25 Feb - 3 March

This weeks study is of Matt 6-7.

Continuing the sermon on the mount. In these verses there is so much good stuff. So many verses you will be familiar with. Some of it might sound same old, same old, but depending on where you are at, at this time of your life, different verses will impact different people as we read them this week.

I'm kinda gutted I'm not teaching this week, as I've already developed plenty of great material as I've gone over these chapters a few times.

I'll try and share my thoughts verse by verse.

6:1-8 Verses about being humble and not bragging about how you worship. But worship meekly.

6:7 says not to use vain repetition. Followed by the lords prayer. So why do so many other faiths vainly repeat the lords prayer?

6:11 What does 'give us this day our daily bread' mean? Please ensure my family & I have enough.

6:12 'Forgive us our debts, as we forgive others' is elaborated on in verses 14 and 15. Debts, meaning debt of sin.

6:13 'Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil'. Does God lead us into temptation? Or does the devil? JST states 'Suffer us not to be lead into temptation...'. Does this change the meaning of the verse? Is that not more like saying 'please don't let lucifer attack me, but if he does, please help me'.

6:14-15 Don't expect heavenly father to be forgiving towards you, if you yourself are not forgiving. 7:1-2 is similar to this in that it says don't judge others, so that you are in turn not judged. But taking this a step further. If we are to be like God, is god not a forgiving God. Then we too must learn to be forgiving. No better place to learn forgiveness, than in family settings. The number of times I have had to be forgiving towards my own son this week! Just tonight I had to be forgiving towards him for getting upset because his new toothbrush was a Dusty Crophopper toothbrush instead of a Lightning McQueen toothbrush. When you raise kids it is easy to be forgiving because you know what they are complaining about is petty and they are naive. You know the do not know any better, but one day they will, and they will not be complaining about which Disney character is on their toothbrush. In fact, they won't even want a graphic on their toothbrush. Parents, how many times have you compared your kids tantrums to your own behaviour before God? I often think to myself, how am I like my boy is to me, before God? I don't always come up with an answer there and them. But given the frequency of these occurrences, I am able to identify various behaviours now and again.

6:17 How many of us are guilty of disfiguring our faces? I'm sure it was President Uchtdorf that recently spoke about why this should not be the case. The gospel is good new and a gospel of joy. I might add, even when fasting and during times of adversity.

19 Lay up treasures in heaven, not treasures on earth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. So is your heart set on things of the earth, or set upon things of heaven? I cannot read that verse without even just a small thought about some of the things on earth that I value, that I realise are actually of no value. I feel like the rich young ruler now and again, feeling sorrowful, but hopefully able to change. Matt 19:16-26.

6:22-23 If I have time I will come back to these verses as they are verses I don't understand very well and I know at some point I need to make more of an effort to understand them better.

6:24 Hate one and despise the other. Is it possible to serve the one you despise? What about addiction? Is there a behaviour you deal with on a regular basis that is contrary to Gods laws? Does this mean you despise God? No, you do love him, there is more going in our lives to make it so simple.

6:25-34 The remaining verses are difficult for me. I'm passionate about self reliance. I've also just finished the personal finances course. Nowhere in there does it say take no thought for tomorrow. Quite on the contrary, it talks about having a 1 month emergency fund, then a 3-6 month emergency fund, then retirement. That is very much taking thought for tomorrow and a significant number of tomorrow beyond that.

I understand these verses are promoting faith, but I'm currently at odds with the general idea about not 'taking no thought for the morrow'. I need to ponder this more.

The church's institute manuals suggest this idea means two things.

1. Do not be overly anxious or worried about tomorrow. Do not let worldly concerns cause us to lose trust in our Father in Heaven or become distracted from seeking the kingdom of Heaven.

2. Don't borrow trouble from tomorrow, you have enough to deal with today.

https://www.lds.org/study/manual/new-testament-student-manual/introduction-to-matthew/chapter-3?lang=eng

7:1 Am I a harsh Judge? If I'm honest, I can be a harsh judge. So I shouldn't be to surprised if I learn that someone is critical of me.

7:7-11 Ask and it shall be given you. If ye being evil know how to give a good gift, how much more shall your father give good things.

We may not like being called evil, but by comparison to God, we are. These verses do not refer to blessings, which usually come by obedience to certain laws, but they refer to gifts. Gifts should be given with no expectations and can come without necessarily being obedient to any specific law. Only that our father wants us to be happy.

7:12 My favourite rule is the golden rule. Treat others as you would want to be treated. This includes how we judge & forgive others, but also includes all other aspects of our lives.

Not completely fail safe. For example if I 'communicate' with my wife in my love language, I will likely be slapped around the face in no time. I need to treat her how she wants to be treated. But in the main, if you want to make friends, not enemies, if you want people to be nice to you, be nice to them.

It's a super simple rule.

7:13-14 Not sure about this one. Is this Jesus saying the holy ones will always be few in number. You will always be the odd one out. You will always feel like you are different. You will always feel peer pressure. If you hold true, you will make it, but the path, though straight, is easy to wonder from. By virtue of the fact that you are reading this verse, this would imply that you are on the path, or at least heading back towards the path.

7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. The term true colours also comes to mind. I think a bad person can bring forth good looking fruit. But only so much. Enough to entice. Then once a bite has been taken, it will have gotten us.

Is there any bad fruit, or more importantly, bad trees in our lives at the moment? If so, what can we do about it?

7:19 How do we chop it down and case into the fire?

7:21 Listening and learning about the word, will not save you. Being a content zombie will not save you. Knowledge alone will not save you. You need to do the Fathers will. And what is the Fathers will? Follow the commandments.

7:26 If you hear these things and do them not, you are foolish.

7:24 If you hear them and do them, you are wise.

Am I a doer? Am I acting? Am I following the promptings of the spirit to commit to something this week. Maybe the spirit is saying press in and give one of these difficult questions some thought and come back with a good answer. Stop avoiding the question.

7:29 The comment about the saviour teaching with authority has been mentioned a few times so far in our New Testament reading.