"Seek first the Kingdom of God, above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you ALL that you need."
Matthew 6:33
Summary...
I have always loved and appreciated verses 7 & 8 in Matthew 7. What a promise from our Heavenly Father that basically tells us if we annoy Him enough He will give in, and grant us what we ask for! Do you have that verse memorized because that is a life verse...a verse you will need for the rest of your life to remember! I love how Jesus talks about the gifts that earthly parents give...verses 9-10, and compares it to God and how we can trust Him. We can know God will always take care of us, even better than our earthly parents, thank You for that Lord.
The Golden Rule...we have been learning this since we were in pre-school haven't we. But for some reason we, as people, really struggle to put others before ourself. Jesus tells us in the 2nd part of verse 12...that this Golden Rule is a summary of all that is taught in the law and the prophets! The Golden Rule, if we can focus on it and live it out, is what the Bible is all about. So I ask you again...Do you have this "life verse" memorized?
The Narrow Gate...Being a follower of Jesus is not the popular thing to do. It is surely the road less traveled, and we must remember that in our walks. As you go about living your life, ask yourself...am I traveling the narrow road right now? Let me ask you, are you willing to leave the popular road, to follow Jesus on the narrow road? For Christ tells us that the narrow road is "difficult"...is the road your traveling on difficult right now?
Fruit...We have so many fakers in the faith! I'll be the first to admit that I am a faker, meaning I am not perfect and yet i am trying to follow a Man who was. I can not cut it, His righteousness is unatainable on my own...I NEED HIM! The problem is that today there are too many Christ followers who live and act like they do not need Jesus...these are the ones who are the real fakers! Jesus tells us how to know who is living it out and who isn't...He says look at the fruit from their life. He says in verse 18 "a good tree can not produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can not produce good fruit." What kind of fruit are you producing in your life?
Building Your life upon Christ...Probably one of my biggest fears is hearing my Lord say to me..."depart from me for I never knew you!" That statement keeps me up at night. Reread verses 21-23, Jesus is warning us that there will be some who swear they know God but when the day comes Jesus will ask them to depart from Him because He does not know them! Jesus says the key not to hear that said to you is to do the will of our Father!
Our Lord then talks about building on a solid foundation! Jesus says there are 2 types of builders, the first is the one who builds on a solid foundation and the second is the foolish builder who builds their life on the sand! At first this story is funny, or atleast it was for me as I asked myself who would really build their life in the sand. But then God began to bring to my mind faces of friends that are doing simply just that...building their lives upon sand! The story goes from one that used to be funny to one that is heart-breaking! We have to build our lives on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ!
Questions...
- What is the fruit Jesus is looking for in our lives...look at Galatians5:22?
- What happens to a tree, or life, that does not produce fruit?
- What is one of your greatest fears in life?
- Do you like to annoy God when it comes to your prayer life? What does a verse like Matthew 7:7-8 mean to you as a follower of Jesus?
- We read the golden rule in this chapter...Matthew 7:12. I want you to think and pray about something you can do for somebody else that would really bless them! Really pray about it, ask God to show you what He would have you do, and then do it in love for the other person. Once God has told you what He would like for you to do, share it with everyone so we can celebrate it and pray for you!!!
In Jesus Name...Amen
tom
3 comments:
Hey whats up guys it s Ryan. According to Jesus the kind of fruit that we all need in our lives is love,joy,peace,patience,kindness,goodness,faithfulness,gentleness, and self-control. I will admit that there are some things listed that i struggle with i and i realize that it is just part of being a Christ follower because it is "difficult". I just continue to pray and work hard at fixing areas in my life that need to be tuned up.
If a tree or life cannot produce fruit it is severed from or disconnected from God. Jesus also talks about this in John 15:4.
I would have to say one of my greatest fears in life is what Jesus talks about in verses 22-23 about God saying "depart from me for i never knew you". That just scares me to death! God alone scares me because of his great power like that!
There are several things i feel like i have annoyed God with in prayer. Like now for instance, i feel like i shouldnt be praying for God to help me out with getting a Bass guitar this sunday but i know that God would want me to pray about it so He would guide me to the right place to get the Bass. I know though because i am human i have that feeling of "is this really worthy of praying about?". I know now though that i should be praying about everything! In Matthew, verses 7-8 really do make a life impact on me because i know that it is true. John 15:7 declares it as well that if we remain in Him and His words remain in us we can ask for whatever we want and it will be granted. That type of declarity really makes me want to know God and His word even more because it reassures me that he has my back as long as i stay close to him. I just love it when i come accross verses like this it makes me want to jump out of me computer chair and go serve and glorify God somehow right now!
I think as far as what it says in verse 12 i have already been led to soemthing before i had even prayed for God to lead me to do something that would serve somebody. I just finished today cutting the lawn in the backyard and pulling a ton of weeds in the backyard too! I know my Dad usually does it when i am in the house in the AC, but now i decided to do it before he got home from work so he has one less thing to worry aout this weekend so he can do something that he wants to do instead of being stuck home taking care of things i could be doing for him.
Thank you Lord for helping me turn around and head down the narrow path once again. I want to declare to the enemy now that not only the people doing this study but my Heavenly Father all have my back and will take you down quicker than you can ever imagine. Lord please guide me and all my friends and those who are doing this study down your narrow path. Help us all be the change! Lord please bless us all and keep us safe and in your word.
In Jesus' name.....Amen
Enjoy!
Ryan
"Seek first the Kingdom above all else, live righteously, and He will give you everything you need." Matthew 6:33
Fruit 5:22 way: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I must say I struggle with gentleness the most. My family is not gentle we're blunt. Gentleness is key to be able to talk to someone with out shoving Jesus down their throat. Gentleness is also needed to empathize... neither of which I believe I am good at.
The tree dies if it doesn't produce good fruit. I don't want to die in my faith, that's my biggest fear. Not believing God. My fear is the same as Tom's and Ryan's.
I am annoying in life as it is, so I am annoying in my prayer life a lot of the time. Like getting a job, I've been praying for this job interview when I filled out my application, I have no idea if I got it or not but I want it and I prayed for it. I've had some really close family members pass away and all I could do was cling to the cross because I had no one to cling to. God is crazy like that, making sure the only place left is him if your heart is in the right place. I know the more I pray I find myself full of joy and peace knowing that God is answering my pray in some mysterious way like He did this past week on Wednesday and Thursday.
God thank-you for your righteousness. You are so powerful and can lead us through anything. You are bigger than anything my mind can imagine. Glory to you. I pray for this bible study to change at least one life, and it is worth it completely. :) God I pray for each person that is on her learning and striving to be your follower that they would live out your will for each of their lives, mine included. I love you Lord. Amen.
I love you all... I'm praying for you.
-Mars.
The fruit that God is looking for, as Ryan and Mars said, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. If a tree, or life does not produce fruit, it is disconnected from God, and thrown into the pit of fire. I would say my worst fear is the same as Tom, Ryan and Marissa, being told by God that he never knew me, and him telling me to go away. Being rejected by God. Verses 7 and 8 give me hope, that God will never leave me, and all I have to do is ask, seek and knock.
Jesus, I just come to you right now and thank you for saving me, for making me whole again. I can't imagine where I would be if you didn't, but I know it wouldn't be a pretty place. I love you Jesus, and I pray that you bless all those doing this study, and that you move in our lives, and I pray that you draw us closer to You, Lord. Amen
Post a Comment