Happy Monday!

(S)

Giving to the Needy

6 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

² “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Prayer

⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

¹⁴ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Fasting

¹⁶ “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ¹⁷ But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Treasures in Heaven

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

²² “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,^[c] your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if your eyes are unhealthy,^[d] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

²⁴ “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Do Not Worry

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[e]?

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

(O)

As Jesus continues to preach, we see once again that we need to do things with humbleness. This goes against our nature so much. We want to make sure everyone knows we are spiritual and we are giving and we are suffering for our faith. 🙂  But we are rewarded by what is done in secret. God wants our time with Him to be personal and intimate. Obviously there are times when we are to pray out loud and do things so that others see, but they need to be done humbly for the benefit of those around us to teach or minister or disciple.

One passage that has really spoken to me over the years is about worry. If we look at the verse just before the “Worry” section, vs 24 and 25 actually go together. I find it interesting that God specifically mentions money as direct competition with Him. But so very true when we think about it. We worry about tomorrow, next week, next year. Always going after the greener pastures. We go after the money thinking it will ease our worries, but often it just leads to bigger worries. God is saying spend your time with Me rather than worrying about tomorrow. Focus on today, seek Me today. And I will take care of your needs today.  Let Me deal with tomorrow, tomorrow. I love the verse “each day has enough trouble of its own.”

(A)

Do I worry too much about tomorrow? I feel that I do this alot. Is it that I don’t trust God or that I just want to take care of it myself? Either way, I need to be very aware of the times I spend worrying about things that are really out of my control, and focus that time and energy into seeking God.

(P)

Lord, forgive me if I haven’t always trusted you enough to not worry. Forgive me when I’ve overstepped you and tried doing things myself. Your Word says to not worry, I pray that you help me to have peace when situations arise. Help me to have peace  with all areas of my life especially finances. Lord, you are faithful and promise to take care of all our needs. Thank you Lord, in your name Jesus, amen.