May
16
Matthew 6:25–34 prayer
25“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26“Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27“And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28“And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will...
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15
Matthew 6:22–24
22“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23“But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. Focused Thinking: What is the context leading up to these verses? What issue is he dealing with leading up to these verses? Matt 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. Practice righteousness to please God, not man. What examples does He give? Giving, Praying and Fasting The transition from verse 21 to 22 isn’t immediately obvious. Jesus has given three examples of secret disciplines to illustrate His point of...
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13
Matthew 6:19–21
19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Focused Thinking: What does the scripture say about treasures? “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth.” “where moth and rust destroy,” “where thieves break in and steal.” We do the exact opposite of the Scripture says. We spend all of our time pursuing and storing treasures. We spend all of our energy pursuing and storing treasures. We spend all of our time and energy focused on us. “yourselves” is a key word. “on earth” is a key phrase. Why don’t we ever post scriptures like this on our walls? Ultimately, we don’t want to obey these scriptures. We want to forget these scriptures. We...
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12
Matthew 6:16–18
16“Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 17“But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face 18so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Focused Thinking: Again, this is another example of not practicing righteousness to be noticed by men. What shouldn’t you do when fasting? Don’t put on a gloomy face… Don’t neglect your appearance… The hypocrites did this to be noticed by men. What should you when fasting? Anoint your head and wash your face (or modern day equivalent). Why? “so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret.” What does your father do? “Your Father who sees what is done...
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11
Matthew 6:7–13
7“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. 8“So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. 9“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 11‘Give us this day our daily bread. 12‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’ Focused Thinking: In the previous verses the comparison was with the hypocrites, now the comparison is with the Gentiles. Hypocrite Comparison Matt 6:1—The Wrong Way 1“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them… Matt 6:2—The Wrong Way 2“So when you give to the poor,...
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10
Matthew 6:5–6
5“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6“But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Focused Thinking: What should be our attitude and posture in prayer? “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites.” You are not to be spiritually dishonest. You are not to be two-faced. You are not to do it to be noticed by men. What do the hypocrites do? “for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners” “so that they may be seen by men.” Typically what impresses men doesn’t impress God. God isn’t impressed by people who use God to get recognition. God isn’t impressed by people who use God...
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09
Matthew 6:2–4
2“So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3“But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Focused Thinking: Context for Matt 6:2–4 is Matthew 5:48–6:1 Matt 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matt 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. This is a side note but I think Matt 6:1 should have been the 49th verse of chapter 5 instead of the 1st verse of chapter 6. The more important issue here is to see the continuation of the thought process instead of the beginning of...
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07
Matthew 6:1 prayer
1“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. Interactive Prayer: Going straight to prayer this morning. Father, I’m burdened this morning by the amount of pain in our people’s lives. I’m burdened by the spiritual warfare and attacks that occur against our leadership and our church as a whole. Father, I ask that You will bind the enemy from our people. Protect us from his lies and attacks. Father, I pray that You will continue to raise up prayer warriors for our church. I’m thankful for Matthew Bryan and his faithfulness in prayer. Anoint him and give him favor to build a prayer team that fights the battles for us in prayer. Please cause the seeds of his prayers and of the prayer team to fall on good soil. Father, increase our numbers on the prayer team and truly make us a people of prayer privately and publicly. Give us the faith and...
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06
Matthew 5:43–48
43“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46“For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47“If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Focused Thinking: Here is the last contrast of “You have heard that it was said,” with “But I say to you.” This has been an amazing series of statements. We forget how completely radical this was for Jesus to make this authoritative statements. “You have heard…But I say to you…” 1. Matthew 5:21–22 Murder—Don’t...
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05
Matthew 5:38–42
38“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39“But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40“If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41“Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42“Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. Focused Thinking: We are still in the pattern of “You have heard that it was said,” and “But I say to you.” How is Jesus going to raise the standard this time? You have heard that it was said: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ Ex. 21:23–25; Lev 24:19–20; Deut 19:21 The principle of retribution gave judges a formula for crime. It was the idea of “make the punishment fit the crime.” “But I say to you,” “Do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you...
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