Mountain Principles

  

Matthew 7: 7-27, is part of what is commonly called the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus had several admonitions for those who came to listen to him that day. We would be wise to heed them ourselves.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened”.

Remember to pray. We should not be ashamed to ask God for what we need. He is the great Father and will give us all the things we need to be spiritually sound and happy.   If you don’t ask, why would you expect to receive?

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Watch where you’re going.  Going the wrong way can be disastrous. True, the narrow way, will certainly be the most difficult, but look at what awaits you at the end! Keep your eye on the goal and don’t take the easy way out, just because it looks easier at the moment.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits”

Watch what you hear. Be ever diligent in what you allow to enter into your mind. False teachers usually don’t look like false teachers. Paul told the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 11:14, that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. John cautioned the brotherhood in I John 4:1, not be believe all people who said they had the Spirit, but to test them to see whether the spirit they have is from God. Beware of who you listen to and check everything you do hear against scripture.

“Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”

Don’t just say you love Him, mean it. Make sure what you do has his approval, not just because you (or someone else) “thinks” it’s a good thing.  You must be sure it is His will and not yours. It’s not enough to call Him Lord, you have to listen to what He says and do it. That means you need to get out His Word and study it. How else are you going to know what His will is?

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.”

Build your life on a firm foundation. To do the will of the Lord is to build wisely. Your faith must be built on a firm foundation, that foundation being Jesus and his Word. If you build on anything else, it will not hold firm when times of trouble and persecution come. It will crumble like a sand castle left unprotected on the seashore.