Partakers of Heavenly Treasure - Cost of Discipleship Pt 78

Chapter 15 - The Hiddenness of Prayer

Bonhoeffer- 'True prayer does not depend either on the individual or the whole body of the faithful, but solely upon the knowledge that our heavenly Father knows our needs. That makes God the sole object of our prayers, and frees us from a false confidence in our own prayerful efforts.'

Mat 6:9  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Mat 6:10  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Mat 6:11  Give us this day our daily bread.
Mat 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Mat 6:13  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Mat 6:14  For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
Mat 6:15  But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Bonhoeffer- '"Our Father which art in heaven," The disciples call upon the heavenly Father as a corporate body, they call upon a Father who already knows his children's needs. The call of Jesus binds them into a brotherhood. In Jesus they have apprehended the loving-kindness of the Father. In the name of the Son of God they are privileged to call God Father. They are on earth, and their Father is in heaven. He looks down on them from above, and they lift up their eyes to him.

"Hallowed be thy name" God's name of Father, as it has been revealed to the disciples in Jesus Christ, shall be kept holy among them. In this name the whole content of the gospel is embraced."

"Thy kingdom come," In Jesus Christ his followers have witnessed the kingdom of God breaking in on earth. They have seen Satan crushed and the powers of the world, sin and death broken.

"Thy will be done, as in heaven so on earth," In fellowship with Jesus his followers have surrendered their own wills completely to God's, and so they pray that God's will may be done throughout the world. No creature on earth shall defy him. But the evil will is still alive even in the followers of Christ, it still seeks to cut them off from fellowship with him;  and that is why they must also pray that the will of God may prevail more and more in their hearts every day and break down all defiance. In the end the whole world must bow before that will, worshipping and giving thanks in joy and tribulation. Heaven and earth shall be subject to God.'

'God's name, God's kingdom, God's will must be the primary object of Christian prayer. Of course it is not as if God needed our prayers, but they are the means by which the disciples become partakers in the heavenly treasure for which they pray. Furthermore, God uses their prayers to hasten the coming of the End.'

My thoughts--

'Hallowed by thy name'-  Do you remember this…

Exo_20:7  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

We live in a world where the name of GOD is anything but holy to so many. It rolls of the tongues of so many with flippantly disregard. They think absolutely NOTHING about using His Holy name in vain. And that's not just in using it in cursing, but using it at any time without the reverence it is due. 

Holy is God's name.

The very name of God upon our lips is something so amazing we can't truly comprehend it. Satan has done his work well and has made the name of God our Heavenly Father to mean nothing special at all, and if it's a little special that's it, but to give it the incredible respect and awe it deserves is something that has been laid aside in the dust. We've let slide the name of God so we can be more FRIEND than son or daughter.  Isn't it the same with our children today? Where is the respect for the parents? It's mostly disappeared. I'm not going to say totally, but mostly.  We think very little of treating our parents with blatant disregard. Their words don't hold the importance they should. The RESPECT due to them isn't there, it just isn't. We'd rather get to a place where we are friends with our parents and as friends we lose a lot of that parental respect and in its place is this strange relationship where we can degrade our parents in many, many ways. We call them harmless, but they aren't. Just as the name of God is so lightly regarded, having lost the power, the respect for so many.

Our Savior prayed- HALLOWED BE THY NAME.
The commandment was given- THOU SHALT NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD THY GOD IN VAIN

Do we truly keep this commandment? Do we? We need to think about this seriously because God will NOT hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain.

*******

'Thy will be done.'   Our Holy Heavenly Father's will must be done.  NOT OUR WILL! Not in anything at all should OUR will be done, Only God's will! 

Our wills are evil and Satan will tell us over and over that our will is best because we only want what's best, right? Our will, is it in harmony with God's? We are so incredibly far from being obedient children unto God that we have to know deep down, if no where else, that our will no matter how seemingly wonderful to us, isn't best.  If we aren't submissive to God's will, if we insist on our own wills being done, we have no hope. We might THINK we only want what is best for ourselves, but the truth is, we have this evil ego that rises up. Moses fought with his ego, so many, in fact all but our SAVIOR had issues with their egos, and they fell often when they followed their own wills. David, Solomon, Abraham…. To name a few of God's chosen.  They remained God's chosen because by God's grace they were able to recognize where they'd gone astray, where they'd allowed their own wills to take over, and they REPENTED, they sought FORGIVENESS for their backsliding, the once again sought God's will for their lives, not their own.

If these chosen men of God fought with their wills against God's, we know that we will face this as well and we MUST pray daily- GOD'S WILL BE DONE, THY WILL BE DONE!

*******

Bonhoeffer- 'God's name, God's kingdom, God's will must be the primary object of Christian prayer. Of course it is not as if God needed our prayers, but they are the means by which the disciples become partakers in the heavenly treasure for which they pray. Furthermore, God uses their prayers to hasten the coming of the End.'

They are the means by which the disciples become PARTAKERS IN THE HEAVENLY TREASURE.

Remember this--

Mat 6:19  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Mat 6:20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Mat 6:21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Prayer truly IS us being PARTAKERS in the heavenly treasure.

Where is our heart- with our treasure. Where is our treasure- in heaven. Where are our prayers directed- to our FATHER who is in HEAVEN. 

Heavenly treasure- prayer.

All by the GRACE of our LORD and SAVIOR may we truly pray unto the HOLY FATHER, our HEAVENLY FATHER, and may HIS WILL IN ALL THINGS BE DONE!

Help us LORD, save us from ourselves and the evil we are prone to!

KEEP us from evil!

Keep us safe in YOU!

Our Faith God's Will - Cost of Discipleship Pt 77

Chapter 15 - The Hiddenness of Prayer

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

Bonhoeffer- 'The disciples pray only because they are followers of Christ and have fellowship with him. Only those who, like them, adhere to Jesus have access to the Father through him. All Christian prayer affords direct access to the Father. Only through Jesus Christ can we find the Father in prayer. Christian prayer presupposes faith, that is, adherence to Christ. He is the one and only Mediator of our prayers. We pray at his command, and to that word Christian prayer is always bound. '

My thoughts- TRUTH.

1Ti_2:5  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus

Bonhoeffer- 'Prayer is the supreme instance of the hidden character of the Christian life. It is the antithesis of self-display. When men pray they have ceased to know themselves, and know only God whom they call upon. Prayer does not aim at any direct effect on the world; it is addressed to God alone, and is therefore the perfect example of undemonstrative action.'

'Where is the innermost chamber Jesus is thinking of where I can hide, if I cannot be sure of myself? How can I lock it so well that no audience spoils the anonymity of prayer and thus robs me of the reward of hidden prayer? How are we to be protected from ourselves, and our own premeditations? How are we to drive out reflection by reflecting? The ONLY way is by mortifying our own wills which are always obtruding themselves. And the only way to do this is by letting Christ alone reign in our hearts, by surrendering our wills completely to him, by living in fellowship with Jesus and by following him. Then we can pray that his will may be done, the will of him who knows our needs before we ask. Only then is our prayer certain, strong and pure. And then prayer is really and truly petition. The child asks of the Father whom he knows. Thus the essence of Christian prayer is not general adoration, but definite, concrete petition. The right way to approach God is to stretch out our hands and ask of One who we know has the heart of the Father.'

My thoughts- 

Selflessness. 

God knows our needs.

Mat 6:8  '... your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. '

Luk 12:27  Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Luk 12:28  If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Luk 12:29  And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
Luk 12:30  For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.

'Neither be ye of doubtful mind.'

We love to doubt, we doubt all the time. Saying, "I doubt that…" is common place. When it comes to doubting God we reveal our lack of faith and it is our faith that pleases Him.

Heb_11:6  'But without faith it is impossible to please him…'

So there you are faced with one tragedy after another and ultimately you end up on the street with only the clothes on your back and shoes on your feet and nothing else. You've lost everything.  You haven't a clue where your next meal is coming from. In fact you haven't eaten in over two days.  Can you still have faith in God?  Has He truly clothed you? Fed you? Given you something to drink? You've never been more thirsty than you are at this moment.  So what's happening? You thought you had faith, you trusted God and yet there you are. This verse keeps playing over and over in your mind.

Luk 12:29  And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
Luk 12:30  For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.

And you just want to cry because you know that doubting in the face of your tragic situation is all you want to do. You don't understand. You don't know what to do. Will you die of hunger and thirst?  What does it mean if you do? That you didn't have enough faith? That you doubted too much?

How many people truly do suffer and die with those verses on their lips?  We, of course, have no way of knowing really.  So where is the answer? We know God doesn't lie. So maybe in a way we cannot even begin to comprehend, that death was the path they were meant to take.

We can bring up countless numbers of scenarios of horrific lives and deaths, and then hear people say God lies, He didn't provide for their needs. But He knows their eternal need far better than we ever will. If they are His they'll believe that whatever the cost it isn't too great to sacrifice for their God.

Doubting.

This is something we REALLY need to pay attention to.

We are told not to be of a doubtful mind.

Our Father knows what we have need of way more than we do. We might think we know, but we are often mistaken. We might think that new house is what we need most, but it might not be. Sometimes we get various promptings that something isn't exactly God's will and yet because we want that thing, we go ahead anyway and say consequences be damned.  We truly need to ask for God's will to be done, NOT our very faulty wills. 

When Bonhoeffer talks about the hiddenness of prayer it truly is a hiddenness not only from outward showing off, but inward boasting. It's God and God only through our Mediator Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. He prayed to the Father and He never made a great show of it, never.  In fact more often than not, He went 'off' to pray in solitary.   He prayed for the Father's will, only wanting His Father's will to be done in Him.  Our Savior had to divest Himself of His immortality so He could die. His faith was in His Father, faith that He would do His will.

Our faith must be to do God's will in all things!

All by HIS grace, HIS mercy, HIS love!

Faith - Hearers

Faith comes by hearing, but more specifically, faith comes by hearing the WORD of GOD.

Rom_10:17

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth…

The gospel of Christ- the reason God took on flesh and became a Son to God the Father, to redeem us.

Mat_1:23  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

The gospel of Christ IS the power of God to salvation.

Faith - the substance- of things hoped for.
Faith- the evidence- of things not seen.

Heb_11:1

Faith- belief in God's Word.

What good would it do to hear God's word and not believe it?  Seriously. What good? Absolutely none.

Eve committed the first sin by NOT believing God's word.
We are saved by believing God's word.

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

And how do you get faith? Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Hearing, believing what you hear.

Heb_11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

To even believe God is we must have faith.

We must have the substance.

What substance?

The substance, the REALITY of things.

What things?

Things hoped for.

The evidence.

What evidence?

Of things.

What things?

Of things not seen.

NOT SEEN.

Eve saw and sinned.

We must HEAR God's word and believe.

Again, we must hear-  and in hearing BELIEVE what we are hearing.  And then if we truly believe what we hear then we will live our entire lives the way that has been outlined for us by our God.

Jas 1:22  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

We love to deceive ourselves.  We'd much rather just listen and let what we hear only affect us superficially. Playing at being Christ followers.  It sounds good to be a believer, it looks good on our life resume.  We want to have that box checked just incase it's all true, but other than putting a little slash in that tiny box, we'd rather not think about it too much. It's there, it's marked, we've done our part, or so we believe in our self-deception.

But be ye doers of the word.

Live your lives as Christ instructs, all through HIS power, and He does instruct us in so many ways. If you want to know what Christ wants of you, read your Bible, He'll tell you. He doesn't leave us floundering like Satan would have us believe.

Read this little bit…

Php_4:8  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

THINK ON THESE THINGS!

We are instructed on what to THINK! What to fill our minds with!

Truth.
Honesty.
Justice.
Purity.
Lovely.
Good reports.
Virtue.
Praise.

Think on these things.

Satan would have us all caught up in the cares of this life and all its horrors (of which there are innumerable.)

Luk_21:34  And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

Satan wants the day of Christ's coming to catch us unaware, and he's going to do EVERYTHING in his power to blind us, to keep our minds off Christ.

We truly need to HEAR the WORD of GOD, BELIEVING IN GOD, LIVING IN GOD.

All by the GRACE and the MERCY of our SAVIOR our LORD JESUS CHRIST!

Now and forever!

All glory and praise unto Him!

AMEN!

Christ lives in me - Cost of Discipleship Pt 76

Chapter 14 - The Hidden Righteousness

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.


Bonhoeffer- 'But precisely because the Christian life is of its very nature extraordinary, it is at the same time ordinary, natural, and HIDDEN. If not, it is not the Christian life at all, it is not obedience to the will of Jesus Christ. 

Secondly, we have to ask how the visible and the invisible  aspects of discipleship can be combined, and how the same life can be both visible and hidden. To answer this question, all we need to do is to go back to chapter 5, where the extraordinary and the visible are defined as the cross of Christ beneath which the disciples stand. The cross is at once the necessary, the hidden, and the visible-- it is the "extraordinary."

Thirdly we have to ask how the contradiction between the fifth and the sixth chapters is to be resolved.  The answer lies in the meaning of discipleship. It means an exclusive adherence to him, and that implies first, that the disciple looks only to his Lord and follows him. If he looked only at the extraordinary quality of the Christian life, he would no longer be following Christ. For the disciple this extraordinary quality consists solely in the will of the Lord, and when he seeks to do that will he knows that there is no other alternative, and that what he does is the only natural thing to do.

All that the follower of Jesus has to do is to make sure that his obedience, following and love are entirely spontaneous and unpremeditated. If you do good, you must not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, you must be quite unconscious of it. Otherwise you are simply displaying your own virtue, the virtue of discipleship, can only be accomplished so long as you are entirely unconscious of what you are doing. The genuine work of love is always a hidden work. Take heed therefore that you know it not, for only so it is the goodness of God. If we want to know our own goodness or love, it has already ceased to be love. We must be unaware even of our love for our enemies. After all, when we love them they are no longer our enemies. This voluntary blindness in the Christian (which is really sight illuminated by Christ) is his certainty, and the fact that his life is hidden from his sight is the ground of his assurance.

Thus hiddenness has its counterpart in manifestation. For there is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed. For our God is a God unto whom all hearts are open, and from whom no secrets are hid. God will show us the hidden and make it and the only question is where we shall receive it and who will give it us. If we want publicity in the eyes of men we have our reward. In other words, it is immaterial whether the publicity we want it the grosser kind, which all can see, or the more subtle variety which we can only see ourselves. If the left hand knows what the right hand is doing, if we become conscious of our hidden virtue, we are forging our own reward, instead of that which God had intended to give us in his own good time.

Genuine love is always self forgetful in the true sense of the word. But if we are to have it, our old man must die with all his virtues and qualities, and this can only be done where the disciple forgets SELF and clings SOLELY to CHRIST.

When Jesus said: "Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." he was sounding the death-knell of the old man.

Once again who can live a life which combines chapters 5 & 6?

Only those who have died after the old man through Christ, and are given a new life by following HIM and having fellowship with HIM.

Love, in the sense of spontaneous, unreflective action, spells the death of the old man. For man recovers his true nature in the righteousness of Christ and in his fellowman. The love of Christ crucified, who delivers our old man to death, is the love which lives in those who follow him.

"I live yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 2:20)

Henceforth the Christian finds himself only in Christ and in his brethren.'

My thoughts-

NOTHING is about US!
EVERYTHING is about CHRIST!

Hidden Righteousness - Cost of Discipleshp Pt 75

Chapter 14 - The Hidden Righteousness

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.

Bonhoeffer- 'The disciples are told they can possess the "extraordinary" only so long as they are reflective: they must beware how they use it, and never fulfill it simply for its own sake, or for the sake of ostentation. The better righteousness of the disciples must have a motive which lies beyond itself. Of course it has to be visible, but they must take care that it does not become visible simply for the sake of becoming visible.

Let your light shine before men…'

Mat_5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

'...and yet: Take care that you hide it'!'

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

'That which is visible must also be hidden. The awareness on which Jesus insists is intended to prevent us from reflecting on our extraordinary position. We have to take heed that we do not take heed of our own righteousness. Otherwise the "extraordinary" which we achieve will not be that which comes from following Christ, but that which springs from our own will and desire.

How is this paradox to be resolved? The first question to ask is: From whom are we to hide the visibility of our discipleship? Certainly not from other men, for we are told to let them see our light. No. We are to hide it from OURSELVES. Our task is simply to keep on following, looking only to our Leader who goes on before, taking no notice of ourselves or of what we are doing. We must be unaware of our own righteousness, and see it only in so far as we look unto Jesus; then it will seem not extraordinary, but quite ordinary and natural. Thus we hide the visible from ourselves in obedience to the word of Jesus. If the "extraordinary" were important for its own sake, we should, like fanatics, be relying on our own fleshly strength and power, whereas the disciple of Jesus acts simply in obedience to his Lord.  That is, he regards the "extraordinary" as the natural fruit of obedience. According to the word of Jesus it cannot be otherwise: the Christian is a light unto the world, not because of any quality of his own, but only because he follows Christ and looks solely to him.'

My thoughts-

When we are told this-

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

--it can be no clearer, we are not to LET ourselves know! 

And as everyone knows, you cannot- not know something you are aware of once you are aware of it, unless you happen to forget it. So being aware of trying to forget something almost cements it more firmly in our memory, rather than expunges it.  Purposely striving to forget, purposely striving to not let ONE hand know what the OTHER hand is doing, when both hands are controlled by the same brain seems impossible, so what does Christ mean by all this other than we are NOT to reward ourselves for what we are doing. We are NOT to pat ourselves on the back for what we are doing when we are living the life of a true disciple of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.

We like to be rewarded though, don't we? We like it when others notice our "goodness", our "extraordinariness".   This is not of Christ though and it MUST be repented of!

Did our Savior make Himself an earthly king taking obeisance from others because of His goodness?  No. Our Savior did not heap to Himself gold and precious jewels, He did not deck Himself out with the finest clothes, He did not set up a palace for Himself upon earth and He could have done ALL those things and more.

Mat 19:17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God…

Jesus said those words!

He would was only good always said- there is NONE good but ONE, that is GOD.

We know that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit all exist as separate beings though they ALL AGREE as one.  When Jesus said that there is NONE good but ONE, that is GOD, He was talking of His Father whom He looked to always for all His strength and guidance. And in essence because He as God the Son agrees fully with His Father He was good too- however- He was NOT there on earth to promote Himself, but to promote His Father's Kingdom.  Everything He did was a finger pointing to the FATHER GOD. Jesus prayed to the Father, not to Himself.

He is our GREATEST example.  In obedience to HIM we do as He did.  He was SELFLESS! He took NO glory upon Himself.

By His GRACE alone may we LIVE as He commands us to live! Through His power alone! All to HIM in everything!

Righteousness Exceeding - Cost of Discipleship Pt 74

Chapter 13 - The Enemy -- the "Extraordinary"

Exceed

Strong's-
'- Transliteration: Perisseuo
- Definition:
1. to exceed a fixed number of measure, to be left over and above a certain number or measure
a. to be over, to remain
b. to exist or be at hand in abundance
1. to be great (abundant)
2. a thing which comes in abundance, or overflows unto one, something falls to the lot of one in large measure
3. to redound unto, turn out abundantly for, a thing
c. to abound, overflow
1. to be abundantly furnished with, to have in abundance, abound in (a thing), to be in affluence
2. to be pre-eminent, to excel
3. to excel more than, exceed
2. to make to abound
a. to furnish one richly so that he has abundance
b. to make abundant or excellent '

Bonhoeffer - 'What makes Christians different from other men is the "peculiar," the Perisseuo, the "extraordinary", the "unusual", that which is not "a matter of course." This is the quality by whereby the better righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.'

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.

My thoughts-

There IS a difference between those who are Christ's followers and all others. This difference is extraordinary and it does exceed the righteousness that the chosen people, the Israelites, those closest to God in history, the priests- the scribes, the Pharisees- it exceeds all of their righteousness, those who appeared to be most righteous.

To pretend we are all just the same is foolishness, yet at the same time the Christian will be the FIRST to recognize their own inferior self next to the worst of sinners, and NOT condemn the basest of criminals. The Christian can comprehend their own sinful state, their own guilt in the cross, and because they comprehend that guilt they KNOW they have no right to think of themselves as superior to ANYONE!

The Christian is extraordinary, their righteousness exceeding that of those who are not Christ's, and it exceeds it ONLY in comprehending the cross and NO WHERE else. Their good works mean NOTHING! Their own righteousness means NOTHING! It is Christ's righteousness which they claim as heirs with Him. 

Bonhoeffer- 'How does this quality work out in practice ? The "extraordinary" -- and this is the supreme scandal-- is something which the followers of Jesus do.

It must be done like the better righteousness, and done so that all men can see it. It is NOT strict Puritanism, not some eccentric pattern of Christian living, but simple unreflecting obedience to the will of Christ. If we make the "extraordinary" our standard, we shall be led into the passio of Christ, and in that its peculiar quality will be displayed. This activity itself is ceaseless suffering.  In it the disciple endures the suffering of Christ. If this is not so, then this is not the activity of which Jesus speaks.

Hence the perisseuo is the fulfilment of the law, the keeping of the commandments. In Christ crucified and in his people the "extraordinary" becomes reality.

These men are the perfect, the men in whom the undivided love of the Heavenly Father is perfected. It was that love which gave the Son to die for us upon the cross, and it is by suffering in the fellowship of this cross that the followers of Jesus are perfected. The perfect are none other than the blessed of the beatitudes.'

My thoughts--

Obedience to the will of Christ.

And for all those who say Christ asks nothing of His followers, please, read your Bibles. Read them, study them.

Being a follower of Christ IS exhibiting a Christ follower's LIFE.  That life doesn't mean perfection in the sense the Christian will appear impeccable in all things.  A follower of Christ will struggle under the weight of spiritual warfare. A follower of Christ will OBEY the WILL of CHRIST!  And we are told this--

Rev_3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

TRUTH!

REALITY!

Do you really want to be a follower of Christ, an adopted son of the Heavenly Father? Then you must OBEY your Heavenly Father in all things! You must obey Christ in all things! You must comprehend that your life as a Christ follower will be a difficult one, an EXTRAORDINARY life because it is IN HIM!

Please LORD bless us, keep us, forgive us, love us!

Please!

Thank you, LORD.

All glory, praise, and honor unto You LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, JESUS CHRIST OUR SAVIOR now and forever!

Father Forgive Them (My Killers) - Cost of Discipleship Pt 73

Chapter 13 - The Enemy -- the "Extraordinary"

Bonhoeffer- 'The love for our enemies takes us along the way of the cross and into fellowship with the crucified. The more we are driven along this road, the more certain is the victory of love over the enemy's hatred. For then it is not the disciple's own love, but the love of Jesus Christ alone, who for the sake of his enemies went to the cross and prayed for them as he hung there. In the face of the cross the disciples realized that they too were his enemies, and he had overcome them by his love. It is this that opens the disciple's eyes and enables him to see his enemy as his brother. He know that he owes his very life to One, who though he was his enemy, treated him as a brother and accepted him, who made him his neighbor, and drew him into fellowship with himself. The disciple can now perceive that even his enemy is the object of God's love, and he stands like himself beneath the cross of Christ. God asks us nothing about our virtues or vices, for in his sight even our virtue was ungodliness. God's love sought out his enemies who needed it, and who he deemed worthy of it. God loves his enemies -- that is the glory of his love, as every follower of Jesus knows; through Jesus he has become a partaker in this love. For God allows his sun to shine upon the just and the unjust. But it is not only the earthly sun and the earthly rain: the "Sun of Righteousness", and the rain of God's word which are on the sinner, and reveal the grace of the Heavenly Father.  Perfect all-inclusive is the act of the Father, it is also the act of the sons of God as it was the act of the only-begotten Son.'

My thoughts-

Luk 23:34  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

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.

Mal_4:2  But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

*******

Upon His cross...in excruciating pain, feeling agony unlike we can know, our Savior asked the Father to forgive those who were crucifying Him.

Our Savior PRAYED to the FATHER to forgive those killing Him! 

Our Savior believed that if they really understood what they were doing, if they really knew they were killing the Son of God, then they wouldn't have done it. But they didn't know what they were doing.  To them all they were doing was following orders. They were killing yet another criminal.  There were three right then they were putting to death and to them, not one was different than the other, they were all guilty and sentenced to death. They didn't know, and Jesus did not want them to have the weight of that sin laid to their charge. Jesus wanted His murderers forgiven.

Forgiveness.

Loving our enemies. Doing good to our enemies. Praying for our enemies.  This is all a part of forgiveness. 

We know this--

Mat 6:14  For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you

If we do NOT love our enemies then we do NOT forgive them. If we do NOT forgive them, then we are NOT forgiven.

We can't say we are Christ's and forgiven by Christ, saved by Christ, and continue to hate others, even those others who say we have a right to hate- our enemies.

And our hate is displayed in many ways.

People might think hate is only manifested vehemently, but that's not true. You can hate someone and never express it or show any negative emotion towards them.  You can hate someone simply by ignoring their needs, this is truth. Indifference can be hatred.  We need to LOVE and love is active.  We need to love ALL and hate NONE. We can hate their deeds, but not them.  As we hate the deeds of sin we must love the one sinning and pray for the one sinning just as our Savior loves us and prays for us- sinners.

Our Savior LOVED from the cross, and He LOVED those killing him!

We can scarcely love those who love us, let alone love those who hate us.  Only by the mercy of our Savior and the gift of the Holy Spirit will we be able to love, truly love.

All in HIM ALWAYS IN HIM! OUR SAVIOR, OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.