Tuesday
But I wanted to focus today on just a small passage, vss 13-14. We need to understand that the following Christ is not the easy way to go. When you read all these “what not to do” commands of Jesus it can almost seem (actually I think it is ) impossible to do them. I constantly struggle with trying to live a holy life. But therein lies my problem. I am trying to do all of these things on my own, in my own strength and let me tell you, it is impossible. We can only walk the narrow road through the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. It is by God’s power and might, and not my own that I can walk the path that Christ leads me on. The other way may seem easier, but that broad path, takes us only to the wrong place. Don’t be fooled by the teachers and the prophets of today, trying to tell you, you can have it all. There is no getting around the struggles you will have, or the persecutions, or attacks that happen, but when we trust Jesus to guide us through, when we let the Holy Spirit empower us, then the rough paths will be smoothed out, or at least we will have the ability to maneuver through.
I just had to add a little comment to today’s blog. During our Christmas celebrations at the church, we put on a drama called “Journey to Christ”. One of the actors (Greg Camp) portrayed Jesus in the play and he preached the “sermon on the mount” in one of the scenes. He did such a fantastic job and it was so amazing to see this sermon come alive as one might have envisioned Jesus teaching it.
I loved seeing the words of the bible come to life, because the bible truly is the “living word.” I hope that you too can see scripture as alive (Hebrews 4:12) “For the word of God is alive and active.”
Blessings
Pastor Kathy