Tag Archives: Gospel of Matthew

What does Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount means to you?

15 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by in Belief, Bible, Catholic, Christ, Christianity, Faith, God, Jesus, People, Prayer, Repentance, Salvation, Trust, Truth, Video

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The Sermon of the Beatitudes (1886-96) by Jame...

The Sermon of the Beatitudes (1886-96) by James Tissot from the series The Life of Christ, Brooklyn Museum (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: Is the greatest sermon ever preached. The Lord’s Prayer, the beatitudes, and the golden rule are in this sermon.

Jesus delivered this sermon on a mountain near Capernaum. There is some dispute whether Jesus sat while delivering the Sermon on the Mount. Sitting asserts authority, so rabbi’s often sat while teaching.

The Sermon on the Mount is in the 5th, 6th, and 7th chapters of Matthew. You can read the entire sermon here: http://www.biblepath.com/beatitudes.html. It’s divided into 5 sections listed below:

Beatitudes - Teachings that begin with “blessed.” These were meant to comfort suffering believers.

New laws - Contrasts the Old Law of Moses with the new law of Christ.
Lord’s Prayer - Instructions on prayer. Jesus also teaches the proper motives for fasting and offering gifts.

Money - Christian attitudes concerning the use of money. Reasons to avoid worry.

Warnings - Dangers of false teachers and hypocrisy. Jesus also presents the parable of the wise and foolish builders.

What are you doing with God’s invitation?

02 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by in Belief, Bible, Catholic, Christ, Christianity, Faith, Jesus, People, Prayer, Repentance, Salvation, Trust, Truth

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3rd quarter of 16th century

3rd quarter of 16th century (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It is possible to learn much about God’s invitation and never respond to it personally. Even so, His invitation is clear and nonnegotiable. In the book of Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus makes a very generous offer that is hard to resist. However, many of us turn our backs and walk away.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

He is very specific in what He asks and equally clear in what He offers. The choice is up to you. He gives you all, and you give Him all. He requires nothing more or nothing less.

Isn’t it amazing that God leaves the choice to you? Let’ think about it for a minute….There are many things in life you cannot choose. You cannot, for example,  choose the weather. You cannot control the economy and you cannot choose whether you are fitted with big nose or small ears or a lot of hair. You cannot even choose how people respond to you.

However, when it comes to life after death, you are given a choice. You can choose where you want to spend eternity–heaven or hell. God leaves the big choice and the crucial decision to you. The ball is in your court and you are free to do whatever you want with it.

No doubt you have made some bad decisions in life. You may have chosen to skip college to hang with the boys. You may have chosen the wrong career or even an incompatible spouse. Now your past is haunting you, and you wish you could turn back the hand of time. You wish you had a chance to make up for the bad decisions you have made during the past.

God has provided a way out for you. He wants you to know that it doesn’t matter how tattered your past has been, with Him your future is spotless. One good decision for eternity offsets a million bad ones on earth. The choice is yours.

What are you doing with God’s invitation? You can either accept it, or reject it.

Are you burdened with the weight of unforgiveness?

16 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by in Belief, Bible, Catholic, Christianity, Faith, God, People, Prayer, Trust, Truth

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English: White tulips

Image via Wikipedia

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” (Matthew 6:15-15).

One weight that God does not want you to carry is the weight of unforgiveness. Yet many in the body of Christ find it difficult to forgive. Unforgiveness not only affects your spiritual growth, but it also weighs heavily on your emotional and physical well-being.

The apostle Peter, a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ, and a stalwart of the early Church, struggled with the weight of unforgiveness. He hated the Gentiles. He referred to them as common and unclean. He even refused to preach the gospel to them. There is no evidence that the apostle Peter ever reconcile his differences with the Gentiles.

In the book of Matthew chapter 18:21-22, Jesus uses Peter’s struggle to teach us how to forgive. If we followed His instructions the world will be a better place:

Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times?

Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, until seven times: but, until seventy times seven

Unforgiveness is an attitude of the heart that abides outside the law of love. To walk in forgiveness is to walk in great spiritual freedom. Your heart is light when it does not carry grudge, bitterness, or resentment. To forgive does not mean that you agree with the offence that someone has committed, or that you support it in any way.

To forgive means that you choose to release the judgment you are carrying toward someone, even though that person did something that was unkind or unfair. The choice to forgive is not based on fairness or justice, but on mercy and grace. Mercy triumphs over judgment when you choose to forgive. Jesus did not carry any grudge against the people who nailed Him to the cross. Instead, He showed mercy by saying; “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

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Are you too proud to admit your faults?

02 Friday Dec 2011

Posted by in Catholic, Faith, Religion, Religious Studies, Uncategorized

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Everyone makes mistakes. But there is an epidemic in the world today of people who can’t admit they did something wrong. God says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). But first we have to be sorry about what we’ve done.

according to God’s way of doing things, there are three steps to changing our behaviour.

  1. First there is confession, which is admitting what we did.
  2. Next there is repentance, which is being sorry about what we did.
  3. Then there is asking forgiveness which is being cleansed and released from what we did.

The inability or resistance to do any of these three steps is rooted in pride. A man who cannot humble himself to admit he is wrong before God and before man will have problems in his life that will never go away. “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him” (Proverbs 26:12–NIV).

Too many of us have fallen because of pride and the inability to confess and repent. Unconfessed sin does not just go away. It becomes a cancer that grows and suffocates life. “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsake them will have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). “God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Jesus will calm the storm if you ask him to

16 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by in Faith, Religion, Religious Studies

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Becoming a Christian does not insulate our lives from trials and tribulation. The Christian life is not an easy feel good road. And it sure does not come with a benefit package guaranteed to fix all of our problems.

But you can rest assured that if the ship of your life is tossing on that sea of strife and tribulation, Jesus will calm the storm if you ask Him.

Mark 4:35-40 proves my point: “On that day, when evening had come, Jesus said to His disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.  And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.  But he was in the stern, asleep on a cushion; and they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?”  And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?”

There are two other accounts of this story in the Bible, (Matthew 8:23-27 and Luke 8:22-25). Each author has a slightly different account of what had happened. However, the gist of the story remains the same in all three accounts: “Jesus will calm the storm if you ask Him to.”