30 for 30
Day Seven
Stop
Give us today our daily bread. God is your provider. He is your portion. If you have Him, you have everything you need. He alone satisfies. His grace is sufficient for us. This morning, welcome the presence of the Lord and invite Him to feed your soul as you spend time with Him.
Look
Read Matthew 7. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you. You may want to make notes, underline in your bible or journal all that God is saying.
Thought of the day
Matthew 7:24-25 - “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock."
We come into land on the sermon on the mount – a new way to be human as Jesus’ ground-breaking teaching on life in the Kingdom concludes.
These verses show us that reading the word and hearing the words of God is not enough for life in the Kingdom. The words of Jesus must become part of who we are – they must inform and conform our lives to the way of Jesus.
Notice that the rain falls, and the floods come on even those that follow Jesus well. In this life, Jesus says in the gospel of John, there will be trouble. We see this now more than ever. As we step into another lockdown this will be a tough time for many. It will certainly feel that the storm has arrived.
Yet, there is always hope.
Jesus says that throughout the storm there is an invitation to keep on trusting. Keep on living right. Keep on doing the right thing. Keep on reading the word and putting it into practice. Keep on pursuing the Kingdom first.
As we do this – the promise of God over us is that despite the storms, our life and faith are built on a secure foundation – unshakeable and unbreakable.
This storm will pass. There is always hope.
Pray
Spend some time today praying for our church. Praying that we would be a people who build our lives on the rock. Pray for God’s protection in this season, and that God would continue to do remarkable things in this challenging time through our community.
Live
Today, our practice will be reflective. Read through the last few chapters of Matthew’s gospel, through Jesus’ sermon on the mount. Pausing in each section of Jesus’ teaching, and ask the Holy Spirit if there is anything that you need to repent of, and ask for His help in. We want to put the words of Jesus into practice like never before.
