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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for collecting daily manna), make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Sunday, February 19, 2017
Today's Passage : Subject :Sermon on the Mount - Anger Bible Verse :Matthew 5:21-26 (ESV) "You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.” " Message:
Having told his listeners that the law must still be met, and that their righteousness must exceed that of the holiest Jews of the day, Christ proceeds to illustrate his point: He examines several laws of Moses and, rather than minimizing them, pushes them far beyond the boundaries of their literal meaning. In this first instance, the letter of the law prohibits murder. Jesus recites the law and then digs into the underlying concept, the spirit of the law, to make it even more rigorous!
We know that, eventually, Christ will prove one of the great theological points of his ministry: It is impossible for a human being to act well enough to satisfy God. But the new theological framework that will ultimately arise, finalized by his resurrection, is only one part of the message. He also gives an immediate and concrete moral message. He directly challenges the listener to change.
If you are going to call yourself a Christian, are you ready to change? Do you think you are going to heaven? Well, read what Christ just said:
[E]veryone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
When is the last time you were angry with someone? When was the last time you called somebody an idiot, either to his face, or behind his back, or even just in your mind? For most of us, probably the last time we read a newspaper or drove a car!
For some reason, nobody thinks that they should be punished for violating the law. We complain if we get a traffic ticket. Somehow, our self-righteous brain convinces us that it is unfair for us to get a ticket, even if we were violating the law. But we still have to pay the ticket. And in just the same way, we think our anger is justified and okay. Well guess what? God has a different idea!
We think we are going to heaven when we die. But here, Jesus Christ himself says that people who call others “you fool” are going to hell. And if we are honest, we have done exactly that — and most likely within the last day or two, if not the last hour.
Christ here calls upon every person who would find God to do battle with their own sinful nature. We are to stop criticizing the foolish or irritating words and actions of others and begin to criticize, instead, our own reaction to them.
Anger instead of understanding, irritation instead of acceptance, lashing out instead of making peace — these are the consequences of original sin. And if we are to find heaven, we must, every day with every tool we can muster, fight our anger and self-righteousness. For if we are not willing to try to change ourselves, every day and with all of our power, we are liable for the fires of hell.
Meditation : Prayer : May God Almighty send me his light and truth, to keep this day and all the days of my life. And may His mighty hand protect me, and all my brothers and sisters who have joined me in prayer this day, blessing our homes and our lives. Amen |
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