OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 14

The Lord Jesus gave an anatomy lesson in Mathew chapter 6 verses 22 - 23;

Vew International Version

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

English Standard Version

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 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!

In this teaching, I believe that the Lord is speaking strictly of the spirtual eye and the bible versions e.g. ESV that refer to the eye as singular are the correct ones.

The physical body, having no perception sensors with which to detect things of the spirit, must rely on the proper functiong of the spiritual eye to know the things of the spirit.

If our spiritual eye is in good condition, our physical body is infused with light of the spiritual realm and spiritual entities that would try to inhabit our physical body are displaced by the light and we can live free of demonic influence over our bodies.

If our eye is bad, our bodies remain in darkness and it is in this condition that demonic entities  can thrive in our bodies.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN IS SOVEREIGN

From Psalm 115

Our God in heaven

Ever worthy of our praise

We will extol You

All our days

Our God in heaven

Sovereign are Your ways  

Glory and honor To Your name

Sovereign are Your ways  

Glory and honor to Your name

Psalm 115

1 Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.

2 Why do the nations say, "Where is their God?"

3 Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.

4 But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands.

5 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see.

6 They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell.

7 They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats.

8 Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.

9 All you Israelites, trust in the Lord' he is their help and shield.

10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord' he is their help and shield.

11 You who fear him, trust in the Lord' he is their help and shield.

12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us: He will bless his people Israel, he will bless the house of Aaron,

13 he will bless those who fear the Lord' small and great alike.

14 May the Lord cause you to flourish, both you and your children.

15 May you be blessed by the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

16 The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind.

17 It is not the dead who praise the Lord, those who go down to the place of silence;

18 it is we who extol the Lord, both now and forevermore.

Praise the Lord.

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 13

The Lord Jesus,  teaching His followers how to optimize their lives in His spiritual kiwangdom, cautions them against accumulating material wealth in the temporal realm. Mathew chapter 6 verses 19 - 21 reads this way;

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Whereas valuables on earth would be subject to degradation, corrosion, corruption and theft, the accumulating spiritual valuables in heaven is guaranteed not to depreciate because they are not subject to destruction and burglary.

If we fixate our minds to the accumulation of earthly wealth, our hearts will be entangled in the things of the earth and remain lodged in the things of the flesh. 

Conversely, if we set about deliberately doing the things that accumulate spiritual value in heaven, beyong a certain threshhold, our hearts will be elevated into heaven and will increasingly operate in the spiritual realm.

Let us heed our Lord's counsel and turn our eyes upon the things of His kingdom.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 12

Continuing on the theme of living a discreet spiritual life, the Lord Jesus teaches His followers to takes steps  to ensure that other people do not know that they are fasting.

Whereas the hypocrites make sure that their fasting is overt noticable to incurr admiration from others, Jesus advised His people to erase traces of fasting from their appearance so that only our Father in heaven knows about it.

Mathew chapter 6 verses 16 - 18 says this;

16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 11

The Lord Jesus, in Mathew chapter 6 verses 14 - 15, expands on a concept that was introduced in the prayer He had just taught His followers.

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

This corresponds to Mathew chapter 6 verse 12 that says;

12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

What the Lord was emphasizing here was that for forgiveness to be granted when requested, we who are requesting forgiveness will first have to forgive other people who had sinned against us.

The conditional nature of this provision places us in the same role as the Lord in that we can release other people from their debt towards us in the same way we are requesting to be released from our own debt.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 10

7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

The Lord Jesus, still teaching His followers the concept of living discreetly, paused on the subject of the secret prayer life to clarify some aspects of prayer itself.

The pagan practice of repeating words and phrases over and over again based on the belief that uttering many words would facilitate their prayers to be heard is advised against by the Lord Jesus because our Father in heaven knows what we need before we ask Him and certainly hears what we are asking for and so to repeat words over and over again is redundant.

The Lord then goes on to teach His followers the most well known prayer on earth as a model for how those who follow Him should pray to God.

This is a synopsis of the prayer model;

• As His children, address God as Father
• Honor His name as one honors a father
• Acknowledge fealty to God's kingdom
• Request spiritual supply for physical needs
• Confirm that all debts owed are forgiven
• Request forgiveness for debts incurred  
• Request exemption from tests with reasons
• Request exclusion from the grip of Satan

This chartered prayer model gives a guide to being succinct in prayer and it provides a checklist of the articles of spiritual practice that believers in Jesus need to incorporate into their lives in order to establish a robust interface with the kingdom of God.

Amen

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 9

Continuing to the second of the three spiritual practices that are to be pursued privately, the Lord Jesus urges His followers to undertake their prayer lives in secret.

Mathew chapter 6 verses 5 - 6 records the Lord's counsel on this matter.

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Describing the two ends of the exposure spectrum, Jesus starts with the side that seeks acclamation for the activity of prayer.

Labeled hypocrites, the people who publicize their pious prayers place themselves in strategic locations to maximize visibility.  Jesus said that the admiration they gain from other people for these practices is the extent of their reward.

At the other end of the spectrum is the practice of hiding away out of sight behind closed doors and praying to God in secret.  

In this secretive mode, we make contact with our Father who is Himself unseen and operates in secret and it is this intimate and sincere spiritual interaction for which the Father rewards His people.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 8

Moving to Mathew chapter 6, the Lord Jesus introduces to his followers the concept of living ones' spiritial life in secret. Three examples are given of spiritual practices that are nullified by displaying them before others to gain acclaim from other people: righteouseness, praying and fasting. 

Today we will look at the first of the three in Mathew chapter 6 verses 1 - 4;

1 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Part of living righteously in the spirit involves generously helping other people with what they are lacking  to live and the principle of secrecy guides us to offer such assistance as discreetly as possibly.

If we seek to aggrandize ourselves by announcing our actions when we render help to others, we short-circuit our generosity because the resulting honor we receive from men becomes the full extent of our reward.

The prescription the Lord gives us is to be so discreet that when giving to others, our left hand doesn't even know that our right hand gave anything such that we do not even acknowledge it to ourselves.

When we are acting as a conduit through which the Lord is providing help to people around us in need, we should be careful to remove any trace of our involvement so that the glory of provision goes strictly to God.

It is only when we are hidden parties to these transactions that our Father in heaven rewards us.

Amen.

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