The Word of God for wisdom:
Proverbs 17:3 (HCSB)
A crucible for silver, and a smelter for gold, and the Lord is the tester of hearts.
The Word of God for inspiration:
Psalm 17:1-2 (HCSB)
1 Lord, hear a just cause; pay attention to my cry; listen to my prayer— from lips free of deceit. 2 Let my vindication come from You, {for} You see what is right.
The Word of God for encouragement:
Matthew 5:1-2 (HCSB)
1 When He saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain, and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He began to teach them, saying:
My observation:
Where ever Jesus went he drew a crowd of people who were anxious to hear what he had to say. There was a reason for this, he was different.
Matthew 7:28-29 (HCSB)
28 When Jesus had finished this sermon, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, 29 because He was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.
Today I will introduce the topic for our focus this week. I will take my seat at the feet of Jesus, and listen as the Master Teacher open his mouth and I will allow him, by the Holy Spirit of God, to be the teacher, and to shape and mold my heart.
In this sermon that Jesus gives to his disciples and the multitudes that followed him, he taught a different gospel than what the religious leaders of the day were teaching. He used the same bible that they use, but his interpretation was different from theirs. They used the same vocabulary that Jesus used but they did not use the same dictionary.
Jesus looked at the religious leaders and what he saw did not please him. He saw evidence of self-importance, pride, and possessiveness. Jesus knew that his disciples faced the same temptations so he took the time to teach them about what the bible taught about God and his desires for their life. The bottom line of what Jesus taught was that God wanted heartfelt obedience, and not legalistic observance of laws and rituals.
Jesus taught that those who follow him with heartfelt obedience to God and his word will be highly favored, and blessed by the Lord. However, the path to those blessings will encounter mourning, hunger, thirst, and persecution along the way. However, there is a blessing that you are sure to receive, but they are not all in this life. Blessings delayed are not blessings denied. What a time that will be when we arrive at the Father's house to receive our eternal blessings.
My prayer:
Father God, Abba, Father, I delight to sat at the feet of your darling son Jesus, and to listen to him speak about the blessings that you have in store for your people. Father God, I pray that you will find in me a heart that desires above all else to be pleasing to you.
Father God, I am so grateful that you love sinners, and that you sent your son to die for our sins. Father, I pray that when you look at my heart you will see a heart like your servant David, who you found to be a man after your own heart. Like, David, I have my shortcomings, but like David, I love you with my whole heart, and I desire to obey you with my whole heart.
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2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
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