"I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me.
If you really knew Me,
you would know My Father as well.
From now on, you know Him and have seen Him."
John  14: 6-7
The Way Of The Lord Ministries
Reverend Noreen T. Kevern
520-665-2345
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The Way of The Lord Ministries - Tucson Arizona - Funerals, Baptisms, Christening, Prayer Services, Spiritual Needs, & Wedding Services.
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Searching In The Sermon On The Mount, Part III

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins,
your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 6:14-15

Giving is very important to God. He wants us to give of ourselves, in ways that are not comfortable. He wants us to give without thought or reward, not seeking
self- gratification, but His mercy. He wants us to give our time, our money, our clothes, our needs, and our wants, until we have emptied ourselves and then He
is able to fill us with all of Him and all of His promises. It’s not for our own self-worth that God calls us to give. Granted, there is a feeling of worth when you give,
but God wants us to give in secret. Not boasting about the good that we are doing. After all, when Jesus healed people He told them not to tell anyone, but go
and offer the sacrifice at the temple. God wants us to thank Him for us having the desire to want to do something. Acts of righteousness are to be done, to
show God that we understand what it is that He wants us to do. He doesn’t want us to receive plaques or money for doing good, He wants us to do so in secret,
and so He will reward us for the good that we do. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your
giving may be in secret. Then your Father, Who sees what is done in secret, will reward you (Matthew 6:3).

In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus is teaching us to keep it simple with God. Not long lengthy prayers, repeating words that have lost there meaning.
Let’s look at the Lord’s Prayer.

“Our Father, Who art in heaven. Hallowed is Your Name.” (Matthew 6:9)
God is our parent, Who is in heaven and His Name is to be kept holy.

“Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)
Not our kingdom, not our will, but God’s will, here as well as in heaven.

“Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11)
His Word, His will, and His Body nourish us if we choose to take it.

“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12)
We have to first forgive others, as God will forgive us.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”(Matthew 6:13)
When the lessons that God wants us to learn are before us, we are to use them to teach us to look to the answer that God wants from us, not the evil that the
devil is trying to get us to take. God always leaves a way for us out of whatever we are in. We just have to search for it.

There is no “I” in the prayer. It is meant to teach us that God is to be first in our lives and that He wants us to go to Him for what we need, teaching us to forgive
so that we can be forgiven. It teaches us to learn from God so that we look for His way and not take the easy way out that the devil wants us to do. Praying in
secret is about a personal relationship with God, one on one, so that we can be one with God.

But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Matthew 6:15). Forgiveness is so important to God. Jesus speaks of forgiving
over and over in the Gospels. That was His whole mission, our forgiveness. God forgiving us before we repent. The cross represents our turning point. Jesus
has already taken our sins and died on the cross. Our job is to believe in the One Whom the Father sent, Jesus Christ. By building our personal relationship
with the Lord, which is what Jesus is calling for here, the giving, the praying, the fasting, and the forgiving, is the way in which we build this relationship. But
Jesus points out that there is a catch. We must forgive others so that God will forgive us. He has put the acceptance of our salvation, our forgiveness, and His
gift, into our hands. We have to make the choice, to believe in Jesus, or to deny Jesus. One will bring us heaven and the other hell. God does not want to
control us, He wants to love us, and we to love Him because love is not control. Love is not self-seeking but love seeks to put the other ahead of self. Love is
given freely, and always multiplies outward. Our acceptance all boils down still to the first four words in the Bible: In the beginning God (Genesis 1:1). If we
accept that, we will be able to believe all of the Word of God and we will be able to forgive.

God is looking for us to have true fasting: Fasting meaning mercy and compassion on those around us. He wants us to do so with a glad heart and with a smile
on our face, showing His love. “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the
oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked, to
clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break froth like the dawn and your healing will quickly appear, then your
righteousness will go before you and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard (Isaiah 58:6-8). Jesus tells us yet again to do so in secret. Why does God
want us to do these things in secret? He is teaching us that what matters, is the greater good, that by doing things without seeking praise, we are becoming
more and more like God.

But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting but only to your Father,
Who is unseen: and your Father Who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:18