fredlott63

18th chapter Matthew

Verse 1
Some of these guys couldn’t heal a lunatic but now they want to be the greatest in Heaven. They think Heaven will be like earth.
Verse 2

Eventually there will be a change in the way we think. Right now those in authority talk to everyone else like they were children. If you know what is real, then trying to be an authority when you don’t know what you talking about won’t change anything. When someone who doesn’t what they are talking about talks to you like a child; let them. God’s got your back. In fact, if you apply the word of God to your life you don’t have to change minds. If God didn’t send them they won’t last and Jesus says in Matthew 15:14 to let them alone.

Verse 3

Jesus says there will be a change in thinking. The people looked up to will actually do something for the people that look up to them. Children naturally want to help. We should be more concerned with what we can give instead of what we can get.

Verse 4

In Heaven this is how they think. It is satanic to want to be looked up to while accomplishing nothing; Maybe it is because looking good is perceived as meaning you don’t have to have any substance.

Verse 5

In the bible little children are similar to disciples in that if either is rejected it is the same as rejecting Christ and rejecting Christ is rejecting God. This may be happening right now but we don’t recognize it. Churches are filled with teachers who haven’t studied. They tell you about things that never happen. Emotions you should feel and situations that never occur. They stress feeling good without being good and making good decisions. How can we know that God sent a prophet? The answer is found in Deuteronomy 18:22. If they tell you things that never happen that is a sign that God didn’t send them. A prophet of God teaches the word of God. One of the ideas in the Lord’s Prayer is that God’s will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Think about that. It is a place where everyone obeys the ten commandments and nobody lies. It has to be a place where there is no murder, backstabbing, or theft.

Verse 6

The sources of misinformation really have something to worry about. Just because we are authorities in the eyes of man, doesn’t mean we are authorities in God’s eyes. The standard we should aspire to is a person who asks questions and doesn’t seek to be telling somebody what they already know. We should examine what we are being told to see if it lines up with scripture.

Verse 7

Things are going to happen. Just make sure your hands are clean as possible. We are all sinners but we should have principles on which we stand. Never betray your principles, no matter the cost.

Verse 8 and 9

This needs a little explaining. Let’s start by understanding that the body parts don’t do things by themselves. You don’t look at an attractive member of the opposite sex because your eyes are in control of your mind. You don’t walk into a store and take something you haven’t paid for because your hands just took control of your mind. Your feet won’t walk into a strip bar unless you want to go there. So to what is Jesus referring? He is referring to the church and the spiritual duties. If the teacher is teaching something that he can’t scripturally support he should not be teaching. It would be better to have no teacher at all than to have a teacher that needs to be taught.

Verse 10 and 11

We have all been children. It is not a good idea to look down on someone for whom Christ died and we used to be like. Jesus did not come to teach how to worship but to lead sinners (which include all of us) to repentance. We should not desire to teach adults how to be adults but followers of Christ. Not desire to teach others but learn ourselves.

Verse 12 through 14

If a shepherd has 100 sheep and one gets lost, he doesn’t console himself with the fact that he has 99 left. He searches until he finds his sheep and he is more pleased with the lost sheep than the ones that never got lost. We don’t know the shepherd’s character but we can know that God love for us is greater than a shepherd for sheep.

Verse 15

Instead of telling someone else when someone wrongs us, we should take it to the person. How they react is up to them.

Verse 16

In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall truth be established is a principle that is found many times in scripture. The more times you find an idea in the bible the more important it is.

Verse 17

They may be close to you but if they act like an enemy they are an enemy. If a person stubbornly wants to abuse you , you must distance yourself from that person.

Verse 18

Relationships may last longer than this life.

Verse 19 and 20

A crowd is more than two or three. However it takes more than just one. You cannot do anything alone. I don’t care how good your ideas seem to you by yourself, if it doesn’t make sense to anyone else it may not make sense at all.

Verse 21

Peter and Andrew were brothers and sometimes siblings get on each other’s nerves.

Verse 22
You should not have a limit on forgiveness. If you want to fight dirty, let God fight your battles. God can make you see what is not there, believe what is not true, not see what is there, and doubt what makes sense. Your entire perception of reality is in God’s hands Remember, God makes intellectual appeals, while satan appeals to your emotions. Whenever we make a decision to do something without thinking about it, it normally turns out bad.

Verse 23 and 35

We can equal 10,000 talents to a million dollars because it is a lot of money. God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten son. We have done more to Him than anyone could ever do to us. If you want God to forgive you then you must forgive others. One hundred pennies is a dollar. If you are unforgiving, then eventually it is going to blow up in your face.