Today we looked at our identity as people who are taught by God (see John 6:45, Isaiah 54:11-13). It’s a privilege to be called God’s people, and this gives us access to a personal relationship with God whereby we can learn directly from Him (see also Jeremiah 31:31-34).

To be taught by God is not to belittle human teachers (including our parents, family members, other believers, church pastors, apostles, prophets, evangelists and teachers, who can all have a massive influence on our lives.) It is, however, the privilege of all believers to be known personally by God and to be taught in ways that are meaningful to us (since there are so many different learning styles.) Jesus Himself (known as ‘Rabbi’ or teacher) taught in different ways:

1. using stories or parables (Matthew 13, Mark 4:2)
2. using illustrations or examples (Luke 7:31-32)
3. by having them work alongside Him, watching Him and then doing what He did (Luke 9:1-6)
4. by looking at current affairs and drawing spiritual lessons from these (Luke 13:4-5)
5. through questions (Luke 18:8)
6. through proverbs (Luke 7:45)
7. through metaphors, particularly in John’s Gospel with the ‘I am’ statements, John 9:5, John 14:6)
8. through sermons and lectures (e.g. the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5-7, Matthew 24)
9. through provocative language (e.g. calling Herod ‘that fox’ in Luke 13:32)
10. through one-to-one conversation (e.g. with Nicodemus in John 3 or the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4)

Generally speaking, now He teaches us through His word (Heb 4:12, 2 Tim 3:16-17), through life’s circumstances (which often seem so contrary to us!) and through His Spirit (1 Cor 2:10-14). There are many things He teaches us, but perhaps the most important lessons involve:

1. loving God and other people (Matt 22:37-40)
2. trusting Him (Prov 3:5)
3. following Him (Matt 4:19)
4. obeying Him (Matt 7:24-27)

God is that perfect parent and teacher and so we can learn vital lessons of love, trust and obedience as you follow Him and walk with Him every single day of your lives.

On Sunday we looked at our identity as people of prayer. God’s people, who are called by His name, are to live in a relationship which involves listening as well as talking. We looked at 2 Chronicles 7:13-15, where God highlights our part in the relationship as well as promising His response of blessing if we do these 4 things:

When we live out our identity as God’s people who humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and turn from sin, we will live in the favour of God.

At our Bible study last night, we also looked at the words of Jesus in Matt 7:1-12, which look at a range of subjects about how best to live as people in God’s kingdom. His words on prayer remind us of the need to persevere: we must ask, seek and knock, but again, He balances what we must do with a secure knowledge of what God does for His children, reminding us of His generosity and provision. We may struggle at times with prayer, for God sometimes seems to test us by making us wait for answers, but Jesus shows us the generous nature of God to assure us that He is not mean.

Jesus also wanrs of the dangers of judging others, speaking humorously about the ‘plank’ in our own eyes while we are keen to remove the ‘speck’ from someone else’s. We can’t always see others clearly and need God to reveal to us our own sin before we speak about other people’s (see John 8:1-7).

Jesus also reminds us that we need wisdom; it’s not always the right time to speak of spiritual matters to those who are deliberately ignoring God’s ways.

In these verses, Jesus gives us examples of good behaviour (befitting of the kingdom of God) and poor choices which are not going to help in the long run.

1. Worry is a poor choice which will lead to anxiety and keep us in a place where we are depressed and unable to serve God effectively. (Matt 6:25-31) It is pointless, fruitless and a total waste of time and energy. To say that ‘I’m a worrier’, implying that we have no choice in the matter, is a lie. We worry by choice. Jesus urges us to choose an alternative to worry.

2. We are to choose to put God first in everything and are assured that God’s provision will meet all our needs. (Matt 6:32-34) Nature itself demonstrates to us God’s perfect care and attention to detail. This should encourage us to have faith and to trust.

3. God’s nature means we should treat others as we would like God (and others) to treat us. (Matt 7:12) This will mean refusing to live in a self-righteous, judgmental, over-critical way. It will mean giving people the benefit of the doubt and refusing to treat sacred things in a profane way.

The words of Jesus are wise pointers we do well to heed if we want to live well.

‘Don’t worry‘ is the unequivocal command of Jesus in Matthew 6:25-34. We might find this hard to obey, since we are so prone to worry, anxiety and fear, but Jesus reminds us in these verses of the reason we do not need to worry: we have a heavenly Father who loves us, knows us and is able to provide for us.

He calls on nature as witness to God’s provision and care, reminding us that the God who provides for the birds of the air and clothes the wildflowers with beauty is well able to care for our material needs (what we need to eat and wear.) Corrie Ten Boom said, ‘Worry is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength, carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worry doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.’ Jesus reminds us of the dangers of worrying about the future and gives us the answer to worry: ‘Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.’

The commands of Jesus do not come without resources to carry out these commands!

We enjoy eating cuisine from around the world at our fellowship meals each month, so we have decided to learn more about each country and to spend that month praying for whichever country whose cuisine we have sampled!

In March, we enjoyed a range of Mexican food and learned about Mexico, including its beautiful beaches, rich Aztec history and location in Latin America. Mexico has featured much in the news recently because of the ongoing problems with drug trafficking and we pray that God will bring many people from addiction to freedom in Him and will thwart the evil of the illegal drug trade. We prayed for young people to find hope and freedom in Jesus Christ.