mat7

Matthew 6:1-5 Careful we must be in our prayer, good deeds, and worship so as to not be showing our self as a religious person simply to parade in front of people. When we do this we have already received our reward and have no reward in heaven. Using flowery speech and big words does nothing to gain you an audience with the Father. Displaying your gifts and sacrifices to God before men gives you your reward instantly and do not expect from God because you have already received your reward. God and His works is whom we should give to and we should do it in secret not like the hypocrites do making themselves spectacles. An outward show of something that is not true, being something you are not simply for the eyes of man is what the hypocrites do. To pray so that others hear your prayer and to pray long-winded prayers publicly is a wrong motivation and shouldn't happen.

Matthew 6:6-8 We should pray in secret before the Father so that we do not display ourselves in vain repetitions desiring for others to see us and hear us. And often we pray empty prayers simply full of words taking up space, empty babbling which does nothing for self, God's kingdom, or God. And we must realize that the Father already knows what we need even before we pray and so what we should be praying is the answer we want not telling Him what He already knows.

Matthew 6:9-10 God is our Father and He is in heaven. Jesus says God's name is Hallowed and this means: holy, set apart, no other name like it. We should long for God's kingdom to come, our hope of eternal life and we should also expect God right here on earth not thinking that we will only have good things when we get to heaven but we can have them right now right here on earth as long as all we do we do for God's glory and according to His will.

Matthew 6:11-13 We should ask for our needs to be met and to be met daily. We are to ask for bread, this word here denotes fully everything that sustains life not just something to abate hunger but it is the bread of life that will sustain our every need. And we are not to ask for it other than day by day. Ask for just what we need for each day and God will give the extra. We should forgive all people especially those that are indebted to us and we should be careful not to fall into temptation and we should resist the devil and all signs of that which is evil.

Matthew 6:14-15 We need to forgive others before we can expect to be forgiven. This passage cannot be any clearer than what it is; if we do not forgive God will not forgive us. If we want to prosper and grow in Christ we must adhere to the Word of God and that means we must forgive to be forgiven - we must forgive to receive God's blessings.

Matthew 6:16-18 When we fast it should be in an attitude of privacy, not showing ourselves to be hungry and struggling, which only does one thing, brings attention to us and what we are doing instead of to God. When we fast we are to keep ourselves looking as if we are fed, full, and not faint of heart and body because of the fast. Fasting is between you and God not you and man and should not be done as the hypocrites do, parading themselves before men telling all they are fasting. When we fast in this manner our reward has already been received of us it is the reward of people knowing we are fasting, no other reward will come to us because we took the glory and not God. If you fast unto God only He will keep you for the time set aside for Him and you will not even notice the hunger till after the time is up and even then the hunger will not overwhelm you because God received the glory not man.

Matthew 6:19-21 We should collect treasures of a Spiritual nature; those things that belong to God for only those things are eternal. Things of this world have nothing eternal in them and cannot be taken with us when we leave this world. When we store up treasures in this world they simply grow old, loose their value, get stolen, etc. They do us or no one else any good when we store up treasures for worldly gain. If our treasures are things of the world that is where our heart will be, but if the treasures we store up are of heavenly things then our heart will be on God and the things of heaven.

Matthew 6:22-23 We should show the light of God in all things we do so that the darkness of the world will not overcome us and destroy us. Where light is darkness cannot abide so if our light shines brightly all the time the darkness cannot overcome us.

Matthew 6:24 We cannot have but one master for it is not possible for us to give our heart to two people at the same. We cannot follow the calling of God and the calling of the world simultaneously. The word mammon has the meaning of riches, money or idol. Originally it meant trust or confidence in worldly men and things. God needs to be our only master because if we try to serve more than one master we will learn to hate the one and love the other.

Matthew 6:25 When we worry we show a lack of faith and trust. To be not anxious for things means to not allow our mind to become distracted by the things around us that might be troublesome. We need to hold fast to that which we know to be true and to not hold ourselves in fear and worry over every little thing that comes our way. After all did not God make the body, the heart, mind, soul, and every other thing on the face of this earth? So if God made you don't you think He will be sure to sustain you in a way that does not cause you to worry and trouble over things? If we will only put our trust fully in God we will find that He will meet every need timely and in abundance!

Matthew 6:26-27 If God cares enough about even the birds to make sure they are fed without worry how much more would He tend to your needs because we are created in His image for His fellowship and love! And of what value is it for us to worry, have you ever found yourself to increase in stature, means, or knowledge through worry? When one is anxious it causes stress and stress causes decrease and this is not of God and God does not want us to worry.

Matthew 6:28-32 There is nothing whatsoever that is of more importance than our salvation and the salvation of others. The Word draws an analogy of the lilies of the field not doing any work as we would do physically yet they must draw sustenance from the earth, absorb moisture and minerals from the ground to grow and sustain themselves we also must do the things that are placed before us to sustain ourselves. In other words God is not going to just take care of you while you loaf around and do nothing. God expects you also to work, to make an attempt to meet your needs with that which He has placed before you and with the means He has given you. You must take action also. What ever it is we do we are to do so in trust of God knowing that He will supply our needs even when it looks hopeless if we put forth the effort and thank God for the answer He will supply it. We are like the lilies of the field and even Solomon in all his glory was nothing more than a lily in the field and only God can supply all the needs. And again we are compared to things of nature saying that if the earth is covered for its protection by the grass and flowers how much more so will God clothe and take care of our needs and us. And again we are reminded that God, our heavenly Father, already knows that we have need of all these things - clothing, food, rest, love, health, and all things necessary to sustain life.

Matthew 6:33 The first thing in our life should be God! We should put God first in all things we do. This is not an empty phrase or passage of prose this is a promise from the Father God to His children and that promise is that if we first seek the kingdom of God, the things of God, putting God first in our life and all things pertaining to Him that every single earthly need that we have will be met. Now this does not mean that we first get the things we want and need and once God has given them to us we will begin to serve Him, but it means just the opposite, we first serve Him and than He will supply us. It needs to become second nature to us to serve God and place Him above all other things in our life. Once we place God first and begin to serve Him and He sees our honesty and faith in Him He will begin to bestow His righteousness upon us, which consists of forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and all earthly needs supplied.

Matthew 6:34 God will take care of tomorrow and tomorrow will take care of its self. God wants us to see from this verse that all we do when we worry not only about today but also tomorrow is burden ourselves unnecessarily with things that will simply take care of themselves once left in God's hands.

Father, help me to learn to trust in You for all things, not worrying about tomorrow, or even today, but realizing that all things are done through You and by You for me and for my well-being. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and power each and every day, and use me for Your glory not my glory in Jesus name amen.
Where Jesus is Lord!
Living Vine Ministries
Pastor Thomas Miles

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