Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

May 16
Thursday


I'M SORRY,
MAN

READ:
Matthew 5:21-26
_________________________________________________________________

Be reconciled to
your brother.
__Matthew 5:21-26
__________________________________________________________________

When my son-in-law Ewing and I attended a sporting event, we enjoyed watching both the game and the people around us.

One of those people showed both the bad and good side of humanity. This man had apparently lost track of his seat. As he was looking for it, he stood squarely between us and the field. A man sitting in front of us also had his view blocked, so he told the guy, "Could you move? We can't see."

The lost man responded sarcastically, "Too bad." A second request got a similar but more heated response. Finally the man moved on. Later came a surprise. He returned and told the man he had blocked, "Hey, I'm sorry, man. I was upset that I couldn't find my seat." They shook hands and the incident ended well.

That interaction made me think. as we go through life striving to find our way, situations may frustrate us and cause us to respond to others in an un-Christlike was. If so, we must ask God to give us the courage to apologize to those we have offended. Our worship, according to Jesus, depends on it (Matt. 5:23-24).

We honor God when we make reconciliation with others a priority. After we have been reconciled, we can then fully enjoy communion with our heavenly Father. __Dave Brannon

````````````````````It's not easy, Lord, to swallow our pride and ask```````````````````````
`````````````````````others to forgive us. But You want us to seek````````````````````````
`````````````````````reconciliation before worship can take place.````````````````````````
`````````````````````Help us to seek forgiveness when necessary.`````````````````````````
______________________________________________________________________________________________

Confession of sin is the soil
in which forgiveness flourishes.

*********************************Today's Bible Reading __ Matthew 5:21-26*****************************

21 You have heard that it
was said to those of old,
"You shall not murder, and
whoever murders will be in
danger of the judgement."

22 But I say to you that
whoever is angry with his
brother without a cause
shall be in danger of the
judgment. And whoever
says to his brother, "Raca!"
shall be in danger of the
council. But whoever says,
"You fool!" shall be in
danger of hell fire.

23 Therefore if you bring
your gift to the altar, and
there remember that your
brother has something
against you, 24 leave your
gift there before the altar,
and go your way. First be
reconciled to your brother,
and then come and offer
your gift.

25 Agree with your
adversary quickly, while
you are on the way with
him, lest your adversary
deliver you to the judge, the
judge hand you over to the
officer, and you be thrown
into prison. 26 Assuredly, I
say to you, you will by no
means get out of there till
you have paid the last
penny.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

The lifestyle that Christ lays out in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt.
5-7) is so difficult that commentators have differed on how to
understand it. Some have said that it is simply an ideal to strive
for, while others have said that it is a description of life in the
fully realized millennial kingdom of God. What is without dispute,
however, is that the foundation of this type of life is the principle of
love: Loving God, your neighbor, and even your enemy. Love is the
defining characteristic of those who follow Christ (John 13:34-35).