11-11-08: Matthew 18

I am reading the whole Bible right now, I am doing it in steps. Each day I read one chapter from the OT starting with Genesis, one chapter in the NT starting with Matthew, one chapter in Psalms, one chapter in Proverbs. Some days I read more than one of each of these. Well today, I looked at Matthew 18.
Jesus asks us to be humble like children. Children are so innocent. If you just sit with them for ten minutes, they will tell you of everything they see in and/or on you, good and bad(mostly the latter). There is no humility in them. They are not trying to impress anyone. They just want to be loved, to be noticed by their Father. If we cause an innocent child to sin, then it becomes our sin.

Matthew 18: 8-9
God does not see us as a waste once we sin. He asks us to get rid of the part of us that caused us to sin. To cut off our feet if it is our feet that caused us to sin is meant quite less literal. If us walking into a situation, or place, that causes us to sin, then we must not go there. We must avoid those places of temptation that lead us to sin when we are not strong enough and we must pray for the strength to avoid the sin and to look towards our Father. Next, the Lord tells us, "if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away." Again, you do not literally gouge out your eye and toss it away. Your eyes bring you sin, lust for instance; if you see a pretty woman and continue to undress her and think of impure thoughts about her then you must not look. Easier said than done, I know. Especially these days with a society so focused on impure sex. If you can tell there is someone of the opposite sex coming, you must turn away and focus on something else. Pray that God will keep your focus on Him and not the worldly things around us.

Jesus uses the Parable of the Lost Sheep in Matthew 18: 10-14 to illustrate His love for everyone, even the sinners. We are all God's children, or sheep in this illustration. Unfortunately, there are times where we wander away from His flock. We will go away and become lost. Jesus, our Shepherd, will come looking for us. He will always search until we are found. If, and when, He finds us, He is extremely happy. It is said that, "he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off." He is talking about that one sheep that was lost but now found.

Matthew 18: 20
"For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them."

Matthew 18: 21-35
In order for us to be forgiven, we must forgive others as out Father forgives us. There is not a limit to the number of times in which we are suppose to forgive, instead, we should forgive every time our brother/sister/neighbor asks us for forgiveness. If we ask for forgiveness, we will be forgiven by the Lord, our God, but if forgiveness is asked of us and we do not forgive, then it is said that we will be "tortured until he should pay back all he owed." This is what we can expect unless we "forgive your brother from your heart." So, the forgiveness that we ask for really means nothing unless we are willing to forgive those who sin against us from our heart. We can't just say the Lord's Prayer and expect that those words grant us worthiness of the forgiveness from our Father! We must say the words and mean them from the bottom of our heart!

Thanks for listening today! God bless everyone!