The Golden Rule
Matthew 7:7-12
This is another of those verses that EVERYONE has heard and is at least a little familiar with, at least without context anyway. Read verses 7 through 12, a couple times if you have to.
Coming before God and asking for something is not unusual and God fully expects us to ask, seek and knock but seldom do we do so without at least a little fear. So consider these things about persistence in asking for things.
When Jesus was discussing prayer, He had already covered how we should pray, remembering our relationship with Him, and that we should pray from our hearts.
He is our Father and eagerly desires to give us good things. Jesus makes the point that even an evil man will give His child whatever that child asks for.
In Context we are asking God for a need, not a want. And God is providing for the birds of the air all they need and they need not even ask for it.
If we are asking, seeking and knocking He will provide. And in the original Greek, it is a continuous action. A continual asking, a fervent seeking and repetitive knocking.
And in the greater context of God the Father giving good things to His children, and a father providing for his own, Jesus tells us to do for others as we would have them do for us.
And God is telling me now I have to teach the lesson I learned this morning. When we are asked for something we usually take careful stock of what we can do. But what we have to give is limited to what we ourselves have, but God isn't.
However if we allow God to give through us, to use us as a conduit of blessing, to understand that what He has blessed us with is only ours temporarily then our giving has no limit. But it is not us providing this gift, it is God doing so through us.
If we are counting on an individual, we will fail. The individual could die, become flaky and stop providing, or lose their ability to give. But if we are counting on God, He will continue providing through his children to meet their needs, and ours. God is giving to us out of his limitless resources to give through us gifts He desires us to have so that we can give to others.
In closing, the following verse is what has become known as “The Golden Rule”. To treat others in the same way you wish them to treat you. And that is often combined with the “not judging” incorrect interpretation discussed earlier. In other words, don't judge others if you don't want them to judge you.
But that isn't what Jesus is saying. I wouldn't want a doctor failing to give me a diagnosis of a fatal condition I have because he's afraid to offend me. That wouldn't be being treated in the same way as I wish to be treated. I might not like what the doctor said, but my condition is such that I need his advice and I would want to know.
It's the same for the lost. Whether they are genuine souls searching or radical antiGod activists. Their eternal destination outside of Jesus is one of suffering and pain, it's our obligation to tell them.
[7] “ Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [8] For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. [9] Or what person is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone? [10] Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? [11] So if you, despite being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! [12] “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 7:7-12
This is another of those verses that EVERYONE has heard and is at least a little familiar with, at least without context anyway. Read verses 7 through 12, a couple times if you have to.
Coming before God and asking for something is not unusual and God fully expects us to ask, seek and knock but seldom do we do so without at least a little fear. So consider these things about persistence in asking for things.
When Jesus was discussing prayer, He had already covered how we should pray, remembering our relationship with Him, and that we should pray from our hearts.
He is our Father and eagerly desires to give us good things. Jesus makes the point that even an evil man will give His child whatever that child asks for.
In Context we are asking God for a need, not a want. And God is providing for the birds of the air all they need and they need not even ask for it.
If we are asking, seeking and knocking He will provide. And in the original Greek, it is a continuous action. A continual asking, a fervent seeking and repetitive knocking.
And in the greater context of God the Father giving good things to His children, and a father providing for his own, Jesus tells us to do for others as we would have them do for us.
And God is telling me now I have to teach the lesson I learned this morning. When we are asked for something we usually take careful stock of what we can do. But what we have to give is limited to what we ourselves have, but God isn't.
However if we allow God to give through us, to use us as a conduit of blessing, to understand that what He has blessed us with is only ours temporarily then our giving has no limit. But it is not us providing this gift, it is God doing so through us.
If we are counting on an individual, we will fail. The individual could die, become flaky and stop providing, or lose their ability to give. But if we are counting on God, He will continue providing through his children to meet their needs, and ours. God is giving to us out of his limitless resources to give through us gifts He desires us to have so that we can give to others.
In closing, the following verse is what has become known as “The Golden Rule”. To treat others in the same way you wish them to treat you. And that is often combined with the “not judging” incorrect interpretation discussed earlier. In other words, don't judge others if you don't want them to judge you.
But that isn't what Jesus is saying. I wouldn't want a doctor failing to give me a diagnosis of a fatal condition I have because he's afraid to offend me. That wouldn't be being treated in the same way as I wish to be treated. I might not like what the doctor said, but my condition is such that I need his advice and I would want to know.
It's the same for the lost. Whether they are genuine souls searching or radical antiGod activists. Their eternal destination outside of Jesus is one of suffering and pain, it's our obligation to tell them.
[7] “ Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [8] For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. [9] Or what person is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone? [10] Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? [11] So if you, despite being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! [12] “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
The Golden Rule
Matthew 7:7-12
This is another of those verses that EVERYONE has heard and is at least a little familiar with, at least without context anyway. Read verses 7 through 12, a couple times if you have to.
Coming before God and asking for something is not unusual and God fully expects us to ask, seek and knock but seldom do we do so without at least a little fear. So consider these things about persistence in asking for things.
When Jesus was discussing prayer, He had already covered how we should pray, remembering our relationship with Him, and that we should pray from our hearts.
He is our Father and eagerly desires to give us good things. Jesus makes the point that even an evil man will give His child whatever that child asks for.
In Context we are asking God for a need, not a want. And God is providing for the birds of the air all they need and they need not even ask for it.
If we are asking, seeking and knocking He will provide. And in the original Greek, it is a continuous action. A continual asking, a fervent seeking and repetitive knocking.
And in the greater context of God the Father giving good things to His children, and a father providing for his own, Jesus tells us to do for others as we would have them do for us.
And God is telling me now I have to teach the lesson I learned this morning. When we are asked for something we usually take careful stock of what we can do. But what we have to give is limited to what we ourselves have, but God isn't.
However if we allow God to give through us, to use us as a conduit of blessing, to understand that what He has blessed us with is only ours temporarily then our giving has no limit. But it is not us providing this gift, it is God doing so through us.
If we are counting on an individual, we will fail. The individual could die, become flaky and stop providing, or lose their ability to give. But if we are counting on God, He will continue providing through his children to meet their needs, and ours. God is giving to us out of his limitless resources to give through us gifts He desires us to have so that we can give to others.
In closing, the following verse is what has become known as “The Golden Rule”. To treat others in the same way you wish them to treat you. And that is often combined with the “not judging” incorrect interpretation discussed earlier. In other words, don't judge others if you don't want them to judge you.
But that isn't what Jesus is saying. I wouldn't want a doctor failing to give me a diagnosis of a fatal condition I have because he's afraid to offend me. That wouldn't be being treated in the same way as I wish to be treated. I might not like what the doctor said, but my condition is such that I need his advice and I would want to know.
It's the same for the lost. Whether they are genuine souls searching or radical antiGod activists. Their eternal destination outside of Jesus is one of suffering and pain, it's our obligation to tell them.
[7] “ Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [8] For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. [9] Or what person is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone? [10] Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? [11] So if you, despite being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! [12] “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
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