Plymothian

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

⁶ “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Don’t Judge

Jesus, I am afraid of being judged.  However, I also judge.  I break off relationship when I think that someone has failed me or judged me in some way.  I reach conclusion about people too easily sometimes.  Ironically, I dn’t have the Myers-Briggs ‘judging’ personality (humanmetrics.com).  However, I still look down on others sometimes and even foster contempt for them.  I thin of John MacArthur who preaches on the radio.  I find him cold and judgmental.  Ironically because of my fear of his attitudes about worldview I let my fear judge him.  I can discern that his views about integration are wrong without writing him off as a biblical communicator.

Jesus, wrest away my fears.  It is often out of fear that I judge.  I condemn others before they condemn me.  I see them as cruel and hurtful people.  I even think that way too much about members of my own household.  Actually, I especially fear the hurt from members o my own household.  I have my defences up against them and I have a steady judgement on them against my better judgemnent.

I see that my father did condemn and pronounce strong judgment on his home.  He called us irresponsible, stupid, weak and selfish.  Now for fear that others will find these things to be true, I pronounce judgment first.  Help me to heal from childhood patterns.  Help me to deal with the fear and end the judgment.  I need to trust you to be able to trust those around me now.  If the fear dissipates we will cease to wound each other.

Questions

1. What does Jesus tell us not to do?
2. How do we cease judging but not lack judgement?
3. What does judging someone have to do with our view of self and others?
4. Who have you condemned?
5. In your view, what are some common justifications people give when they judge (e.g. think of a man who has had an affair, or a woman who has killed a child)?

^16-18 “When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don’t make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won’t make you a saint. If you ‘go into training’ inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face. God doesn’t require attention-getting devices. He won’t overlook what you are doing; he’ll reward you well.

^19-21 “Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

^22-23 “Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!

²⁴ “You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both.

^25-26 “If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.

^27-29 “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

^30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

³⁴ “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

Heaven Is Where The Heart Is

What do I value the most?  What do I fight to find time to do?  I am committed to devotions like I am committed to medicine.  I know that it will make me better.  However, I am already better.  It helps me to realise the better that I have been already made in, you, Jesus.  But I would rather be doing something else.  I’d rather be paying a game or having a heartfelt conversation.  When I get the things I long for they never satisfy.  However, when I was driving today I felt joy deeply for a while.  I felt like I loved you, Jesus.  You felt near.  I was thankful for my children’s smiles.  I was grateful for the way you enrich everything in my life.  When I was just driving, but I found you, I felt like the longing was satisfied.

I sometimes long for better clothes, better food, better possessions.  However, they are pale in comparison with the true joy of living in the Spirit.  Help me to put first the kingdom of God and lt other things worry about themselves.

Questions

1. How did those living for God miss God?
2. What did people in Jesus’ day pursue?
3. What did Jesus say should be our lifetime pursuit?
4. What do you strive to attain and therefore find happiness?
5. What would true happiness look like for you?

⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

¹⁴ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

The Lord’s Prayer

Jesus, I see how you attuned yourself with the Father through prayer.  I get confused how to pray.  I don’t know whether to only address the Father or whether to talk to you.  I am choosing of late to talk to you by the Holy Spirit.  However, the times when I should talk to each member of the Trinity and in what way confuse me.  I guess that it is not magic.  I don’t need to worry about a particular formula or rite of passage that I must perform to enter into relationship with you.  Maybe you are just delighted that we leave our estrangement behind and talk to you at all.  We don’t have to get it right, we just have to get it started.

Jesus, when you taught us to pray it was uncomplicated and natural.  It started with reminding ourselves of the majesty of the Father and then affirming his will to take care of us and to bring Heaven to earth.  Help me to make the world a little better as I pas through.  May others see you in my actions.

Questions

1. How did pagans pray?
2. What does the connection between pagans and magic rituals bring to the text?
3. How does the simplicity of Jesus’ prayer refresh people?
4. How do people use prayer to manipulate toward their own ends?
5. What is the goal of prayer?

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’^{[e] 28} But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

³¹ “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’^{[f] 32} But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

³³ “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ ³⁴ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. ³⁶ And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. ³⁷ All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.^[g]

Another Way To Dehumanize People

Jesus, it is hard to be thoughtful of people as persons.  So soon people become objects or commodities.  I know that women can become objects of fantasy.  We can create a world in the mind that is unreal and it devalues our spouse.  The real world of relationship requires sacrifice and patience.  We need to reveal ourselves bit by bit to one person until they stand out from all others.  then we need to commit to a relationship of intimate self-disclosure.  We need to create a safe-place for our spouse to share without condemnation.  We need to pursue total sex: the meeting of mind, body, and spirit which can only happen in a marriage.  So soon we become consumers or predators, thinking that a stranger will satisfy.  How can we forget all that we have invested at home?

Help us not to engage in fantasy which reduces a person to a caricature or cut-out.  Help us to take time to see the beauty in commitment, relationship, and affirmation.  Help us to be a safe place where divorce is never thought about.

Questions

1. Why did people get divorced?
2. What did jesus say was a legitimate divorce?
3. What wrong thinking led to divorce?
4. How does a consumer society lead to divorce?
5. Why does God want people to marry and stay married?

²¹ ‘You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, “You shall not murder,^[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.” ²² But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister^[b][c] will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, “Raca,”^[d] is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, “You fool!” will be in danger of the fire of hell.

²³ ‘Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

²⁵ ‘Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

On The Path To Murder

I see how it starts, Jesus.  I want something and I think that I should have it.  I think that something is a right.  I fear that I am not important to someone.  I think that maybe I am stupid.  I make a subconscious connection to a painful memory or pattern.  I break off my relational ability.  I go into a task-oriented mode and others become mere resources to accomplish my goals.  Even worse, they become obstacles.  Everyone, including myself, ceases to be relational human beings.  We cease to be interdependent, healthy people created in the image of God.  I wish I was free of people.  I wish I didn’t have to manipulate them.

If entertained, this mode becomes more foul.  I can judge peopl.  Condemn people.  Put people in categories and choose who is owrthy of my time and who is not.

The ultimate step is the one of murder.  However, we have all walked the line of devaluing others, wishing them further, sometimes wishing they didn’t exist.  Such an attitude is not worthy of your kingdom, Jesus.

Help me to see others as people.  Help me to relate.  Help me to seek to affirm them, value them, and be a safe place for them.  Help me to help them find you.  Help me not to be another reason why the world is so disconnected.

Questions

• What is the first step in the path to murder?
• What would Jesus say to those who would say, “How much can I isolate myself from others?”
• How would Jewish people, who had never murdered, have been amazed at Jesus?
• How do you change your relationship with others when you feel embarrassed, threatened, shamed, or guilty?
• What is the design of personal relationships with Jesus and others?
• Why is “I don’t want or need people” a statement connected with murder?