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Matthew 6:1 “Be careful not to parade your acts of tzedakah in front of people in order to be seen by them! If you do, you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 So, when you do tzedakah, don’t announce it with trumpets to win people’s praise, like the hypocrites in the synagogues and on the streets. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already! 3 But you, when you do tzedakah, don’t even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Then your tzedakah will be in secret; and your Father, who sees what you do in secret, will reward you.
5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites, who love to pray standing in the synagogues and on street corners, so that people can see them. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already! 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, don’t babble on and on like the pagans, who think God will hear them better if they talk a lot. 8 Don’t be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 You, therefore, pray like this:
‘Our Father in heaven!
May your Name be kept holy. 10 May your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.
11 Give us the food we need today.
12 Forgive us what we have done wrong, as we too have forgiven those who have wronged us. 13 And do not lead us into hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One. [Matthew 6:13 The latter half of verse 13 is not found in the oldest manuscripts.]For kingship, power and glory are yours forever.Amen.’
14 For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will not forgive yours.
16 “Now when you fast, don’t go around looking miserable, like the hypocrites. They make sour faces so that people will know they are fasting. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already! 17 But you, when you fast, wash your face and groom yourself, 18 so that no one will know you are fasting — except your Father, who is with you in secret. Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.------- I hardly noticed the scraggly man hanging out by the entrance to the discount store on that winter afternoon in Chicago. My son and I were dashing in to pick up a couple of needed things for a project. We were in a hurry and it was cold outside. After making our purchases we bustled back outside. I hunkered into my jacket and scarf against the biting wind. My son’s pace barely slowed as he stuffed a few bills into the man’s hands and simply said, “Here ya go.” Then he was next to me as we scurried back home. I was briefly convicted that I had not done something as generous. However, I was proud that my son had. Perhaps I had grown a bit cynical, but my son simply showed compassion. I am not sure he even knew that I had seen his act of kindness. In Matthew 6:1-18 Jesus warns us not to make a public display of our righteous acts, such as giving to the needy or prayer and fasting. For Jesus the heart of the matter for doing good things is our motivation. Is it for recognition and reward, or is it simply to do what is right in His eyes? "Your Love Compels Me" by Doug Holck copyright 1982 by Pilot Point Music (ASCAP), Box 419527, Kansas City, Missouri, United States. All rights reserved. Your love compels me, Lord, To give as You would give, To speak as You would speak, To live as You would live. Your love compels me, Lord, To see as You see, To serve as You would serve, To be what You would be. |
Indeed, if someone gives just a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my talmid — yes! — I tell you, he will certainly not lose his reward!” [Jesus in Matthew 10:42].
Please Pray:
That many people in Equatorial Guinea will come to know Yeshua the Messiah and receive the fullness of the Ruach HaKadosh.
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