10

If this is the first page you clicked on check back to the first day of the ninety-two day chronological reading plan of the New Testament. Go to ---->"DAY ONE" If you want the whole plan day by day and not wait find it here at Shalom in the wilderness 

Day Ten: Matthew 5-7

This is a bit of a long reading, but we have some things that are covered in previous notes already. Matthew 5 is a very powerful chapter for me since it often plays a role in my current season. I would share with you some of the personal experiences but lets focus on the reading first! A lot of the focus here seems to be commandments that we are already familiar with. The blessings we speaks of first are the rewards of the obedience to the laws but as we know when we love our lord and savior we strive to be like him in all that we do and say. All that we were ever asked to do has been reasonable and not supposed to torture us since they should be morals that we strive to have, treating and loving others as God so loves us.

The beatitudes and the sermon of the mount is a well known event and teaching. We see it touched on briefly on Day Nine, but here we see all the blessings listed and not just the last ones. It is truly a gift to be able to receive and hold onto the promises, it is definitely something worth looking forward to.

Matthew 5: 3-11

• Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
• Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
• Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
• Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
• Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
• Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
• Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
• Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
• Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. {NIV}

There are a lot of parables through out the next 3 chapters. In chapter five we see that Jesus has come to fulfill the old laws and not abolish them. We learn if you are in heaven and are called the least this is not a good thing. We are called to shine our light among our sister and brothers so they can give praises to our father in heaven.

13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. 14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

 17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Since we discussed Judgement in yesterdays reading lets just briefly cover the obvious. If you do not want to be judged then don't judge. It is better not to judge now even if you are the one who is judged. Take the judgments from others and receive them knowing by you loving your enemies you are piling coal on their head which means they will be subject to the same measure of judgement. In this case judgement and having something against someone is considered the same thing. If you have something against your brother in Christ then you should reconcile and move passed it. The 10 commandments are fundamental here. I think it is important to remember that if anyone gets divorced outside of the other being unfaithful or immoral as one version said then the main causes a women to commit adultery in the future. We know when we make an oath or vow we must not break it, and we must not swear by anything since nothing is within our power. In the old testament people often lived by the phrase an eye for an eye. but Jesus clears this up by saying not to give in to this philosophy since we are supposed to not curse our enemies but bless them. If we bless those who curse us then heavenly father who blesses us, no one can be against us and their curses  are void. When you say yes or no to something at first it is better to stay with your first answer otherwise it comes from the enemy which confuses the mind. The one thing I can take out of this is that when you are unsure about something and you do not know whether to say yes or no, often times we second guess our intuition, then we change our mind and do the opposite. The situation becomes known when it occurs to you, heavenly father will reveal himself and we will know he is lord and when it comes from him, if you seek him.

 37 Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

In chapter six there seems to be a lot of fundamental points which we have not discussed yet in previous posts. Earlier when we said that we need to shine our light so that heavenly father can be praised. Here we find that what is done in secret is rewarded more. This means that if you help the needy and boast about that help then your reward was already given with that attention you received. Otherwise, we would remain humble and become a joyful giver.

Prayer is a very important day of everyday life, without prayer we are not actively seeking out Yah's will or praying that others receive him. It is hard emotionally for me, specifically because I know people who do not believe in the lord but use prayer. It makes me wonder if heavenly father answers prayers of his children who are redeemed from this state of mind. It would make sense to me that he would yet if they deny him then doesn't he deny them also? Although if they are ignorant and are denying him it isn't the same thing since God knows our hearts and he knows his children as well as who will be redeemed. The following verses are for my personal note since I think of this verse every time I do fast, and it is meaningful to me, just as the Lord's prayer to the left.
Matthew 6:17-18

17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to men 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.

There is a lot to learn about eternity and heaven, when Jesus talks about both he paints us a picture through parables. The beauty is revealed through understanding, and understanding comes not far behind receiving the blessings and gifts that we are given. This world is full of excess and waste. We all have our things we like to collect and all of which collects dust. Did you know that when we get rid of seeking things for this life and seek after the treasures in heaven we begin to build up our spiritual selves and quality of living? There is a lot of pride in the world even believers seek after worldly desires and boast about what they have saying "look at me" because I did good I have good. But the logic behind it is, if we have an attitude of competition in seeking earthly things then this is our reward and this is where our heart is. If we intend to seek heavenly father we need to surrender these habits and humble ourselves not seeking worldly attention for all that we have.

 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

It gets tough sometimes because when we accomplish something it fills us with joy and we want to share that joy we feel by displaying our works or material things. Obviously it is nice to feel joy from accomplishments but I think the point here is that if this is what we seek then this is all we will receive. If this is what you are good with then by all means go for it because it is your free will to be this way. :)

Worry is such a burden, when someone doesn't respond to you or if it seems like you are being ignored, worry is the first thing your mind wants to do...are they alright? Are they mad at me, did I do something to offend them? With being so connected nowadays where everything is social media we are connected more to each other then ever before, linking ourselves all over the place. Well, we are called not to worry about tomorrow, and not to worry period because we should be surrendering everything and trusting that it will all be alright in the end if we seek heavenly treasures. We can be rest assured we will be taken care of and nurtured everyday.

25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Just to reassure you, I know some days are long readings, and some posts will be long since there is a lot to cover. Some things are repetitive through the readings so I do my best to touch on it only once unless there is something else that comes to mind and I revisit on another reading. Thank you for reading. :)

There are a couple things more that I would like to point out in chapter seven, the last section of day ten's reading. When we pray for something it doesn't always mean we will receive it, but we are encouraged to ask. If it is in our hearts and we seek his will then we receive through faith. If we ask for something and we know it is by his will then we need to patiently endure until we receive. Peace truly comes first when we ask and pray for what our heart desires. Hopefully those desires are by his will and not selfish. We need to be able to listen and hear what our heart desires in order to receive through the holy spirit. 

Matthew 7:7,12

7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you

12So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Unfortunately this world is full of people who live by their will and think they have the power through the universe to do and receive all things. There are many who are called and few who are chosen, which goes to show you that many go for the broader road in life. When Jesus says we must walk the straight and narrow path and stray away from wide gate, which some say there are many ways to live and do whatever pleases you, it's literally saying to me that just like there were few in the bible that were chosen for God to reveal himself and that lived in his will, trusting everything, it is still this way and we need to make sure we are living in accordance to the Lord's teaching. Yes, it may be difficult to walk in his shadow since he is perfect and no human is but he knows our works, and our heart's intentions.

13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.