GRINDIT podcast

Do you think scammers are a new thing? Think again! Jesus warned of scammers when he was teaching his disciples and the crowd on the mountain side when he said, “Beware of false prophets. They come in sheep’s clothing but in reality they are vicious wolves! Like scammers today, their message would have just enough truth in it to get your attention and, if you didn’t know the word of God, you would be deceived. This was happening when Jesus was here, it happened after he left, after the church began, and it continues to happen today. And lest you think you would never fall for one of these scams, beware! They are more deceitful than ever with their advertising, their fake emails, their false messages, their fake websites, and their social media sites!

When I was in the first grade I had a sweet lady for a teacher named Mrs. Webb. Above her desk was a sign that read, “The Golden Rule: Do unto others and you would have them do unto you.” I didn’t know where it came from but it sounded good and I knew I wanted people to treat me good so I should treat them good! Jesus goes on to say the road, and the gate to heaven, is narrow but the road, and the gate to destruction, is wide. He is the narrow gate, he is the only way to heaven and how did he treat people? With grace, mercy, compassion, and he was longsuffering. He displayed for us the way we should treat people, especially our enemies, those who do not treat us very well. Which road are you on? Who are you following?

Have you ever prayed for something and just got crickets from God? Nothing but silence? What did you do? Give up? Quit praying? That’s what most people do and they tend to get mad at God because they feel as if He doesn’t care. But the problem is not God, it’s us! We give up too soon and too easily! Jesus says to “Keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking” and he tells God will come through! That is a promise and we shouldn’t doubt God…but far too many times we do! We don’t get an answer quick enough and we just quit asking, quit seeking, and quit knocking. We simply give up and move on when God is saying to us, “Have faith, trust Me, the answer is on the way…Hold on!” We need to encourage one another to keep the faith and not give up!

“Don’t judge me!” Have you ever heard those words before? That seems to be a huge statement coming from our society today when they are confronted with their lifestyle, with their sin. Are we to judge others? Doesn’t Jesus literally say the words, “Do NOT judge?” Yes he does but is that what he means? Are we supposed to confront sin or not? Are we supposed to tell other people how live or are we? The danger is the comparison game. We like to compare our sin with others and what we tend to forget that there is no scale in God’s eyes when it comes to sin. Sin is sin so does that mean we keep our mouths shut and let people live the way they choose? Listen to find out the answer to a deep topic…Judging.

Jesus tells his disciples their righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees or they cannot enter into heaven so he teaches them in the Sermon on the Mount how to live a righteous life that is pleasing to God. He tells them they cannot serve God and money. Would you say you hate God? I doubt it but would your lifestyle and choices you make say otherwise? Our bank accounts will tell the story. Our bank accounts will tell us where our priorities are, where our focus is, and where our hearts are at. Hopefully, people look at us and see Jesus…not a Pharisee.

Why do we use lamps? We use lamps to give off light so we can see in the dark room. But what happens if we turn on the switch and the lamp doesn't come on? The bulb doesn't light up? We'll be left in the dark and the lamp becomes nothing but an ornament to look at or a huge paperweight! Jesus said our eye is a lamp to our body and if the eye is healthy, it will let light in but if it's not healthy, then our bodies are full of darkness. Then he says there are many who think they are full of light but they are actually full of darkness. This comes after he said the disciples righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees. The Pharisees thought they were following God and yet they weren't. In fact, they wanted to kill God in the flesh--Jesus! They had everybody fooled, except God Himself. What about your eyes? Are they healthy?

The whole purpose of the Sermon on the Mount as we call it, was to tell his disciples how to live a life that exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees. During his teaching, Jesus tells his disciples how to give, pray, and fast, and then he expands on the prayer part as he gives them a “model” prayer. In this episode of the GRINDIT podcast we break down this prayer so we too, can know how to pray and to have our prayers answered. Take a listen and share this with a friend!

Jesus gives his disciples some things to focus on that will help them exceed beyond the righteousness of the Pharisees. He gives them two “Don’t do’s” and three “When you’s”. These are very important because he had just told them that if their righteousness does not exceed that of the Pharisees, they cannot enter into heaven so he uses what they do as an example of what not to do if you are his disciple. He covers, doing good deeds, giving, praying, fasting, and storing treasure. We break these down in this podcast.

What is the purpose of the law? What was the purpose of the prophets? Paul tells us in a couple of places the law was given so we would know what sin is. What is sin? Anything that goes against the will of God. The main purpose of the law and the prophets were to reveal the fact that we need a Savior...we need Jesus. As Jesus begins to teach his disciples about living a life pleasing to God he tells them that if their righteousness doesn't exceed that of the religious leaders and the Pharisees, they will not enter heaven! These are people who knew the law like the back of their hand. They looked the part, played the part, and people respected them greatly, but not Jesus. He saw their true nature, he saw their hearts. They may have been fooling the people around them but they didn't fool Jesus and he called them out, "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far fro me." They head knowledge about the scriptures but their heart was far from God! What would Jesus say about us?

After telling his disciples they are the salt of the earth, Jesus tells them they are the llight of the world. They have no idea what he is saying but we do because we are looking back and can see the whole picture. Jesus said he is the Light of the world in John 8:12. These 12 men have chosen to leave everything behind to follow Jesus. Over the next three years he will be pouring himself into these men, teaching them about God and how to treat people so they would be able to take over when he leaves. The only way they, or we, can be light is to have Jesus inside us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Without Jesus, we are walking in darkness no matter how awesome our life may be! If we are walking in the Light, are we shining the light?