Thoughts From the Bible

Matthew 6: 13- “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” I think this is one element of prayer we need to do more than we do. This world provides so many temptations that are not good for us as individuals. We need to be aware of the temptations, and we need to pray for God’s strength to refuse those temptations.   Our world continues to provide mor e and more temptations to us, and we need to understand Satan wants to use those temptation to cause weakness in our lives and separate us from God, even if it is just a small separation. Over time, succumbing to these small temptations create greater space between us and God. We need to take this short sentence and incorporate it into our daily prayers so we can be closer to the person God needs for us to be.  

Matthew 6:22-23- The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light., but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! I really think Jesus knew things were going to get harder and harder in the future when it comes to the topic of what we see and what we think about. There were obviously temptations and negative but enticing things when He walked the earth. Our world today has those things in abundance and it is at our fingertips in our cell phones. We can see anything we want and we can read anything we want. Here’s the real deal, we can dwell on anything we want. Jesus is warning us to choose the good and the right over the bad.  We need to work at controlling what we let into our minds and that may require it becoming a matter of prayer for us. Not controlling it can change us as a person. Sometimes control for us may mean complete abstinence. Satan ...

Matthew 6:12- “...and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” One thing we must realize and not forget is that we are sinners and we make mistakes. We make mistakes that impact other people. Sometimes we make mistakes on purpose and sometimes th ey are mistakes we are not fully aware. Jesus wants us to pray for forgiveness of the sins we commit. This is not a situation where God is wanting to keep His thumb on us, but it is a situation that we need to make sure we are mindful of our actions and mindful of our motivations. The other part of this verse is also good for us because, God forgives us and expects us to forgive others. God wants us to be continually mindful of our need to forgive others because we all possess the frailties of life and need to work to emulate the grace He has given us. He wants us to talk with Him about the things we may have done and the things others may have done to us.

  Matthew 6: 19-21-  We love things. We have storage facilities by the dozens for people to store all the stuff they  have but do not want to part with. Jesus tells us all those things are not as important as what we  do for Him. “ Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and  where thieves break in and  steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither  moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your heart is,  there your heart will be also.”   Again, this is an issue of the heart and what our motivation is to do  things for other people as if  we are doing them directly to Jesus. Jesus is wanting our hearts focused on the things that  are important to Him.  We need to guard ourselves also about thinking this is about doing works for Jesus and doing all those works earning us a special place in heaven. It’s not that either. We  a...

Matthew 6: 9- 10 - Sometimes new Christians say they do not know how to pray. That is a fair statement. Sometimes, Christians do not know how to pray.   As Jesus begins what we call the Lord’s Prayer, He gives us the example we should follow when we pray.   “Pray then like this; Our Father in heaven, hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Our first thought in prayer should be to praise God for who He is and His greatness that we cannot fully comprehend . Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Matthew 6: 16-18- “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who i s in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Why do people fast? Fasting is where we forego eating food or limiting what we drink and spend that time in prayer for a specific thing in our lives. There are those people who see fasting as taking an extra step toward being close to God and it can be that. However, Jesus is warning us that fasting is someth ing that should be done in private and we should wear the fact we are fasting on our public sleeves so people will think we are more holy than others. God would have us fast and spend that time focused on Him and His wor d and in doing this, actually draw closer to Him. So much of our pr...

Matthew 6: 14- 15- “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” This is self-explanatory but I feel there is a little more to it than simply forgiving others who may offend us in some way. We need to develop an attitude of forgiveness. When Peter asked Jesus how much s hould he forgive someone who offends him, in Matthew 18: 22 , “Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’” Jesus wants us to have an attitude of forgiveness so we can be the peacemakers God needs us to be in this life.  

Matthew 6:1 1 - “ Give us this day our daily bread...” After we have praised God for who He is, Jesus shows us to pray for our needs. This is obviously more than food although daily food was a key part of each day when Jesus walked the earth. God wants us to pray for those things in our lives that we need day-to-day. That can include helping us in o ur work or in finding work. It can mean asking for direction if we were considering a different job. It can mean asking for God’s guidance if we have a decision to make that impacts our daily income. Also, keep in mind talking to God in specifics is good for us. Some like to pray in generalities but specifics are good. We can pray, “God, help me to know if I should apply for this other job.” We can pray for the Holy Spirit to give us guidance when we are wanting to make the right decision on daily things, even if we are in a situation where we have limited funds and need to purchase something and need to decide what to buy. God wants t...

Matthew 6: 5- 8 - This is such a good passage of scripture for new Christians. Pr ayer is something that is sometimes difficult for people when it can be as simple as a conversation with God. Jesus said in verses 5-8, “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in th e synagogues and a t the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not he ap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Too many times, we hear people pray in group settings and the prayer is used to thank other people or to editorialize during the pray to God. We should be staying f ocused on the conversation with...

  Matthew 6: 1- 4- “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no re w ard from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret . And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ” There are some people who have concerns about their legacies. They do not want people to forget them. One way to try to extend their memory in others is to give sums of money to organizations with the expectation that person’s name will be placed on the gift. Whether it is a food pantry, medical school building or academic chair or building, they desperate ly want to be remembered.  Most organizations ar...

Read Matthew 5: 43- 48- We live in an ever-increasing polarized society. There are very few in the middle. Because of the dynamics of people largely living on opposite ends of the spectrum, it has given rise to varying degrees of hatred amo ng people. It seems we have too many people living by the old saying, “If you are not for me, you are against me.” Jesus changed the narrative on how we are to approac h other people, especially those against us. Verses 44 and 45 say, “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you maybe sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good and sen ds rain on the just and on the unjust.” Jesus has given us the responsibility to be the peacemakers.  He expects to be the ones who take the extra effort to make sure relationships are positive in order for our testimony of the love of God stands true. Does that mean we accept everything someone does who we do not feel...

Matthew 5: 38- 42- “ You have heard said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would s ue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.” There is something within us that wants to get back at someone who has hurt us or who has done something wrong to us. We want retribution. We want the other person to pay for what they did to us. Jesus is telling us we must change the way we think about wrongs against us. Jesus is telling us it is not our place to get back at someone . We are to let it go.  Jesus will be the one who will balance the situation, not us. I said balance the situation because we, in our infinite wisdom, probably don’t know how best to get the other person or p...

Read Matthew 5: 33- 37 - “But I say to you, do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is His footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.” Our conversation and speech can become very dramatic and grandiose as we work to get people’s attention. Common language sometimes gets lost in the cacophony of voices that get loud and outrageous trying desperately to get people to listen to them. Jesus is telling us to control how we commit to people through our speech. We are not to swear we will do one thing or another. Our word should be more direct and simpler . Jesus tells us in verse 37, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil. ” Jesus wants our motivation to be pure and simple , and He wants our word of commitment to another to be forthright also.