Sep 30
Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Matthew 5:25
Although Jesus is saying this specifically about working settling disputes with an adversary taking you to court. I think it can also be applied to matters with anyone or anything.
Settle matters quickly with your adversary. Don’t bottle things up. Don’t let things go and think time will heal. Deal with matters quickly! This is connected with the previous command to deal with anger but it is another aspect of it.
We are not just called to deal with anger. We’re called to deal with anger QUICKLY!
So how do you go about obeying this command? I’d love to hear how you do it! Leave a comment below!
Action Point:
So how do you actually go about doing this? Well, just yesterday I got upset at one of the guys that works with me on my team. I said some things in anger and then we went into a prayer/worship time. I was reading a book and praying and felt like God said you need to go apologize to that guy right now!
So I got up, walked over to the guy, tapped him on the shoulder and said “Hey bro, I apologize for getting upset about such and such. I’m sorry”
That’s how I dealt with the anger I had and how I settled the matter quickly.
Sep 17
“”You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift”. Matt 5:21-24
Jesus starts of this command zeroing in on our heart issues. You heard in the past that you shouldn’t murder people. So where does the actual act of murdering come from? It comes from a heart issue of anger. And if you’re angry at your brother you are in danger of judgment!
This should put a little bit of the fear of the Lord in your heart. Anger is basically the same as Murder in the eyes of God. We need to deal with it as such too!
So what does Jesus say to do?
He says to go and deal with this thing even before you spend your time in worship to him. Don’t even worship if you know someone has something against you. Go to that person and be reconciled. Do it right now!
So how do you actually obey this command? I’d love to hear what you do. Leave a comment below…..
Action Points:
It always interests me that if someone has something against us we are called to go and talk to that person, not them come and talk to us. And he says in another verse if we have something against another person we are to take the initiative and go and talk to them.
So we have two options. We can either Go or Go. If you have something against somebody, Go. If someone has something against you, Go.
Sep 14
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matt 5:16
The light we shine is the good works that we do. Good deeds can actually cause people to praise/worship God in heaven. Good deeds, deeds done in the natural can point people to a supernatural God. Good deeds are also salt that preserves the culture here.
Good deeds cause you to shine like a city on a hill. No matter how hard you try. People can’t miss you. Why? Cause you’re doing good!
The word works, especially in John’s writings, refers to the miracle working power of Jesus. One of the other ways you shine your light is to do the works of Jesus which are miracles, signs & wonders.
So how do you go about obeying this command? Leave a comment below letting me know. I’d love to hear what you have to say about letting your light shine.
Action Point:
For me obeying this command and teaching others to obey this command is pretty simple. Do good things! And teach others to do good things!
I remember hearing Dr.Laura on the radio say “Now go do the right thing.”
She summed it up. Do the right thing. Do good things to people and it will be a sign of the goodness of God and it will drive them to praise God in heaven!
Sep 13
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matt 5:12
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. Luke 6:23
The last Beattitude that Jesus gives us is “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Then he says we’re blessed when people insult us and falsely say all kinds of things against us because of Him.
And he then follows it up with this command. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! Why? Because your reward is great in heaven.
This is tough for me to do cause I personally don’t like being insulted and I really really don’t like people saying false things about me. But by saying that I’m proving that I’m looking at the wrong person. Look at that sentence again and notice how many times I use the word “me” or “I” The point of life isn’t “Me/I” it’s him!
We are called to rejoice in the midst of persecution because our reward is in heaven. That’s our focus! What heaven thinks about me trumps what anyone else thinks about me on this planet!
So how do you obey this command on a practical basis? I have a couple opinions but I’d love to hear yours! Leave a comment below and share with me how you go about rejoicing in the midst of persecution.
So on a scale of 1-10 (1 being never, and 10 being all the time) how well do you obey this command?
Action Points:
So how do I go about rejoicing in the midst of persecution?
Like I said I’m not that great at this one but when I do succeed this is what I do.
There’s 3 things that effect your state. Rejoicing is actually a state. Those 3 things are:
- Focus
- Self Talk
- Physiology
If you’re focusing on you and them insulting you, you’re self talk will be something like “how dare they say that to me! Do they know who I am?!” And then your body will reflect the resentment & bitterness that is going on inside of you. And you then reflect that bitter angry state.
So how do you rejoice in that situation? You change at least 1 of those 3 things! If you can change all 3 that’s even better.
Next time someone is persecuting you, just try putting on a huge smile and see what happens to your state.
Or take your thoughts captive and tell yourself “Jesus loves me no matter what these people are saying about me. He thinks I’m the best!”
This is how I go about rejoicing in the midst of a bad situation.
