Salt of the Earth

 Matt 5:13
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt has lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
 
The familiar scripture of Jesus teaching on the mount off the lake shore of Galilee, now known as the Sermon of the Mount was given to His followers. They were given a glimpse into the true nature of what it will mean to be a true follower of Christ. Jesus is the true salt of the world, and to follow Him means that we also are the salt of the earth. Sermons have been preached of the significance of being the salt that makes a difference. Salt that has lost its true properties of salt is of little use and is no different that any other dirt mineral that is used to trod upon. If we are to be His disciples, then our life must make a difference. It can be said that a life that follows Christ will make a difference in the world, if such a person is not making a difference, then they are not truly following Christ.

Confidence in God

 1Sam 17:46

This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand…

 

Confidence in our ability to fight the giants in our lives at some points becomes unattainable. There is only so much we can accomplish in our own strength and self determination. Yes, we must be strong, and we must decide to take a stand against the enemy that oppresses us. But our human abilities come short when facing giants that are bigger than us. The confidence that David had was not in his ability to swing the rock, but his trust in God that the Lord would deliver the victory. If it did not happen on the first swing, he believed that God would find a way to deliver this giant into his hands. He had five stones. He only needed one as God guided the stone to hit the forehead of the giant. The metaphor here is that we face giants (problems and difficulties) that take divine intervention. Through prayer and faith we can overcome those giants. Today, the Lord will give the victory.

Pray For Restoration

 Obadiah 1:12

Do not gloat over your brother’s day, The day of his misfortune. And do not rejoice over the sons of Judah On the day of their destruction; Yes, do not boast On the day of their distress. (NASB)

The downfall spiritually of a nation or an individual should cause us to grieve and pray. Pray for restoration, pray for healing, asking God to show mercy. The attitude, “They brought this on themselves, now they are reaping what they sowed” may be true, but this is not a time to judge. We are all human and subject to failure and temptation. It is only by the grace of God that we can stay faithful. We are not immune to temptation, and Satan is out seeking whom he can destroy. Pray for the restoration of our brothers and sisters. The day of judgment is upon us, and our hope is to trust in the Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to empower us to live victoriously in these perilous days.

Light Came

 Gen. 1:3

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 

This light was either the light of God’s presence, or could have been the sun. It appears that the light that ruled the day (sun?) was created on day 4, but possibly the sun was already created to bring light to the world that was full of darkness on day one. 

 

Day 1- Light (possibly the sun)

Day 2- Sky/clouds

Day 3- Earth/grass

Day 4- Moon

Day 5- Sea creatures/birds

Day 6- Land animals/Male, Garden of Eden, Female. 

Day 7- God rested- Sabbath

Jesus came to be the light that would shine into a world that was spiritually darken with sin. He is the true light that lights every man to see the salvation of God.

All Your Heart

Jeremiah 29:13

 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

We are saved by grace and grace alone, but grace cannot be obtained without a willful seeking of Him. How can you find God? We are not saved by any works of good deeds, or high moral standards. God’s word gives us direction and instruction on how we are to live if we are going to be a follower of Christ, but it is not in the things we do that will bring us to God, but in the obedience and trust we put in Him. God said, if you search for me with all your heart, you will find me. ALL YOUR HEART, is what He requires if we are to find Him. What does “all your heart” mean? There is no holding back, He is all we hope and desire. Our affection are set on Him and Him alone. There is no room for self and things that break the heart of God. We desire to keep His commandments, Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments''. Finding Him will require full submission to His will and way. Abandon your heart to find Him. He will be there waiting for you. 

Cast Your Cares

 Philippian 4:6

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

 

The cares of life can be heavy. We care about many things and don’t even realize that we are doing it. In this case, to care is to carry a burden, to be anxious, or to worry about the material needs, our daily bread. Peter said, “to cast your cares on Him for He will take care of what you need.” We need not worry about what life will bring to our doorsteps tomorrow. Today He will watch over us. Paul says here, “don’t worry, but give God thanks for all His blessings and provisions.” Place your faith and trust in God to meet your needs. He knows what we need and don’t need. Our life is under His control, and we in faith submit to His will. “Give us Lord our daily bread…” and lead us not to doubt your love and care.

Add To Your Faith

 2 Peter 1: 5-7

And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

 

Living for God with intentionality, There are some behaviors that are done by setting our will to make choices that lead to godly living. There are some things that just don’t happen just because we have given our lives to Christ and have surrendered our heart to God in sanctification. There are virtues of Christian living that are works in progress. The end goal is to have our lives demonstrate love and kindness to everyone that crosses our path. Knowing the will of God, we seek to control our impulses and desires. Having the Holy Spirit to guide and empower us to make the right choices is to live a holy life, and blameless in this present generation. 

The Interest of Others

 Philip 2:3,4

Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves…Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

 

Being selfish is defined as “(of a person, action, or motive) lacking consideration for others”). Taking care of self is not wrong or sinful, but doing so without consideration of how it may affect others is. We live in a world that is focused on self. “Looking out for number 1, no one else will.” There may be times that we may feel neglected and left out, and feel justified in putting ourselves before others. This may require some deliberate choices we make, and may go against what we want and desire. Does serving self first cause others interest to be hindered? This may depend on what that interest is. If their interest is wrong or sinful, we then make a choice on what is right and not what is self-serving. Let us examine our hearts to make sure we are not making choices that will cause others hurt or hindrance. Let us,  “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another”- Roman 12:10

Man's Religion

 James 1:26

If any man among you seems to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

 

To be religious implies that someone follows a belief system. In our culture, it indicates that that person believes something or someone. I often hear, “I’m not a religious person, but…” In the days of Jesus, most people in Israel followed the Jewish religion. James is saying that following the ritual of the Jewish faith or Christian faith is not enough. Words that come from your mouth are an indication of what is in your heart. You are deceiving yourself if you think that your faith will save you if you speak unkindly, lash out with hurtful words, spread gossip about other people, use words of profanity or vulgarity. You may believe that God is real and Jesus is the Son of God, but it is all in vain if you don’t speak from a heart of love and compassion.

The True Light

 John 1:9,10

That was the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world.  He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

 

All light is not true light. Satan can come as an angel of light. His purpose is to deceive people into believing a lie. We are faced daily with old and new information about the world and about what is true and what is false. God’s word is a daily challenge of its authenticity and its reliability. John declares that Jesus is the true light, and that he is the light for every human that is born into this world. Satan has blinded people with his light of deception, and the world is blinded to the light that Jesus brings to humanity. People are quick to try and disprove the Bible, but they will never disprove the true light of God. God is faithful to shine His light of truth on all men and women. The choice is always left to people to decide what they want to believe.