Hosanna Restoration Church

It has been a long time since I did the old open, point, and look trick, but I had recently heard someone talk about doing it and thought maybe I would give it a try again. So the other day I closed my eyes, opened my Bible and stuck my finger on a verse. This was the verse! First thought was, “think I will try for a different verse.” But this was exactly what the Lord wanted to talk to me about, so we had a talk.

How is it that the Father in heaven is perfect? He is perfect by the power of God. That is the only way I can be perfect and if He says I am to be perfect, then He is going to empower me to be just that. He knows I can’t do it on my own. The quicker we figure that out the better for all of us. Look back at the second verse of chapter 5, and you will see that Jesus said, “God blesses those who realize their need for Him.” If we desire to be perfect, then we had better believe we need Him to do it.

I know a person who every time I see him he makes a point of telling me that no one is perfect. There is not doubt that this is a true statement, but I always get the feeling that he is using this as an excuse to keep from changing some things. You know, the idea that God will just have to take him the way he is. But the truth is God said we are to be perfect like He is, so we better all tap into the only power that can perfect us. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to accomplish this in every life that will invite Him to do it.

Believe me, I am far from perfect, but I can’t use that as an excuse to ignore what God is saying here. I am not going to say well no body is perfect, so I don’t even need to try. If God says this, then it is important to Him and therefore it is worth my effort to seek Him for wisdom and power to bring it about in my life.

As I sought Him, I felt like I should start at the beginning of the chapter and see what teachings of Jesus provided the most difficulty on my quest for perfection. Fortunately I have realized my need for Him. Not sure about the mourning, and know I need to work on the gentle part. We can each go through and do our own self-evaluation, and as we do we should ask God for His in put. He can see some things we can’t.

Jesus talks about enough in this chapter that I am sure we can all find some bumps as we read it. It is okay if you hit bumps. We can’t just keep driving around them. We need to hit them and then do something about them. Have you ever followed someone who knew a road so well that they knew where to turn to miss the bumps? We can be the same way when it comes to our spiritual walk and if we are not careful we will never fix the rough places in our walk with God. So don’t be surprised if you find things you have already just kept going around and did not even realize it. Next time we will talk about the benefits of taking ourselves to the Lord in this process.