Today I finished writing a study I have been teaching based on Jesus’ words during the Sermon on the Mount. I have been using a very good commentary to help me teach these chapters to my small group of ladies. Mark E. Moore wrote two books called, “The Chronological Life Of Christ Volume 1 and 2.” He has gone verse by verse and dug deep into the life and ministry of Jesus. It is profound and if you are looking to learn more about the Redeemer of your souls this is a wonderful tool.
Today as I watched a video lesson that Mark E. Moore made wrapping up his teaching on the most profound and powerful sermon ever preached, something he said has been lingering in my heart and mind.
“Jesus is more wonderful than you can ever imagine. More demanding than you ever thought. More beautiful than your eyes will ever comprehend.”
The part of this statement Mark made that really strikes me is, “Jesus is more demanding than you ever thought.” This goes against our anything goes culture we live in. There is such a stark contrast to this statement and what is actually portrayed in the Christian world. When you read through this sermon you can see that throughout.
Jesus calls us right from the start to be poor in spirit (realizing we are completely bankrupt with out God), to mourn (because of the sins that have separated us from God), to be meek (to master our emotions and control our actions regardless of how we feel), to hunger and thirst for righteousness (as hunger and thirst continues through our life so should our hunger and thirst for righteousness), to be merciful (especially since our God has been merciful to us and our transgressions),to have a pure heart, to be peacemakers, to follow Him and expect persecution and insults and then to rejoice when that happens.
We are then called to be salt and light in this very dark world. Which isn’t always welcomed. Salt hurts wounds and light is annoying to people who are in darkness. This will lead us to persecution at times.
Jesus not only wants our obedience He wants our hearts. He tells us if you look hatefully on another brother you have committed murder in your heart. If you have a lustful eye you are an adulterer. He tells us if our hand causes us to sin cut it off! If our eye causes us to sin gouge it out! How radical is this to us? Do we understand the weight of this?
He then goes against the very nature of humans and tells us to pray and love our enemies. What!?!? When we love only the people who love us what does that prove? The true test is are we able to love the unlovable?
We are told to give, pray and fast in quiet and to not be self-righteous and make sure everyone knows how “spiritual” we are. Our motives are tested in these statements. Who is our primary audience? Because when we do these things to be seen our only award is the praise of man.
And then there is storing up treasures in heaven and not here on earth. We are commanded not to worry and to not condemn others. We are told to ask, seek and knock. We are called to the hard and difficult life that leads us down the narrow path. We are warned to watch out for false prophets and to build our house on the foundation of Christ so when the storms come (judgment day and the storms of life) our true allegiance will be shown. Friends, this could go on and on! This is very overwhelming.
Do you see how demanding Jesus is? He wants all of us. Jesus was not then nor now interested in half-heart devotion. He is worth far more than that. My prayer is that if we claim to be a follower of Christ that we don’t take lightly what these Scriptures say. We are an example to this world and when we don’t live what we claim to believe we can do major damage to the witness of who Christ is.
So, how do we do this? Firstly, we must become a repented and immersed baptized believer in Christ so we can have our sins forgiven and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to give us the power to live this radical life Jesus is calling us to (Acts 2:38). Then we have to learn who the person of Jesus is. Christianity is a taught religion. You don’t come up out of the baptism waters and just know how to live for Christ. You have to be in the Word of God and have other disciples in your life to help teach you. I must put a disclaimer here though…. Please make sure the person who is teaching you has true sound doctrine. This is crucial because there are so many false teachers out there. The way you can do this is by taking the Berean’s example in Acts 17:11:
Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
Fervently studying the Scriptures is our way to protect ourselves from false teachers and false doctrines. Don’t underestimate Satan and his desire to destroy you and the church.
We also must go to God daily in prayer for the power to live out what we are learning in the Scriptures. God wants to give us good and perfect gifts. So many of us don’t get what we need because we don’t ask!! So ask friends… Ask for wisdom, discernment, a pure heart, the ability to love and forgive. Ask away and study and watch what happens within your life. The miracle isn’t signs and revelations, the miracle is the changed life. Because in that we know only through God this can be done. He is edified. Not us.
I hope this has encouraged you the way it has me to not take this Christian life lightly.
I will leave you with a quote from the commentary I am using for my study.
Certainly God’s priorities are less fantastic than ours, more inward. The kingdom of God is not about a big splash in bright lights; it’s about a broken spirit bent on following God’s ways.
Peace, Love and Adoption Friends,
Kristy
Photo Credit
Our Adoption Voyage 