June 23, 2020
We are going to spend the next two weeks together as a church reading Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount! The Sermon on the Mount is the first of Jesus’ major teachings recorded in the gospel of Matthew. In it, Jesus explains the ethics and values of the kingdom of Heaven as opposed to the ethics and values of the world. The values and principles that are to govern our lives as followers of Jesus and citizens of the kingdom of Heaven are wildly different from those that govern the various cultures of our world, including the culture in which we live.
Over the next two weeks, allow the words of the Lord Jesus to challenge the way you think, expose the worldly and idolatrous values and desires of your heart, and transform you to live in the new way that He has laid before us!
In this passage Jesus is telling us how we should spend our time, devotion, and energy: not striving to attain more stuff, more money, more temporary and fleeting things of earth, but striving to pile up for ourselves treasure in heaven! Jesus is calling us here to set our minds and hearts on eternity.
Jesus’ illustration about the eye being the lamp of the body means that how we see things determines the health of our lives overall. If we see rightly, from an eternal perspective, we will lead healthy, full lives; if our perception of life and the world is that it’s all about the here and now, acquiring as much stuff as possible before we die, our lives will be full of darkness.
Again Jesus uses an illustration to get his point across, concluding that we cannot serve both God and money. We cannot seek to lay up treasures for ourselves on earth and seek the kingdom of heaven; it will be one or the other.
Jesus says that where our treasure is, our hearts will be also. When we see things rightly, perceiving clearly, we will lay up treasure for ourselves in heaven; when we do not, we will try to get what we can get in this life. When God becomes the supreme treasure of our hearts, the thing we desire above all, we see the rest of life clearly, our lives are full of light, and we will spend our time and energy pursuing the things of eternity!
Matthew 6:19-24
Lay Up Treasures in Heaven
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys 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. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Family Discussion Question:
- What does it mean for God to be our supreme treasure, for God to be what we value and pursue above everything else? What are some ways we can make sure we are treasuring and pursuing Him this week?
Father, I lift my hands to you and praise your holy name. Thank you for your word for it is a guide into my feet. Open my eyes only to goodness and may I turn from the wicked deceiver, the devil himself, for he is a thief and is seeking whom he can devour. Fill me today, and be with me as I go forth kicking on the gates of hell to find one more for Jesus. Amen
The answer I have to your first question is:
“It means to me that if the Lord G d is truly my Father in Heaven I put Him first in all that I do! And that fact reflects my living and relationships down here on Earth, my ‘second home!'”
My answer to your second question is:
“If I surrender my TONGUE to my Lord each morning the results may show a difference, and reflect my Heavenly Father’s language rather than my own!!”
AMEN and HALLELUJAh!!! Dear Lord please show me the way to build my treasures in heaven. I want to be like you and to keep the devil because me. I want to be filled with your glorious love. I know with you, your love will be always with me. In Jesus name I pray Amen.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Your Word speaks such truth to me more each day. It is one thing to hear it but to apply it, makes it take action in our lives. I have had to face many a trial in my life and be found with close to nothing of material worth. Though devastating at first, I have seen that I am still standing and God is still right beside me holding me up. Faith, Hope and Love are eternal. I know what is valuable and I am rich beyond measure because I have Jesus. Thank you God for loving me and showing me what truly matters in this life. In Jesus’ precious and holy name.Amen.
Amen LORD. knowing You and accepting You in my heart is beyond any treasure of this world. Teach me to be content in this time I find myself in. That You are all I need. Mold me Lord to love everyone as You love everyone. In Your precious Name I pray Jesus Amen.
You have never promised that you will provide our wants, only our needs. You have never let me down. Thank you dear Lord for your promise, that you will never leave me, nor forsake me, nor leave my seed begging for bread.
Lord, let me treasure things of heaven above all else. Let me be full of light.
Father, you are the One Above all that has valued my worth redeemable. Why wouldn’t I set my eyes upon you? You are my Everything. I am eternally grateful that you first loved me.
Lord, help me prioritize my day today to reflect your eternal will, living in the present and in light of eternity, not my will and temporary circumstances.
Lord thank you I do not treasure things of this world you only are my provider and have not never left my side. I love you and give you praise because when I have been down you have always come through for me.
Father I love You and need You. “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”❤️??
Psalm 139:17-18,23-24
ESV
I once went on a mission trip to Russia. We were coming to the end of our trip and had lots of rubles. We went to a market and I found a book I wanted to buy. I hesitated because I thought it cost too many rubles. I negotiated with the man, but he wouldn’t drop the price. Our time was up and we had to head to the airport. While in the airport, I bent down and a few thousand rubles fell out of my pocket. I looked at the rubles and realized that outside of Russia, they would be worthless. A valuable lesson: currency is only good in the land of that currency. If you’re going to spend it, you have to spend it while you’re there. Everything you have in this life is the currency of this life. It’s yours not to hold on to, but to spend and be used for the Kingdom and glory of God. You’re leaving this life. Once you leave it, all your possessions will be worthless. Be wise. Give away what you cannot keep, that you might gain what you can never lose. Exchange this life’s currency for the treasures of heaven – and you’ll enter heaven with everlasting riches, and not a pocketful of rubles. By another.