“Hallowed be your name.” How often do you pray about this? Holy be the name of YHWH. Jesus was asking us to ask first and foremost that the name of God be holy because clearly on this earth at his time and even today it is not. God’s name is slandered everywhere and everyday by most everyone. Even his saints! If we only knew what we were saying! If we only fully understood the gravity, the weight of his name. See Matthew 6:7-14

LORD, continue to heighten my view of you. Continue to show me just how mighty and perfect and powerful and big and HOLY your name is. You ARE! Our actual idea of who you are is like a single drop in the entire ocean and even that is probably too small of an analogy. HOLY HOLY HOLY. Help me to see who you are and live in light of that awe-inspiring fact.

How easy is it for us to love those who hate us? What about just someone who wronged us. I was having dinner with my husband and he said something quite mean. In fact it was so mean and hurtful and so very out of character for him that I had to get up and walk upstairs to our bedroom with tears streaming down my face. He did not realize that what he said cut me to the core. I was hurt and I was mad. With each step I took as I headed up the stairs I felt the Holy Spirit tugging at me. “Bless your husband.” That is all I heard in my head over and over again with each step until I reached the landing. I had a choice. I could drown out the Holy Spirit with my own selfish anger, or I could simply obey. I am glad I decided on the latter. I cleaned his side of the room, folding clothing and dusting his dresser. In doing so it was I who obtained the blessing. My heart changed. My hurt changed. My perspective changed.

Even though my husband is not my enemy, by a long shot, those who are closest to us have the unique ability to hurt us the deepest. Has anyone hurt you recently? Have you been wronged by someone? Flip your normal reaction on its head and think about how you can bless them. Really bless them in an outwardly palpable way.

See Matthew 5:43-48

Salt and light. That is what we are to be. Light draws people in and salt makes things taste better. The pros. But have you considered the cons? Light exposes and salt stings. We are to be both salt and light in both of its uses. Your light (living righteously in your actions) will irritate the eyes of those living in darkness. Your salt (speaking words of truth) will burn and sting the souls of those living in sin. We must remember to act in love towards others but never shy away from the truth when the Holy Spirit presents us with the opportunity to do so.

Matthew 5:13-16

John the Baptist did not mince words. “You brood of vipers!” was his cry. Consider who he was accusing. They were the most respected theologians of his day. They were respected and revered among men. They were the Pharisees and Sadducees. But John is refuting them to bear fruit in keeping with repentance since clearly they were not. Let us not only bear fruit in keeping with repentance, but also resolve to be “John the Baptist Bold.”

Matthew 3:7-8

How interesting it is that the wise men brought Jesus as birthday presents frankincense and myrrh. Those were burial oils and spices. It would be like bringing a baby present of embalming chemicals such as formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde and phenol. Gross! But think this through. The birth of Jesus was for one sole purpose, his death. He came to die. These gifts were not only appropriate but prophetic! Incredible!

Matthew 2:11

I don’t know about you, but when I am hungry look out. I’m moody and impatient. It would be the absolute WORST time for me to try to withstand any temptation let alone ALL forms of temptation. To say Jesus was hungry in Matthew 4: 2 would be an understatement. He had not eaten anything for 40 days and 40 nights and THEN he was tempted by Satan himself. Yikes! Let’s remember Matthew 4 when we get tempted. We are lightweights in comparison.

Matthew 4:2

Immanuel, God with us. Think about that for a second. God with US! That tiny helpless baby was God in the flesh. Fully God. Fully man. Amazing. He left everything that was lovely, pure, right, holy, true, and perfect; he left EVERYTHING to come to our broken fallen earth to be amongst broken fallen man. He came to everything that was detestable, impure, wrong, unholy, false, and imperfect to make things right again. What a blessing and honor it is to call Jesus our perfect holy God!

Matthew 1:23

Read James 1:26. “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.” Oh how I thought I was religious! I had someone very close to me say on Christmas Eve that it is BS (her words were said in full) that I was not a Christian when I was in High School. I was super “religious” in the way James uses the term. Back when the Book of James was written the word “religion” was understood to mean a persons outward display of ceremonial worship. I was even respected by this person because I was not too over the top. My “religion” was politically and socially acceptable and palatable and because of that it was desirable. It was what is called “easy believism.” It was not hot. It was not cold. It was right in the middle. That perfect (disgusting) lukewarm “Christianity.”

I believe there is going to be a great shift soon and it is already happening around the world. People are going to start becoming more black and white. More hot and more cold. There will be people who literally fall away from their “faith” and those that realize their faith was no faith at all and they will repent and turn FULLY to Christ. Think about James 1:26. “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.” What do we see happening in most Christian circles today? Gossip. TONS of gossip. All in the name of prayer, or supporting one another. The church’s tongue is not bridled. There is rampant deception going on right in our very own churches! Pastors are watering down their sermons and their theology so much that they have no problem advocating a One Faith Religion.

Take note my friend, just because people claim to be a follower of Jesus does not mean we are “on the same team.” This is not my theology. Read the entire Bible and it will scream at you. Many people who claim to be faith based believers in Jesus Christ will not be going to Heaven. READ THE ENTIRE BIBLE! That is where most people fall short. They never have actually read the entire Bible. Cover to cover. Multiple times. The reason it is called the Living Word is because it brings life to those who read it. It brings eternal life. As my pastor, Mike Fabarez likes to say “The best way to guard against heresy is to read the Bible thoroughly and often.”

This world is so infectious! It is like when your child wants something from you, they are relentless. To ignore them is to be a superwoman. There is no balance in this world as so many people think there is. There is no way to COEXIST as the bumper sticker says with all the religious symbols. It is clear in the Bible that if you are a lover of the world you cannot have the love of God. (1 John 2:15) You cannot have it both ways. This was what hit me so hard a couple years ago. I thought I was saved and then started looking at how I was living my life: chasing after money, bigger homes, nicer cars, upgraded kitchens, etc etc etc. These things are a waste of time. One of my good friends calls it “shining the poo.” That is all we are really doing when you really think about it. It is a funny turn of phrase but it makes sense. Compared to where we are going (if you are indeed headed for Heaven) then anything we love in this world is pretty much poo.