Matthew 5 - 7 (10th October) - Ivy

Matthew 5

Beautitudes
Picture this: Loads of people are following Jesus wherever He preaches. Man and woman. Young and old. Amongst them maybe the broken hearted or despised. And Jesus begun teaching by saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit! What a great line opener! What? Say again? Blessed are the poor in spirit? Me? And Jesus continues’ ‘For theirs is the kingdom of heaven!’ Wow!! Can you imagine how many souls were comforted by the word of Jesus that day? How many hearts were healed because of His preaching? Jesus ended with: Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
God always comforts the poor. Let us be reminded to always bless the poor yeh?

Salt and Light – NACl &
Let us take a look at some meanings of salt:– noun
1. a crystalline compound, sodium chloride, NaCl, occurring as a mineral, a constituent of seawater, etc., and used for seasoning food, as a preservative, etc.
2. an element that gives liveliness, piquancy, or pungency:
3. to cure, preserve, or treat with salt.

Light:
1. an illuminating agent or source
2. the radiance or illumination from a particular sourceI got these meaning on dictionary.com.

Therefore! What? You and I are called to be PRESERVATIVES and be the element that gives LIVELINESS and PUNGENCY! To CURE AND PRESERVE!! We are PRESERVATIVES of the truth of the Gospel! Not forgetting being that illuminating agent to lead the way for the lost! Don’t play play ah!

The Fulfillment of the Law
Jesus made it very clear to the people who are debating over his preachings. Some may find it controversial or contradicting. But Jesus made it very clear here that He came to fulfill them! He loves and forgives, but that does not mean that the people are free from the 10 commandments!
Then Jesus goes on to talk about Murder, divorce, oaths, eye for an eye, love for our enemies.
Is there any reconciliation you need to do? Have you broken a promise before God? Is there someone you wronged? Is God prompting you to love an ENEMY? Obey the word of God and the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Ivy10:10 God will bless those who eats the humble pie.

Matthew 6
Giving to the Needy
I wonder if you were in the era where you had to raise funds using the Charity Elephant envelope. Did you ever boast to your friends how much you rose? I think I did. But God tells us here to do the acts of righteousness not openly and publicly so that people will praise us. Perhaps you are required to fulfill certain hours of community service.

Reflect: Do you do it out of compassion? Or just to get it over and done just to get your points? Let’s bless the needy from the bottom of our hearts and not intentions.

Prayer
Have you ever marveled at some very long and seem to be very chim prayers? Need no marvel. Even if your prayer is simple, God will honor because it is from your heart. Jesus also reminds us that we need to forgive others in our daily prayers. I believe there are bound to be people who get on our nerves from time to time? But God reminds us that we need to forgive ours just as how he forgives us.

Fasting
I noticed prayer and fasting almost always comes together. Prayer coupled with fasting puts us in a humble position to seek God’s hands upon a situation.

Let’s see Ezra8:21-23
There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, "The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him." So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.

But what was the attitude behind the fasting and prayer? Humbleness. Do you have a situation you are praying for? You may want to fast and petition to God and HE WILL ANSWER YOUR PRAYER!!! This is God’s promise!! Woohooo!

Treasures in Heaven
Where is your heart today? What has it set upon? Korean drama? Clubbing this weekend? That new dress at Far East or Takashimaya?? New PS?? What does the word of God say?
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Are these worthy to be your treasures? Time to set your heart on treasures that will not fade away! We cannot serve 2 masters. Where have your heart been? Who are you serving today? Wholeheartedly?

Do Not Worry
Tell me! Who don’t worry? How not to worry? But God is right also! ‘Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?’
How much can we achieve by freaking out and worrying? Why not PRAY! Praying will get you a higher chance of having your prayers answered but worrying…. Well eats into you and decays your soul. Not worth it. So better pray. Then what is God’s promise? ‘But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.’

What are you worrying about today? I believe this not only relates to finances. It maybe your career path, studies or family situation? But God promised: Seek first His kingdom and his righteousness and all that you worry about and all that you pray for, WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU! Let’s thank God now!

Judging Others
Yes yes, do not judge we all know. But how not to judge. Now imagine this. You may comment on this person. Aiyoh cannot make it, how can he XXX. Next time when you do the same act, the same measurement is actually applied to you. However if you are gracious to others, in the same way, others will be gracious to you too. Don’t compare. People are just different and God made them that way.

Ask, Seek, Knock
Everyone loves this verse! Yes! Ask and it shall be given! Seek and you will find! Ask for the wrong things and you will receive! Because the mind wants it! Therefore be careful of what you ask for!! For those of you who have asked, trust the Lord to give it to you. If it is with accordance to His will, surely he will answer! Just ask lah!

The Narrow and Wide Gates
Sometimes the easiest way out may not be the best way in. The difficult way in could be the best way out.

A Tree and Its Fruit
The Tree here is our heavenly father and the fruits are the fruits of the spirit. We all know that we are the child of God. But do we have the fruits of the spirit that God will recognize us?

Galatians 5:21-23 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Wow…the word of God is strict. If we live like ‘this’ we would not inherit the kingdom.
Repent repent!

The Wise and Foolish Builders
Don’t you love the words from Jesus? They are so pictorial and so vivid! So therefore brothers and sisters, what are your building your life’s foundations on? The story of the 3 little pigs. What is your life built upon today?

I pray that you’ll grow deeper in love with Jesus and long for His presence in your life. Continue to build your life’s foundations on things that will not wavier. Which is God’s love.