Matthew 5-7

• The true blessings of Heaven referred by Jesus are not those that us humans perceive blessings to be. We would ask how could a poor be blessed when the most obvious way may be to lift them out of financial difficulties (5:1-11)
• Salt used for flavouring and preserving purposes. If it did not serve its purpose, what are the consequences? (v13-16)
• People argue the old testament no longer applies in a Christian day and age. Jesus tells us that he has come to fulfill the Law and prophecies. (v17-20) I think he has come to clarify how the Law actually operates. Jesus defines that to get into Heaven, you must be more perfect than the Pharisees. Jesus explains below.
  
• In the Law, murderers only get judgment. Is Jesus setting the bar higher by saying anybody who is angry, insults and accuse people by calling them fools will face judgment? (v21-22) Is he just letting us understand that we all have done wrong things, whether big or small, and because we are imperfect, we are not whole in God's eyes, and we will all be judged.
  
• Rather than just doing things to appear good (by making gifts to the altar), you must also reconcile, fix the heart (v23-24). Do everything from the heart. No good for us to look like a good Christian but remain relationships or anything we do in tatters. No good to kneel and pray and have a nice Christian image on Sundays but do a bad job during the week!
  
• Fix up the wrongs before it is too late, otherwise the consequences are heavy! (v25-26).
• Again, Jesus focuses on the heart, not just the tangible or visible superficial aspects. (v28)
• Try to distance yourself from activities that will cause you to sin (v29-30)
• Divorce only on sexual immorality (v32). Let not man separate what God has put together. Divorce was not something that was designed to be readily available at man's convenience.
  
• Do not swear/take oath to promise that certain things will be performed. How can someone imperfect make promises in something they have no control of? (v33-37)
• An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. I remember I once heard that this was set down so that revenge would just stop, so any revenge would not go out of hand and just get worse and worse (ie a finger gets chopped off, and to revenge, the hand gets taken, and because that revenge was not just, the arm gets chopped off and so on). Jesus already dealt with anger above and says we should just forget it. (v39-41)
• "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (5:44) - if that could be done, v45 suggest that you have transformed into a whole being to be sons of Father in heaven.
  
• How would it make you different if all you did was to just love the people who loves you? That is not hard to do at all. (v46-47)

• It is the heart that God is concerned, not to make helping the needy a big fuss to gain attention (6:1-4)
• Do not pray rubbish and flowery words with God, God knows what we need and what we want before we pray (v7)
• Your will be done (v10)
• He provides (v11)
• Repent and ask for forgiveness (v12)
• Keep us from temptation (v13)

No one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money

-- Matthew 6:24

• Why worry about your life? What can worry do? What control does worrying give you? (v25-33)

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble

-- Matthew 6:34

• Spec vs. Log (7:3-4)
• Ask and it will be given, Seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you (v7). Notice it is use of "will", not "shall".
  
• God, who created us, will not hide the truth from us and point us down a bad path. (v9-11)

"So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them"

-- Matthew 7:12

• Tree and Fruit: in v15-20, we are told good trees will bear good fruits, bad trees will bear bad fruits. Through the actions of people, we should be able to detect whether they are Christians / Non-Christians.
  
• Again, stress the heart of people who take Jesus as Lord: those who submit themselves to Jesus to be their true Lord and does the will of God will be recognised by Jesus. (v21)
• Does "Part-time Christians" get excluded into heaven (v22-23)?
• Indicates that God's word are the foundations in life. (v24-27)

Matthew 5

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scirbes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:20

This was a very hard teaching for the Jewish in that time, when everyone thought the Pharisees were the 'most righteous' group of people in the world, whereas Jesus told people that your righteousness needs to exceeds the 'best of the best'. What Jesus wanted to convey to us was that sin is not about doing 'wrongs', but how we truly feel and think deep in our heart, as he continued to say:

21 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' 22But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insult his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Matthew 5:21-24

Jesus teaches us that what's important is not about how much you are going to offer at the altar, but what you are going to do to reconcile the relationship with your brother/sister who has done somethings against you.
In v24, "First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." Here I guess it also indicates that we should first forgive our brother/sister before coming back to the Lord. And indeed if we want to be forgiven by the Lord and receive His grace, we should learn from Him and do the same.

For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

5:26-30

As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are usually described as different parts of the same body and everyone has different purposes but the same 'head'. Keeping in mind this metaphor, how applicable is this to the situation where there is a person in Christ who has sinned. Is it better to 'cut it off and throw it away', or to help him/her to come back to Christ?

5:16In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

AND

6:3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret.

The above verses seem to be contradicting. After collaborating with Ivan, we came up with the following conclusion: when we are helping others, we should do it with our heart and truly love others, but not because of a particular 'purpose'. To illustrate this, we came up with an example:
As people give food to the needy, we do not go everywhere and tell people we will do this 'good thing' because we are Christians. We do not purposefully give food to people because we want to 'make' them Christians, but because of love we do all those. And due to love (from Christ), people will see us as 'light' and hope of the world, and therefore we can share the gospel to others. Therefore the reason for helping other should not be mainly due to sharing the gospel, but the key reason is because of love...... (does it make sense....?)

Isaiah 12-17

For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore, though you plant pleasant plants and sow the vine-branch of a stranger, 11 though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and make them blossom in the morning that you sow, yet the harvest will flee away in a day of grief and incurable pain.

-- Isaiah 17:1-11

I must admit Isaiah is very hard to grasp hold of. Although this week, it is comparatively better than the last, it is so hard to understand why God is declaring prosperous cities will be ruined in the prophecies. At the end of the day, they are God's creation. I don't know the background of these cities, but how worse were they that made God painfully destroy His own creation?

In Isaiah 17:1-11, we are reminded that to anchor ourselves in the right place with God. If we don't, although our lives may seem to be prosperous, but at the end of the day, if it is anchored in the wrong place, will just bring grief, incurable pain, and I guess in context today, eternal separation with God in Hell.

Job 5-6

• Suggesting to Job that pain and punishment comes with a reason, Job must have done something wrong (5:6), so repent (v8) to the one that is full of wisdom and mercy (v9-15)

• Job's complaint never blames God. He just hopes God ends his life so pain could cease (6:8-9)
  Humbles himself as he could not understand all this happening to himself. (v24) He asks for revelations of his wrongs (v25-30)
  
  

Psalms 6-8

• David knows he is not whole even with his status. Knows God's right and David needs correction. (6:1) Asks God to lead him in a merciful way (v2)
• Appears to be very weak but still has no doubt in God's love for him (v3)
• Being Christian does not have carefree life (v6-7). While we are down trust without doubt that God listens to our prayer and keep the devil away. (v8-10)

• Knows God has to power to protect (7:1-7)
• God is just and righteous (v8-11)
• Man constantly bound in sin bearing sinful fruit if he does not repent (v11-16)
• Remembers to praise the Lord for believing He is righteous. (v17)

• Full of praise and acknowledge he is majestically in control (8:1-2)
• Acknowledges He is the creator (v3-4)
• Acknowledges we are so small but are made to rule the rest of His creation (v5-8)

Joshua 11-15

• The Kings knew the power of almighty God and did not underestimate Him by combining forces and had so much people like sand on seashore (v4). They did not repent.
• God promised (v6) and it was God who delivered, Israel did not win it by their own works (v8)
• Capturing cities: did ALL have to die? (v10-15) Would the righteous have fled the city before annihalation?

• List of Kings that were defeated by Israel. (12:1-24)

• Joshua is old and God promises that God Himself will conquer the remaining land for Israel (13:6)
• The tribe of Levi did not get any land, they had God as their inheritance (v33)

• God promises and delivers to faithful Caleb (14:6-15)

• Boundaries and Distribution of land (15). Why couldn't the Jebusites be driven out? (v63)

Genesis 8 -11

Sorry for not posting in week 2. I've found it really difficult to understand last week readings in the OT, because 1) my knowledge about the Bible is extremely poor, and 2) I'm confused with the people, the place and the events written in the Bible..

Some thoughts on today's Genesis:

8:15
Noah was obedience - He left the boat only when God asked him to do so, even thought he knew the water was gone.

9: 20 - 27
Ham saw Noah was drunk and naked, and Canaan, son of Ham, was cursed.
It doesnt really make sense to me as I think that Noah was the one who did something wrong; 1) he was drunk, and 2) he was naked. But why was Ham's son cursed? Shouldn't Noah be the one who should be punished?
And it also reminds me that even as obedient and righteous as Noah, there are chances for us to make wrong decisions and the consequences of that decision could be quite influential. It does not only affects yourselves, but also the people around you.

Ayi sigh ayi

Reading Isaiah is drifty.

I am getting lost. The sentences don't mean much.
It seems like it's trying to predict something. I can't tell if it's trying to prophecy an event or if the event has already occured.

It makes vague comparisons and you don't know what it's being figurative or factual.

So far from my reading and limited knowledge, I understand that Israel is stuffed cos it did some bad things. I wonder if the reader at that time knew that they were stuffed. If they actually listened to Isaiah's words, they would be shaking in their boots.

Every now and again, I can pick up references to Jesus the Christ. But these references seem to be voiced among a whole bunch of other incoherent and non-relating topics and events.

It would certainly help if I knew the History behind this book.

Genesis 8-11

• Water receded and Ark rested on Mount Ararat (8:4)
• After 12 months without seeing land, he was still patient and did not get off Ark before God told him so (v13-16).
• First thing he did after getting off the boat is to give thanks to the Lord. (v20)
• God promises not to punish mankind like this again (v21-22)

• Meat becomes a food available for mankind (9:3) but do not eat live (v4)
• But said man cannot kill man because God made man in His own image (v5-6)
• Rainbow being the covenant between God and Noah (v12-17)
• Noah sins and goes naked (v21). Why was Canaan cursed and Shem (who covered Noah's nakedness up with Japheth) blessed? (v24-27)

• Different languages (10:5)

• Before the language barriers, people wanted to build a tower that could reach the sky (11:1-4) God understood this was the begining to furthe rebellion and showed them their limitation by mixing up language. Has this to do with not being humble? (v6-8)
• Sarah and Abram (v29-31)

Week 3

Mon 12 May 2008	Genesis 8-11
Tue 13 May 2008	Joshua 11-15
Wed 14 May 2008	Psalms 6-8
Thu 15 May 2008	Job 5-6
Fri 16 May 2008	Isaiah 12-17
Sat 17 May 2008	Matthew 5-7
Sun 18 May 2008	Romans 5-6

Week 2 Summary

It has been a wonderful experience in the second week in our journey but the pressure is on! The number of chapters that have been planned for reading seemed to grow from week 1 to now (Tuesday and Wednesday's readings have both increased). Chatting with Jot.. we both agree after our little complaints, the readings thankfully subsided.

My biggest struggle was reading Isaiah. I had difficulties keeping on with my much loved ESV and had to drop back down to the more approachable Good News Bible.

Last week, I reported that we had a 50% hit rate with the blogging experience, in the end, we picked up game and achieved 75%. One more hour to go and we are again at 50%. Can we hit a higher statistic again?

Busy lives we have been, and I have found that our brother Jot.. has fallen behind in a few days of readings after serving our Lord in his many roles in church this week and after a very tiring week at work. May we all remember to pray for Jot.. so he stays on with the plan.

Exams are coming up for me and Sharon. I really hope that God will continue to provide us wisdom and will guide us to utilise our times efficiently so we could study as well as munch on the spiritual food!

Week 2

Do you believe when God created us, He has created our mood also?
Our mood of feeling joyful, feeling angry, lonely and frightened.
Christians aren’t guarantee to be joyful all the time, but God has promised to help us get through it. Most importantly, God protect us like a shield!!

In Psalm 4-5:
In your anger do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
Listen to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation.
You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil;
with you the wicked cannot dwell.
The arrogant cannot stand in your presence;
you hate all who do wrong.
But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

When we are angry, satan tempt us to feel jealous, unloving and impatient in our action.

In Matthew Chapter 4, it tells the story of Jesus being tempted by satan. Couldn’t Jesus be rude and say inappropriate things to satan to make him go away? Couldn’t Jesus lose his temper and tell the angels to come and serve him right away?

Jesus didn’t sin in his trial. Jesus has once been made in the form of human, he has tempers like us, but Jesus demonstrated his faithfulness in God even more, he made himself totally submissive under the power of God.

Let us learn to be like Jesus when we lose our joyful heart, rely on God and not lose our faith in Him.

Romans 3-4

• What is good about Jews? They were still God's chosen whom God entrusted with the words of God. (3:1-2)
• Discuss doing bad things to show the good. (v5-8)
• Paul goes on to say although the Jews had advantage, they, like the Gentiles, are still sinful (v9)

as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."

-- Romans 3:10-12

• The Bible reveals that everyone will be judged (v19). Following the bible will not make you righteous on Judgment (v20)
• Reveals the way to righteousness is by the grace of God through Jesus (v21-25)
• By faith not by works (v27)
• The faith is for all, not just for Jews (v30)
• Why then do we still have to uphold the law? (v31)

• Was Abraham righteous because of works? No, it was because he believed in God (4:3)
• Circumcision was only a sign of Abraham's faithfulness (v10-11)
• We are reminded that are faith should only grow stronger that God will do what He promises through Abraham's story (v19-21)