December 24 Daily Discovery
December 24 Daily Discovery - Read Matthew Chapter 6
This passage below is from the King James Version (ekjv.org).
Remarks from the Berean Fellowship follow the passage below.
[1] Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
[2] Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
[3] But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
[4] That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
[5] And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
[6] But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
[7] But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
[8] Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
[9] After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
[10] Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
[11] Give us this day our daily bread.
[12] And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
[13] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
[14] For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
[15] But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
[16] Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
[17] But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
[18] That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
[19] Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
[20] But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
[21] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
[22] The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
[23] But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
[24] No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
[25] Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
[26] Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
[27] Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
[28] And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
[29] And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
[30] Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
[31] Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
[32] (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
[33] But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
[34] Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Hearing and Doing what God Says
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Matthew 7:24-29
The Simple, the Wise, the Fool, and the Scorner
There are a total of five books in the Old Testament referred to as books of wisdom: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. The book of Proverbs is obviously the most prevalent of the wisdom books.
As you read through the book of Proverbs, you will discover these persons are identified:
- Simple people: those that are unaware or ignorant of God's truths and principles.
- Wise people: those that actively seek and practice God's truths and principles.
- Foolish people: those that despise and reject God's truths and principles.
- Scornrful people: those that are fools and try to convince others to become fools as well.
We are all born simple.
At birth, we are 100% unaware or ignorant of God's truth and principles, and we cannot be faulted for that. Because of this reality, we will tolerate foolish behavior among the very young.
Parental instruction and correction, attempting to bring our children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord is how we "drive" the foolishness out of a child. (Eph. 6:1-3; Prov. 22:15)
However, we cannot remain simple.
We will be confronted with the truth of God's principles, and how we respond to those truths and principles determines whether we go up or down from there.
How we become fools.
If we hear truths and we do not take the appropriate action based upon what we have learned, we become fools.
Hearing God's truth does NOT make you wise; it only "promotes" you down to the level of a fool.
Refer back to Jesus's teaching when he is contrasting the difference between the wise and the fool. BOTH of them HEAR.
Any person that HEARS what Jesus says and does not DO what Jesus says is a fool.
If we ignore, reject or despise what Jesus has said, we become foolish.
How we become wise.
We become wise by DOING what Jesus says to do.
I love the advice that Jesus' mother gave to the men at the wedding of Cana where Jesus performed His first recorded miracle: turning the water into wine. Jesus mother told the servants, "Whatever Jesus says to you, DO IT!" (John 2:5)
Surviving Life's Storms
When we have cultivated a habit of seeking out God's truth and applying it to our lives via submission to God and obedience to Him, we will be able to survive the storms of life.
Storms beat upon all of our houses alike. If through wisdom our house (life) is established with a firm foundation, we will survive every storm that comes our way.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
James 1:22-25
God help us to be truly wise people by DOING God's Word and not become fools by only HEARING it!
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