October 6-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 5:43, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
Observe what it is saying.
Love for one’s neighbor was commanded by God through Moses (Lev. 19:18) and was one of the central truths of the Old Testament. When answering the test of a legal expert about the greatest commandment, Jesus replied to love God with all you have and to love one’s neighbor. Jesus made it clear that love was central to the Old Testament just as it would be to His kingdom. The command “to hate your neighbor” is not found in the Old Testament. In fact, Moses directed the people to assist an enemy in need as found in Exodus 23:4-5, “If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.” However, God’s hatred of evil is a central theme that runs through the Old Testament. Those who desired to be righteous learned to adopt God’s hatred of evil, except they also hated the people, not just the evil itself. Even Psalm 139:21-22 says, “Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.” Later groups within Israel took this further. Writings found at Qumran gave in the Rule of the Community explicit directions to “hate” those against God. Though it was never written in Scripture, it became a practice, among the righteous, to hate unbelievers. We will see what Jesus has to say about this in the following days. (Information obtained from Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary of the New Testament.)
Relate it to your life.
I need to be careful not to twist God’s word to make it something it was never intended to be.
Do something.
Jesus, make me a careful student of Your word and a close listener to Your Spirit. Amen.
October 7-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 5:44-45a, But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven.
Observe what it is saying.
In contrast to what they had been taught “to love their neighbors and hate their enemies,” Jesus gives them a radically different command. They are to love their enemies and pray for their persecutors. It may sound just as outlandish today as it did then. If we have been in Scripture, then it may not be a new concept, but when we are tested to put it into practice then we know just how challenging this command is. It fights against everything we feel in the moment. We are angry, and we want to get even. We do not want anything to do with such people. However, the kingdom of God demands that we treat others in a prayerful and loving way. When we do so then we identify ourselves as children of our Father in heaven. Just as the Israelites belonged to God by His calling and command to do His will, so are the followers of Jesus. When people accept the call to follow after Jesus, they have God as their heavenly Father. That includes the holy responsibility to act like His children, which means loving just as the Father loves.
Relate it to your life.
I can easily say I am a follower of Jesus until I am called upon to love in such a difficult and extravagant way as He does. I must learn to fully surrender to His authority and follow Him as my King.
Do something.
Jesus, my first reaction is not to love those who oppose me. I need Your Holy Spirit power, grace, and mercy within me to have a heart that loves instead of getting angry and getting even. Amen.
October 8-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 5:45b, He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Observe what it is saying.
This verse summarized states that God shows His love to His creation without distinction. The sun and rain are both considered to be good gifts, necessary, for providing for abundant crops so that all people can live. As our Creator, God loves all of His creation. However, we must understand this does mean that this kind of love toward people without distinction leads to all people being saved. Theologians call this love of God His "common grace" or the gracious favor that God bestows commonly, without distinction, on all people. God’s good gifts fall upon all regardless of their standing with Him. This is His extravagant love that is intended to woo and call all into a relationship with Him. In the same way, our attitude towards the unlovely and unloving, and even those who persecute us, must not be hatred, rejection, or indifference. We must positively seek their good as God gives us the example to follow. God’s gifts are given freely even to those who do not acknowledge him as Lord and Savior. In the same, Jesus’ followers must learn to rain down love on all people without distinction.
Relate it to your life.
As an ambassador of God’s kingdom in this world, I am to show the same kind of common grace to all people just as my King does.
Do something.
King Jesus, thank You for the grace that You offer to all people so they might turn and trust in You. Help me to extend that same kind of love to others so that I can be an effective witness for You. Amen.
October 9-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 5:46, If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
Observe what it is saying.
Jesus made it clear that the easy, worldly way is to love those who love us or will respond in kind to our acts of love. In fact, Jesus said those who are the most hated in society, the tax collectors, can love those who love them. So, if this is your kind of love, what makes you any different from a faithless person? The ethic of love in the kingdom of God is vastly different and difficult. As we have already seen, it goes far beyond conventional wisdom and practice. It values others highly above ourselves. It goes the extra mile. It cares and prays for enemies and persecutors. It is greater than any human capacity to offer this kind of self-sacrificing love. To love so extravagantly reveals that we have an abiding relationship with Jesus who is dynamically alive within us. This is nothing less than the love of Jesus bursting forth from within us to offer grace and mercy to those who have done nothing to earn or deserve it. When we love like this, we can be confident that we have fully entered into the kingdom of God.
Relate it to your life.
I need to do an inventory of my current and past relationships to determine what kind of love I offer. Is it unconditional? Is it only reciprocal? Do I need to surrender myself to Jesus so that His love will flow unhindered through me?
Do something.
Jesus, I want to love like You. I want to represent Your holy love well to the world. Give me the grace and courage to love extravagantly through the presence and power of Your Spirit to those who do not love or care for me. Amen.
October 10-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 5:47, And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
Observe what it is saying.
Jesus gives his second example of loving like the world. If you have a habit of only saying hello to those who are only in your circle of friends and family, then you have no more love than a pagan person. Even faithless pagans can muster a greeting for their own kind. The love ethic of Jesus’ kingdom welcomes and greets all. Such people have a warm spirit because Jesus’ presence dwells within them through the Holy Spirit. A cold, distanced personality does not provide an attractive witness for the nature of God’s kingdom. Greeting one another is a very basic action displaying God’s love. If we fail to do this, then how can we love like Jesus in much weightier matters like lending to those who ask and praying for those who persecute us? So, whether we are in a worship service or at the grocery, make sure you put on a smile and say hello. You never know how that might keep a guest coming back to worship and how it might encourage someone who is having a bad day.
Relate it to your life.
I need to understand I have tremendous power to brighten someone’s day by smiling and greeting them.
Do something.
Jesus, may my simple interactions with others reflect well on Your kingdom. May I be known as a welcoming presence by which others feel comfortable to enter into Your family. Amen.
October 11-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 5:48, Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Observe what it is saying.
We read this and automatically think there is no way we can be perfect as God is! We are right. Jesus was the only perfect one who lived on earth. Not until the new earth and heaven are completed at the end of this age will such perfection be known among the redeemed and resurrected. Yet, this being true, we are still not let off the hook. This command still stands. Jesus’ disciples are to pursue the perfection of God as even stated in the Old Testament: “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2) The word “perfect” is used for the total commitment of a person to God and His ways. Such spiritually completeness is nothing less than the Father’s perfection which becomes the ultimate goal of our lives. We cannot, we must not, set our sights any lower. We cannot let any excuse get in the way of displaying the deepest devotion possible. In this context, such perfection or spiritual maturity is directly connected to the way we interact with and love others. In the previous verses, we have been given a clear picture of what the kingdom ethic looks like in how we are called to love others sacrificially and extravagantly. Grace is always available when we do not live up to this kingdom ethic, but it is this very ethic that our hearts long for and what we seek to embody as the beloved followers of Jesus.
Relate it to your life.
For me to be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect, I will seek to live the holy love of Jesus in all of my relationships and interactions with others.
Do something.
Jesus, this seems impossible. However, I have help. I have You living in me through Your Spirit to love as You did. As I choose to surrender my life to You, I will find You living through me. Amen.
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 5:43, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
Observe what it is saying.
Love for one’s neighbor was commanded by God through Moses (Lev. 19:18) and was one of the central truths of the Old Testament. When answering the test of a legal expert about the greatest commandment, Jesus replied to love God with all you have and to love one’s neighbor. Jesus made it clear that love was central to the Old Testament just as it would be to His kingdom. The command “to hate your neighbor” is not found in the Old Testament. In fact, Moses directed the people to assist an enemy in need as found in Exodus 23:4-5, “If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.” However, God’s hatred of evil is a central theme that runs through the Old Testament. Those who desired to be righteous learned to adopt God’s hatred of evil, except they also hated the people, not just the evil itself. Even Psalm 139:21-22 says, “Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.” Later groups within Israel took this further. Writings found at Qumran gave in the Rule of the Community explicit directions to “hate” those against God. Though it was never written in Scripture, it became a practice, among the righteous, to hate unbelievers. We will see what Jesus has to say about this in the following days. (Information obtained from Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary of the New Testament.)
Relate it to your life.
I need to be careful not to twist God’s word to make it something it was never intended to be.
Do something.
Jesus, make me a careful student of Your word and a close listener to Your Spirit. Amen.
October 7-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 5:44-45a, But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven.
Observe what it is saying.
In contrast to what they had been taught “to love their neighbors and hate their enemies,” Jesus gives them a radically different command. They are to love their enemies and pray for their persecutors. It may sound just as outlandish today as it did then. If we have been in Scripture, then it may not be a new concept, but when we are tested to put it into practice then we know just how challenging this command is. It fights against everything we feel in the moment. We are angry, and we want to get even. We do not want anything to do with such people. However, the kingdom of God demands that we treat others in a prayerful and loving way. When we do so then we identify ourselves as children of our Father in heaven. Just as the Israelites belonged to God by His calling and command to do His will, so are the followers of Jesus. When people accept the call to follow after Jesus, they have God as their heavenly Father. That includes the holy responsibility to act like His children, which means loving just as the Father loves.
Relate it to your life.
I can easily say I am a follower of Jesus until I am called upon to love in such a difficult and extravagant way as He does. I must learn to fully surrender to His authority and follow Him as my King.
Do something.
Jesus, my first reaction is not to love those who oppose me. I need Your Holy Spirit power, grace, and mercy within me to have a heart that loves instead of getting angry and getting even. Amen.
October 8-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 5:45b, He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Observe what it is saying.
This verse summarized states that God shows His love to His creation without distinction. The sun and rain are both considered to be good gifts, necessary, for providing for abundant crops so that all people can live. As our Creator, God loves all of His creation. However, we must understand this does mean that this kind of love toward people without distinction leads to all people being saved. Theologians call this love of God His "common grace" or the gracious favor that God bestows commonly, without distinction, on all people. God’s good gifts fall upon all regardless of their standing with Him. This is His extravagant love that is intended to woo and call all into a relationship with Him. In the same way, our attitude towards the unlovely and unloving, and even those who persecute us, must not be hatred, rejection, or indifference. We must positively seek their good as God gives us the example to follow. God’s gifts are given freely even to those who do not acknowledge him as Lord and Savior. In the same, Jesus’ followers must learn to rain down love on all people without distinction.
Relate it to your life.
As an ambassador of God’s kingdom in this world, I am to show the same kind of common grace to all people just as my King does.
Do something.
King Jesus, thank You for the grace that You offer to all people so they might turn and trust in You. Help me to extend that same kind of love to others so that I can be an effective witness for You. Amen.
October 9-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 5:46, If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
Observe what it is saying.
Jesus made it clear that the easy, worldly way is to love those who love us or will respond in kind to our acts of love. In fact, Jesus said those who are the most hated in society, the tax collectors, can love those who love them. So, if this is your kind of love, what makes you any different from a faithless person? The ethic of love in the kingdom of God is vastly different and difficult. As we have already seen, it goes far beyond conventional wisdom and practice. It values others highly above ourselves. It goes the extra mile. It cares and prays for enemies and persecutors. It is greater than any human capacity to offer this kind of self-sacrificing love. To love so extravagantly reveals that we have an abiding relationship with Jesus who is dynamically alive within us. This is nothing less than the love of Jesus bursting forth from within us to offer grace and mercy to those who have done nothing to earn or deserve it. When we love like this, we can be confident that we have fully entered into the kingdom of God.
Relate it to your life.
I need to do an inventory of my current and past relationships to determine what kind of love I offer. Is it unconditional? Is it only reciprocal? Do I need to surrender myself to Jesus so that His love will flow unhindered through me?
Do something.
Jesus, I want to love like You. I want to represent Your holy love well to the world. Give me the grace and courage to love extravagantly through the presence and power of Your Spirit to those who do not love or care for me. Amen.
October 10-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 5:47, And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
Observe what it is saying.
Jesus gives his second example of loving like the world. If you have a habit of only saying hello to those who are only in your circle of friends and family, then you have no more love than a pagan person. Even faithless pagans can muster a greeting for their own kind. The love ethic of Jesus’ kingdom welcomes and greets all. Such people have a warm spirit because Jesus’ presence dwells within them through the Holy Spirit. A cold, distanced personality does not provide an attractive witness for the nature of God’s kingdom. Greeting one another is a very basic action displaying God’s love. If we fail to do this, then how can we love like Jesus in much weightier matters like lending to those who ask and praying for those who persecute us? So, whether we are in a worship service or at the grocery, make sure you put on a smile and say hello. You never know how that might keep a guest coming back to worship and how it might encourage someone who is having a bad day.
Relate it to your life.
I need to understand I have tremendous power to brighten someone’s day by smiling and greeting them.
Do something.
Jesus, may my simple interactions with others reflect well on Your kingdom. May I be known as a welcoming presence by which others feel comfortable to enter into Your family. Amen.
October 11-Sermon on the Mount
Write out the Scripture.
Matthew 5:48, Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Observe what it is saying.
We read this and automatically think there is no way we can be perfect as God is! We are right. Jesus was the only perfect one who lived on earth. Not until the new earth and heaven are completed at the end of this age will such perfection be known among the redeemed and resurrected. Yet, this being true, we are still not let off the hook. This command still stands. Jesus’ disciples are to pursue the perfection of God as even stated in the Old Testament: “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2) The word “perfect” is used for the total commitment of a person to God and His ways. Such spiritually completeness is nothing less than the Father’s perfection which becomes the ultimate goal of our lives. We cannot, we must not, set our sights any lower. We cannot let any excuse get in the way of displaying the deepest devotion possible. In this context, such perfection or spiritual maturity is directly connected to the way we interact with and love others. In the previous verses, we have been given a clear picture of what the kingdom ethic looks like in how we are called to love others sacrificially and extravagantly. Grace is always available when we do not live up to this kingdom ethic, but it is this very ethic that our hearts long for and what we seek to embody as the beloved followers of Jesus.
Relate it to your life.
For me to be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect, I will seek to live the holy love of Jesus in all of my relationships and interactions with others.
Do something.
Jesus, this seems impossible. However, I have help. I have You living in me through Your Spirit to love as You did. As I choose to surrender my life to You, I will find You living through me. Amen.
Posted in Daily Devotionals