​It's alright for a follower of Jesus to have money, but it's a problem when money becomes their motivation. It’s okay for a disciple of Jesus to have food, but things are out of order if food controls them. It's the same with clothing and the necessities of life—those things are fine for believers to possess, but if those things have control in our lives, it leads to the life-taking bondage of hoarding, coveting, and worrying. 

When we see these creeping into our lives, we need God’s way to reestablish order in our hearts and minds. Thankfully, He has given us the antidote to these things—giving, praying, and fasting.

When you give, you tell money that you have control over it. Praying releases you from the life-taking control of constantly wanting what you don’t have. Fasting deflates the power of worry by temporarily setting aside the necessities of this life to seek first the reality of the next.

Setting down our way to pick up God’s way takes faith. It takes faith to give when your heart wants to hoard. It takes faith to pray when your heart wants to covet. It takes faith to fast when your physical body tries to control you with worry over the necessities of life. Step out in faith and trust that the life-giving way of the Lord’s will release you from life-taking bondage of hoarding, coveting, and worry.

​Before sending us to minister in His name, Jesus addresses the issues of hoarding, coveting, and worrying as He expresses certain concerns about our hearts, minds, and physical bodies.

Our way of handling worry leads to hoarding, coveting, and even more worrying. When we try to manage worry in our own way, it ultimately leads to life-taking bondage. But God has a better way—one that gives life. God’s way is the antidote to our way. And in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus provides us with the antidote to reestablish the right order of things in our hearts. 

This past Sunday, we considered what it means to seek God’s kingdom above all else. Watch our study of Matthew 6:19-34 as we meditate on God’s way of living by faith.

​Why we pray is important. Jesus tells us that we shouldn’t pray to get noticed or to appear more spiritual to others (Matthew 6:5-7). Prayer is to further our fellowship with our Heavenly Father. We can talk to Him anywhere at any time about anything.

God, who is so good to us every day wants to talk with us—every day! And yet, Jesus recognized that this might be difficult for us. So to help His followers, Jesus provides talking points to help us construct our communication with the Lord—things that encourage dialogue.

This daily discussion is not to be filled with vain repetitions with words we mumble over and over, but a thoughtful exchange directed to a person (our Father) in a place (in Heaven) who is pure (“holy is Your name”). We can talk with Him about purpose (“You will be done”) and provision (daily bread). And we can ask him for pardon (“forgive us our trespasses”) and protection (“deliver us from the evil one”). 

Pour out your heart to God. Tell Him your hopes and fears, your concerns and burdens, your joys and sorrows. Ask Him questions, then read His answers in Scripture—not just to obtain information or attain spiritual status, but so that you can know Him.

​In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses the proper motivations for everyday activities. As He teaches about the right motivations for prayer, He provides a primer on prayer—an elementary introduction to the construction of our communication with God. 

In what’s commonly referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer”, Jesus provides topics of conversation for His disciples as they constantly converse with their Heavenly Father. These conversations aren’t just vain repetitions, but real and honest that further our fellowship with God.

Watch our study in Matthew 6:7-15 as we ask the Lord to teach us to pray.

​Jesus teaches us that motivation for ministry in everyday activities is important. 

If you give, pray, or fast to be seen or to seem more spiritual than others, that is all you will get. You trade an eternal and enduring reward for something fleeting. More importantly, you won’t experience a deeper fellowship with your Heavenly Father. Why would you pass up on something so valuable for something so fleeting as the praise and admiration of others?

When you give, pray, or fast, find the secret place where no one knows except for God. He will see you in the secret place and reward you openly with fellowship with Him. 

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us that our motivation for ministry in everyday activities is important. In Matthew 6:1-18, Jesus addresses the motivations in three specific ministry activities (giving, prayer, and fasting) and He helps us understand the right motivation for doing these things. 

If we’re motivated by what we get from these activities, then what we get is all we’ll get. There will be no eternal reward if getting is our motivation. But even more important than the motivation for eternal rewards is fellowship with God. There is nothing greater or more valuable than fellowship with our Heavenly Father.

Watch or listen to our study in Matthew 6:1-18 as we meditate on the right motivation for ministry in everyday activities.

Read ahead for this Sunday! We jumped over verses 7-15 of Matthew 6 this week, but we will consider these verses on Sunday. Hope to see you then!

​Jesus expects His disciples to have certain attributes. His followers must be honest, have grit, and be more than a conqueror. But what if we don't have these attributes? What if we fail? What if we fall short?

Repent and cry out to Jesus. Ask the Holy Spirit for help. This is the only way that we will have the attributes Jesus expects of His followers. Jesus would never expect us to do anything that He didn’t already intend to empower us to do. He expects us to have the attitudes, actions, and attributes He defines in the Sermon on the Mount, and so He will empower us to have these attitudes, actions, and attributes as we follow Him.

This doesn’t come from trying harder. It doesn’t come from minimizing or rationalizing our inherent inabilities. It doesn’t come from outsourcing this to “religious professionals”. It all comes from Him. As a disciple of Jesus, you are a living example of what it looks like to follow Him. Receive help from the Holy Spirit and rest in the loving power of Jesus. Only then will you see this manifest in selfless love that glorifies our Heavenly Father. 

​As we work through the Sermon on the Mount, we discover the attitudes, actions, and attributes we must have to continue to be Jesus’ disciples. 

These are not unattainable ideals but the basic expectations for the disciples of Jesus. Jesus expects His followers to be honest, to have grit, and to be more than conquerors. 

But what if these attitudes, actions, and attributes aren’t in us? What if we fail and fall short? It’s what we consider as we meditate on the attributes Jesus expects from us. Watch or listen to our study of Matthew 5:33-48 as we continue through the Sermon on the Mount.

​To be Jesus’ disciple, you must deal decisively with sin and where it begins—the heart. The problem is not your eye or your hand—it’s your heart. You need a new heart—you must be born again. Jesus promises a new heart to all who believe Him, receive Him, and are truly born again of His Holy Spirit.

What if you have been truly born again and yet you still struggle with lustful looks and lustful thoughts? You still must deal decisively with sin by confessing, repenting, and proving your repentance by not doing it again. Don’t minimize, rationalize, or entertain the sin, but have a plan of action.

The best plan of action is found in 2 Timothy 2:22:
“Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” 

When sin comes, flee! Then pursue righteousness. Replace sinful habits with righteous ones, which include living according to God’s Word (see Psalm 119:9). There is power in the Word of God to strengthen our spirits, renew our minds, and tell our bodies what we will or will not do. There is power in the Word of God to even take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Jesus. 

​In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shows how sin starts in the heart. It’s there that Jesus tells us we are just as guilty as if we committed the outward act. The second example Jesus speaks about deals with lust and adultery. 

Not only does Jesus want us to steer clear of adultery, but also of where adultery begins—with one lustful look. Just like contemptuous anger and murder, lust and adultery have serious consequences. We must deal decisively with sin, and yet gouging out our eyes and cutting off our hands isn’t enough.

What are we to do? Thankfully Jesus gets to the heart of the issue, which is the issue of the heart. Watch or listen to our study of Matthew 5:27-32 as we meditate on the importance of dealing decisively with sin.

Forgiveness and reconciliation are two different things. Forgiveness can happen in a moment, but reconciliation is a process—a process that begins with repentance.

Genuine repentance accepts full responsibility for your actions and welcomes accountability. When you repent, you'll stop your sinful behavior without downplaying or dismissing it. You drop your defensive attitude and don’t resent the doubts of others about your sincerity. And you’ll make restitution where necessary. 

There cannot be genuine reconciliation without genuine repentance. But letting time pass without genuine repentance makes reconciliation more difficult. Which is why Jesus insisted on dealing with it right away:

Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 
–Matthew 5:23-24

​Forgiveness and reconciliation are two different things. Forgiveness can happen in a moment. Reconciliation is often a process. Forgiveness releases someone else from your “right” to retaliate. Reconciliation is restoring the relationship to the intimacy that was once present. 

There is no way to reconcile a relationship without genuine humility and repentance. Jesus clarifies this in the Sermon on the Mount as He addresses contemptuous anger.

Watch our study of Matthew 5:23-26 as we listen to Jesus instruct His disciples on what to do when sin affects our relationships.

​Sin starts in the heart before it ever becomes an outward act. Jesus highlights this truth not once but six times in the Sermon on the Mount. We are just as culpable, accountable, and guilty when sin starts within us as if we actually went forward with the outward act. 

So, what hope do we have? Can anyone be righteous or even perfect, as Jesus commands in Matthew 5:48? To answer that, we must consider these hard truths that Jesus taught. If we are to continue to be His disciples, we must understand the necessity of the Holy Spirit in transforming us deep within so that sin doesn’t even have a chance to begin.

Watch our study in Matthew 5:21-22 as we consider the devastating influence of contemptuous anger and how to prevent sin from starting in our hearts.