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The Ark Community
Food for Thought #77
The Sermon on the Mount
- The heart of Christianity
Matt 7:12, Jesus said,
“Therefore, whatever you
want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the
Prophets.”
Our last 'Food for
Thought' introduced our NEW WAY of life, spelled out in
Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. We'll continue reflecting on this LIFE
CHANGING sermon for a couple of weeks.
"Blessed are the merciful,
for
they will be shown mercy."
The way in which we
want to be treated, is the way we must treat others? Yes, we are
asked to treat people as we ourselves would like to be treated. This
is a high standard, as I like to be treated well... what about
you?
I don’t know about you..?,
but I love going about my daily business and being treated with
kindness, helpfulness, respect, patience etc. What a difference it
makes in the traffic when someone gives way to us, even when we never
expected it and even contrary to the rules of the road.
What a difference it
makes to my day when I return home after receiving favor and being
blessed by complete strangers. Even
better when I find forgiveness even when I didn’t deserve it… WOW!
This kind of stuff makes our day, doesn't it? Arriving home, it makes
us treat our Family better..! (Selah)
How about the times
people believe you
even in the face of condemning evidence. Imagine people believing your
word without you even having to use
God as your witness..?
Imagine being believed without even opening your mouth..? Imagine
people believing the best in you even when you openly mess-up..? What
a world it would be..! Sounds like a Fairy Tale, something produced by
Walt Disney..? (Yet Jesus
believed in this way of life...)
If you received this kind of
treatment, would it not change your life and attitude in
general..? Here is the key and the point to the entire Sermon and
ministry of Jesus… to change our
approach to life..!
...TO GIVE
BEFORE WE GET..!
Jesus knows the power of
living the message…
He lived it! I am more converted by the
way Jesus lived
than by His sermons. I am more affected by the
lives
of my friends and companions
than I am by their lessons. I remember well how they
live…
yet remembering what they said sometimes
alludes me! … does this ever happen to you?
My
Brother-in-law (Corne Bekker), once quoted to me...
"It's time the messenger
becomes the message."
Corne' obviously got his
inspiration from St. Francis of Assisi's saying,
"Preach the Gospel at
all times, and when necessary use words."
Jesus knew that the
best way to win His Father's world back to eternity would be to let
people experience the Kingdom
first-hand. So He went about
doing good..!
As we model our lives
on Christ’s earth-WALK
and not just His earth-TALK,
we will also touch the lives of others. Once they have
experienced the Kingdom of God via our
treating them well,
they will be “forced” to consider its reality. After all, we are
THE
Ambassadors of God..! No Angels or Saints can take our earthly place
in preaching the Gospel, HERE and NOW..!
I am not foolish enough to
think that every person we are kind to will come stampeding home to
eternity… but I am confident that after we have treaded them according
to the Kingdom principles we leave one less person on the earth
without an excuse before God that they never were told..!
Jesus’ method of evangelism is
“Tangible Evangelism” – Show them
the Kingdom, let
them experience the Kingdom.
"The Kingdom is in your heart",
He said… Take it to them! I like to refer to this as
"Pavement Exegesis."
"As the Father sent
Me, I send you! … Go love the world as I have loved you!"
- These scriptures breathe
with new life when we read them in context. “Do
to others, as we desire others to do to us.”
– This ONE sentence is enough to change the entire world and our
violent history!
If this is true, why
are things still the way they have always been? It’s because we have
inverted the process… we are waiting to be treated well before
we treat others as Christ asked us! -
Come on
Friends, let's take
the FIRST step, and treat people well, without them having deserved
it, let's treat people they way God treated us, when He first
came knocking on our door...
Accept the CHALLENGE of the
Sermon on the Mount, and Love those who don't deserve your love.
Treat well, those who don't deserve your kindness... and you'll be
treating people just like God treated you..! We are saved by GRACE
alone, not by any merit of our own. We are spiritually and morally
bankrupt...
"When we become poor
(in our self sufficiency),
we become rich in God."
"Blessed
are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven."
"Blessed are the
merciful,
for they will be
shown mercy."
Amen+
+Tony PALMER (EU)
The Ark Community
www.thearkcommunity.org
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