Matthew 7:15-20

Matthew 7:15-20

Fruits & false prophets

Trees that bear good fruits vs trees that bear bad fruits.  Bad trees cannot bear good fruit, vice versa good trees cannot bear bad fruit.  

The bad trees:  they are false prophets, covering themselves in sheep clothes hiding their true character of ravenous wolves.  

Ravenous:  extremely hungry, famished, voracious 

We are warned to be watchful of them.  

Trees that don't bear good fruit is to be cut down and thrown into the fire.  

Thistles and thornbushes don't produce figs or grapes.  

Application:  

Prayer for the fruit I'm producing.  Is it tasty and satisfying or is it killing those under me?  Lord please help me produce good fruit and prune all the not so great branches off of me.  

I pray I can be raising up beautiful fruit trees for You.  

Matthew 7:13-14

Matthew 7:13-14

Enter by the narrow gate.  

Narrow gate:  difficult, few who find it, leads to life

Wide gate:  broad, leads to destruction, many who go in by it.  

It's hard to walk on the path that leads to life.  But it leads to life

James 1: 2-4

Consider it joy when you go through trials:  trials testing of my faith: produces patience, patience makes you perfect and complete lacking in nothing.  

We don't go it alone though.  God promises to be there and give us the wisdom we need in those trials. 

Application:  walk through the narrow gate.  

Matthew 7:7-12

Matthew 7:7-12

Ask

Seek

Knock

I think that is funny that it is an acronym in the English language.  

God wants us to ask.  

He promises to those who ask that they will receive

He promises those who seek will find

And the one who knocks the door will be open.

If our kids ask for bread or fish we won't give them a stone or a snake.  We will give them as parents what is best for them.  

Just like our Heavenly Father.  He is in heaven.  He wants to give good to those who ask Him.  

Not only that but once again the outward focus.  What I want done to myself do to other men.  

The law and the prophets:  do unto others as you would have them do to you.  

Application:  give good gifts to my children.  I need to ask God for the ability to do that even when it is beyond difficult sometimes.  

What am I seeking knocking and asking for ?  And do I trust that my Father knows better than me to give me exactly what I need?  Even if its not what I planned?  

Conclusion: a.s.k.

Matthew 7.1-6

Matthew 7:1-6

Don't judge.  

You will be judged with the judgement that you judge.  

With what you measure it will be measured back to you.  

Consider the plank in your own eye before you look at the plank in your brother's eye.  

You can't help your brother until you first help yourself fix what needs to be fixed.   You have to be able to see clearly to be of help to others.  

It doesn't say we can't help our brother.  It says we can't help them when we still have areas in our life we need to attend to first.  

Work on those areas.  Attend to them.  And ask God to be able to help your brother in love, not in judgment.  

Matthew 6:25-34

Matthew 6:25-34

Do not worry

About your life

About what you eat

About what you drink

About your body 

About what you should wear

Food:  The Father feeds the birds of the air.  They don't have to sow or reap. 

Body:  can we add to our height by worrying? 

Clothing: The Lord arrays the lilies of the field and the grass of the field.  He will clothe us

Truth:  

We are of value to The Lord

God is Provider

He will clothe us and feed us

Our Father knows we need all these things.  

He adds what we need 

Our job:  seek first His kingdom and His righteousness

Don't worry about tomorrow, or about what we will eat,drink, or wear

Worry is telling God we don't trust Him.   We should spend out energy seeking to do what He wants for the kingdom and doing what is right.  If we are looking out for others needs then it takes the focus off ourselves.  It helps us accomplish what God desires for all people instead of hoarding or stressing being a blessing.  

Philippians 4:6&7

Be anxious for nothing=give your requests to God with prayer and supplication.  

God promises His peace to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  

Philippians 4:11 & 12 knowing how to be content in whatever state I am in.  

Matthew 6:24

Matthew 6:24

You can only have one master. 

 Two divides you and leads you to be loyal to one and despise the other. 

You can't serve God and money

However you can use money to serve God :) 

1 Timothy 6:17-19

For the rich put your trust in the living God.  Do good, enjoy what He has given you, be rich in good works, willing to share.  

Hebrews 13:16

Do not forget to do good and share 

James 1:27 true religion is visiting widows and orphans in their trouble.  

Malachi 3:10

Don't rob God of what is His.  Bring tithes to the storehouse to put food in His house.  

Satan likes to take things that are fine and twist them into becoming what we worship.  God wants us to trust Him.  It's not money that meets our needs, He is the Provider.  Love God and use what He has given us for His glory.  

Matthew 6:22-23

Matthew 6:22-23

My eye is the lamp of the body

Good eye:  full of light

Bad eye:  full of darkness

Keep the light in me out of the darkness

Proverbs 6:23

The commandment is a lamp and the law is the light.  Reproofs of instructions are the way of life

Application:  keep my eye on the commandments and the laws and the rep roofs of instruction.  This is the light to keep my eyes good and out of the darkness.  

Matthew 6:19-21

Matthew 6:19-21

A passage I know well and have had to practice this evening.  

Store up treasure in heaven and not on earth.  

Treasure on earth:  moths and rust destroy, thieves break in and steal, 

Or in my case, kids will knock over doll houses in walls and put dents in the walls and break things,  where almost all of my furniture is marked with pen scribble, where toothpaste is smeared on patches of my carpet and on the cabinets and walls, where food is guaranteed to fall on the ground instead of eaten over plates, cats are going to barf on carpet or miss the litter box with their poop, where little girls will break porcelain dolls and little boys will leave Legos all over the floor to be stepped on, where blenders break and new dresses get torn...

Those are treasures on earth.  

My treasures for heaven: Josiah Ava Lena Mallory.  

If only I could have responded with more grace.  But I was definitely ranting mom, giving a lot of lectures today.  Funny how this passage falls on a day like today.  

 

Application:  remember to keep things in heavenly perspective when things don't work out or get messed up in my home.  

Keep my treasure on Jesus, that my heart may be found there also.  

I don't want my kids to remember me as a nit picky lady that wanted her house always kept clean.  I want to be remembered as a woman who loved Jesus.  

Matthew 6:16-18

Matthew 6:16-18

Fast without seeking to get attention on yourselves 

Men that make disfigured faces and have sad countenances to make it evident in their fasting.  

When you fast take away evidence that would indicate it

We are fasting for The Lord to see not for men.  

Application

It's easy to become people pleasers, trying to do what we do to make us look more spiritual.  Stay on guard to even thinking thoughts like that.  My goal is to please God and do what He says to do.  Not to meet men's expectations 

I am horrible at fasting.  It is really hard to do without getting upset at my children.  I often try to start, but then once I get into it I am losing it with my children.  I don't think it's good to do it if it brings out ungodly character in me.  Sometimes I struggle with doing it because I'm expected to.  I think if I try again down the road it should never be for the expectations of others, but truly to honor and seek God out in things.  

I think His reward in it all is His faithfulness to what was sought after.  :). 

Matthew 6:5-15

Matthew 6:5-15

How not to pray

Don't pray like a hypocrite

Don't pray to be seen by men 

Don't pray standing in public places to draw attention to yourself

Don't use vain repetitions and many words 

Don't pray like heathens do

Do pray

In your room

Shut your door

Pray to our Father

Our Father knows the needs you have before we ask Him

Hallow His name

Pray for His kingdom to come, His will to be done on earth and in heaven

Pray for our food

Ask for forgiveness of debts

Forgive our debtors

Pray for protection from being led into temptation

Pray for deliverance from the evil one.  

Give Him the the glory.  His kingdom and power belongs to Him 

Forgive men as God forgives you.  

Application:  

Our heart in prayer.  It needs to be focused on giving God the glory.  Not on asking for our will to be done, but His will.  It is a surrender of everything:  His plans, provision of food, forgiveness, deliverance from satan and protection from temptation.  

Surrender.  One of my favorite passages on prayer:  Psalm 37.   

Includes words of Trust The Lord.  Dwell in His land.  Feed on His faithfulness.  Delight yourself in Him.  Commit you way to Him.  Rest in him.  Wait on Him.  

This passage is all about Him giving us our heart's desires, but it requires being at that place of complete surrender and trust.  

And I have found that being in that place brings my heart desires to become what He had planned.  And His plans are different than my original plans, but I would want nothing else than that.

We can choose to make our praying about me me me, or we can choose to make it all about Him.  And that is the main point in prayer.  

Pray in a way to give Him glory, not in a way to being glory on myself.  

Matthew 6:1-4

Matthew 6:1-4

Make sure whatever I am doing is not to show off to others how "righteous". I am, but it's for the Father.  

We shouldn't even ourselves tell out left hand what our right hand is doing.  

Don't sound a trumpet in the church or the streets.  

We aren't seeking earthly reward.  

Application:  

Lord please keep my heart right before you and my eyes and ears open to the needs around me.  May anything I do be for Your glory and not for my own glory.    

Matthew 5:43-48

Matthew 5:43-48

Love my neighbor.  Love my enemies.  

Bless those that curse me

Do good to those who hate me

Pray for those who spitefully use me and persecute me

Result from doing these things:  be sons of my Father in heaven.  

Reward comes from loving those that are hard to love.  

Be perfect as my Heavenly Father is perfect.  

  He makes the sun rise on the evil and the good.  Sends rain to the just and the unjust.  

Application:  

Be on the look out to show love for those that it is hard to love right now.  

Jesus is not about me.  I am about Him. 

I am about showing His love to anyone regardless of their circumstance or situation or regardless of how I am treated.  Maybe if I am mistreated there is a deeper need that is aching and needs His healing in, and maybe God can use me to show grace and love despite whatever, and approach it that way instead of trying to prove a point.

God is more concerned about our heart and where we are with Him than with how blessed we are...  He makes it clear in this verse He doesn't differentiate between the good and the evil or the just and the unjust.  But for those whose heart is after Him, He can use those hard things to build character in us to draw us closer to Him.  And from that testify His love to others.  

(James 1 talks a lot about trials and character being built by those situations). 

 

It's hard to be hurt by others and not become a recluse from the hurt, which is my natural tendency.  Please help me pray for those that have hurt me and keep my focus on You Jesus and not on myself.  And even in my neighborhood may I not favor believers vs people that don't know you, but may I equally show Your love to all in a way that individually speaks to their hearts.  

Matthew 5:38-42

Matthew 5:38-42

Don't resist an evil person

Turn the other cheek.  If a person takes away your tunic give him your cloak also.  

If one makes you walk one mile with them go with them two.  

Give to him who asks and don't turn away from the one who wants to borrow.  

Some parts of this verse are easy to follow.  Like I have no problem lending with no expectation of return.  Or if someone needs something to take care of it.  But what if I have nothing extra to give and it hurts a little.  What am I willing to sacrifice then? 

Or what if it is someone that had really hurt me?  Am I willing to open myself up for more hurt?  That's when this gets a little more challenging to follow.  

A lot of this can refer to physical objects of loaning and borrowing.  But it also can refer to giving of our time and energy and emotion:  

Turn the other cheek:  that is emotionally laying down your fear of hurt for the other person

Someone taking away your tunic and loaning and borrowing:  not holding close to the physical things we have, showing that person they are more important than physical things

Walking with someone more than what they asked:  time:  showing that person they are worth your time

Holding all things loosely to show the other person how important they are and how much value they have to Jesus.  

That is the ultimate goal:  lay ourselves down like Christ for furthering the truth of His gospel.  

Matthew 5:33-37

Matthew 5:33-37

God wants us to let out yes be yes and our no be no.  I'm sure there is more history behind what these oaths referred to that I wish I knew, but from reading it straight at value, what I read is that God doesn't want what we say to be backed up by an oath.  

He doesn't want us to say "I swear by God I will do this!"  Or "I swear by my hair that I will do it."  

When we say yes we will do it, we do it.  When we say no we won't do it, don't do it.  

A side observation,  I think it's a cool observation about heaven being God's throne and earth being His footstool and Jerusalem being the city for the Great King.  Great observation on how big God is and the description of what heaven and earth - picture of His kingdom :)

I really need a good commentary recommendation, because reading through this without the historical background can be a little bit blank,  I think solid rock has spoiled me in the way I get taught with a history lesson.  I really wish I knew what these things referred to because it would make this time that much richer...  

Basic application:

Don't swear in making promises to one another.  Let my word be my word.