Last week was our final time in the study, The Sermon on the Mount, by The Daily Grace Co. I truly cannot recommend the study highly enough. It was timely and life changing for me, but then, the words of Jesus are meant to turn our hearts upside down.

Memory Verse: “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teachings because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.” (Matthew 7:28-29)

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We began with reading Matthew 7:13-14. The topic: our choice.

We have a choice to make – will we take the wide gate or the narrow gate? The easy way or the hard way?
There were so many good points in this day:

• “The way that leads to life is hard.”
• “Choosing the right thing is very rarely the easy thing.”
• “Our culture does not like absolutes.”
• “Entering into the narrow gate and following Jesus as we see here is not a guarantee of an easy life; in fact it is a guarantee that we will face hardships and difficulty as we follow Jesus.”
• “The goal is not an easy life – the goal is an obedient life.”

The choices we make will impact our lives, and the lives of our families. Every choice we make will have an eternal and lasting effect.

I encourage you to read Psalm 73. I am so grateful for the transparency we find in these words written by Asaph. He tells us he had come so close to stumbling. He admits he was envious of the arrogant. He saw the prosperity of the wicked. He would have neglected to speak of the goodness of God to future generations if that had remained his focus.

But … when he shifted his focus onto God and remembered to make God his refuge, he realized God was the strength of his heart, his portion forever.

How does this psalm encourage you to trust God even when life doesn’t make sense?

Reading Psalm 73 over a few times, this song came to mind. May it bless and encourage someone today.

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It was a sobering read mid week from Matthew 7:21-23.

Jesus is speaking of those who thought they knew Him, and those who actually did.

Our good works will not get us into heaven. Being able to quote Scripture won’t either.

“Salvation is not just about intellectual ascent – it is about hearts transformed by grace.”

(Sermon on the Mount, page 135)

As we have read through the words of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is describing his own. The study asks this powerful question – “Does it describe us?’

Jesus doesn’t want our minds ready. He wants our hearts ready.

He wants us to know Him, yes, with our minds, but more so with our hearts engaged with Him and transformed by Him and His Word.

The people described in this passage seem to have it all together. They say the right things and they do respectable things. But Jesus tells us this isn’t enough.

May our goal be to know Him and become like Him!

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Our reading on the last day of the study was Matthew 7:28-29. This study has been life changing for me. Eye opening.

The crowd had come to see Jesus, and they truly did get to see Him. Their eyes were opened as well, causing them to be astonished by His teaching.

I paused and asked myself: As I read His Word each day, am I astonished by His teaching, His authority, by who He is?

I love how this study closes with a series of questions, for they are truly the questions each one of us needs to ask ourselves:

“Will we answer His call? Will we allow Him to transform us into His image? Will we become poor in spirit so that we can be lavished in the riches of His grace? Will we mourn for our sin, and be comforted by who He is? Will we be meek and humble, and trust that His plan is good for us? Will we hunger and thirst for His righteousness that satisfies every satisfies every longing? Will we extend mercy because of the mercy that has been extended to us? Will we be pure in heart and follow God with a single-minded focus on His glory? Will we endure rejection for His name? Will we live our life in this upside-down kingdom where the last are first and joy comes from laying your life down?

Will we be like Jesus?”
(from pages 143-144)

We closed the study out with two questions:

What does the Sermon on the Mount tell us about who Jesus is?
What does the Sermon on the Mount tell us about who we should be?

For me, this study has shown me how much I yet need to grow, how much more I need to change, and it has deepened my desire to be more like Jesus. It has broken me.

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Let Him be the strength of your heart,
as you come to know Him more deeply,
and live your life in His upside-down kingdom.

Photo by Elsa Gonzalez on Unsplash
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