How are you doing? Has the COVID-19 isolation gotten to you yet? Have you become detached and desensitized by the restrictions and closures?
Are you a follower of Jesus? I am. But I must say that the longer the isolation wears on that I am weary and spiritually sleepy and sluggish and dry and thirsty.
This morning my bible reading guide had me read Matthew chapter 7. I highly recommend if you are feeling like I do that you read the entire chapter. It’s only 29 verses. The chapter is the last part of Jesus’ sermon on the mount. It highlights and yet encapsulates what following Jesus is all about.
I will give an overview.
Don’t Judge. Be aware of your own sinful condition. We will be judged as we have been judging others.
Pray. Don’t quit praying. Keep on seeking keep on asking, keep on knocking.
The golden rule has nothing to do with gold. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
The narrow gate. The way into Gods kingdom is narrow. It’s Jesus. The way to destruction in broad. It is everything thing else. Jesus is the only way into Gods kingdom.
Be aware of wolves in sheep’s clothing. You can tell what a tree is by its fruit. In same way, the actions of a person will reveal their heart.
Not everyone who calls out to Jesus superficially will be saved. Read verses 21 through 23 for more about that.
A house is only as firm as its foundation. What have I built my life on? Jesus is the only firm foundation. Jesus is the rock.
Read the verses and be refreshed and renewed.
“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye. “Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you. “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him. “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets. “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’ “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.
Matthew 7:1-29 – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Matthew%207:1-29&version=NLT
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