AN OLDEN AND GOLDEN RULE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 7:12

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In a conversation, I heard someone say this:

“Do unto others before they do you.”

Of course, this was met by a chuckle or two from his audience who recognized his words as a counter to the widely known “Golden Rule” but I couldn’t help but think his statement was closer to the truth than we might want to admit. Indeed, it seems like we are becoming less and less submissive and respectful of others and more the aggressors, more focused on ourselves than anyone else. More and more it seems people seem they have to be number one and life is nothing but one big competition and we see it within the behaviors of believers and non-believers alike.

We get a sense that this same attitude was pervasive in Jesus’ time as well. We know because of this verse which comes at the end of Jesus talking about asking and receiving from God, His Father and ours. Look again at these words here:

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”  Matthew 7:12

As mentioned earlier, there is a commonly known saying referred to as “The Golden Rule” and it goes like this:

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

What is not as widely known is that this “Golden Rule” has its origins in the Bible and Jesus Christ, God’s only Son and the Savior of the world.

You see, how we interact with one another will dictate how we function as a community, a family, as one people under God. This is why Jesus wanted to address the matter and He laid the foundation on a person’s preference for being treated.

If you would like others to love you, then love them.

If you would like others to bless you, then bless them.

If you would like others to protect you, then be their protector.

If you would like the respect of others, then give them your respect.

I could go on and on but you get the point. You reap what you sow (another biblical principle, by the way) and that goes for the ways we treat each other.

So how are you doing in this matter? How well are you doing unto others as you would expect them to do unto you?

Better yet, ask yourself this:

Am I living in the way Jesus did, treating others as He would have?

For if you do this, and as Christians we absolutely must, then and only then will you be assured that your actions will be in line with “The Golden Rule”

In all things, let Jesus be your guide.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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A GENEROUS FATHER

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.
In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!”

Matthew 7:7-11

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

We serve a loving, giving Father. There is no disputing this truth.

Just as a father loves and cares for his children, our heavenly Father, the Father of us all, loves and cares for every one of us and He does so at an even higher level. Indeed, God the Father of us all gives perfectly just as He does all things perfectly.

Now this doesn’t mean He gives us everything we ask for. That would be foolish and there is no foolishness is God. I didn’t give my children everything they asked for when they were growing up so why would God do the same for us.

No, God provides for His children but He does with discernment and wisdom, providing what He knows His children truly need, what they need to satisfy and fulfill His will for them. Look at these words from John’s first letter in the New Testament:

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him. 1 John 5:14-15

Did you catch how this process of asking God for things works?

We are to first seek His will and then ask for anything that is in accordance with that will. When we do that, then we can expect to receive what we ask for.

This is different from a common held misassumption about prayer, the misassumption that God will give you EVERYTHING you ask for WHENEVER you ask for it.

God is not like an ATM where you plug in your prayer and out comes what you want instantly. It doesn’t work like that. He dictates your needs based on His desires, not yours. And rest assured that God wants the best for you. It’s just that His best doesn’t marry up with what we want.

Well, as you may have guessed, Jesus had something to say about this matter of God the Father and giving since we have been focused on His Sermon on the Mount for quite some time now. Look at His words from the Gospel of Matthew:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!”  Matthew 7:7-11

When I was raising my two daughters, I wouldn’t give them anything that would not have been to their benefit. If they were hungry, I gave them food proper for eating and this translated to other things I provided them, all this despite the fact that I am a sinner and capable of as much evil as good.   

Jesus here is asking this question:

If I could give my children good gifts, in lieu of my potential wickedness, how much more would the Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask, those who seek and knock on heaven’s door with their requests?

As John so aptly framed, when we pray, seeking the Father with an appeal that is in accordance with His will, then God hears, opens the door of provision, and the one who asks receives good gifts, blessings from above from the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17).

Friends, we have a generous Father, a Father willing to give us what we need as long as it meets His will for us. Won’t you give Him thanks and praise today and every day?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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WHY WORRY?

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you—you of little faith?”

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Matthew 6:25-34

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Are you a worrywart?

Do you tend to worry all the time, even about things you have absolutely no control over?

Through my more than 57 years of life, I have encountered more than my fair share of people like this, several of which I am connected to now. And I can tell you one thing about people who are incessant worriers: they worry to the point of harming their health, first from a mental health standpoint as they deal with anxiety, depression, or both and then from physical ailments that result from the chronic aforementioned mental health conditions.

One’s thing for sure and I can say this from absolute confidence.

Nothing good ever comes out of constant worry and the associated stress it brings.

Perhaps this is why Jesus felt it important to touch on the matter during His signature teaching event we also know as the Sermon on the Mount. It’s obvious that continuous, unmetered worrying was prevalent in New Testament times as well so Jesus addressed the subject with the following words:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you—you of little faith?”

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  Matthew 6:25-34

Note how Jesus uses nature as an illustration to drive His point home, using two common living items (birds and flowers) that the people would be very familiar with, two items that have translated through the ages to present times where still experience the birds of the air and flowers of the field today.

First, Jesus reminds His listeners (all of us included) that the birds of the air don’t sow or reap their own food nor do they store away provisions in barns. Rather, they eat as they go, as they need to, and God in turn always provides for their needs.

So if God provides for the birds as He does and makes sure they are fed, will He not care even more for His people who He sees as far more valuable?

This is the question Jesus poses and essentially asks:

“Why worry?”

Next Jesus turns His followers’ attention toward the fields where the flowers were abloom in great beauty and splendor. Jesus reminds His listeners that none of those flowers clothed themselves but rather were adorned by God in a way that Jesus proposed was more magnificent than Solomon, the famous beloved former king of Israel.

So if these flowers of the field, who would live only temporarily and then fade and die, would be adorned so beautifully then how much more would God clothe His beloved people?

Again, Jesus was asking the people:

“Why worry?”

Jesus said there was no reason to do it. No reason to worry about our lives, what we will eat or drink, or about our body or what we will wear. There’s no need to lack faith as pagans (non-believers) do and every reason to trust that God will provide for our needs, needs He knows of before we even ask. Therefore, there is no need to worry, not about today and not about tomorrow. You will never add a single hour to your life by worrying but you sure can subtract them.

Did I mention the adverse health consequences that come from consistent and persistent worrying?

So if we’re not to worry, what are we to do?

Jesus tells us we should “seek first His (God’s) kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

It’s too easy, right?

Instead of placing our focus on our worries, we to give our full attention to God, the only One who can handle anything we are going through. The Apostle Paul gives us a two verse prescription to do just that in his letter to the church in Philippi:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

The scriptures command us to not be anxious or worried or stressed or afraid about anything. Anything. We’re to write these negative emotions out of our lives. Period.

So what are we to do instead?

We’re to pray, bringing our concerns and requests before God in every situation. Every situation.

You know what that’s called?

It’s called absolute trust and in this case, absolute trust in the only One who can do all things, the Maker and Master of all creation, the God through which all things are possible.

And when we do that, when we give our absolute trust to God, something wonderful happens.

We find peace and not just any peace but a peace that only God can give, a peace that transcends all understanding because it is not a peace this world can give.

Friends, isn’t that a peace we all long for?

So why are we worrying?

Let’s just commit ourselves to be obedient to the scriptures and give God our absolute trust. He’ll never disappoint those who place their full faith and hope in Him.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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USE DISCERNMENT

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.
In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”

Matthew 7:6

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever been rebuffed, persecuted, and/or ridiculed while trying to share the Gospel with someone?

I know I have more times than I care to remember. Commit yourself to the cause of Jesus and you’ll experience the same thing.

There’s one thing I’ve found when engaged in the ways mentioned above:

The person who is adversarial really has no interest in the truth. They are more interested in mistreating the one trying to share it with them.

It’s pretty easy to discern when this is happening and when it isn’t. When it is, I simply don’t engage the person anymore and, in turn, I disconnect from their abuse. There are plenty of other people who are willing to listen and consider the Gospel. If we continue to spar back and forth with someone who has no interest in the Gospel, we are distracted from someone who does…and I know Satan likes nothing more than that.

With all this in mind, we get a sense that there were more than a few people in Jesus’ time who liked to reject the truth, drawing pleasure from mocking the good news and abusing the disciples trying to share it. We know this because of the words Jesus shares in this single verse which serves as direction in dealing with sinful non-believers who love the sport of harassment and maltreatment. Look at this verse here:

“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” Matthew 7:6

Now you probably have guessed by now that the dogs and pigs mentioned here are used to describe the evil doers who rebut the Gospel and its messengers. A person would not give a dog something holy or sacred. Ditto would something of great value be granted to a pig. In both instances, the animal would not fully appreciate what had been given them and would resort to their natural instincts, the dog tearing the sacred item (and even its provider) to pieces while the pig would simply trample the thing of value underfoot until it was in ruin.

A person of discernment would not provide either the dog or pig the items that were holy or of worth. It wouldn’t make sense and as mentioned, those items would only end up destroyed in the end, maybe along with their giver. We’re to show the same sense of good judgment in the work we do for the cause of Christ. For if someone will receive His truth and word, then by all means do as He called you to do and make that interested believer into a disciple, teaching him or her to obey all that Jesus commanded.

But if the person flat out chooses to make a mockery out of your efforts to bring them to the only One who can save them, God’s only Son Jesus, then move on and look for someone who is hungry and thirsty for a new life, a life they can gain from Jesus, the One who is the way and truth and life (John 14:6).

In the end translation, Jesus calls on us to be discerning in our work for Him and stands ready to lead and guide us to do as He desires. All we need to do is to submit ourselves to His service and then follow wherever He leads us to do whatever He wants us to do.

He’s always put us where He wants us with who He wants us to minister to in order to accomplish His purposes.

You can always trust in that.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com