Jesus announced and demonstrated that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. In other words, a tectonic shift in governance is taking place. How we respond determines the quality of our lives now and for eternity. For those who awaken (i.e. repent) there is, among other things, the potential to displace apprehension with exhilaration. Greater than any medical university or clinic can provide, Jesus’ wisdom transforms anxiety into sustained peace.
There is one true God. Don’t get tricked into any substitutes!
In this portion of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus reveals a crucial reality. As those with good eyes can observe the world beyond the capacity of those with impaired vision, so everyone with God has the privilege to see Him and His ways more clearly than those apart from Him. Beyond this revelation, Jesus also provides hope for those of us who long to know God and His ways more clearly in the form of activities we can do that enable us to do things that we can not do by our own direct effort (i.e. spiritual disciplines).
Jesus said that where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Treasure is a part of every humans experience. It is important that we treasure God Himself above all things so that our hearts will be invested in Him and His Kingdom! As our heart is invested in him, we will be transformed and live transformed lives.
As we continue to study Christ’s Kingdom Manifesto in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus continues to challenge His hearers with the challenge to do things for God Himself, not for the reward of man. He using the Spiritual Discipline of Fasting to show that a heavenly reward is much better than an earthly reward given my people.
Beyond praise, what does God want us to talk with Him about? The Lord’s Prayer is Jesus’ answer to this question. After teaching that prayer is a genuine conversation with God, Jesus now relays some of the subjects God loves to discuss with His children. To more fully enjoy life with God in His kingdom, we meditate on the Lord’s prayer not to say it mechanically, but to converse with our King relationally.
Why does God command us to praise God? Many wise people ask, “Isn’t the desire to be seen and worshiped egotistical?” In this portion of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus explains that God’s vision is for prayer to be a genuine conversation with God and the first subject Jesus guides us to include in our conversation with God is praise. In this message we explore why it is loving, not egotistical, for God to call us to praise and we consider practical ways to praise Him when we are alone and, on this 20th birthday of Hope Church, when we gather.
When Jesus conversed with the Father it was in genuine conversation about realities occurring in real life. Those around Him who thought prayer was formal or formulaic were invited to disappear from sight having been freed from the need to impress others in order to speak freely with God having been freed from a mechanical process to impress God. This kind of genuine conversation is still available to all who rely on Jesus and afford themselves to the way of genuine relationship and conversation in His kingdom.
Prayer is a conversation with God. Anything other than conversing with God is something other than prayer. In this move in the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus is coaching us on how to experience God throughout each day, we discover His practical guidance for secret prayer. Spoiler Alert: Secret Prayer is an essential habit for all desiring to experience the daily intermingled life with God in His kingdom.
As Jesus continues his Sermon on the Mount, He builds on what being “perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” means. Doing righteous things is a natural outcome of living in awareness of the Kingdom and participating as a part of it, but Jesus us warns us that our motives must also match The Father’s and not get caught up in the response and reaction of others. Jesus is asking His listeners “where do you want your reward to come from?”