The Big Three

This is day 6 in our reading through the Gospels. Actually, this is where for me it gets exciting. It is here that we gleen some of the rich teaching from Jesus. Matthew gives us the "Lord's Prayer," Luke gives us the "Beatitudes," and John shows us this amazing story of the feeding of the 5000. Rich stuff to say the least!   But what does it mean if there is no application for our lives?


 One of the passages which spoke to me today was from Matthew. Here we find a very interesting road map for Spirtual Discipleship. I'lI call them the big three. In this reading, we discover three things we SHOULD do. The first thing I noticed is that these are not suggestions for living a better life; these are not popular "How-to Books" from a respected leadership guru. This is a simple road map given by God to enable us to live life free from self-control.

 It consists of three points, When you GIVE!  When you PRAY! and When you FAST--the reality of this third point, and my confession to you, is that this is an area of life that I sometimes struggle with. Well, let's be honest. Giving and praying are great, they make me feel good inside, but to put fasting in the same place of importance for  the Christian life is rather scary.

Here is something to ponder.  We give insight to those struggling with finances to put God to the test; in fact, God invites us to  test  Him in this area of our lives so that He can prove Himself faithful. (Reference Malachi 3:10.) We encourage all to pray during times of great  trouble as well as in the good times; yet when it comes to fasting, we don't talk much about Jesus' words where He says "WHEN YOU FAST!"

OK, so here is a challenge. I invite you to a one day fast this Friday, August 17th.  I will give us some directions over the next few days as to what this would look like.


Would love to hear your feedback on this part of Scripture.
 Pastor Rip

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