Keep Asking, Searching and Knocking

He (Jesus the Christ) began to teach them saying…:
“Don’t assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.  For I assure you : Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all things are accomplished.”  Matthew 5 v17 – v18.
 
The Lord Jesus emphasizes His purpose and also makes a clear connection between His life and purpose to the fulfilling of Law and the Prophets.  It is interesting that there is a call to surpass the “righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees.”  These individuals were known for expounding on the text and commands in scripture, however, they did not live lives that mirrored the fulfillment of the written law.
 
“Though the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees was impressive to human observation, it could not prevail before God.” (Isaiah 64:6). Enduring Word.
 
The next lessons shared in Chapter 5 all relate to the Law, however now, the heart of an individual is now presented as the measure for each individual’s alignment to fulfilling the Law.
  
Subtitles in this chapter and Bible (HCSB) are:
Murder begins in the heart, Adultery of the heart, Divorce Practices Censured, Tell the Truth, Go the Second Mile and Love Your Enemies.
 
Each of these topics can be explored, in depth, because the topic involves major aspects of our being.
 
Matthew Chapter 6 v1-v34 shifts to practices and demonstrations of our engagement in a journey of faith:
 
Subtitles: How to Give, How to Pray, The Model Prayer (Our Father in heaven..) How to Fast, God and Possessions and the Cure for Anxiety (Don’t worry about your life… v 25) and Do Not Judge chapter 7 v 1-6.
 
My focus is Chapter 7 v 7–v 12
 
“Keep asking and it will be given to you.  Keep searching, and you will find.  Keep knocking and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”   Chapter 7   v7-v8.
 
Persistence leads to fulfillment is the message given by the statements made by Jesus in this text. What, however, are the types of requests and seeking that the Lord is encouraging? 
 
 
 “Ask… seek… knock: We see a progressive intensity, going from ask to seek to knock. Jesus told us to have intensity, passion, and persistence in prayer. The fact that Jesus came back to the subject of prayer – already dealt with in some depth in Matthew 6:5-15 – shows the importance of prayer…..”  Enduring Word
 
“Ask with confidence and humility. Seek with care and application. Knock with earnestness and perseverance.” (Clarke) Enduring Word.
 
 
In our current time of uncertainty and humility it is good to know that our Heavenly Father wants to respond to our prayers.  We must pursue God knowing that a response will come to those who are actively seeking Him.
 


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Written by Annette O. Brown 3/27/20
All rights reserved.  Written permission must be secured by the author.

 
Somebody

Somebody should have told the ducks
to run and take cover,
not meander and totter
on the waves of the lake as the sun shone…
and mate! Not allowed in this climate,
if I stayed home I would have bought it.
Should I go past the walls?
Intermingle at all?
Freedom found in my mind.
Pushed past the tone of this time…
Birds are chirping near the lake,
flowers blooming, there’s no wake!
Wake up spirit and know,
somebody told me to Go!
 
 
 
Annette O. Brown Creation, Media 

All rights reserved.  Written permission must be secured by the author

​Salt and light - Matthew 5
 
“When He saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain, and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.  Then He began to teach them…”  Matthew 5 v 1.
 
Here Jesus sees a crowd and positions Himself, up on a mountain top,  to teach them.  First, the foundational Beatitudes are shared and then He addresses believers as salt and light.   The saltiness in salt should remain in order to be useful. (Matthew 5 v. 13). There is an expectation that believers should not loose what made them who they are in Christ.
 
“You are the light of the world.  A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lamp stand, and it gives light for all who are in the house.” Matthew 5 v 14.
 
Light is a metaphor for understanding or clarity.  Without light how can one see the path in front of us?  In the beginning Jesus’s ministry or movement was called "The Way".  As it was established in the beginning of "The Way" today each individual believer is an important conduit, guiding post or light for others to connect with the Lord. 
 
As lights, in Christ, we are to illuminate and shine as God leads us to.  Can we shine after displaying dark or unGodly behavior?  Thank God for Grace. We should not remain out of God’s will, however, I believe having an authentic light is the call the Lord has for us.  Knowing “the truth” of one's experience is what enables a believer  to share and enlighten others.
 
“What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace?  Absolutely not!  ( Romans 6 v15).
 
Let the light of believers so shine, that men and women, boys and girls will see God and glorify our Father in Heaven.



By A. O. Brown    3/9/20

 
Jesus is led into the Wilderness.
 
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.  After He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights. He was hungry.  Then the tempter approached Him…”  Matthew 4 v1-2 (HCSB)
 
Led into the wilderness!  This is hardly the picture of peace and harmony painted in the verses of Psalm 23.  “He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul.”    Wilderness is defined in Webster’s Dictionary as: 
 
1a(1): a tract or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings
 
3a: a confusing multitude or mass : an indefinitely great number or quantity.
 
b: a bewildering situation
 
 
Uninhabited by human beings, a lonely place.  Confusing, indefinitely great number, a bewildering situation.  A situation that is overwhelming and bewildering.  The situation doesn’t make sense.   
 
Jesus was led into a wilderness.  Have we been led into a wilderness at any point in our lives?
 
The good news is He was not meant to remain there.  The title in my Bible says: “The Temptation of Jesus.”  In other words this can be regarded as a “testing period” for Jesus.
 
“In the Bible the word temptation primarily denoted a trial in which man has a free choice of being faithful or unfaithful to God.” (Encyclopedia .com).
 
There is a lot that is revealed to us in this Biblical text.  Jesus the Christ defends His position with reference to what is written in the Bible.  In the midst of this “stand-off” I can only imagine what is taking place both in the natural and the spiritual.  Jesus in His human state is currently hungry and weak and at the same time He is in the midst of spiritual warfare.  Hungry and depleted of food yet filled with the truth of scripture and clear about the conviction of who He is and what He holds as truth.  A truth that was written down as a reference and standard for all to see and know.
 
“Then the Devil left Him, and immediately angels came and began to serve Him”  Matthew 4 v11 (HCSB)
 
It sounds like a round was completed.  The Lord ends the fight and sits in His corner, like a boxer, and the angels attend to Him.
 
“Ministry in Galilee, The First Disciples, Teaching, Preaching, and Healing.”  These headings highlight the journey that Jesus begins once He has conquered this wilderness experience.
 
Jesus fasted Forty days and nights.  The number 40 is used significantly in the Bible during times of testing and trials that have the potential to elevate one’s faith. Another example is the 40 year period of Israel’s disobedience leading to wandering in the wilderness.
 
“These forty years the Lord your God has been with you.  You have lacked nothing.” Deut. 2 v 7.
 
During this Lenten season we can certainly reflect on God’s faithfulness in our lives. 


Blog written By Annette O. Brown.  3/3/20