reward of eternal life with our Savior.

Mat 6:6  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

When we speak with God we are to do it in SECRET.

God sees in secret.  God knows the heart of those praying, He knows their sincerity. God will reward those who do NOT pray with selfish aims.

Mat 6:7  But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

If we pray NOT from the heart but using words that are void of all true meaning, void of all sincerity  then we are speaking in vain.  People who pray rehearsed prayers, prayers that are in truth VAIN repetitions- speaking the same things over and over and over again, these people will NOT be heard, they can't be heard because they aren't speaking from their hearts in any true way. They are speaking and believing that by repeating words over and over that they'll be heard, but that's NOT what God wants from us! He wants words from our HEART, words from the depths of our spirit! God wants our LOVE, not something twisted and done just to do it, without any true feeling at all.

Mat 6:8  Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Our FATHER knows what we need even before we speak, before we ask.  Our FATHER knows us! HE KNOWS US! 

I love this verse--

Rom 8:26  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

This says so incredibly much!

Jesus doesn't stop this message without telling us more about prayer.  More tomorrow all by the GRACE OF GOD!

IN HIS LOVE!

Giving Secretly

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

Mat 6:1  Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

Mat 6:2  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Mat 6:3  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

Mat 6:4  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

Helping others is not supposed to be about getting a pat on the back, a congratulatory note to pin on your bulletin board, a thank you card to collect, a trophy to set in a case, etc. All too often there exists a circle of people surrounding the needy causes and they vie for attention that comes from the amount of money or gifts they give to that cause. People are quick to point out that it's a great thing if it spurs on even greater gifts  for that cause, that they're the ones benefitting from all the vying for the title of most charitable, biggest heart, best giver, etc. I can't argue with the fact that the cause benefits from such behavior, but that's not the issue here.  The issue is the person giving not the cause, the issue is the REASON you are giving.

We have already been taught by Jesus just a short bit ago in the book of Matthew that GIVING is a necessary attribute of one who would follow Him.  Now in this new lesson we are being told NOT to give just to make ourselves look good, that giving in that manner isn't what is meant by giving to help others.

We are to take NO reward whatsoever for our giving, none!

How easy it is for us to tell others just how much we've helped, especially when they are going on and on about how much they've contributed. We want others to know that we aren't failing to give, and why do we want them to know that? Because we do NOT want to appear to be selfish, greedy, stingy, cold-hearted, etc. We want to be THOUGHT well of by others. We are CARING what others think about us. OUR PRIDE is rearing its ugly head and holding it high when we cannot refrain from announcing our own goodness.

Go ahead, justify your announcements.  Tell yourself and others that you are 'Just saying because…'  go ahead make up a reason, any reason at all.  You're just saying because you want others to help too and that's your way of encouraging them, you want others to realize how much you've done already and why you cannot do more.  Are either of those excuses anything but prideful, really?  Getting others to contributed based on your own contribution- that's just another way of saying HEY I GAVE NOW YOU GIVE, and you're trying to extract gifts NOT truly given freely but guilt driven from others. And to get others to understand why you can't give more than you already have- isn't that just patting yourself on the back, isn't it really to make you look like a good person in the eyes of others- making SURE they know just how charitable you are. You are caring that they comprehend you are a giver of alms, not lacking in that particular area. You are caring that they don't expect more from you. You want others to be able to say that you helped so much already.  In short you are trying to appease your need for others to believe you are very charitable otherwise why would you care at all if others knew that you helped? Isn't it truly supposed to be between you and God, no one else? Isn't it the Holy Spirit's job to convict a person to be charitable, not ours? Yes, we want the charity helped and no we can't do more than we have, but is it really our place to announce that we've done so much and can do no more? The Holy Spirit will convict a heart in ways our (even inadvertent and not meant to be bragging) trying to help cannot.

We aren't to CARE about others knowing the extent of our charitableness. IF the receiver of the alms chooses to publish your charity to others, that's one thing. But if the giver of the alms wants to publish their own charitableness, that's another thing altogether. We are NOT to draw attention to ourselves an our giving.  Our PRIDE loves being fed with accolades from others, and our pride is the last part of us we ever need to feed.

We can tell ourselves over and over that our reasons for revealing our gifts to others is a justified one and not borne out of pride at all, and maybe, just maybe it's true. But we cannot help but read these verses and have to wonder at our own motives, right?

Mat 6:1  Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

Mat 6:2  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Mat 6:3  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

Mat 6:4  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

Don't left our LEFT hand know what our RIGHT hand is doing!

How secret is that?!  Seriously.  We know truthfully it's impossible, but it is emphasizing just how closely we need to guard the secret of our giving, and that has to be as closely guarded as you can possibly get.

Now if your motive for doing secret alms giving is to receive rewards from God, at least you are looking for rewards from the Creator, the Redeemer, who has rewards to give that are eternal.

Told to do this so our Heavenly Father will see and reward as HE deems fit, this is a lesson we really need to learn, isn't it?

It doesn't matter if you are rich or poor, you can still be selfish in your giving, you can still be prideful in your giving. Being poor is no excuse for not being charitable.  We talked about the following verses just a few days ago…

Mar 12:42  And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

Mar 12:43  And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

Mar 12:44  For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

She cast in ALL that she had- even ALL her living.

Just the other night we were talking about in reality people 'casting in ALL' they have.  'Giving up everything' to follow Jesus. 'Going and selling ALL they possess' in order to become a disciple.  And we were very quick to determine that we aren't REALLY expected to give up everything, because how then would we live?

Yet at what point do we make the cut off- of giving enough and having just enough to live by?  And how exactly do we equate this poor widow casting in ALL that she had, ALL of her living? 

This truly is a lot of FOOD for THOUGHT isn't it?

Our giving, our alms, our charity where does it come from exactly?

The ability to do so must come from our SAVIOR who gave all.  From our SAVIOR who taught that we should lay up our treasures in HEAVEN not here on earth. 

Satan would have us give selfishly, every last penny we give to the poor is stained if we are giving it with a prideful heart, with a selfish desire at its core. 

Another trick of Satan's however is trying to keep us from giving anything at all because we fear we are doing it with a prideful heart or selfishly.  Satan loves to box us in and confuse us, he'll do all he can in any way he can to get us on his side and away from our SAVIOR.

Ultimately we have to prayerfully go forward and do as we believe we are being shown to do, praying for the Holy Spirit to guide it all and teach us the way to go in CHRIST, keeping us from Satan's many, many wiles.

We cling to CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS, as we comprehend over and over again how filthy our own righteousness truly is.

Please Lord, bless us. Please LORD show us the way we are to go. Please LORD help us to give alms as You desire us to, all for YOUR glory, not for our own.

In YOUR amazing love, forever!

Be Perfect

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

Mat 5:43  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

Lev 19:18  Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

Psa 139:21  Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?

Psa 139:22  I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

Love and hate.

Psa_97:10  Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.

Pro_8:13  The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

Loving the Lord means hating evil.

The distinction of who is evil isn't ours to make.

God made the distinction in times past. There were entire groups of people who were evil continually-

Gen_6:5  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Gen 6:7  And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

Gen 6:8  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

Gen_13:13  But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.

Gen 18:32  And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.

Gen_19:24  Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven

Only Noah and his family were spared destruction- all others were EVIL.  That included all the men, women and yes, children alive at the time. Evil children? God who knows the end from the  beginning has mercy on the little children, and even though we do not want to admit it, often death is mercy when life is surrounded only by evil. Will those innocents who died be Christ's at His return? Yes. All innocents caught up in such happenstances- spared the existence of life geared towards a life of evil- they are honestly  blessed by God in this.  We can't know the heart of men, but God alone can and if HE deems innocent lives are to be taken, He does it out of a mercy we can't comprehend. He knows the paths, and ONLY HE knows what is necessary for us to seek and find His amazing grace.

We are to hate evil.

We are to hate the evil we commit and the evil others commit.

We are NOT to hate those who commit evil, but rather hate the evil they commit.

There is a distinction between evil and the evil doer.

I can hate the evil lies someone tells, without hating the one telling the lies.

Jesus hates sin, but loves the sinner.

We have to hate sin and love the sinner just as He does.

Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you

LOVE your enemies.

BLESS them that curse you.

DO GOOD to them that hate you.

PRAY for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.

LOVE

BLESS
DO GOOD
PRAY

Why do this? Why love, bless, do good, and pray for those who are your enemies, cursing you, hating you, despitefully using you and persecuting you? WHY?!

Mat 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

So we may be the CHILDREN OF GOD, OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN.

He allows the evil to exist along with the good, allowing the good to reveal His mercy to the evil. Evil unrepentant and embraced wholly reveals the horror of the father of lies, the originator of sin.

Good and evil, the just and unjust.  GOD ALONE knows the heart and the choices every person makes. God alone has the power to destroy the evil, we cannot presume that even the most evil person alive will not repent, giving their life to JESUS accepting SALVATION in Him. If we choose to hate the person we are denying them the example we could provide for the LOVE that our SAVIOR has bestowed upon us wretched sinners. Jesus has EVERY RIGHT to hate us sinners, instead He chose to LOVE US and LEAD US to HIM and SALVATION THROUGH HIM.

Mat 5:46  For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

Mat 5:47  And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

How easy it is to LOVE those who love us, to interact only with those of our like mind. How incredibly difficult it is to LOVE those who hate us, and have nothing in common with us.

Yet true love, the LOVE of God demands by its very nature we love ALL in the way we desire to be loved.

A world of difference can exist between the way we are loved by others and the way we desire to be loved by them.

Mat 5:48  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Jesus is TEACHING US and saying BE PERFECT as our HEAVENLY FATHER IS PERFECT!

Be perfect.

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

Eph 5:2  And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

Read that verse and then tell me we are to do absolutely nothing but go on in our sinning ways while trying to lay claim to the grace of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Walk in love AS CHRIST also hath love us.

WALK IN LOVE.

And our Savior has spent a lot of time trying to teach us this LOVE and what it REALLY is and how in will truly manifest itself in our actions towards others- ALL others, not special others. Not just the boss you are trying to impress, not just the stranger you are trying impress, not the family member you most assuredly want to impress- but ALL OTHERS.  The strangers, we, in our brute nature, could careless about, the family member who puts up with all sorts of stuff from us because they are family, these too deserve our best attempts to love as our SAVIOR instructs to love. ALL other human beings we ever come in contact with in any way deserve this LOVE this LOVE we are to WALK in and CHRIST LOVES US.

Walk in love.

LIVE love.

Would Jesus teach us the impossible? No.

Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Php 3:15  Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

PRESS towards the mark, for the PRIZE, the HIGH CALLING of GOD IN CHRIST JESUS!

By His amazing GRACE!

In His amazing LOVE!

Give

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

Mat 5:42  Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

How often are we asked and we don't give?

How often do we say no?

How often do we begrudgingly say yes?

How often do we say no to those wanting to borrow from us?

Can you think of one instance for each of these?

Our Savior tells us…

GIVE.

GIVE.

Give until you have no more to give.

Give as He gave.

He gave all.

When we refuse to give of what we have we are denying others worldly things, things that in the long run do not matter in eternity. We cling to dead, lifeless things. All the money in the world is dead, is lifeless, and cannot contribute a single bit towards eternity. Nothing we have pads our future in eternity.  People have used this truth to swindle others out of their entire life savings. Because there is TRUTH to this and people recognize the truth only another truth is this-

Mat_7:15  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

The truth that all we have means nothing is real.

Are we to give everything to others and be left destitute?

Where do we draw the lines?  Do we draw them at our needs being taken care of first and what's left others can have?  What's this mean then--

Mar 12:41  And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

Mar 12:42  And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

Mar 12:43  And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

Mar 12:44  For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

She of her WANT did cast in ALL THAT SHE HAD even all her living.

She cast in more than all the others who gave in ways that did NOT affect their own abundance, their own needs, their own desires.

Jesus said this--

Mat 19:21  Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

Mat 19:22  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

Why would selling all that he had make this young man perfect?

Because he would give to the poor- those in real need.

Jesus was promising Him a LIFE with HIM.

How could he refuse a LIFE supported in all things by our SAVIOR?

He didn't know, he didn't comprehend that it was His Savior telling him to trust HIM for ALL THINGS he'd need. He didn't know that following His SAVIOR was the REAL key to the eternal life he sought.  He put a HIGHER price on the things he owned than on ETERNITY with JESUS CHRIST.

Are we guilty of this very same thing?!

We Jesus says this--

Mat 5:42  Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

He isn't saying to us that same thing He told that man. He didn't tell us ALL to sell everything. He is telling us to GIVE to those who ASK, to those that want to borrow from us- LET THEM.

GIVE, ALLOW.

This is compassion, this is love, this is our SAVIOR'S example, this is our SAVIOR'S teaching… may we LEARN, by HIS GRACE!

Go out of your way for others.

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

Mat 5:41  And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

Go out of your way for others.

Why?

If they hit you you're supposed to let them hit you again.

If they sue you and take from you you're supposed to give them more.

If want you to walk with them a mile you're supposed to go with them double that.

Why?

COMPASSION.

We've been talking about this the last few studies and we have to KEEP talking about this because it's so incredibly important. We cannot ignore compassion we have to strive towards compassion at all costs to ourselves.

People think they don't need to be compassionate because it makes them appear weak. 

Someone hitting you again and again, over and over and you not making any effort to defend yourself. We've seen this sort of thing in the movies- the bad guy turned good who formerly loved fighting and hurting maybe even killing others- reforms and when he's picked on he doesn't fight back.  The movie portrays that hero type as being good, but in our reality we seldom see this sort of thing. It's more likely the one being hit just keeps on being hit and is called- weak. They could be super strong, heavily muscled but there is a different sort of weakness they are called in that situation. They are called 'chickens', weak willed, scared, wimpy, losers, fools, the list goes on and on.

Compassion is the greatest gift. It is compassion our Savior has shown to us.

 

The world twists the truth to lies, good to evil, evil to good, lies to truth. Satan has taken the greatest attributes and labeled them the weakest.

Selflessness goes hand in hand with compassion.

People are going to ask you to do things for them.

People are going to interact with you unless you've hidden yourself from everyone- and unfortunately some people do get to that point where they shut themselves away.

The average person will have to interact with others and in our interactions we have the choice to be compassionate or not- this is with ALL our interactions, not a select few. 

ALL our interactions must have compassion at their core. If they do NOT have compassion at their core then there will be something else there- and that something else  is selfishness.

Love and compassion go hand in hand. You can say love and that will encompass compassion.

Jesus wants us to LEARN compassion.

Jesus wants us to learn to put OTHERS before ourselves.

This is truly something we need to LEARN.

Jesus wants this of us, He's TEACHING us and it's a LIFE LONG LESSON.

We learn many lessons that we carry throughout our lives.

We aren't born automatically knowing everything.

You take a human being baby and let the child grow up without anyone to learn from then that child will be stunted in many ways.  There have been movies on this. Documentaries of those raised in the wild so to speak. In some instances the children grow up into savages, in others they grow up timid and reserved.  They don't grow up with the interaction of others and the chance to learn from others.  We learn amazing amounts of things from others. Our parents and relatives, our neighbors influence our earliest years- as well as teachers and daycare workers in a lot of cases.  As we age we are put in actual learning institutions where we are supposed to be learning all that is necessary to make us mature into well rounded, functioning individuals able to support ourselves and live peacefully with others. Then as we leave our learning institutions generally in a lot of work fields we are expected to continuously learn to keep up with the knowledge that is growing in our line of work. We also learn many things as we age, simply because we are exposed to life.

With Jesus as our TEACHER, His lessons are important for our eternity.  He is teaching us ETERNITY.

If we can't learn His lessons now, if we do not think it's important to learn His lessons now, will we even recognize our Teacher of Eternity? Will HE know us, His students?!

A child learns at the feet of his or her parents, we need to learn at the feet of our HEAVENLY Father, at the feet of our SAVIOR!

We need compassion at our core being. We need compassion in all we are. We need the compassion that only comes from our SAVIOR Jesus Christ. Compassion towards others ALWAYS!

In our Savior, in HIS LOVE, by HIS GRACE!

Compassion beyond comprehension

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

Mat 5:39  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil...

Mat 5:40  And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.

Sued at law.

We live in a society here in America that has made us a laughingstock of joke, we are the nation that sues. Go to America and find someone to sue to become rich. It's a joke, but a very sad one because it's based on truth. We think of suing people all the time, it's become second nature to us. You slip and fall on someone's stairs- sue them. You get bit by their dog- sue them. You are slandered by someone- sue them. You get hurt while committing a crime- sue those you were robbing. Sue, sue, sue… it's forever before us as a way of getting money for bad things that happen to us. How sad are we? How incredibly sad. 

Jesus says- if we are SUED and the man is awarded our coat, give him our cloak also.

Not only are we to give them what they are after but MORE than what they are offered.

Why?

We like to know why we are being told things, especially when they go against everything we've been taught.  We've been taught that when we do sue someone and are successful at it that we are to take as much of their money as possible- even if it means they have to sell their house, car, all their possessions to pay us.   So already we are taking everything we can, aren't we? How often do people sue others for just a tiny bit?  It does happen, but it's more likely that people are out to get more than they deserve rather than exactly what they deserve. 

If we are being sued we are not only to GIVE them all that they want but more, which is shocking. I can't imagine it happening in reality. Maybe it has happened and does happen, and maybe it will happen but it just seems incredibly strange.

So, why?

Compassion.

The comprehension of this very true reality-

1Ti_6:7  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

Act_20:35  I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

We are being taught that to give undeservedly to someone is something GOOD, not something to be shunned.

Luk 14:12  Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.

Luk 14:13  But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

Luk 14:14  And thou shalt be blessed; for they CANNOT recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

They cannot recompense thee.

Can we ever recompense our SAVIOR?

NO!

We will NEVER deserve the salvation He offers to us! We can NEVER pay Him back for this gift to rival ALL gifts.

He is our example. We are to LIVE as He lives. He gives without ever being able to recoup what He has lost. He gives without ever being able to receive again what He sacrificed.

Our Savior can tell us to GIVE more than what someone asks of us if they are taking us to the law and suing us, because it reveals HIS compassion!

Sure, most people would more than likely call you a fool if you did that, and the person receiving the extra might consider you a fool as well, but it doesn't matter. Those in Jesus' day thought Him a fool too. They wanted Him to get Himself down off the cross. They wanted Him to create an army to defeat the Romans. They thought Him a fool and a liar to do neither of those things. He wasn't about SELF, He was about SELFLESSNESS. He wants us to understand this selflessness and as our example He wants us to strive towards selflessness. Is there any other reason for telling us these truths if we are not to live them?  He is TEACHING us.

COMPASSION.

Compassion that goes far beyond comprehension.

Compassion that has others labeling us fools.

Compassion that Satan despises with every evil thing that he is.

Compassion.

Loving selflessly.

Please LORD, teach us! Open our hearts and minds to LEARN Your lessons, to LEARN to LOVE as YOU want us to love, as YOU LOVE.

All in YOU!

Kill my Son and I will still love you

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

Mat 5:38  Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

Mat 5:39  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

TRUTH.

We are being taught TRUTHS, real truths that we need to LIVE BY.  Our lives MUST be lived by JESUS' teachings.  If we choose to read but not learn what good is it? Are we being taught if we aren't truly learning. If we don't live what we learn is the knowledge any good to us? If you learn how to fly a plane but never get in a plane to fly was the knowledge of your learning to fly any good at all? No. 

We go to school and often learn a lot of stuff we'll never use in our lives and more often than not we forget the majority of that stuff we learned and never utilized. We cannot afford to learn but not use what our Savior is trying to teach us. Our life depends upon learning and utilizing our knowledge, not learning and letting what we learn simply slip away unused.

Do you think for one moment that our Savior taught us things we didn't need to learn? He never spoke just to hear Himself, never. Every word was precious, every word was and is worthy of intense study. 

Resist not evil- whosever shall HIT you on one cheek let them HIT the other cheek.

What?!

Let them hit the other cheek? Wow.

Don't fight back? Hmn.

Really, let them hit us again without returning a single blow? Seriously?

Get beat without defending yourself? Come on.

What is the lesson here? It goes beyond simply letting someone hit us, doesn't it? It has to.

Resist not evil.  This isn't saying we are to commit evil, this is saying if evil is bound and determined to attack us we are NOT TO RETURN EVIL.  We are not to let evil CAUSE us to be evil.  It's better to be attacked by EVIL and do NOTHING than to use evil to defend ourselves.

There is truly NO good excuse for us to be EVIL, not even in response to evil. So often we love to justify our bad behavior by others bad behavior.  We use the much heralded justification of - THEY STARTED IT.

We use this to justify a lot of our actions, don't we?

We would not have been bad if THEY hadn't been bad first.

Think about this and carefully ask yourself whether you've done this in the past.  Has anyone ever hurt you - not just physically but maybe emotionally and mentally as well - and you hurt them back- just to hurt them because they hurt you?

It's common, very, very common. We have gangs all over that run their entire gang on this principle. The eye for an eye is a concept that people love because it lets them believe their evil act is somehow less evil than the original evil act that caused their response.  If that first evil act hadn't occurred you wouldn't have been put in a position of committing your evil.

Jesus was teaching us that NO EVIL is what is right, what is love, what is what He wants from us. No evil.

NO EVIL!

Giving evil for evil is still evil. You cannot call killing someone good because they killed, it just makes you a killer too. You are a bully if you bully a bully.  Yet we JUSTIFY our actions because they were provoked. We call them good and right because they were a result of another's evil.

No more. Jesus say's no more. Stop the self-justification. Stop the evil- enough is enough. No more, no more using this concept for our own evil.  Even in justified eye for and eye behavior that taking of the eye by the righteous person leaves a mark on that person who commits the same evil- though justified. People are to extend compassion. When you take an eye for an eye you do not show compassion. We limit our compassion when we seek even justified retribution.  Jesus didn't want us to limit our compassion. Jesus did NOT want us to lose any of our compassion, not the smallest bit of it. He knew that living in the world we would be subject to evil over and over and over, and He knew that rendering evil for evil would take the compassion we need from us.

Jesus is the greatest example of our compassion.

 No longer an eye for an eye, but compassion for an eye.

Take my eye but I will still show love to you, God's love.

Because God said- Kill my Son, my ONLY Begotten Son, and I will still love you.

This compassion goes beyond our full comprehension, but we are allowed a glimpse into it and Jesus is TEACHING us to learn this compassion.

This compassion is what makes it possible for us to be loved undeservedly.

Please Lord, please help us to learn these lessons, to learn compassion, to learn to turn the other cheek rather than retaliate in kind.

ALL IN YOUR AMAZING LOVE!