BE PRAYING FOR SUNDAY & THE PEOPLE YOU HAVE INVITED TO HEAR THE GOSPEL!
Beats From Your Pastor’s Heart
Matthew 5:20, “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
When the Lord speaks of having a surpassing righteousness for entering into the kingdom, He is applying a finer measurement with a much higher demand than the law.
The standard of the law could be compared to measuring in “inches,” but the Lord’s word in Matthew 5-7 could be compared to measuring in “picas,” which are a fraction of an inch.
This means the measurement is much finer and more detailed.
The Lord measures our emotions, our attitudes, our reactions, our exaggerations, our comments about others–He measures it all!
He measures our heart, He measures what we think, He measures the fantasies in our mind, He measures how we look at others, He measures lust, He measures anxiety.
He measures how we react in situations that touch our selfishness and personal convenience–going two miles instead of one, or giving our outward coat as well as our inner garment.
Nothing escapes being measured.
If we were discouraged by the law of Moses, we are even more discouraged by Matthew 5-7.
Indeed, in Matthew 5:48 the Lord reaches the point of saying, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
Perfection in this verse is the demand to love exactly as the Father loves.
It is not merely putting up with our enemies, but praying for them and blessing them.
Such a measuring of our love finds us all short, but at the same time it escorts us to Christ as our life and life-supply.
When we are escorted to Christ, we become partakers of His love.
This is why the Lord begins Matthew 5-7 with “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3).
When we are poor in spirit, we realize that in ourselves we do not have the divine love toward our enemies.
We realize that we are nothing and can do nothing.
The Lord’s high standard is intended to cause disappointment over ourselves so that we would be drawn away from our own nothingness to the energy and strength of Another life.
It is this sense of nothingness that escorts us to Christ.
Until Tomorrow
With A Shepherd’s Love,
Pastor Jackson
FRIDAY’S PRAYER REQUESTS
Joanie Bruce
Sandra Mitchell
Jim Mabe
Pastor Jackson
Marlon Cook
June Cronan
Amy Garner
Amy Garner’s Mom & Dad
Ashely Burn’s Sisters
Brandon’s Dad
Charlene Palmer
Coly/Connor – Allison’s G’sons
Dan Haines
Darlene Thaxton
Darlene Wiggins
David Burnette
David Harrison
Denise Hulsey – Jordan’s G’mother
Donnie Butler’s Dad
Doris Loyd
Dr. and Mrs. Davis
Easton Fielder
Eric Ward
Erik Magnusson
Freddie May’s Mom
George & Linda Alexander
James Burnette
James Garner’s Friend
Jillian Gray
Jodi Bateman
John Austin
John McClain
June Cronan
June Cronan’s Sister
Karen Slane
Kim McClain’s Mother
Lamar Knight
Larry Barker
Lee Cronan
Lillanna Magnusson’s Mom
Linda Alexander
Linda Breedlove’s Sister – Sarah
Linda Hodges’ Sister
Lonzo Christin
Lori Blount’s Mother
Mary Sims
Marynell Ford
Maureen Brown
Michael Stanley
Pastor & Mrs. Driskell
Ricky Gipson – Ashley’s Brother
Ricky Stubbs
Rose Fuller
Roseleigh Osborn
Sandra Graham
Scott Lanier
Soso Nzolo – 17 Yr. Old South African Pastor’s Daughter
Jayne Hammond
Tom Witcher