WATCHWORD:
I have heard all about you, Lord. I am filled with awe by your amazing works. In this time of our deep need, help us again as you did in years gone by. And in your anger, remember your mercy. Habakkuk 3:2
25 “When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise, your accuser may hand you over to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 And if that happens, you surely won’t be free again until you have paid the last penny. Matthew 5:25-26
Meditation:
A Little Corner of Hell?
Matthew chapters 5, 6 and part of 7, encompass a series of sermons by Jesus, called the sermon on the mount, the early teaching of his disciples. Some of these lessons were logical, some common sense, some difficult to fully grasp at the moment, but each one required a process of change, of putting us into a right relationship with God and with others.
Oswald chambers in a recent My Utmost for His Highest makes this statement: “There is no heaven that has a little corner of hell in it. When we are called to follow Jesus, to become a disciple, God is determined to make us pure, holy, and right. There is no compromising on those points, there’s no escaping the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit, for even a moment.”
Have you ever felt attacked by a sharp little voice within? Guilt in many of its forms. Maybe it keeps you up at night, anger unresolved, or a reoccurring thought of a time when you turned your back on another person at a time of their need and walked away because, ‘it was not your concern’? Maybe in anger you hurt the one you loved and now you must pay the price of humbling yourself.
Those moments when the little needle of guilt causes your discomfort. When the Holy Spirit speaks and you choose to ignore it, something happens to your heart, to your sense of peace. You find yourself asking; I wonder why I’m not growing spiritually with God? When that happens, ask yourself if the debts you owe to God are being paid.
Chambers closes with this statement: Every moral question or call comes with an ‘ought’ behind it, the knowledge of knowing what we ought to do. If left unattended, you begin to build your own little corner of hell,” and there goes your peace of mind, your heaven. Be quick to deal with that matter in Jesus’ name.
Bulletin Board Prayer:
My prayer for you as well as my prayer for all, is that we will strive to follow our Lord in purity, undefiled and with total commitment. Amen.
Prayer for Salvation:
Almighty God, I am a sinner and I need is Savior. I believe Jesus is your son, and that He died on a cross for my sins. I believe you raised Him to life again for my justification. Forgive me of my sins. Help me to forgive everyone who has harmed me or otherwise sinned against me. Jesus, be Lord of my life. I want to serve You as Lord and King. I thank you that I now belong to the family of God. In Jesus’ name, amen. — Alan Jackson
