Women in the Word

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3/09/2015 8:22 am  #11


Re: Matthew Discussion

This week's reading and discussion questions are now posted. Sorry it was late, I have been sick.
http://womenintheword.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?pid=482#p482
 

 

3/09/2015 8:36 am  #12


Re: Matthew Discussion

Matthew 6

Scripture 6:19-24
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Application
It is so important no to make things of this world our idols and to desire this world’s pleasure more than we desire intimacy with God, more than we desire spiritual transformation, and to see God at work in the lives of others. We cannot love God if we love all the goodies we get in the physical world. That is not to say we should not enjoy and appreciate physical gifts of health, food, etc. He made this beautiful earth for us the enjoy, and we should enjoy God’s blessing, but when we prioritize physical blessing above everything else so that we seek worldly and physical pleasure more than we seek to serve and know God and to be transformed to His image, we have made a decision. We cannot have it both ways. We need to choose who we will serve.

Scripture 6:33
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Application
This verse speaks to me personally because I was trying to find fulfillment in everything else. Finally, I decided to just spend my time and effort and focus seeking God, and it turned my world upside down. I had fulfillment and peace like I had never had when I was spending all my energy seeking after making my place in the world. And I could see God transforming me and maturing me.
 

Last edited by TBG (3/09/2015 8:38 am)

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3/09/2015 8:48 am  #13


Re: Matthew Discussion

Matthew 6 Cont

In the first half of the chapter, it speaks about not giving money, or praying, or fasting so that you can be seen by others. I think it is saying that we need to do spiritual things out of sincerity. The overall focus should be in our heart; these things should be done with a heart of sincerity not to be looking good in the eyes of the world. We should be motivated by love of God and desire to serve Him and not to elevate our position in the church.
 
The Lord's Prayer
There are some good principles here for us to incorporate into our prayers.
- Acknowledgement of God's holiness
- Submission to God's will
- Desire to see His will unfold
- Asking for needs
- Asking for forgiveness
- Forgiving others in our hearts
- Asking for spiritual protection and guidance
 
I know everyone has different little things about prayer, but I have always liked P.R.A.Y
 
P – Praise
Worship God for who He is – give worship and adoration
Thank Him for His blessings and goodness in your life – physical and spiritual
 
R – Repent
Examine my heart and ask forgiveness for what I know is not right with me, and repent –meaning don’t just say sorry, but turn from it and ask God to help me turn from it.
 
A – Ask
Ask for what my needs and desire are
 
Y – Yield
Give the outcome of those request to God, express my trust of Him and my submission to His will.
 
FYI for what it is worth, I just thought I would share that.







 

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3/10/2015 12:53 am  #14


Re: Matthew Discussion

7:1-2 Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
When I first became a Christian God pressed this deep into me. I still haven't got it 20 years later I still judge, my husband most likely the most. Often got this spinning in my head; I wouldn't do it that way. Do I what God to judge me so harshly of course not. Lord please help me to lay every thought at your feet  and to think of others with love not judgement or criticism. In Jesus Name Amen.

 

3/10/2015 1:23 am  #15


Re: Matthew Discussion

Matthew 6

I love this chapter.

Scripture
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. (‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭33‬ NLT)

Application
I should probably have this scripture on a post-it on my mirror. I feel like I seek God on top of all of the other things I seek like status, goals, what my next move is, what I want to do and how I'm going to get there.  And it's actually really simple. Just seek God above all else and he will direct my paths. That eliminates the rest of the list. It gives me such a sense of peace.

Scripture
“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. (‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭34‬ NLT)

Application
A reminder to be present and focus on TODAY.

 

3/10/2015 1:24 am  #16


Re: Matthew Discussion

I've never seen the PRAY acronym. Love it!!

TBG wrote:

Matthew 6 Cont

In the first half of the chapter, it speaks about not giving money, or praying, or fasting so that you can be seen by others. I think it is saying that we need to do spiritual things out of sincerity. The overall focus should be in our heart; these things should be done with a heart of sincerity not to be looking good in the eyes of the world. We should be motivated by love of God and desire to serve Him and not to elevate our position in the church.
 
The Lord's Prayer
There are some good principles here for us to incorporate into our prayers.
- Acknowledgement of God's holiness
- Submission to God's will
- Desire to see His will unfold
- Asking for needs
- Asking for forgiveness
- Forgiving others in our hearts
- Asking for spiritual protection and guidance
 
I know everyone has different little things about prayer, but I have always liked P.R.A.Y
 
P – Praise
Worship God for who He is – give worship and adoration
Thank Him for His blessings and goodness in your life – physical and spiritual
 
R – Repent
Examine my heart and ask forgiveness for what I know is not right with me, and repent –meaning don’t just say sorry, but turn from it and ask God to help me turn from it.
 
A – Ask
Ask for what my needs and desire are
 
Y – Yield
Give the outcome of those request to God, express my trust of Him and my submission to His will.
 
FYI for what it is worth, I just thought I would share that.







 

 

 

3/10/2015 12:53 pm  #17


Re: Matthew Discussion

Backtracking and getting caught up. I read this last week, but had not typed out my full thoughts.  So, here it is.

Matthew 4
 
Scripture
2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
 
Application
I think this stood out to me because we talk a lot about engaging in sin or doing things that don’t please God or are out of His will because we are seeking our own way and our own desires. But, what about when you have legitimate and appropriate desires or needs that just don’t seem to be being met and you don’t see God acting to meet those needs?
 
Well I think this is where Jesus was. He had faster 40 days and he was legitimately hungry. Yet, He did not allow Satan to tempt Him into meeting that need in any way other than the way the Father ultimately intended. This is a very hard thing to do when you hold the heartache inside of legitimate desires that seem to go unmet year after year. Yet Jesus shows us the standard that we should seek in this.
 
Interestingly, the verse Jesus quotes is Deuteronomy 8:3, which reads in whole:
And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
 
What if our unmet needs are to teach us to rely on and trust in God and to keep us close to Him and dependent on Him and not become prideful and self-centered. Paul said something similar when he said no matter how much he prayed this thorn in the flesh was not removed from him. As far as we know he had that thorn in the flesh his whole life. But, Paul said it was to keep him humble so he would not get so caught up in how great he was and this powerful apostle who God had showed great things to. Also, God told Paul that His grace was sufficient for Paul.
 

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3/10/2015 1:23 pm  #18


Re: Matthew Discussion

Wow a lot in Matthew 7. Sorry if this is too much, but so much convicted and hit me today.

Matthew 7

Scripture 7:9-11
Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
 
Application
Ok, so this is me. We want so bad what we want because we just can’t think that what God is trying to give us is better. Or, we resist where God is leading us because we don’t want something terrible to deal with trials, or difficulty or whatever. We think, oh no if I am just really willing to do what God wants then I will have to deal with something unpleasant or I won’t get what I really want.
 
Reminds me of a story I heard from I don’t remember where, probably a radio preacher. He said a father came home with a rare diamond and wanted to give it to his daughter. But, she was had found a ring in the cracker jack box and she loved that ring. She was sure there was nothing anyone else could ever give her that is more special than that ring. That is what she valued more than anything else. Her father told her to give him the cracker jack ring because he had something he wanted to give her. But she clenched her fist and held tight to her plastic toy and never received the one of kind gem from her father.
 
This is how we are when we seek the things we want in this world. God has offered us such priceless treasures in giving us every spiritual gift in heavenly places (Ephesians 1) and the goal of our faith, the salvation of our souls (1 Peter 1:1-9) and an eternity in His presence. But we want the cheap tarnished toys we have in this fleeting lifetime instead.


Scripture 7:15-16
 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits.
 
Application
This puts to rest the nonsense that Christians are not supposed to judge anything. What kind of God would want you seeing a man drown a baby, and say “don’t judge,” or rape a woman and say “don’t judge,” or lie and cheat and steal and hurt other people and say “don’t judge.”  Of course not, Jesus clearly tells us the judge the fruit of people’s lives.
 
Now what He tells us not to do earlier in the passage is to judge hypocritically or self-righteously. Focusing on other people’s sin and looking for sin in other people instead of acknowledging, focusing on, and fixing your own issues.
 
I also think this talks about judging people’s value. It is one thing to judge an action as wrong, but we then go on to judge ourselves as better than someone else because we did not do this wrong thing. Well, what about all the garbage in our lives? Don’t forget this includes heart attitudes not just outward action (as we saw in chapter 5). So, you are better than someone else because they sinned in one area, well let me examine your heart and let’s see what is in there. I think that is what is hypocritical examine your own self and pray for others and lovingly confront, correct or reproof with humility and sincerity if necessarily.

Last edited by TBG (3/10/2015 1:27 pm)

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3/10/2015 1:34 pm  #19


Re: Matthew Discussion

Matthew 7 Cont.
This is a heavy passage. My heart is heavy even as I type it. I pray for God to redeem and reconcile everyone to Himself and for people's hearts to soften that they may turn and accept and humble themselves.

Psalms 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

Scripture 7:14
For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
 
Application
If we think we can go along with this culture, or even go along with cultural Christianity we may be missing the boat. What a serious warning. If we want to live for Christ in this world, it will not be easy. We may have to difficult and painful things. Jesus says no man starts building something before he estimates the full cost to see if he has enough money. So we must count the cost to see if we are really prepared to start this marathon of living for Christ.

Scripture 7:17-19, 21-23
So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.  A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire…….
 
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'
 
Application
A very somber warning not to play church and think because we engage in “Christian” activities or even because we believe in Jesus (the demons believe and tremble) that we will be saved. No, we better be submitted to and redeemed by God. This will show by us having lives that exhibit fruit consistent with the Word of God. Not perfectly, obviously but we should see a pattern in our lives of moving towards Christ-likeness. 
 
2 Corinthians 3:18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord--who is the Spirit--makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
 
Amen and Praise God for His work in our lives.

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3/10/2015 1:37 pm  #20


Re: Matthew Discussion

Loretta wrote:

7:1-2 Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
When I first became a Christian God pressed this deep into me. I still haven't got it 20 years later I still judge, my husband most likely the most. Often got this spinning in my head; I wouldn't do it that way. Do I what God to judge me so harshly of course not. Lord please help me to lay every thought at your feet and to think of others with love not judgement or criticism. In Jesus Name Amen.

I know, join the club right. Or when my husband does not have the same priorities as I do (and I don't mean spiritual) Or co-workers who don't work to our standards or don't have our perspective.So easy to get carried off in this.And yes, good reminder about treating others as God treats us because he is very patient and forgiving with us.

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