Our lack of forgiving.... Cost of Discipleship Pt 80

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

Bonhoeffer- 'Every day Christ's followers must acknowledge and bewail their guilt. Living as they do in fellowship with him, they ought to be sinless, but in practice their life is marred daily with all manner of unbelief, sloth in prayer, lack of bodily discipline, self-indulgence of every kind, envy, hatred and ambition. No wonder that they must pray daily for God's forgiveness. But God will only forgive them if they forgive one another with readiness and brotherly affection. Thus they bring all their guilt before God and pray as a body for forgiveness. God forgive not merely me MY DOUBTS, but US OURS.'

My thoughts--

Our Savior tells us to pray-

Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

We NEED to be forgiven, without forgiveness we have NO hope at all whatsoever!

Yet we must forgive others.

We NEED our sins forgiven daily and that means we have to forgive others daily.

We need to forgive all the sins of others towards us. All the anger directed towards us, all the insults, all the irritations, all the ire that is expressed in the thousands of ways it is given to us, we must forgive. From the TINIEST annoyance, to the BIGGEST grievance. We MUST forgive.  We can't wait to only forgive the worst of sins committed against us. We have to forgive every single one! We MUST! To do otherwise   would mean that our sins tiny and huge will not be forgiven. It's IMPOSSIBLE to expect forgiveness that we in no way deserve, if we will not extend forgiveness to others who in NO WAY deserve it! That is the entire center of forgiveness- it is UNDESERVED!

All too often our first response to the trespass against us irritation, it's almost automatic. The moment we feel that irritation we've stopped loving our neighbor, our brother. And the forgiveness we need for THAT trespass in response to their trespass, is just as important if we'd been the one to commit the first trespass.

We need to be FORGIVING and yet we are so far from FORGIVING.

Did our Savior first get angry at the woman who was caught in adultery before forgiving her? Did He, in fury respond to those possessed by demons before forgiving them and casting out the demons? Did He first get irritated with any before the forgiveness He gave? On the cross, did He spit and howl at His murderers before asking His Father to forgive them? NO! He  forgave them NEVER sinning before doing so!

Our Savior is our example in all things.

We need to be FORGIVING of OTHERS! Truly FORGIVING of OTHERS and not begrudgingly forgiving but INSTANT in forgiving! If not instant we need to ask for forgiveness for our own lack of forgiving compassion.  That's what it really is. Recognizing the need of forgiveness. To forgive we must recognize our need to forgive and as soon as we are shown that need, we must forgive! To allow our responses to be instant in anger and retaliation rather than love and compassion resulting in forgiveness, is wrong of us and we truly need to ask our Savior to open our hearts, our spiritual eyes to the need of forgiving others- instantly, and if not instantly then as soon as we are convicted that we need to forgive them. And we may even need to ask forgiveness from them for our lack of forgiving them and our sinful response to their sin towards us. 

Remember this…

Mat 18:21  Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
Mat 18:22  Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

We NEED TO FORGIVE!

We need to learn to forgive and the first step is recognizing our need to forgive. Those who are HURTING us with their sinning against us do NOT deserve our response of sinning in return.  We NEED to FORGIVE them! 

Is this what our Savior means when we are turning the other cheek? When we are giving not only our cloak but our coat as well? When we are not only walking one mile but five, ten, fifteen? When we are reviled, and ridiculed, persecuted and in response we only …. LOVE?  

Please LORD, please help us to FORGIVE, because it's only THROUGH YOU we can FORGIVE.

Fed by God - Cost of Discipleship Pt 79

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.


"Give us this day our daily bread."

Bonhoeffer-  'As long as the disciples are upon earth they should not be ashamed to pray for their bodily needs. He who created man on earth will keep and preserve their bodies.

The disciples realize that while it is a fruit of the earth , bread really comes down from above as the gift of God alone. That is why they have to ask for it before they take it. And since it is the bread of God, it is new every day. They do not ask to lay up a store for the future, but are satisfied with what God gives them day by day. Through that bread their lives are spared a little longer, that they may enjoy life in fellowship with Jesus, praising and thanking him for his loving-kindness. This petition is a test of their faith, for it shows whether they believe that all things work together for good to them that love God.'

Rom_8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

My thoughts-

'Give us this day our daily bread'

Gen_3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Exo_25:30  And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.

Exo_16:4  Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

Joh_6:35  And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

Bread throughout the Bible has had various meanings, but it has always meant some sort of NOURISHMENT be it PHYSICAL or SPIRITUAL.

People good and evil can live on physical food, but only those who feed on spiritual food will live eternally.  If you do NOT feed on SPIRITUAL food you will starve to death SPIRITUALLY.

Our God says that we will eat BREAD until we die. Bread that is grown from the seeds planted in the ground sprouting into plants getting all the nutrients from the soil, the dirt, the dust.  And we KNOW it's a FACT that cannot ever be disputed, we HAVE to eat to live!  And before people go off about all liquid diets, or IV fluids etc… I know factually having dealt with someone on an IV only for and extended period of time, that they put NUTRIENTS into those ivs, it's not mere water and nothing more. Also, your liquid diets usually consist of things like protein shakes and such, again, not merely water.  You cannot live on water alone, you can't it's impossible.  Anyone disputing our need to eat to live has taken the wrong side and can never win that argument. 

God had BREAD set up in His holy temple (the example of His HEAVENLY temple). Bread in HIS HOLY TEMPLE! BREAD!  HOLY BREAD!  SPIRITUAL BREAD reserved for the priests, those who would bring the HOLY WORD of GOD to the people. 

BREAD was rained from heaven for God's people!  God sustained His people physically and spiritually!

JESUS SAID- 'I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE'  

Jesus the BREAD OF LIFE!  THE SPIRITUAL BREAD we ALL need to live eternally in HIM!

Is it any wonder we are to pray- 'Give us this day our daily bread'? 

We need our DAILY bread and we need it given to us by GOD!

GIVE TO US BY GOD!

BREAD FROM GOD!

We only live by the GRACE of GOD!

Truly we need spiritual nourishment EVERYDAY.  We should NEVER fast spiritually!  Jesus told us to pray for our DAILY BREAD.  We cannot lose sight of this, we can't.

GOD will give us our daily bread. God will give us all we need to live in HIM and this is what we have to trust in, believe in, have faith in! 

DAILY SPIRITUAL FOOD from GOD, as well as our physical food- all provided by GOD. 

People who are starving physically- may be in that situation for reasons unknown to us- but God will NEVER withhold our SPIRITUAL food if we are sincere in our desire to be fed BY HIM spiritually!

Remember this--

Rev_3:20  Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

TRUTH!

ALL BY HIS AMAZING GRACE and LOVE!

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!