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            This chapter begins with Jesus commanding us to be careful with our good deeds, to not do them publicly or for attention. When we do something good for others, we can feel very good and happy about what was just done, but we are not to be boastful of our deeds, it cancels them out. God see’s what we do in private and He knows and is happy with us for it, but we don't need to shout it out to everyone else, we shouldn't want to receive attention for our obedience. When you do a good dead and you feel great about it and excited for what just happened, don't call your friends and tell everyone, instead talk to Jesus about how happy you feel in that moment and thank Him for blessing you so that you can in turn bless others. We are to give in complete secrecy, God will see and will reward us for doing so. But if we give and shout it out, the reward will already be given in full to us. We shouldn't give to receive a reward, but we need to be humble when we give and not brag about it. It can be very exciting to give, even if we aren't intending to brag, you may be simply sharing how good you feel about it, it doesn't take away the fact that Jesus said it needs to be done in secrecy. No matter the reason behind sharing we need to keep it private between us and God.

            The same goes for when we pray, we don't need to pray in public for attention, we need to pray privately with God. We don't need to put our religion on show, we need to focus instead of having a relationship with God and praying/seeking Him out privately. That doesn't mean don't pray for someone else who is need of praying, it just simply means when you pray to God, don't make a production out of it for the wrong reasons. Talk to Him, privately, and grow a relationship with Him. We also do not need repetitive prayers, we don't need to memorize prayers and recite them and be done with it. That is not having a relationship with Jesus, that is simply practicing traditional religious practices. God wants much more with us, He wants a personal relationship with us. He already knows whats on our heart, in our minds and what we need, but He wants us to open up to Him and talk to Him personally, honestly, and in a private place to be able to really seek Him.

            We need to forgive others, if we forgive others God will forgive us of our sins. We all have sins that need to be forgiven, we need to be able to receive that forgiveness which means we can't be hypocrites, we need to forgive others who have wronged us as well. We will never be deserving of Gods forgiveness, yet He forgives us. Someone may not be deserving of your forgiveness but that doesn't matter, put your ego aside and forgive them and ask God to help you heal from the harm they caused. If you have not forgiven someone, that will affect your relationship with God, for that simple reason alone, forgive!

            When we fast, we need to be quiet about that as well. We don't need to advertise it or groan about how hungry and hard it is. We need to act as if we aren't even fasting and keep it private between us and God. Fasting is a spiritual thing for us to grow closer to God, bragging about it or complaining about how hard it is gets in the way of all the benefits of fasting.

            They eye is the lamp of the body, if our eye is clear (spiritually perceptive) our whole body will be full of light (benefiting from God’s commands). But if the eye is bad or spiritually blind, the body will be full of darkness (lack of God’s commands). If your heart/mind is dark, how great is that darkness? We need to have a good spiritual perceptive, we need to know God’s word and what He wants for us. We need to keep ourselves in His word so that we don't grow distant and dark. We need to follow His commands.

            No one can have two masters, you cant love money and God. You have to pick one or the other. You will either serve money, or God, you cant serve both. You will hate one and love the other, you need to be careful as to which master you serve. We also need to stop worrying about life and our needs. The birds of the air get fed and taken care of, we are worth more than birds, we need to trust God to provide us with our needs. We need to simply seek God and His kingdom and our needs will be filled. Worrying doesn't help the situation and isn't good for your body or mind. Simply don't worry about tomorrow or anything, seek God and His kingdom and He will provide your needs which makes worrying useless and not needed in the least bit.

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            Jesus begins by saying that He has not come to do away with the law of Moses or the writings of prophets, but to fulfill them. Whoever breaks even the least important of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least important in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever teaches and practices them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

            Jesus then informs us that the commandment ‘though shall not murder’ is being done when you have anger in your heart towards a brother or sister. We are never to encourage someone to feel angry with anyone. If you know someone is mad at you, or you are feeling frustrated with them, through love and compassion talk to them and put it to rest. Don't allow the anger to grow in your hearts for its like murder in Gods eyes.

            ‘Though shall not commit adultery,’ is the same as looking at another with lustful thoughts is already committing adultery of the heart. If this is a struggle then remove yourself from the area of temptation (if your right eye makes you stumble tear it out and throw it away). It is better to lose one part of your body then for all of you to fall into sin. If going to a certain place causes you temptations, don’t go there. Its better to go to other places where you will not be tempted to sin. If things pop up on your phone that cause temptation, block it, delete it, or get rid of your phone for a time being. Its always better to get rid of the things that cause temptation then to entice them and fumble and fall into sin. Jesus said if your right hand makes you sin, cut it off and get rid of it for it is better for your right hand to go to hell rather than all of you.

            Next, Jesus speaks on divorce and how marrying another is of adultery, divorcing yourself and then remarrying is still adultery. We are meant to find our spouse and marry them and stay with them only. We are not to swear a bunch of oaths to them either, we are to simply say a firm yes or no if we take them as our spouse. Today, many dont realize that marriage was created by God, and it is a spiritual covenant. But people of the world see it as a legal act for tax breaks and if fails then divorce the person and move on to the next. Remember, though we are in the world we are not of the world. We are to follow what Jesus says on the subject and not do what the world does with their forms of secular marriages.

            Jesus than talks about ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’ (punishment that fits the offense). But we are to simply turn the other cheek when someone says something rude to us, we are not to continue the banter we are to maintain our dignity and ignore their wrong doing. Dont spend your time quarreling and feeding into strife, keep your peace in Christ and turn away from things that you know will be toxic.

            If you see someone in need, give to them. Be compassionate of others and what they are going through. Help them see what God’s word says on their situation and do what you can to help them. Dont turn away from someone who is coming to you for help, seek God on how you are needed to help them in that moment.

            We are to not only love our neighbors but love our enemies and those who persecute us and pray for them, for they truly dont know any better and they are in desperate need of prayer. We are to show ourselves as children of God who makes His sun rise on those who are evil and good, who makes the rain fall on the righteous and the unrighteous.

            It is easy for us to love people who love us, but how does that separate us from evil? Even the tax collectors loved the ones who loved them. We are to be perfect in growing into spiritual maturity both of the mind and character, we are to integrate Godly characters and values into our daily lives. To be a christian means to be like Christ. We need to be real christians.

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            We are only covering a few versus in part two because they really need to be mediated on and fully grasped and understood.

            “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its taste (purpose) how can it be made salty?It is no longer good for anything, but to be thrown out and walked on by people (when the walkways are wet and slippery).” -amplified bible

            We are the salt of the earth, salt enhances the flavor in whatever it is that your eating. Its purpose is to make your food taste better. If the salt had no flavor what would you do with it? Throw it out and not use it? Why would we use something that didn't serve its purpose? God created us for a purpose, and when we work with Him and follow Him for His plan for us, we are the best tasting salt there is. But when we fall from His grace and get lost in the way of the world, we are tasteless and useless. Christians should not blend in with others, we should stand out and bring attention and direction to His grace and goodness. When you take a bite of food with salt, the salt stands out and you can taste the flavor of it rather than taste blandness. God doesn't want to us blend in with others, He wants us to stand out and show others who He is by the way we live and do things.

            “You are the light of the world.” Jesus says we are to be the light of the world, we are not to be hidden but be like a house on a hilltop that all can see. When you need to go somewhere at night its hard to see and you can stumble or fall easier because you may not be able to see whats right in front of you. But when you turn the light on everything is visible and its much easier and safer to continue in whatever it is you were doing. For me, if I try to get something at night without turning the lights on, I step on kids toys which is incredibly painful (ever step on a lego?) and can simply be avoided by turning on the light. The light allows me to see an obstacle ahead and simply walk around it, it exposes the darkness and all things that could be hiding in it. Jesus is the light and we are to let Him shine through us so others can see His brightness, His love, His grace, His forgiveness, His everything. When people can look at our fruit and see how good it is, it can show them an insight as to who Jesus is, it can show them His light and eliminate the darkness in their lives. But when we hide it by staying away from others or simply not talking about God to the ones we love, its keeping others in the darkness. Currently, most of us are having to shelter in place, keeping us away from others and in a sense “hiding”. But thank God that during this time we can still be the light through our phones. We can still talk to people and show them how we are dealing with this time and when they see that we are not fearful, we are calm and at peace they can see Gods light shining through their phones and it shows them just how good Jesus really is. Christians can now more than ever share their light! People who dont know Jesus right now are probably terrified, but us Christians can share with them how we stay calm and at peace during these times and share with them the good good news of Jesus and introduce them and literally help to eliminate the darkness thats surrounding them by being the light of the world!