Wednesday, August 14, 2013

WEEK 9 - New Lifestyle: A "Being" issue, Not a "Doing" issue (請按此處收聼廣東話Cantonese podcast click here)



Today's Reading: Matthew 5:1-12

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Please click this link to Matthew 5:1-12


Bible Study
     
     With a new job, people usually have a new lifestyle. I still remember in the early 80's when I got a new job as a Music Officer in the Hong Kong Government and not a high school teacher, I had a new lifestyle. Almost everyday I was in suits and tie, having a good looking briefcase and going to expensive restaurants. At that time, I thought that should be the new lifestyle I was going to enjoy. Later I found out that I was wrong. That is not the lifestyle Jesus wanted me to live.

    Here in today's passage, we come to the famous 'Sermon on the Mount', which runs through chapters five to seven.  Jesus was telling His disciples a different lifestyle when they got their new job. A lifestyle just the opposite of everybody could think of. And, the most important thing we need to know is that this new lifestyle is not for you to try very heard to live it out. Because you can never have the willpower or strength to live like that.

     Bishop N.T. Wright says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N._T._Wright):
     These 'blessings', the 'wonderful news' that he's announcing, are not saying 'try hard to live like this.'  They are saying that people who already are like that are in good shape.  They should be happy and celebrate.
     Jesus is not suggesting that these are simply timeless truths about the way the world is, about human behaviour.  If he was saying that, he was wrong.  Mourners often go uncomforted, the meek don't inherit the earth, those who long for justice frequently take that longing to the grave.  This is an upside-down world, or perhaps a right-way-up world;  and Jesus is saying that with his work it's starting to come true.
          N.T. Wright. Matthew for Everyone, Part 1. Louisville,KY:Westminster         John Knox Press, 2004, p.35.

     Jesus is not telling His disciples and us to risk our lives to do it. It is not the "doing" but the "being". When we repent and return to God's Kingdom we can be with Jesus, enjoying to be with Jesus daily more and more.  And, it is this "being" with Jesus leads us to have a change of lifestyle according to what Jesus says in the Beatitudes and later expounds in the whole Sermon on the Mount.

     This new lifestyle seems to turn everything upside-down: 
- How can a humble and poor person be blessed? They are being look down upon by other people. 

- How can those who mourn be blessed? They are being consider as weak and useless. 

- The meek don't inherit the earth because they are being consider as not decisive.

- Those who longs for justice usually got killed or in jail.

-  Those who are merciful would most likely being used by others for their selfish need.

- Those who are transparent are being accused of what they reveal to others.

- Those peacemakers are usually being torn into pieces and end up in depression.

- Those who are being persecuted are full of bitterness and anger. 

     How can we turn these eight situation upside-down or using a better term - right-side-up? Never! Only if you experience what Jesus disciples experienced in the previous chapters.

     Let me say it again, the Beatitudes is not a "doing" issue but a "being" issue. If you can be with Jesus like those disciples be with Him, then sooner or later, those blessings will be your lifestyle naturally. And, if we are living a lifestyle opposite to the Beatitudes, then Jesus must be very, very far away. 
        
Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage of scripture we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"



Spiritual Journal

     The topic I received from Jesus today is : 
     New Lifestyle: A "being" issue, not a "doing" issue
     
     What I received from Jesus today is a very important purpose of our life. There are so many Christians including Christian leaders doing lots of things for Jesus without enough time to be with Jesus.  Most of them got burn-out and quit. I was one of those burn-out but it is purely God's grace that I got through that darkness.

     This passage and the coming chapters are all about a lifestyle of Christlikeness. It is all about how you can be with Jesus and your willingness to follow Him as your Lord and King. With that daily intimate personal relationship with Jesus, you and other people will soon find out that the Beatitude is talking about you. You become to be more like Jesus and people can see more Jesus in you. 

     Being a Mentor123 will surely help you and two of your friends to start this wonderful and powerful life-changing journey. 

     What is Mentor 123?
1. You become a mentor.
2. Pray to Jesus to reveal faces of two people for you to mentor. Invite them to come together weekly for three months. One hour should be enough.
3. Use my blog/podcast daily as a source and way of daily devotion for the three of you.
4. Use the Evangelist123 card to encourage each others and to pray for two non-Christian friends for that three months period.
5. If they become Christians, start another Mentor123 with them and encourage your two Mentor123 friends to become a mentor to follow that simple, focused and deep process to raise up two disciples for Jesus.

    Is that too complicated? I don't think so. Is that what Jesus wants you to do? I am very sure! Because He did that first to Peter, James and John. He did that for three years. Well, let's have what my mentor and coach Dr. Terry Walling called "a short win". Three months is enough. I am going to start that this Thursday night with two young men. Are you going to follow Jesus' lead to raise up two disciples for Him?

Dear Lord Jesus,
Help us to understand that the Beatitudes is a being issue and not a doing issue. Lead us to be with you more that we can live out this lifestyle naturally to be more like you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. 




Questions for group leaders

Topic:  New Lifestyle: A "Being" issue, Not a "Doing" issue


新風格: 同在同行

Passage: Matthew 5: 1-12



Questions for group leaders
1. Read Matthew 5: 1-12 again now. What are those 'blessings' that you think you are doing it now? What are those 'blessings' that you are trying very hard but still can't do it right now? What are those 'blessings' that you think you can never do it? 

2. What do you think is the secret for you to do them all? 

3. How can your being with Jesus each day help you to live those 'blessings' out? Have you experienced that kind of changing of lifestyle because of your new relationship with Jesus and your willingness to be with Jesus everyday? Can you share those differences?

4. Do you have any new plan today to be with Jesus so that the Beatitudes is a way to describe your new lifestyle?  




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Open The Eyes of My Heart Lord


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我要向山舉目(詩篇121篇) I Will Lift Up My Eyes to The Hills



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Daily Devotion on Fire 2(One year New Testament): 

Daily Devotion on Fire(3 years and 3 months plan, one chapter a day to finish reading the whole Bible): 

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Emmanuel330 (40 weeks First Step Bible Study, with English and Cantonese podcast): 
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