By REV. TIMOTHY L. MELTON, PASTOR
(Transcribed by Myra D. Colgate)
Cherokee Pentecostal Holiness Church
Read Matthew 6:1, 6-18; Psalm 61:1-4; Psalm 62:1-2; Proverbs 30:24-26.
Giving…
Going back to the basics will be a good review. The basics can cause one to flourish more quickly. What we give, whenever we give, He multiplies back to us. Give, and God will reward you for helping others. It is also a blessing for church people, especially those already in need. Just love on people. We need to help those around us, too. We are rewarded openly even for our praying for them secretly. Love on those who are having a worse day than we are. Love people!
Forgiving…
Get into the spiritual realm, in God’s realm. Pray much in the Spirit. We can also use the Lord’s Prayer as a model to follow. Then using verses 12-15 we begin to understand how our truly forgiving others and how our own forgiveness by God, hinges on our own understanding and following through with that requirement. He won’t and can’t forgive us if we won’t forgive others!
This is not always easy. However, our forgiving of others, no matter what was done to us, is not an option. With our asking Him to help us, He let’s us know He had to forgive all that was done to Jesus, unconditionally, and is willing and can help us do the same. It doesn’t mean He, or we, have to condone what may have been done to us. It simply means that we are truly being obedient to Him and, with His help, we can gain a peace we would never have been able to acquire otherwise.
We need to forgive what was done to us so, He can forgive us. One may need to forgive again until one stops remembering that person in anger, like Jesus did, when He chose to forgive all of us before He dismissed His Spirit—and that was while He was still suffering on the cross. Bless the Lord, O my soul! Thank You, Lord Jesus!
Fasting and Prayer…
Many of the religious people of Jesus’ day, would display a sad, disfigured countenance so that others would see they had been fasting. A person can move oneself into an alignment with God, when one begins to fast and pray. It can be a time well spent when one fasts and prays, even as it is realized our fasting does not move God. However, it can be a time of abundant reward, time spent with Him, keeping in mind that it is more of a reminder for the person of a sacrificial action they wanted to make rather than ‘doing something’ to impress God. (‘Obedience is better than sacrifice’ is what we have come to understand.) More time with Him can render a reward of safety, wealth, and health as we soak in His Glory. It is the best way we are to lay up our treasures in heaven.
Don’t quit doing what you have been doing. Until He comes back for us, our property laws will still be good. Eternity keeps them so don’t be ‘poor in giving’, for God has told us even our tears are kept by the angels in a bowl… Money should not be just to pay our bills. We are to do things for heaven as He has directed us. Tell others about Jesus and show them Him by how you live your life—that your heart is with Jesus, full of the Light of Him. Don’t worry about necessities, as you are being fed by God. Take no thought for all of the ‘stuff’ in our lives here. Put Him and His Kingdom first, and don’t worry. Fasting with prayer is only to serve to move us and to remind us to remember Jesus, keeping Him and the Kingdom of Heaven foremost in our thoughts and consideration.
Jesus covers us with His Wings and is our strong tower, a Rock tower, and is our Defense. Let Him ever move you towards God, the Father. He is our shelter from the storms. Remember Jesus has never lost a battle! In that way, “I shall not be greatly moved.” We should be at least as wise as the ants, or the feeble conies (little rock badgers, weak and squirrel-sized. They always make their homes in the rocks, backing into the rocks for safety, ‘a feeble folk.’) Not really a match for any devil, but, since Christ was given all Authority, we can ourselves back up into the Rock! Praising and worshipping Him, we can enter the Presence of the Lord at the Altar.
