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Yesterday, a man asked a religious negative question about praying the prayer Jesus taught us to pray frequently referred to as the Lord's Prayer. I am familiar with the negative religious thinking as it seems to be based in Christian religious groups that are opposed to the prayer because it is encouraged by larger and older religious denominations that they seem to be opposed to in general. Maybe it is like a political party being opposed to everything another political party suggests, even when it is a good idea. I noticed the man was using an NIV bible so I asked him to read the first sentence of Matthew 6:9. He then read that Jesus said, "This, then, is how you should pray:". It is great when you can let Jesus respond to a question. In the Didache or the teaching of the apostles that may be referred to in Acts 2:42, praying daily the Lord's Prayer is encouraged, just like Jesus used the word "daily" in it. If you don't pray every day, consider that praying this prayer takes less than one minute of your time and it is a great way to be obedient to Jesus.

To refresh what you have learned in our Workshop or entice you to experience our Workshop

People don't just fall out of love. Their feelings of love get crowded out over time by poorly handled disagreements and arguments. It takes a lot of positive statements to offset one negative statement. When you have a disagreement, it is a good time stop the conflict and then resume the discussion using the Speaker Listener Technique. Becoming one as God said we could (Genesis 2:24) is difficult when people in a marriage are afraid of rejection or even criticism. When you get angry, it is never helpful to threaten divorce. Being selfish can destroy a marriage. Jesus discourages us from being selfish in Luke 9:23. It is good to consider your spouse when you read Jesus words in Luke 6:31 (TEV) "Do for others just what you want them to do for you."

Cam age 10 said, "Twenty three is the best age to get married because you know the person FOREVER by then!"

Remember that how you communicate and handle conflict is crucial for how your marriage will go. If you see selfishness in your self or in your spouse, with prayer, God can help improve your marriage. Pray for God's will to be done in your marriage, daily. Remember Jesus said in Mark 10:27 (NIV) that "…all things are possible with God."

Howard age 10 said, "The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them…. It's the right thing to do."

The Better Half "When your partner won't support your efforts to make your marriage better" Without your spouse's support to improve your marriage, you can still pray daily for God's will to be done in each of your lives and your marriage ("all things are possible with God", Mark 10:27 NIV). Marriages usually decline over time as a result of poorly handled disagreement or arguments. Try to avoid conflict and never threaten divorce. It is good to consider what Jesus taught when He said in Luke 6:31 (TEV) "Do for others just what you want them to do for you", as you try to improve the way you treat your spouse. The old cliché about using honey instead of vinegar could apply to improving your relations with your spouse also.

A Psalm for reflection "How I wish My people would listen to Me; how I wish they would obey Me!" Ps 81:13 (TE)

Understanding the Teaching: What I share in the teaching is what I believe God wants me to share. All the direct quotes from God are highlighted in royal purple. Of course the words of Jesus are in red. Rather than follow some made up doctrine, remember that Jesus said that every thing He said (Jn 12:49) and everything He did (Jn 14:31) comes from God. All teachings and all opinions should be supported by what we learn from God or Jesus (see the scripture referred to in the footnote).

There is a village in Europe that has performed a passion play once every ten years for centuries. This is the year of the decade and recently a news report quoted both a Christian and a Jewish leader who had seen the current production, stating that it made Jesus appear more Jewish than in the past and that they didn't make the Jews appear responsible for Jesus' crucifixion. Yes, Jesus and all His followers when he walked the earth were Jews. It is interesting how people could try to imply that Jesus was not Jewish. There may be an anti Jewish sentiment that would cause people to suggest that, just like some would like you to believe that Jesus didn't speak Hebrew. It is very clear in the Gospels that the Jewish religious leaders were responsible for Jesus' crucifixion1 and as much as I love God's chosen people, the Jewish people, I would not lie to them. Even Matthew's Gospel that appears to be written to reach out to Jewish people makes it very clear who is responsible for Jesus crucifixion. Sometimes people desire to be politically correct and distort the truth. All Jews are not responsible for the actions of their religious leaders just like all Christians are not responsible for the actions of their religious leaders. Yes, Jesus' crucifixion was part of God's plan. When the Jews were slaves in Egypt or when they were exiled in Babylon for 70 years it was part of God's plan. And both Egypt and Babylon suffered as a result. Being part of God's plan does not exonerate our conduct. God's chosen people were separated from the Promised Land when the Temple was destroyed for approximately 1,878 years and endured enormous suffering during that time. This could be related to rejection of Jesus, as Jesus prophetically told of the destruction of the temple8.

Initial Jesus stated that He was only sent to the "the people of Israel", yet repeatedly He reached out to non-Jews also. When He confronted the Jewish religious leaders He called them "hypocrites" and suggested to them that when they make a convert they make the person "more fit for hell than you are". Jesus criticizes religious leaders because they "make strict rules and try to force people to obey them" 2. Many of the Jewish religious leaders today appear to have not changed much since Jesus' day. Whether considering Jewish or Christian religious leaders, there are wide variances. The people mentioned at the beginning of this teaching who desired political correctness over historical accuracy are far different than ones who make up burdensome rules. Often the religious leaders that make up difficult rules appear to be more accurate except when they deviate from what God or Jesus says. Those difficult religious leaders may be the types Jesus describes, as "those who kill you will think that by doing this they are serving God"3. It would appear that this was the attitude of the Jewish religious leaders that had Jesus crucified.

What kind of religious leader should you follow? What kind of religious leader did Jesus (our example) follow? The person Jesus followed whom He called Father is the "God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob". Jesus tells us to "Love Yahveh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength"4. When you follow Jesus, Jesus will lead you to the one true God. Be careful when following Christian religious leaders, as most will say they are following Jesus. They may quote Paul who wrote "I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified". This sounds great but it does not mean that we forget what we learned from the example of the Bereans who "examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true"5. Always remember that apparently Paul did not have access to most of Jesus teachings like you do from reading the Gospels. Sometimes Christian leaders will not say they are quoting Paul but prefer to say something like "the Bible says …", implying that everything in the bible is the same. Do not be deceived; if the letters are not red in a red-letter bible, it is probably not from Jesus. Others will attempt to deceive you also. This week it was in the local newspaper that some politician returned some money to a man involved with a Mohammadanist organization. The Mohammadanist was quoted as innocently responding with a quote from Jesus. Just because someone quotes Jesus doesn't mean you can trust him or her. Mohammadanist believe that Jesus was just a prophet and not the Son of God. Jesus said, "I am the Son of God"6. Hypocrites, who call Jesus a liar by denying what He says and then quoting Jesus, are tools of the deceiver, whether they are associated with a false religion or are masquerading as a Christian leader. If you follow Jesus, you will quote Jesus, which usually means red letter scriptures from Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. Some Christians say they follow Jesus and then quote mostly Paul or some other writer in the New Testament. Remember Jesus tells us "by their fruit you will recognize them". If anyone wonders why we follow Jesus when Jesus followed God, remember that Jesus said, "No one comes to the Father except through Me"7.

Lets pray; "God guide us and help us to follow Jesus. Keep us by Your Spirit from being misled by religious leaders who say they follow Jesus but then follow their own religious teachings. May Your Spirit remind us of what Jesus says in every appropriate moment. Thank you in Jesus' name, amen."

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