The discipline of fasting is the topic in today's text, but Christ's message is that which matters most to him: a pure heart. Fasting was and is a practice used to deny oneself in order to fervently seek and draw near to the Lord, and to glorify God. However, in this passage, we learn that the Pharisees would often draw attention to themselves while fasting, ultimately glorifying self and stealing the glory from God. Similarly, when we serve or work in his name and do this with a self-centred attitude or motivation, the Lord sees this hypocrisy and rejects it. Conversely, he also recognizes the pure motivation of genuine heart which seeks to glorify him above all else. God rejects what is false, but blesses what is real!
We are continuing in our Let Me Tell You A Story series, delving deep into the amazing parables unique to the gospel of Luke....
In Matthew 5, Jesus stands up to speak to the crowd on the mountainside, and the world was changed. Pastor Robbie Symons explains that...
Today we consider how the way we think impacts the way we live. When our thoughts are consumed by worldly influences, the result is...