Touching Base 21

We are now fully immersed in the Sermon on the Mount … how are the words of Jesus challenging you?
If necessary, go back and read anything you received this week that you want to reconsider … or that you missed!

Quick Links

New Life in Christ Lesson 8: Pray with Confidence
Fix Your Eyes on Jesus
Making a Difference
Let Your Light Shine!
Jesus Came to Fulfill the Law
Quite Simply … We Need a Savior!

Reflection

As you worked through this week’s lesson, what was one new concept you learned about prayer?
One of the key points in the lesson on prayer was:
It is important to focus on God rather than on your request when you pray. He already knows what you are praying about and His answer to your questions. Trust His heart, His answer, and His timing.
Why do you think it is important to focus on God when we pray?
In what ways does prayer affect the relational issues discussed in the devotionals for this week?
Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus …”
What sin in your life often entangles you?
What do you need to do to disentangle yourself from that sin?
What do you think it means to “run with perseverance”?
In what ways are you currently “salt” in your life circumstances and situations?
In what ways are you currently “light” in your life circumstances and situations?
In one of the devotionals this week (Jesus Came to Fulfill the Law), Beth Yoe included this quote by Oswald Chambers: “The Sermon on the Mount is not a set of rules and regulations–it is a picture of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is having His unhindered way with us.”
What do you like about reading the Sermon on the Mount?

What steps do you need to take in order for the Holy Spirit to have his “unhindered” way with you?

Beth Yoe wrote (in Quite Simply … We Need a Savior!):

“Our actions and words come from the overflow of our hearts. That is why Jesus told us the fruit of our lives is a good indicator of what lies within us. Are we full of selfish ambitions, vain conceits, greed, anger, and the like? Or are we full of love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness? What is in our hearts will always eventually manifest itself in our behavior and words. We may be able to mask it for a while, but ultimately what is at our core will come forth.”

What is overflowing from your heart?

What changes do you need make in your life in order to let Jesus flow out of your life?

Go a Step Beyond

This week’s devotionals focused on the words of Jesus. Here’s a recommendation for an on-line article to consider as you think about those words and how they apply to your own situations:

Is Jesus Relevant Today? @
http://jesusonline.com/receive-jesus/relevant-today/unabridged/

Write It on Your Heart

Take a few minutes to memorize this verse:
“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)