God
calls us to live a life based on knowing Him personally – not on knowing
about Him or about His rules. The
Pharisees studied God's instructions and even defined more and more to "help"
others follow them. Rote study and strict
adherence do not breed righteousness.
Ultimately, God wants us to use our ability to reason based on what we
know of Him to live Godly lives. If He
had wanted robots, He would have created us that way.
You
may have heard this before... To be a Christian means to imitate Christ; it
means to look like Christ, to smell like Christ, to sound like Christ, to feel
like Christ, and even taste like Christ.
If someone decides to chew you out, how do you respond? It is much more than just asking yourself
"WWJD?" Just like the widow
who gave everything (Mark 12:41-44), God wants us to walk in the divine nature
that He grants us. This takes practice
and discipline. Remember that Godliness
is not an accidental happenstance of life; it takes work.
Week 4 – Logical Instructions
According to your daily readings
this week and God's
direction in your life, what character traits do you need to work on?
Why do you find these hard
characteristics to incorporate into your life?
Were there opportunities for you
to work on these areas of your life this week?
Describe an event when you had the opportunity and either succeeded or
failed to step up and live Christ like.
Matthew 5:13-20 (NASB)
13 "You are the salt of the earth;
but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It
is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot
by men. 14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
17 "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Salt
When food is salty, it has a
distinct flavor. It is an unmistakable
flavor. The opposite of salty is
bland. In what ways are the characteristics
we've
identified in the life of a believer analogous to salt in food? Are those 9 characteristics normal?
Light
If believers are (as Jesus
indicates) light, then what does that imply about the world? Do you know of any scriptures where this is
validated? What does light do? When is a candle or flashlight most
useful? Where should we be living out
the Christian life demonstrating the characteristics we've listed?Standards
Jesus indicates that He didn't come to the earth to destroy or abolish the law, but rather to fulfill it. How exactly does this apply to our lives as Christians? Does this mean that we must live up to the law in order to earn salvation? Does it mean that there is no value in the law?
Righteousness
How does your righteousness
exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees?
On whom does our righteousness depend?
Even our tears of repentance must be washed in the blood
of the Lamb.See Isaiah 59:9-15,16-21, Isaiah 64:6, Romans 1:16-17
Week 4 Daily Readings
Monday
Read
Genesis 12:1-3. God called Abram (later Abraham) out. He told him to leave the life he'd known and go. God also promised that He'd bless Abram. In the same way, God calls us out. If you read Genesis 17:1-8, you'll see that God called Abram to
be different. This is the meaning of
salt and light. Stand up, stand
out. We live in a culture today that
does not want to take responsibility for our actions. We want to blame someone else. We also have a tendency to do the least
possible. Overachievers are
ridiculed. That is who we are called out
to be – overachievers but not just in our performance of work. We are to be spiritual overachievers, meeting
the spirit of God's
law and design. Are you living the life
that God has called you out to live?
Tuesday
Read
Psalm 119:9-16. What is the deepest desire of the author of
this passage? How does the author intend
to attain this lofty goal? In order to
live up to the call that God places on you as a believer, you must focus your
every thought on worshipping and honoring Him.
Your life's
mission should be similar to that of the Psalmist; is it? In order for you to live like Christ, you
have to devote every waking moment to living, eating, drinking, even breathing
Christ's
heart. What do you need to do
differently to reach this goal? Pray
that God would give you the opportunity to study His word and put it into practice
today.
Wednesday
Read
1 Corinthians 4:1-5. What is required of a
steward? Have you ever considered
yourself as a steward? If you understand
that you are a steward of God's word, then it is only logical
that God expects something from you.
What does Paul say that God will ultimately do? In light of this, are you pleased with how
obedient to God's
direction you are? God is going to
evaluate our actions – not for salvation as Christ has already won that
victory. How does your subjection to
Christ stand up versus the real thing?
Thursday
Read
2 Corinthians 10:1-6. Paul starts off by indicating
that he is speaking with the meekness and gentleness of Christ. These words coincide directly with the
characteristics Jesus gives the disciples through the Beatitudes. Next he states that there is a battle, and
immediately following that he says that he is taking every thought captive into
obedience to Christ. This implies that
there is a spiritual battle waging over knowledge and the way we think. How can we possibly expect to successfully
defeat the enemy and take thoughts captive making them be subject to Christ,
unless we first know what God's word says, and truly seek to
know Christ? There is a spiritual battle
going on. The enemy is real, and he will
stop at nothing to destroy you. If you
are to be victorious in this battle, you must study God's word and know His character.
Friday
Read
Ephesians 6:10-17. This passage (like yesterday)
presents a spiritual battle. There is a
battle waging in this world; the enemy is real; the stakes are high. Today's scripture tells us what
spiritual warriors have for engaging in battle.
List the battle elements and the corresponding spiritual concepts
attached to each (belt = truth). Consider
what each physical element does, then consider why the spiritual element is
important. A warrior is most prepared
for defense and offense when he has taken on all of his armor; this is why Paul
instructs us to put on the full armor of God.
When facing temptation, if you are spiritually ready, Satan cannot
defeat you. It is in those moments of
weakness that we fail. Pray about how
you can remain prepared for spiritual battle.