PRAY HARD! Luke 11:5-10.

Have you persisted in prayer? Have you? Have you really, really prayed hard? Have you prayed for a long time? Have you ever had something on a prayer list that you came back to day-after-day for a long time? Have you prayed consistently, while days turned to weeks and weeks to months and months to years?

God encourages us to pray with persistence. To “keep on praying and not give up” Luke 18:1.

Do you ever wonder why? After all, God hears you the first time—and He does not forget. So why does He encourage us to pray about things over and over? I believe it is because persistent prayer blesses us. We get to know God by spending time with Him.

Jesus told a great story about prayer in Luke 11:5-8. Imagine friends from far away show up to your house unexpectedly in the middle of the night. In this culture, few things are more important than the hospitality ethic. So you jump out of bed, get dressed, and welcome your friends to your home. It is an imposition, but they would do the same for you. Anyone would—after all, hotels offering paid lodging are almost unknown. And the distances involved make it dangerous to turn anyone away after dark. You must welcome them, feed them, and feed their livestock—donkeys, horses, camels, whatever.

But what if you have no bread? What if you were planning to bake bread the next day? You must feed your guests tonight! So you hurry to the home of your nearest neighbor. You bang on the door, begging for bread. You explain the situation. Naturally, he understands all about the hospitality ethic. But he says no.

“Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed! I can’t get up to give you anything.” Luke 11:7.

So what do you do? You keep knocking. You keep on talking through the door, shouting about your unexpected guests. After all, your neighbor said his door was locked and everyone was cozy in bed—but he never said he did not have bread. Of course he has bread. It is the staple of every diet. It was a fluke that you were out. 

So you keep knocking, banging, pleading.  And Jesus—the One to whom we pray—says YOU SHOULD PRAY THE SAME WAY.

“I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s persistence, he will get up and give him as much as he needs”  Luke 11:8. “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door WILL BE OPENED. For everyone who asks, receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door shall be opened” Luke 11:9-10.

PRAY HARD! Pray without giving up! Pray WITHOUT CEASING, 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

Take time to jot down some key prayers. Praying with a written list takes your prayer life to another level. 

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BAD FRUIT/GOOD FRUIT. Matthew 7:16-17.

Some bear only good fruit. With them I am energized and restored, my tank filled, my joy renewed. These are believers who have walked with Jesus for a lifetime. Others are in the middle: their impact may be sweet, but sour notes remain.

Finally, there are those who take you to dark places, though every word may be sweet and loving. Have you ever been around people who were nice but drained you completely? I have known several so bitter, so ruined inside, that a little time around them could throw a dark cloud over the universe. Even now there is one man I hope NOT to hear from…. He can suck the life out of me like no one else. His fruit is rotten.

“Beware of FALSE PROPHETS who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. [Maybe this is where the disciples looked at Jesus, their eyes asking, ‘how will we know?’ So He answered:] YOU WILL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUIT. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit” Matthew 7:16-17.

Practically speaking (enough metaphor), what is fruit and how do you evaluate it?

The fruit is the results of the man or woman’s life. What effect do they have on people? What impact do they have on those they love most? And those they love less? Co-workers and other associates?

When the ship of their life sails past, do good things wash ashore in the wake?

Will his or her life leave good things behind? Will friends have a lifetime of good things to discuss at the funeral?

And what about ourselves? How do we ensure our fruit is good? Jesus explains: “A good man produces out of the good storeroom of his heart. An evil man produces out of the evil storeroom, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart” Luke 6:45.

God, teach us to STORE GOOD THINGS in our hearts. Fill us with YOUR WORD.

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ARE RUINS IN YOUR FUTURE? Matthew 7:24-26.

I just re-read Matthew 5-7, Jesus’s first recorded sermon, commonly called “The Sermon on the Mount.” There is so much in there! It is as if Jesus packed a year’s worth of sermons into three chapters. Imagine the millions of sermons based on these well-known scriptures. He touches on so many topics: worship, fasting, giving, lust, forgiveness, worry, prayer, parenting, priorities, divorce, and more.

And the conclusion is amazing. Jesus says in effect, ‘Look. I’m telling you how to build a good life. This is the blueprint. Follow my words and you will have a great life’:

“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded on that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded on that house, and it collapsed. And great was its collapse!” Matthew 7:24-26.

Which of these people will you be? The first group hears Jesus’s words and acts on them. The second hears His words and doesn’t act on them.

Look around you. Do you know anyone who has heard the words of Jesus but failed to act on them? Any young people who grew up in church or a Christian school or family, but they have chosen NOT to obey the words of Jesus? Have you seen any lives collapse, like houses built on sand?

This is serious. This is real. You are young, you are building your life and your future. Will you build it on the words of Christ or not? If not, RUINS ARE IN YOUR FUTURE.

Build your life on the words of Christ. Read them. Memorize them—and most importantly, act on them.

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*The picture above shows a house being slowly dismantled by a construction crew before the house falls into Lake Michigan. The cliff or bluff on which the house was built had been undermined by erosion and houses all along this edge were falling into the freshwater lake. This article is from the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal, November 6, 2019. https://www.jsonline.com/picture-gallery/news/2019/11/07/home-demolished-before-falling-into-lake/2513314001/

Pray for Discernment. Matthew 7:15-17, 20.

One of the toughest challenges of modern life is knowing whom to trust.

Whom can you date? Whom can you trust with your secrets? Whom can you hire? Whom can you elect? Which preacher is worthy of your attention? Which reporter or news organization can you trust to give you all sides of complex stories?

You know what makes the question of trust more difficult?

WE ARE LAZY.

We want easy answers. We rubber stamp people and situations. We have a bad habit of trusting ALL members of our political party, and rejecting ALL members of other political parties. We want to trust ALL the people at our church—which experience has proven to be a mistake—and we want to trust ALL preachers in our denomination (also a mistake).

This is a lazy approach. As a deeply honest person, I have a tendency to expect everyone else to be as honest as I am. I am inclined to trust everyone. But that’s a lazy and risky approach. Those who are deceitful tend to expect everyone else to be deceitful, so they trust no one. Again—lazy. 

So what’s to be done? First, PRAY for discernment. 

Ask God to guide you. Some have the spiritual gift of discernment and sometimes feel a “check” in their spirit about a person or situation that God may be leading them to avoid (beware: sometimes God is silent). You must remain close to God to hear His voice. Pray for discernment.

Second, analyze the fruit.

Jesus said good people bear good fruit. But you must look deeply. Look at their home life, at their marriage and children; the most important fruit borne by parents is their children. But again, pray for wisdom because parents are not responsible for everything their children do, whether good or bad.

Besides family life, examine the fruit relevant to the activity in question. Evaluate a teacher by looking at the progress of her students. Evaluate politicians by looking at the quality of the work they have done. Evaluate a reporter by considering his success in the field and what his colleagues think of him. 

Figure out what good fruit looks like, and see if you can find any growing out of the life of the individual in question.

“Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravaging wolves. You shall know them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit…. You shall know them by their fruit” Matthew 7:15-17, 20.

  1. Don’t be lazy;
  2. Pray for discernment; and
  3. Examine the fruit.

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BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART. Revelation 14:4-5.

Do you hear stories of those who have participated in every sin the world offers, then come to Jesus and seem to share the most exciting testimonies? Do you read about King David who—as if being king were not reward enough—also had 1,000 beautiful wives? (The Bible does not say all 1,000 were beautiful, but the man was the king. He could be picky like that.)

But seriously, does it seem like some people can get away with anything?

It’s not true. David was rewarded lavishly on earth. But his rewards in heaven may be reduced because (a) he was so well rewarded on earth, and (b) he committed some of the most profound, evil sins possible.

You and I will never be a King David. But God rewards humble lives of quiet service—and God reserves a special place of honor in heaven for the pure in heart and pure in action. Consider Revelation 14. Here’s a roll call of the faithful from which David, Solomon and so many others are disqualified:

“These are the ones not defiled with women, for they have kept their virginity. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They are redeemed from the human race as the firstfruits for God and the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths; they are BLAMELESS” Revelation 14:4-5.

God honors these believers who are pure in heart. He honors them because they have kept their virginity. He honors them because they do not lie. He honors them because they are BLAMELESS.

God notices when you have integrity.

God cares about your decisions. He sees you when you do the right thing. Even though other people seem to have so much, and people who sin in ways that you do not seem to be blessed—do not lose heart. God sees you!

He sees your good choices, and He will reward you!

“Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you!” Matthew 6:6.

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SERMON ON THE MOUNT: Matthew 6 is About the HEART. Matthew 6:33.

Yesterday I wrote that the Beatitudes (the opening lines of the Sermon on the Mount) are about the heart. This is a theme of the Son of God’s first and most important sermon: your heart. The Old Testament encouraged God’s people to obey the law. And the words of Jesus are consistent with that. He expressly stated He did not come to abolish the law: “I did not come to abolish but to fulfill” Matthew 5:17.

But Jesus fulfilled the law in part by pointing us to the heart. Jesus showed us that God is not merely interested in our actions, but in our motives.

Perhaps the best-known example of Jesus’s concern for the heart is found in His words on adultery: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ but I say to you, everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery in his heart” Matthew 5:27-28.

As the sermon proceeds, Jesus further elaborates on the heart, stating general principles, followed by specific examples:

“Do not practice  your righteousness in front of people, to be seen by them” Matthew 6:1.

Give in secret. Pray in secret. Fast in secret.

“Do not store up treasures on earth … but in heaven” Matthew 6:19-20.

The location of your treasure directs the location of your heart. Your heart is a compass, and the True North to which it points will be whatever you treasure most.

“You cannot serve both God and money”—so serve God, Matthew 6:24.

Do not worry about your little kingdom, your shelter, food, and clothing. Instead, spend your life building God’s kingdom “and all these things will be added unto you” Matthew 6:33.

God, show us where our treasure is: to what location does our heart return us every day like a compass?

Please help us treasure nothing so much as YOUR KINGDOM. “Search me, oh God, and know my HEART. Test me and reveal my anxious thoughts. See if there is any hurtful way in me and lead me in the everlasting way” Psalm 139:23-24. 

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*The photo above is a compass available for purchase online: https://www.wayfair.com/decor-pillows/pdp/breakwater-bay-rebekah-small-compass-w000674847.html

SERMON ON THE MOUNT:You Are Worth More Than Many Sparrows. Matthew 5-7.

I try to read the Bible with fresh eyes. It’s hard to read the familiar Sermon on the Mount as though I were hearing it for the first time. But I try. Jesus created images, ideas, and poetry as rich as anything by Shakespeare or MLK.

And what a poetic opening! “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they will be comforted.” The masterpiece gets better:

“You are the salt of the earth…” [Salt? What a creative image.] “You are the light of the world… Unless you are more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees, you will never see the Kingdom of Heaven… You have heard ‘do not commit adultery,’ but I say to you, when you lust with your eyes, you have committed adultery already in your heart….You have heard ‘an eye for an eye,’ but I say if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, offer him the other also… You have heard ‘love your neighbor and hate your enemy,’ but I say to you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you… Pray this way, ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…’ You cannot be slaves of both God and money… Look at the birds of the air… your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than many sparrows? Do not worry, but seek first His kingdom… Beware false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves… Everyone who hears my words and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand, and the rains fell… the winds blew, and the house fell, and how great was its fall…” Matthew 5-7.

There was never a more gifted wordsmith than Jesus.

Read the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-10. Which of the statements apply to you? Are you blessed because you are a peacemaker? Or merciful? Or persecuted? Or poor in spirit?

You are BLESSED. God will bless you, even in hurts and humiliations.

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SALT. Matthew 5:13.

Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth.” Matthew 5:13. What?

Remember what salt meant back then. It was a preservative for food—meat packed in salt lasts a long time. Application? We preserve the world. Christians should keep things pure and fresh. Does your influence slow the decay around you? Does our culture remain pure and fresh because of our impact? Do people make better choices because of you? I bet they do.

Salt also adds flavor, and has a special way of drawing out the flavors unique to each food. Our lives should enrich the lives around us, adding good flavors. Moreover, our influence should be the kind that draws out the unique, special flavors of those around us. We should make them better at being themselves—not try to make them just like us. I want to recognize what is unique in those around me and amplify that. Help them fulfill their potential. 

Salt was also a reward. It was often used as pay—our word “salary” comes from salt. Are we a reward, a blessing to our peers?

Jesus adds a warning:

“If the salt should become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men” Matthew 5:13.

But how can an compound like salt (NaCl) lose its flavor? What does Jesus mean? I wondered for years. Turns out, salt was often cut (diluted) with sand. This made it last longer, but too much sand and it became tasteless—garbage. 

Jesus is saying we can lose our flavor and influence when we are diluted. How? Worldliness. You are “diluted” when you fill your head and heart with the thoughts and passions of the lost, or consume hours and hours of their music, stories, videos, pictures. When you fill your head with the junk of the world, you are like a salt shaker full of sand—tasteless, gritty, horrible. 

YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH.

Keep being a blessing to everyone around you. Preserve the culture and protect it from rot. Add your flavor. And enhance the flavor of those around you. Do it by PRAYER and BIBLE STUDY.

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RECONCILE YOUR CONFLICTS. Matthew 5:9, 23-26.

Recently a woman told me that God made her a fighter. She argued that feuding with people was her calling, where reconciliation was the calling of ministers and Bible teachers. She seemed to think the two options were equally valid, as if God designed her to be someone who fights nasty, bitter battles (her extremely messy divorce comes to mind), and God made pastors and counselors to be peacemakers.

People often make false, unbiblical comparisons, believing that God has a different plan for ministers and Bible teachers than for lay people. I could not disagree more. There is no difference in God’s expectations for ministers and non-ministers—and Jesus put a lot of emphasis on reconciling conflict.

“If you are offering your gift on the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. FIRST, go and be reconciled with your brother, and THEN come and present your gift” Matthew 5:23-24.

Jesus says making PEACE means more to Him than your gifts or tithes or sacrifices for God. FIX your relationship problems.

“Reach a settlement QUICKLY with your adversary while you are on the way to the courthouse. Otherwise, he will hand you over to the judge and the judge will throw you in prison. You won’t get out of there until you’ve repaid every penny!” Matthew 5:25-26.

Jesus endorses compromising. Settling. Apologizing. After all, He proclaimed, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the SONS OF GOD.” Matthew 5:9. ‘Sons of God’? What a great title!

Jesus wants us to make things right. Most of the time, both parties are at fault and both should compromise. Once in a while—very rarely—you have to take a stand and NOT give in. But usually Jesus wants our lives to be characterized by forgiveness and peace. Or as His words in John 13:35 were set to music: “they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” Paul encourages the same:

“If possible, so far as it depends on you, BE AT PEACE WITH ALL MEN” Romans 12:18.

Love others. Give grace. Repeat.

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DARKNESS AND LIGHT. Matthew 5:14.

Have you ever been in a dark tent with a small light? What is the best way to light things up? Put the flashlight into your pillowcase? No—you hold it up high. Light works best filtering down from high places. The higher the light source, the better it can reach every nook and cranny. Jesus knew all about light:

“You are the light of the world…. No one lights a lamp and puts in under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” Matthew 5:14.

Look at what Jesus says about you. You are the light of the world. The world lies in the darkness of an endless night, and it is up to us to shine some light. People in darkness stumble into things and break things and get lost and hurt and make bad decisions.

You are needed. YOUR LIGHT IS NEEDED. God did not put you here just to preach Christ and win converts. You are also here to give good advice, to be a good friend, to help people and set a good example. You are a role model, not just an evangelist.

You have a light and the world needs you to light up the darkness. And how do lights work? By shining from the highest point. That’s why Jesus says to “let your light shine before men, so they may see your good works and glorify your Father.”

The way to shine God’s light from a high point is to do your work well. Work hard. Love people. Forgive. Stop being selfish. Make sacrifices and be a team player. Work harder than you are asked. Go the extra mile.

By doing these things, you glorify God and you light up a dark path for those who need to see the path forward.

Glorify God by loving others, working hard, and working selflessly.

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