The Lord’s Prayer
11:1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say:
“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread,
4 and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Jesus and Beelzebul
14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. 15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” 16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. 18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; 22 but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. 23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
Return of an Unclean Spirit
24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”
True Blessedness
27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
The Sign of Jonah
29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
The Light in You
33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”
Woes to the Pharisees and Lawyers
37 While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. 38 The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. 39 And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”
45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” 46 And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. 48 So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. 52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”
53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, 54 lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say. (ESV)
2He said to them, “When you pray, say: ” ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
3Give us each day our daily bread.
4Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ”
This prayer is recited, I think, muliply times a day by Catholics and some Christians. This prayer is filled with essential concepts we need to reconize and do. But if we only spit out the words without thinking about the true meaning and concepts in the prayer, it is not true prayer. True prayer is spoken with humilty before our Creator and it is filled with our praise and gratitude for who He is and what he has done in our lives. When we have earnest and faithful prayer times we will see results, not always receiving the answer that we wanted but he has and will always listen to every prayer to Him. But whenever God has answered our prayers we should be filled with gratitude and continually praise his name throughout the day and in our other prayers. The Psalms are filled with so many verses related to prayer and it is great to read through some of the verses talking about the topic of prayer.
4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ”
If we cannot forgive others who sin against us then why do we deserve forgiveness of God??? God forgives our sins when we ask for it.
Kets say your sibling comes along and takes something without asking, then breaks it. You would be mad and would want to hold a grudge against him/her. You should forgive! We have done so many worse things against God and he has forgiven us. Why cant we follow that example and do the same???
9″So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
I wonder how much I miss out on in life because I fail to truly grasp the importance of taking everything to the Lord in prayer. Jesus tells the disciples to pray boldly. Likewise, I should be praying knowing that Jesus promises that when we pray for things in his name (within his will) they will be granted to us!
Great comments you guys, they were super encouraging!
13If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
I love how in this verse that Jesus doesn’t say “great gifts” or “give you the best”, but He says that He will give us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the greatest blessing/gift we could ever recieve! It teaches, rebukes, purifies, gives, and praises God with us; it is Christ within us! It is way more valuable than anything the world can give us, and it is an eternal blessing! Our God is so good to us!
42″Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
The Pharisees were ultra religious, obeying the law of Moses to the ticky tackiest degree. Jesus is unimpressed by their religiousity and even condemns them for it because they are so concerned with laws and rituals that they have neglected the most importnat thing…a heart change. At Revival ’08 we learned that our spiritual resumes did not impress God and did not earn us salvation. Jesus could care less about how long we’ve attended Christian school, how godly our parents are, or how regular we are at attending church. None of that matters if we have not had a change of heart and turned to God in repentance and faith. This verse is a stern warning to anyone who is trying to impress God and others with his religion. God cares not about religion, but He cares about our relationship with Him that is born out of a changed heart!
1One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2He said to them, “When you pray, say: ” ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
3Give us each day our daily bread.
4Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ”
So much of the time when I pray, I am thinking about what I want, but when Jesus taught his disciples to pray, it was first about God, and then about asking for what we need to live and to please him. If I spend time in prayer praising God for who he is and what he’s done, and asking for his kingdom to come, a lot of the things I want don’t seem so important any more and that’s how it should be.
2He said to them, “When you pray, say: ” ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
3Give us each day our daily bread.
4Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ”
Great comment in this verse, vsunshine! I remember hearing this prayer recited when I was a little girl by my grandmother who was Catholic at the time (but she’s now a Christian!!!). This reminded me of Matthew 6:7-8, “And when you pray, do you not use vain repetitions as the heathens do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him”. The prayer in these verses (Luke 11:2-4) are not meant to be vainly repeated, because that isn’t real prayer. Vanessa gave a great description of prayer, no use rephrasing it here. :)
5Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
6because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’
7″Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’
8I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
I love the parable that Jesus gives on persistance. It is not only important that we never cease to pray, but it is also important that we are always persistant and bold in what we pray for. As the following verses say, God will answer our prayers, so we must just keep asking, seeking and knocking. :)
FALL FEST IS TONIGHT!!!
2He said to them, “When you pray, say: ” ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
3Give us each day our daily bread.
4Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ”
I remember when i was a little girl i would say this prayer every night with my dad, but i had no idea what i was saying, just that it sounded good and i thought i was a christian. I never really thought about it until, i think Bobby, broke it down step by step and explained it all. After that, i thought so much more of it and how it is so deep and such a serious prayer.
10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
11″Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?
12Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
13If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
What an awesome outlook on prayer, in verse 10 it talks about how if we ask we shall reciece and those who seek will find. This i believe is referring to us praying. But we need to also remember that this is true when we are praying out of Gods word, or praying Gods will. If we are praying selfishly God is probably less inclined to anwer our prayers. But if we are praying for His will, then God will surely answer us.
I also like how verses 11, 12, and 13 are totally encouraging. Here it is making a father to son analogy, like Bobby did in the sermon from this week. But here it is referring to how a father wants to give his son everything that he needs. This is so true in our world today, and verse 13 totally makes the point that in an evil and corrupt world this is happening, so why should we expect anything less from our Holy and Perfect Father. We can fully trust that our Father knows what is best for us! How encouraging!!
23″He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.
There is no middle ground with Christ. If you are not actively for Christ you are against him. Bobby has preached this time and again in True North. But this is what is ailing the church so much in America today. So many people think that they can just sit on the fence and not be actively for Jesus but that they will be OK when they die or when he come again because they went to church or were basically a “good” person. This verse shatters those false hopes. We need to be radical for Christ.
9″So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
This verse is about prayer, we should have faith in God that if we ask Him, he will do it. We need to be praying continually, knocking on the door seeking for the oppurtunity to happen!
2He said to them, “When you pray, say: ” ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
3Give us each day our daily bread.
4Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ”
When I think of how I pray, at times they can be weaksauce prayers compared to these amazing verses. When we pray, we should step back from the selfish prayers, and start praying with the right motivations and pray for God’s will, and being okay with whatever it is. It should be about praising God and glorifying him! Now when I pray, I think of how I can serve others and please the Lord!
9″So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
This is such a great chapter! I love these verses! We need to seek the Lord and strive to become more Christ-like! I agree with Bre, this is such a great outlook on prayer!
52″Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”
How horrible would it be if we, like the experts in the law, prevented others from repenting because we were being hypocritical. This just gives me even a greater motivation to represent Christ in everything I do, because it would be so much greater to see people saved than know that you are responsible for them not repenting.
15But some of them said, “By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons”
It is so sad to see how some of the people who saw Jesus do miracles were so blinded and hard hearted.
28He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
I love this verse, it is sooo simple and straight to the point!! WHAT is the point of reading God’s word if we do not obey it?!?!? This is a MAGNIFICENT reminder to really STUDY God’s word and apply it to our lives instead of just reading through it. We need to meditate on it throughout the day so that we may better represent Christ in our lives through our actions! :D
42″Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
From this verse on, there are many “woe to you” statements from Jesus. This reminds me of the sermon two weeks ago when Jesus said woe to three cities. Woe is great destruction and troubles! The Pharisees were hypocrites and Jesus said woe to them. God would bring destruction upon them for this. We need to check our hearts and make sure we aren’t hypocrites like the Pharisees and are instead living a life glorifying to God!
28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
I agree with Sarah! Reading the Bible and knowing what it says will not help us at all if we do not apply it. In fact, the more we know, the worse it is for us if we do not put it into practice (Jesus’ woes on Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum from a previous chapter). We are blessed at Compass to have great Biblical teaching, but we as members of that church need to take what we hear and apply it. And it shouldn’t be something that is hard to do or that makes our life less fun; Jesus says in this verse that people who do so are BLESSED! This should be an encouragement to us to be studying God’s Word on a deeper level and making sure our lives reflect Christ and what we are commanded to do in the Bible.
8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Echoing Bre, we need to be praying with boldness and confidence; like we KNOW it will happen. The analogy used here is one of a man banging on his neighbors door in the middle of the night, he won’t stop until he gets the food that he needs. We need to be constantly praying and imploring God to open doors for us to evangelize, and then take those doors with boldness, and we need to be praying and asking that we would see revival and repentance and new christians!! Because (to steal a line from field of dreams), if we pray it, they will come to repentance! So lets be knocking and asking God to work in peoples hearts and bring them into His kingdom!!!
7″Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’
Everytime read over this passage, I think of the sermon Bobby did on it when he was using that analogy of his. When he’s like, “If Ty came up to my house in the middle of the night and asked for bread I would be like, ‘No bro, no way man, my family is sleeping right now.’ ” classic Bobby classic. But I think I remember it because I would do the same thing. Yet, Jesus gives us the things that we want, no matter when we ask. I thought that was interesting. We can never show that same love that God shows us but through the Holy Spirit, we are able show God’s love to others. The only reason why we are able to show kindness towards others is because of our Heavenly Father. God says, “Ask and it will be given you.” Even though we don’t deserve it, we get life and that’s something to rejoice about! :D
28He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
29As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.
I find verse 29 to be soo true, especially when evangelizing to those who believe in evolution. their hearts are so hardened, that they think of Christianity and miracles as being a magic show, its rediculous! they dont understand the true meaning of having a relationship with Christ. Actually yesterday at school I was talking to this boy in my anatomy class and he continuously asked why God doesnt come down in front of him and perform miracles….and if He did, then thats when he would believe in God and follow him, etc. Our world is so wicked.how random of a thought was that, that entered his head!i would have never guessed that someone would have such a mindset as to only believe if God performed miracles like raising his dog from the dead or something rediculous like that.We should be prepared for crazy questions such as those….we need to be really digging deep into Gods Word daily and we need to continue praying for boldness as this world continues to become more and more wicked!
Okay I could just camp on this chapter for days! So much wisodom packed into one chapter I really dont know where to begin.
I love that Jesus gives us a model for prayer, gives us encouragement for boldness, reminds us of our gift of the Holy Spirit, God’s goodness, and exhortation to be obedient!.
The Lord always knows whatwe need even better than we do.
28He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
39Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
40You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?
This verse perfectly describes those people who are trying to work their way to heaven. They are focused on making themselves appear righteous and moral, but their heart is truly wicked and self-focused. The Bible makes it clear that God is not like man and is not deceived by man’s appearance; he sees the true man. However, through Christ, the inner man (heart) can be cleaned. Through this cleansing, the character and attitude of the changed man will be reflected on the outside too.
39Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
mmmm this is an awesome rebuke by Jesus… we need to be honest with ourselves, and examine what our true motives for being a Christian are. are we doing it for our own glory, to make friends? or are we doing it because we are on fire for Jesus Christ, and doing everything for God’s glory. we may be able to fool our peers and pastors on our faith, but God knows our hearts, and it will be a grim day when Christ says “away from me you evildoer, i never knew you.” i remember before i became a Christian i was a little angel on Sundays, but when i went to school and i had no accountablilty i was horrible. we need to keep each other accountable as well as ourselves to make sure we are tracking with what Christ commands.
4Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ”
My grandma and grandpa go to a lutheran church and they dont like to God might lead someone into temptation if they didnt tell him not to, so they say “save us from the time of trial” instead of “lead us not into temptation” Does that mean the same thing and if not is it okay to change it like that?
Also this verse is really good to tell the on-the-fence Christians who dont know who’s side their on 23″He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.
42″Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
This is what is happening to many Christians in the world-they give God gifts, maybe add in a few good deeds too, but thats it. they dont really follow God’s Word, whether or not they do know about it. All of us are either wit God, or Against Him. there is NEVER a common ground;at the middle of any religion.
either you got it , or you dont.
31The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.
32The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.
Here Jesus claims to be greater than both Solomon and Jonah. For the Jews listening to Him, this was an incredible statement. It’s amazing how some people today say that Jesus never claimed to be God. A lot of people think He was just a good teacher…a good moral “man.” This is just one of many times Jesus makes bold statements like this…altogether they add up to Jesus saying He is God in human flesh.
33″No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light.
We have to be a light to the world and so that people will recognize that we are following Jesus Christ. People will know by our fruits and the way we live our life. Lets live as lights in a dark world producing a lot of fruit.
Wow!!! I think Luke wrote such long chapters because he knew true north would do SOTD. Another loaded chapter full of amazing examples of our Lord and saviours perfect life. I read this at work in the lunch room, which was cool.
I hope you all had an amazing time at fall fest? I don’t know how many thousands of people were there but lets hope we see attendance at church grow.
10:00 PM News: Fall Fest goes off tonight at the Aliso Viejo Town Center!
Great to see so many of you there…but I hope you will still hit up SOTD when you get home!
2He said to them, “When you pray, say: ” ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
Prayer…how are we doing at prayer? Are we getting down our knees and pleading with God every day. Notice the disciples were eager to learn how to pray. And in this verse Jesus teaches them how. It starts with God, a high view of who he is and asking him to do great things for his glory. Let’s be praying like this at True North! Let’s pray that the name of God would be lifted high and exalted because of our little ministry! Let’s pray that we will see his kingdom come as many more students get saved! And of course, don’t forget…MARANATHA!!!
34Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness.
As our Creator Jesus would know that 70% of all the sensory receptors in the human body are found in the eye and that over 40% of our cerebral cortex (brain) is devoted to the sense of vision. Clearly, this is our dominant sense. Thus we should be very careful about what we look at. Things we see on a movie, TV show, advertisement, magazine, newspaper, web page, etc. can easily corrupt our spiritual walk. We would all be better off looking less at what is going on around us in this world and spending more time applying Hebrews 12:2.
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
9″So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Jesus is trying to tell his disciples that they must first as the Lord for things before they will be given.
11″Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
I love how this talks about what God will do for us if we just ask. Its simple all we have to do is come before him and he will give us everything we need. It may not be what we want or think we want but in the end its exactly what we needed.
5Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
6because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’
7″Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’
8I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9″So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
I think that these verses would be very helpful to someone who thinks that God would never help them. So many people think that they have done so many wrong things or something so bad that God will never forgive them, but it says right here that we only need to ask, and it will be given to us.
33″No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light.
34Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness.
35See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.
36Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.”
This reminds me of how Pastor Bobby has been teaching about the difference between rehab and repentance. We need to change on the inside to change on the outside. These verses also show that everything we do is pointless unless it is done for the right motivation.
13If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
this verse is super encouraging because that is true, we think we enjoy worldly gifts so much, wait untill we recieve our rewards from our heavenly father! What a great incentive to be doing everything we can for God!!
28.) He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
Just to reiterate what Sarah and Mike said, so many times we hear what the Word says or read it and don’t even bother to think about it. We get “too busy” to be really diving into God’s Word and understanding what it means and how we can apply it to our lives. We need to make more of an effort to meditate on God’s Word and realize what it means to apply it to our daily lives.
45One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.”
46Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
Being a Christian isn’t about following a bunch of rules. Following rules is called religion. The Christian walk is all about your relationship with Jesus Christ. You either know him or you don’t. IN or Out, there is no inbetween. If you are a child of God then that means you love him. And if we truly love Christ we will obey his commands and they will not be burdensome to us. Meaning it won’t be a big deal to follow God’s commands because our love is so great we want to please him in everything. Even obeying the commands we don’t like so much.
28He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
This verse really struck me it is so simple yet man has made it so complex. Here Christ says that those who hear the word of God and obey it are blessed. It is so easy to hear God’s word today and yet not obey it. I know I have even given an excuse for why I can’t obey, but the simple truth is that we are called to obey the word of God, and if we do we will be blessed. Lets obey Gods word the first time we hear it and not be lazy or try to make an excuse why we can’t.
53When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions,
54waiting to catch him in something he might say.
We have to be above reproach!! If we call ourselves christians people cannot find fault in us. If we rebuke someone people CANNOT see us doing it or else we are hipocrites and liars, therefore misrepresenting Christ. Pretty scary huh?
Wow daniel pretty insightful! i loved what you said, it is so true…being a hypocrite is such a turn off to non christians. We need to be on top of things and living our lives above reproach!! We need to be living out our christian lives 24 7. THis puts a lot of preasure on us to be representing christ well!
so i wrote it down but now i want to put it online!
We need to being living our lives for the Lord. We need to be christians every waking moment of our lives, not when we choose too.
Hope everyone had a happy halloween :)