I’ll Give a little bit

Today I check out matthew 6:5-13. I’ve been feeling really down and out. things seem to be falling apart, and it is not that what has been bothering me as much. This is what is bothering me too much, but rather the feeling of disconnect with God, notice I say feeling, Jesus says “Surely I am with you even until the very end.”
Have you ever neglected a relationship and it caused a wierd tension, which resulted in a feeling that gives the hint something was wrong and it is painful.

Well, I have been neglecting my relationship with the Lord, “Doing my own thing” as many call it. I have fallen victim to busyness and when that left me empty I quickly ran to selfishness and neither of these satisfy. I am now at a place of honesty and much more sensitive because the Lord has showed me my pride and revealed to me that I am in need of being humbled. I do desire to be humble and completely humble. I feel like I have wasted so much time but all things work to the good of those who love Him. The Lord has used that time I feel like I wasted to teach me of His patience, His kindness and His Grace and Mercy and that I am not as “mighty” as I thought I was. I am reminded that I am always in need of His precious salvation. I must pause for a moment of gratitude.

He is my Father and I am His Son because he has forgiven me through His Only Begotten Son, Jesus. He restores our relationship so that I can live the Blessed life that he intended me to live, a life that will not end but will last forever. His Glory does not fade. He will never leave me and I never have to leave his presence.

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 men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But 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. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do 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,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.[a]‘ 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Break Down Verse by Verse
“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 men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ”
When I read this the Holy Spirit shows me that a hypocrite does receive what he wants and that is acknowledgement, to be seen, that is the reward he asks for and he receives it and only it. His Utmost Priority is not to speak with God but to be seen as if speaking to God, It comes down to an image thing which the Lord has interestingly enough been teaching me about lately as well. It is one thing to appear to be and another to be. Many times but not all times, when one tries to make an appearance it is because he is not and he wants to prove in some way that he is. It is the condition of his heart that determines this, his desire, his motive, purpose, and reason. Truth or Vanity. This Hypocrite may have had much pride and was concerned with status.

6But 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.
It is the man who does it in secret because his heart has been transformed, His heart is seeking the Lord and desires to have a relationship with the Lord. This is the man that Jesus says the father rewards. He does what he does for God not for man: does it for The Creator not the creation. His Father not the crowd. It is done in secret not out of embarassment but out of intimacy and importance. Seek the Spritual unseen Father not the things of this world but Him who has plans for you and wants to use you to do great things. When we seek Him whole heartedly and get alone with Him on purpose than He will reward me…you.

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

The Lord knows you better than you know yourself, He knows what you are going through. You do not need lengthy lofty speeches to express to God. Simply speak in your Father. He is listening, He wants to comfort you but I needn’t use a multitude of words. There isn’t need to explain to God he knows, He Knows.

Proverbs 1:8-9
My son, heed the discipline of your father,
and do not abandon the teaching of your mother;
they will be a garland to grace your head,
a medal of honor for your neck

Proverbs 6:20-23
“My son, obey your father’s command,
and don’t abandon your mother’s teaching
Bind them always on your heart,
tie them around your neck.
When you walk, they will lead you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
and when you wake up, they will talk with you.
For the mitzvah is a lamp, Torah is light,
and reproofs that discipline are the way to life

Psalm 119:143-144
Trouble and distress have overtaken me,
but your mitzvot are my delight.
Your instruction is righteous forever;
give me understanding, and I will live

(Mitzvah is the jewish word for command, Mitzvot is it’s plural version)
(Torah literally means teaching but is usually translated as Law)

I have been in great distress lately having many due dates with my school as well as trying to be a blessing as a husband and a father, while trying to keep up with middle school ministry and other roles things I do. Through the Lord I felt successful for a while but recently I have not been submitting as much and I have seen that this is when I sin, Satin may attack me and I let it slide, something will irritate me and I will handle it my own way instead of submitting to the Lord Jesus in every instance of the day. I grow sometimes numb and miserable not knowing why, then I realize I have been in robot mode doing my own worldly thing and the Lord reveals to me, He blesses me with repentance away from sin, he rebukes me but encourages me in His Command, His Law, His Way Of righteousness that He has plotted out for me. I have been troubled not so much feeling alone but growing tired of the burden of this life, sometimes I try to take back the burden I once surrendered and I drain my self trying to take on the world solo. I know that I can do nothing and the Lord as been patient with me, I realize that it is only in him that I can do anything, but at the same time this isn’t enough. It is a good start but I must apply this and truly rely on him not just know the truth but walk in the truth, apply the truth, become the truth by letting it be lived out through me and submitting to the Father.

Jesus tells us not to call anyone father but the FATHER in HEAVEN, and though the first two proverbs can be taken literally and will benefit when taken literally as applying to your worldly parents, but we also know God’s Word speaks to us on several levels. I am looking at the spiritual meaning to these first two verses, He is our “spiritual father” the Church our “mother.” We are to obey the Father, God’sCommand as well as His son Jesus because Jesus and the Father are One and also One with the Holy Spirit. But we are also not to forget the things that we have learned in the world from the Lord, we are to use them while first most keeping His commands “My son, obey your father’s command,
and don’t abandon your mother’s teaching” So Apply our Father, God’s Word and what he Commands us in our personal relationship with him, but at the same time we don’t abandon what we have learned from the Bride of Christ, our mother, The Church, Christ’s body for if we are Christ’s Bride then we are one with Him and He with us. By applying this word we will benefit greatly and will know th e Lords Guidance, Protection, and Company. He will lead you in a way that is truly living, many think they are living but are not, for Christ is life, and unless you know Christ and His Commands, speak of Christ and His Commands, act of Christ and His Commands you have not been truly living.

Lord please allow me to do your will and not my own, I desire a heart that will be submissive to You and not to the flesh, Lord I ask you to remind me each day that You are my Heavenly Father, and that I would hear you and not forget. I ask Lord that you would use the things That I have learned and am learning in the world for Your Glory. You are The One, the one who my heart desires to please, I delight in the Law of Your Word, I delight in the Son who was perfect from birth, I delight in the day He’s returning to earth. Hallelujah. Amen.

1 peter 3:7

“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”

This seems to be a weakness of mine, being considerate, and treating my wife w/ respect as the weaker partner. I tend to treat my wife conditionaly upon how she behaves and acts, instead of submitting to the Lord and letting Him pour His unconditioinal love through me. She is an equal heir with me of the Gift of Gods Grace and of Life, and Him allowing us to enter into His Kingdom and Glory, a sister/ sibling, a companion, she is loved the same by the Lord, Receives the Same Grace, Is not favored above or below me in the Lords eyes, but the Lord Loves us both unmeasurably, and unmeasurably the same. We are called to love our neighbor as ourselves, and this encompasses submitting burdens/weaknesses of each other, the weaker partner we should submit to the Lord when we discover weakness and He is Strong in them. For it is the Lord who heals and enstrengthens not man. How can a broken pot fix itself or a House make itself more sturdy? (It is the builder, the Lord who heals and strengthens as he chooses)

It is not my witty mind or my righteous and high thought (that I am tempted to think I’ve achieved somtimes), that the Lord’s love is some how “achieved.” It is not by my “better” way which I can be tempted to think is the only way, the right way, and the good way all the time. If I allow my self to believe this I am deceived. For Jesus is The Way and in Him is the answer, cause, and reason for what is to be thought, said, and lived out.

I should hold my wife in the esteem that She is a child of The Most High and is unconditionally and imeasurably precious to Him, (just as I am) By treating her unfairly and lowly my actions display that I do not know this truth and therefore praying in deception my prayers are hindered, If I really knew the Truth and really believed in the Truth that she is my sister, my sibling, my equal heir (receiving the exact same inhertiance from God, unmeasurable) then my actions would be likewise and my prayers in Truth will be upright. I long for my mind to be renewed by the Truh Jesus, Please give me eyes that see my Wife as an equal heir and may my actions display that to her and may her heart receive the Truth of the Truth acting through me. Amen.

Love is doing what God has commanded us and, God has commanded us to Love, remaining obedient to God is Love. Keeping Jesus’ commands “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul…& Love your neighbor as yourself.” So now that we are committed to God we are to be steadfast in that commitment not wavering but being obedient to His will and The Spirit, submitting to Him. I have been wavering a bit, doing still that which entertains my mind and remembering how empty that is, not finding any reward in it because it be for myself purely, but myLord is my true reward and my concern should be with Him and His called ones, not with my own matters that I think are important. The Lord will take care of me.

There are many in the world that do not believe that Jesus Christ came to earth in a body, let alone even has come at all. A person that does not believe in the Truth is the antichrist, meaning not for Christ, but against. We should be aware of this and watchout so that we are not swayed by lies and that we hold to the Truth that has been given to us and not expand or take away from it. If we are to stray from the teaching of Christ we can not, and will not have fellowship with the Father and the Son. But if we stick strictly to the Teaching of Christ alone, we will have fellowship with both the Father and the Son. There is only one Teacher. If someone is antichrist and teaches contradicting the truth they should not be encouraged nor welcomed, by encouraging or welcoming them you are supporting evil and are a partner in the evil work. I think back looking for times when I supported in someway those who were not of Christ’s purpose, through promoting drugs, or sexual acts and things, and various other sinful acts and teachings, all which are hollow in the end and lead to death ultimately.

It is important to acknowledge false teachers for what they are, for if you let them remain, you might also be taken by their false teachings and deception. It is important to address this imediately with God, your conscience, others, and even possibly the false teacher. The truth will prevail, but the evil has been deceiving men for a long time by seeming to be good, or seeming to be true. There is that which is True and that which seemse to be true to the blind man, but to those who the Lord has given sight see plainly the pathway to destruction vs. The Way. May those who see, see, and those who are blind be led to His mercy so that they might be granted repentance and forgiveness by Him who is the Giver of all Good Things.

1 Peter 3:8-12

As i read this, i think about how i have treated my co-workers at the church… As co-workers not as brothers and sisters. Then i realized that the first place i thought about was work, maybe because brothers and sisters was plural and i my mind went immediately to larger group. But I realized my world i compartmentalized, not to mention i don’t treat my brothers and sisters around me as brothers and sisters.”Love each other as brothers and sisters”

Above this the verse speaks of being one minded with other Christians “All Christians” and sympathizing with them. I look up sympathize in the dictionary and find according to Webster it means 1.to be in keeping, accord, or harmony. 2.to react or respond in sympathy 3.to share in suffering or grief with a friend in trouble.

Then Peter talks about not retaliating or insulting because you are insulted, and he says not to do that, but rather pay people back with blessings, God has called us to do that, I realize that My world has been upside down I have been treating my wife unfairly, and those I am around as co-workers(instead of LOVING as brothers and sisters) I have been unsympathetic (instead of sympathizing) as far as like mindedness i’m not sure but i am sure i haven’t been like minded very much when i should be.

The Scriptures say…
If you want to enjoy life
and see many happy days,
keep your tongue from speaking evil
and your lips from telling lies.
Turn away from evil and do good
Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
The eyes of the Lord watch over those
who do right,
and his ears are open to their prayers.
But the lord turns his face against those who do evil.

as i read this i think and remember that i am incapable of doing that which is right on my own, I can’t, my “good deeds are like filthy rags” (trying to wipe my sin off to make me look better.) I have been relying upon my own righteousness instead of the Father God and Lord Jesus’. He has cleansed me and given me a new heart and the Holy Spirit to live in me, all this it seems i know but i stray so easily and get distracted by the wind and storm, all the things and busy-ness that is going on around me my busy-ness and not the Lords will and work. I know that the Lord will complete the good work he started in me, I believe this. I ask Him for the strength to repent from how i was living because i can not repent and turn away from the past unless the Lord strengthens me to do so. I am willing to be willing. Lord if You are willing allow me to turn from this to Your Truth.