Matthew 18:15-18

Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Personal Challenge

We have made it a practice in our modern society for each to be their our own judge, prosecutor, and jury when it comes to dealing with those who have sinned against us. Notice that this verse does not call out when someone offends us. When we are challenged or offended by someone, we are admonished to turn our other cheek to them. This verse calls out when someone sins against us. We are then expected to follow this path of discipline to deal with the sinner. We are not in charge of the discipline, but the body of Christ is. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have money! Lord, have mercy!

Deuteronomy 29:28

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Encouraging Words

Our glorious God is awesome and very much beyond our capacity and ability to ever understand. He is eternal and we are temporal. And yet, because He loves us. He choses to share with us, those who are His children, some of his mysteries. The most glorious mystery is the birth, the incarnation of His son. Jesus was born at a very dark and trying time in the history of mankind. He was born into a lowly and poor family that was oppressed and outcast by society. He was born so that we might live. So much of Jesus, who He was/is, what he did/does for each of us, and how we celebrate him in sacraments such as the Eucharist, are still mysteries that we will never fathom. But the fact that He is God incarnate is a mystery to cherish. Glory be to God!

Matthew 18:12-14

What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

Personal Challenge

It is sad to see that fewer and fewer leaders in the modern church, the pastors and the priests, are being taught to be shepherds. Jesus used parables related to shepherds very often because these parables paint very good pictures of what He wanted His followers to do. In this parable He makes it clear that leaders should care about those who have walked away. They should be lovingly pursued, not chastised. They should be shown the love of Christ, not admonished for the services the have missed. We should all care about those whom we notice are missing from our communities, not snub them when they do show up after an absence. What does Jesus expect us to do? To love our neighbors as ourselves. Lord, have mercy! Lord have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Deuteronomy 10:12-13

So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and His ordinances I command you today for your good?

Personal Challenge

This is not something that changed between the old covenant and the new covenant. God still wants us to love Him with all our heart and soul. All the other expressions of our love for Him, fearing Him, walking in His ways, serving him, keeping His commandments, all flow from that love. The important thing for us to remember here is that He is not asking us to do anything that He is not doing for us as well. He loves us so much that He gave us His only Son. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!Lord, have mercy!

Matthew 18:1-6

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

Personal Challenge

Jesus makes it very clear in this passage, and others, that there is a state of mind and spirit that His followers must approach Him in. He never encourages “churchiness”, how many books we have read about Him or others, or times we go to the monastery or “spiritual” retreats, or even how often we go to liturgy, mass, or services. What we admonishes us all to do, or be, is like little children. Little children are accepting…100%. They are humble. They are loving and caring to those around them. If we are to be truly following our Lord Jesus Christ, then we must become like a child in His presence and to lovingly receive and accept those who also become like a child before their God. Glory be to God!

Deuteronomy 8:18

Then you shall remember the Lord your God, for He it is who gives you strength, that you may gain power, and He may establish His covenant the Lord swore to your fathers, as it is today.

Encouraging Words

Our strength comes from the Lord our God. We do not get our strength from anything in this world. Not our job. Not our wealth or position. Not our political leaders. Not our own selves. We are truly nothing without our God. That very same God who chose to become one of us and live in this fallen world, experiencing the same challenges and sorrows that we do, dealing with the same temptations that we do, and yet showing us the pathway to living a sinless life before a holy God. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Matthew 16:24-28

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

Personal Challenge

Living a life following Jesus Christ is not an easy life. It is a life filled with difficult decisions that will set us contrary to those around us who still follow the ways of the world. Sometimes this way of life will even set us on a contrary path to those who we worship beside. Jesus made it clear during His last days that if His disciples, His true followers, wanted to be with Him, they needed to do three things. First, is to deny ourselves. We are to be willing to die to ourselves and what we want in this world in order to begin the journey to righteousness. Second, we take up the cross that He has fashioned for us. Each of our crosses will be tailored for us individually by our Lord and we must take them up in the place of our denied self. Third, we are to follow Him. We strive to walk in in His footsteps. We love those whom He loved. We reject that which He rejected. We do what He asks us to do and go where He leads us, even when it makes no sense. By doing this we become little-Christs, growing in His image, and building His kingdom for Him. Glory be to God!

Deuteronomy 8:2-5

Now you shall remember the whole way the Lord your God led you in the desert, to deal harshly with you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He dealt harshly with you and weakened you with hunger, and fed you with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word proceeding from the mouth of God man shall live. Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your feet become callused these forty years. You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you.

Encouraging Words

I have often heard people comment that they cannot believe in a God that allows suffering. Believe me, our God grieves at the suffering that we bestow upon one another. We still live in a fallen world. God loves us so much that He sent His son, His only begotten son, into this world so that He could become one of us and suffer in the midst of our sinfulness. He lived a sinless life and gave His life as a sacrifice for us and to cleanse our sins. He will come again to restore creation to its original state before the fall. So, why is He waiting? So that more may know Him and be redeemed. Why must those of us who love Him have to suffer in our lives? So that we might grow in His image and gain theosis in our lives. God loves us more than we will ever understand. Glory be to God!