Good morning, all!

Father, we know that You are Lord of all, and You are the only One that can see the heart of man. You know our intentions and purpose they lay open and bare before You, there is nothing that is hid from Your eye. Lord change us, change the dark places of our heart that we can’t see and make us more like You, Amen.

Matthew 6

3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
But when you show the world MERCY don’t let your left hand know that your right hand is giving it.

4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
Then your mercy will be done in SECRET and your Father who sees that you’re doing it in secret will give you a reward.

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
And when you pray enter into your closet and close the door and pray to your Father in SECRET and your Father who sees you will reward you.

18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
And when you fast don’t let men know it, do it in SECRET and your Father who sees you will reward you.

Bottom line

These are the words of Jesus Christ right after He preached sermon on the mount, and what is the overwhelming theme of His message? SECRECY!!! And what three things should we do in secret? Give, pray and fast. The Greek word for alms means to GIVE mercy, it can be money but I think it means a whole lot more than that, we should GIVE, love, joy, peace and forgiveness. Let me sum it up this way, what Jesus is saying is we should GIVE each other a break…it’s called GRACE, life can be hard at times so take it easy on one another. Why do I say that? Well, He said when we give our left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing? We can give each other a break and NOT be critical, or judgmental. Why did you give me a break? I don’t KNOW. God says when you GIVE you don’t need a reason, we do it because this is the nature and character of our Father so it becomes our nature. Are you your Father’s child?

[Luk 6:35 NIV] But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. We are to be kind to ONLY those we like…just seeing if you’re paying attention…be kind to the UNGRATEFUL and WICKED…those that have shown you hardship and then you will be CHILDREN of the Most High. Who is the Most High? I’m a simple dude, who has the HIGHEST place of authority in your life? If you listen to something or someone more than God then He is NOT your most high because something else occupies that seat…usually it’s SELF. And what about prayer?

[Mat 6:8 NLT] Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him. Most of our prayers are spent asking God for things or change to our circumstances but He says don’t be like them…PAGANS, God already knows what you NEED before you ask. We pray for a relationship with God, we pray that God change our heart which is to say our ATTITUDE.

[Phl 2:5 KJV] 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Let this ATTITUDE be in YOU that was in Christ Jesus, what was His attitude? HE was the greatest SERVANT the world had ever seen; He washed their feet. Tell me we don’t need an attitude adjustment if we’re going to wash somebody’s feet? And when we fast, we are NOT to be seen? If everybody is eating and I’m not it’s kind of hard not to notice…unless there’s more? Church there’s ALWAYS more to God.

[Isa 58:6 NLT] No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. This fast has nothing to do with food, and it has everything to do with setting people FREE…it’s called FORGIVENESS…we hunger for the righteousness of God, I mean what did you think God wanted from you? To stop eating or stop hating? Seriously folks, He said do this in remembrance of me…He sat down and ATE with those that would BETRAY and DENY Him, how could he do that? He FORAGVE before the offense even took place, that’s the FAST! How else can you do it in secret? We forgive the offense without the offender knowing and before it gets to the point of retaliation and rejection, feel me? Now let’s NOT gloss over the blessing from living this life in SECRET, your Father in heaven gives us a REWARD…you and I get MORE of Him, you get more faith, you get more strength, you get to live in the shadow of your Father and NOT the world, and my friends there is NO better place to live in the Father’s love.

Point to Ponder

When people look at you WHO do they see? [Col 3:3 NIV] For you died, and your life is now hidden in Christ in God. Shh…don’t tell anyone but you died…may they see Christ only.

Let’s all live as a secret agent for God, In Him Phil

Faith – Family -Friends