The famous Sermon on the Mount begins with the following verse; Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3 NIV)
It sounds so odd, doesn’t it? That the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor in spirit. I mean, does it seem to you that many people think it doesn’t include them because they aren’t very strong in spirit? And doesn’t…..
When Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them how to pray he replied by saying, Pray ‘Our Father’
Many people place the emphasis on the word father and the parent child relationship. We are used to thinking about the prayer in that way. Perhaps in part because of Matthew 23:9 where Jesus says don’t call anyone ‘your father on earth, for you have one…..
I’ve been thinking about all the things happening in this world and the arguments for and against religion and people blaming war on religion and how others blame war on politics and I wonder why we don’t blame war on people? Yes – to me it makes so much more sense to blame war on people than on institutions. We blame human actions on institutions because it’s hard…..
I’ve been thinking about the concept of Heaven on Earth. If you pray the Lord’s Prayer, then you are praying for things to be on earth like they are in heaven. Prayer alone won’t make it happen. We must participate in whatever way possible to help ourselves and other people have encounters that are a reflection of heaven on earth.
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These verses wrap up the Sermon on the Mount bringing it full circle.
The kingdom of heaven gives to the poor in Spirit, filling them up so they may share the kingdom with other people who either have never heard of God’s love and a heavenly kingdom, or those who know but are depleted. Even Jesus went away to…..
Reading about the merciful in the Sermon on the Mount connects me to Jesus’ later teachings about forgiveness. In the Lord’s prayer he taught his disciples to pray, ‘forgive us …. as we forgive others.” In forgiveness there is great mercy, but in order to receive something it must be given to you. A hard-hearted person struggles with forgiveness……
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. . . teach us how to pray . . .
Have you ever asked to learn about prayer? What would you like to learn about prayer? Why do you want to learn about prayer? Why wouldn’t you want to learn about prayer? Why wouldn’t you want to try prayer?
There is so much learn and so…..
Sometimes people who are ‘investigating’ matters of faith, people who are seeking to understand the mystery of faith will ask: How do you know prayer works? It’s a good question, isn’t it? How would you answer it? The first time someone asked me that question, at least the first time I remember, I started telling them about prayers I…..
After Jesus said “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ He and those with him entered the temple area in Jerusalem. I told you we had discussed the fig tree lesson at a quiet day several years ago. I remember having asked if Jesus and his disciples were still hungry when they entered the temple area. Did he drive out the people who were buying and selling…..
