{"id":16430,"date":"2018-02-09T09:24:17","date_gmt":"2018-02-09T14:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=16430"},"modified":"2018-02-09T09:30:59","modified_gmt":"2018-02-09T14:30:59","slug":"who-will-preserve-the-essentials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=16430","title":{"rendered":"Who Will Preserve the Essentials?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Sermon on the Mount: Week 2<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cac.org\/who-will-preserve-the-essentials-2018-02-09\/\"><strong>Who Will Preserve the Essentials?<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>Friday, February 9, 2018<\/strong><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uOg-1JjAdGk\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nJesus says that the people who live these happinesses, these Beatitudes, will be \u201cthe salt of the earth\u201d (see Matthew 5:13). For ancient people, salt was an important preservative, seasoning, and symbol of healing. What does Jesus mean by such an image?<\/p>\n<p>First, he\u2019s <em>not<\/em> saying that those who live this way are going to heaven. He is saying that they will be gift for the <em>earth.<\/em> We think of Jesus\u2019 teaching as <em>prescriptions<\/em> for getting to heaven (even though we haven\u2019t followed them). Instead, the Sermon on the Mount is a set of <em>descriptions<\/em> of a free life.<\/p>\n<p>Jesus\u2019 moral teaching is very often a description of the final product rather than a detailed process for getting there. When you can weep, when you can identify with the little ones, when you can make peace, when you can be persecuted and still be joyful . . . then you\u2019re doing it right. He is saying, as it were, this is what holiness looks like. When you act this way, \u201cThe Kingdom of God is among you\u201d (Luke 17:21). Jesus doesn\u2019t seem to be concerned about control, enforcement, or uniformity. His priority is proclamation, naming, and revealing. Then he trusts that good-willed people and a reliable God will take it from there.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf salt becomes tasteless, how can we salt the world with it?\u201d asks Jesus (see Matthew 5:13). That message seems especially true today. If Christians\u2014Jesus\u2019 self-proclaimed followers\u2014no longer believe the Gospel, if we no longer believe in nonviolence and powerlessness, then who\u2019s going to convert<em> us<\/em>? We\u2019re supposed to be the leaven of the world, yet if we no longer believe in the Gospel, what hope do we have of offering anything new to anyone?<\/p>\n<p>Finally, Jesus says, \u201cYou are light for the world; a city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden\u201d (Matthew 5:14-15). Our job is to be a shining truth, to live the truth as best we can, and let it fall where it may. \u201cThe best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better\u201d is one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/cac.org\/about-cac\/missionvision\/\">Center for Action and Contemplation\u2019s core principles<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Jesus is telling his disciples, \u201cI\u2019ve given you a great truth. I want you to hold the light and the leaven in the middle of the world. As light or leaven it will do its work, and God\u2019s purposes will be achieved.\u201d What a relaxed and patient trust Jesus has in God!<\/p>\n<p>Jesus is quite content, it seems, with such a humble position. He enters the imperial city from a place of powerlessness. His Sermon on the Mount has to do with an alternative understanding and strategy of power. Jesus is leading us to participate in God\u2019s power, which to us feels like powerlessness.<\/p>\n<p>____________________________________________________<\/p>\n<div class=\"row title-row\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"utmost-devo-title col col-sm-12 col-xs-12\">\n<h2 class=\"entry-title\">Are You Exhausted Spiritually?<\/h2>\n<h4>By <a href=\"https:\/\/utmost.org\/oswald-chambers-bio\">Oswald Chambers<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><strong>The everlasting God\u2026neither faints nor is weary. \u2014<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?version=31&amp;search=Isaiah+40%3A28\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Isaiah 40:28<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n<div class=\"row entry-meta\">\n<div class=\"col-sm-4\">\n<div class=\"top-sharing\"><strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"entry-content\">\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>Exhaustion means that our vital energies are completely worn out and spent. Spiritual exhaustion is never the result of sin, but of service. Whether or not you experience exhaustion will depend on where you get your supplies. Jesus said to Peter, \u201cFeed My sheep,\u201d but He gave him nothing with which to feed them (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John+21:17\">John 21:17<\/a>). The process of being made broken bread and poured-out wine means that <em>you<\/em> have to be the nourishment for other people\u2019s souls until they learn to feed on God. They must drain you completely\u2014 to the very last drop. But be careful to replenish your supply, or you will quickly be utterly exhausted. Until others learn to draw on the life of the Lord Jesus directly, they will have to draw on His life through you. You must literally be their source of supply, until they learn to take their nourishment from God. We owe it to God to be our best for His lambs and sheep, as well as for Him.<\/p>\n<p>Have you delivered yourself over to exhaustion because of the way you have been serving God? If so, then renew and rekindle your desires and affections. Examine your reasons for service. Is your source based on your own understanding or is it grounded on the redemption of Jesus Christ? Continually look back to the foundation of your love and affection and remember where your Source of power lies. You have no right to complain, \u201cO Lord, I am so exhausted.\u201d He saved and sanctified you to exhaust you. Be exhausted for God, but remember that He is your supply. \u201cAll my springs are in you\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Psalm+87:7\">Psalm 87:7<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sermon on the Mount: Week 2 Who Will Preserve the Essentials? Friday, February 9, 2018 Jesus says that the people who live these happinesses, these Beatitudes, will be \u201cthe salt of the earth\u201d (see Matthew 5:13). For ancient people, salt was an important preservative, seasoning, and symbol of healing. What does Jesus mean by such [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16430"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16430"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16433,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16430\/revisions\/16433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}