Jewell

"Seek first God's Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you" The command is to seek God's kingdom and his righteousness first, above and beyond all other things, and all our needs will be provided.

Jesus mentions the pagans to indicate to us that we should be different. We shouldn't worry about earthly things as they do. My heavenly Father knows what I need - that gives me peace in my heart and soul knowing that he will take care of me and that I don't have to worry about anything.

5 times.....excessive worry becomes sin as it invades and depletes our trust and faith in God. Yes, worry (or anxiety) and trust (or faith) are opposites.

Jesus' point is that we shouldn't worry but trust God to provide. It is a valid point because we are often stressed by trivial issues that do no good to worry about and which takes away from our faith. With faith, there is no reason to worry.

We store up treasures in heaven each time we do something that shows our love for God. This is forever, for all eternity, whereas treasures on earth are for but a short time. I'm not sure about being uncomfortable with the concept of rewards in heaven - I guess that depends on perception of what we believe those rewards to be. I see them as an eternal, close relationship with my Savior; a long and lasting love; no sickness or tears; a home in which our Lord rules without the influences of Satan. Within that concept, the "uncomfortable" would be in my feelings of not being deserving.

Jesus condemned him for storing up things for himself without being rich toward God. The context revolves around greed in relation to excessive storing up, not because it's needed but just to have it. It relates to the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus instructs us to "not store up for yourself treasures on earth..."

Confession, repentence, and making amends should be the end result of self-examination. Without them we stagnate, falter, and are subject to our Father's loving but firm discipline. Confession and repentance are needed to develop and grow in the Christian life.

Self examination must be done with the bible as our basis and as a tool in our communication with God. Christ is the great counselor. Building a relationship with Him, learning and desiring His way, praying for direction, and listening for His response (this is the tough part....am I letting Him direct me or following my own desires?) can help ensure a balance in the direction we take.

God has brought judgment to the offending parties "because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." Sickness and death may seem harsh, however when we tend to minimize the seriousness of sin, God will deal with our sins as he sees appropriate (what it takes to get our attention back on Him). According to Hebrews 12:5-7, we should endure hardship as discipline and see it as God treating us as His child.

It is disrespectful of the Lord's body and blood. The Lord's table is holy and demands our reverence. This is no more or less sinful than other sins agains fellow Christians.

The Lord's Supper looks backward as a remembrance to the death of Christ for our sins. It looks to the present as a communion with the living Christ, and it looks to the future as a promise of eternal life in the presence of God.

The Lord's Supper finds it's fulfillment in the Great Banquet as a gathering of the redeemed of the Lord in the presence of God on the Last Day, the culmination and fulfillment of the incarnation, the cross, and the resurrection. Our thoughts should reflect what was (the Last Supper and the crucifixion), what is (the gift Christ has given each and every one of us), and what is to come (eternity with Christ).

"eating the Bread of Life" nourishes our faith by nourishing our spirit, growing our hearts in Christ. Partaking of the Lord's Supper builds and nourishes our faith by ensuring that we remember the sacrifice and continue to draw closer to Him and stronger in our faith. The commonality is in believing in Christ and always remembering his sacrifice that was made for each of us.

Because believing is the very foundation of our relationship with Christ and partaking of the Lord's Supper is our commitment to that relationship. The difference between the 12 and the crowd of "disciples" that turned away is that the 12 listened as believers and understood, continued to "feed" on Jesus, to believe, and to abide in him while those who turned away heard only the words and not the meaning. As Jesus said, the parables are for the believers, not the unbelievers. The mark of true disciples is that they hold to Jesus' teaching and by doing so will know the truth and the truth will set them free.

Jesus is telling us that he gives his life for ours - his sacrifice will provide us with eternal life. The two verses are metaphorically the same except for the term for his life (my body and my flesh).

"eating the Bread of Life" means believing in Christ. Nibbling may correspond with the person who is a Sunday Christian but resumes old lifestyles during the rest of the week, where one who makes a meal of it would be the person who truly loves Christ and devotes each day to following Him.

We should continually ask forgiveness in order to have a relationship with God that tells him that we need Him in our lives and understand that such a relationship means that we must have the desire to "come clean" when we err. It may just be a slip of the tongue, an angry thought, or a word of gossip - the need is still there - to make sure that we do all we can to maintain a steady and strong relationship with our Father that is open, honest, and growing.

We may seek to be independent of asking anyone for help because that is the way we are raised. We attend school and/or special training in order to prepare us for a world in which we will need to "survive". Our desire to be independent of God may be based on this same concept. We should ask God to give us daily bread because he is the ultimate provider. When we are able to pay for our food, clothes, housing, it is because he has provided us with the means to earn the money needed.

We are asking that the Father's kingdom should come in us and throughout the world, that Christ might reign over all and that His return be hastened. We are asking for the Father's will to be done on earth as a way of acknowledging to God that it is His will that must take precedence, not our own, for he alone knows the whole story. In praying for this, we should ensure that our prayers are a reflection of unselfishness, in tune with and guided by God's will.

Our actions and words are a reflection of what "hallows" the Father's name or not. Our actions should be a direct reflection of what Jesus has taught and our words should honor and praise God. We honor our Father when we pray by acknowledging his position and holiness.

Paul's teaching doesn't exclude anyone - all followers of Christ are included irregardless of denomination. We should act as a follower of Christ with everyone. I don't believe that blanket judgmentalism towards the faith of other Christian groups excuses us in any way from Jesus' command to love one another. We will never all agree on everything (or sometimes on anything) but the overall belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who died in our place should bring us together - we shouldn't let the nits tear us apart.

They have to do with being of one body (loaf) and taking actions to maintain good relationships with others. We must settle any issues with our brothers/sisters to prepare ourselves to partake of the Lord's Supper righteously.

Our focus should be on Jesus. We offer blessings to God when the "cup of blessing" is lifted heavenward.

Our prayers are not just requests to God - they are also for giving thanks and praising Him. It is communication with our maker that helps us build a stronger relationship with him. You can't build a relationship without talking. But that's the easy part.....listening (the other side of the conversation) has to take place also.

We should pray in secret to eliminate any piousness, making our conversation with God one-on-one. Public pray in a church service is contrary to Jesus' instructions when it is lengthy and done to impress others. Flowery prayers hinder the development of disciples because it makes people think that their prayers, usually simple and direct, aren't good enough.