WEBVTT

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Day 275, or October 2nd. Are you listening? Our

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thoughts today come from Matthew 7, verse 24.

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Therefore, everyone who hears these words of

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mine and puts them into practice is like a wise

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man who built his house on the rock. First, the

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big picture surrounding this verse. Matthew gives

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three whole chapters recalling several sermons

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and teaching sessions by Jesus. They are best

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known as the Sermon on the Mount. They begin

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with the Beatitudes such as, Blessed are the

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poor in spirit, or as one of the modern versions

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of the Bible puts it, God blesses those who are

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poor and realize their need for him, for the

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kingdom of heaven is theirs. Jesus' teaching

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continues unabated through these chapters, and

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includes perhaps the best -known words of Jesus,

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the Our Father Prayer, taught to help the disciples

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pray. All this takes place on the shores of the

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Sea of Galilee, where there is a beautiful reminder

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today called the Church of the Beatitudes. And

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now today's action step. Our verse for today

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is from the final story of the Sermon on the

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Mount. Right at the end, the punchline, I suppose

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you could call it, a thought that Jesus' hearers

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would take away with them. It seems even when

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hearing Jesus, listening can be a matter of in

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one ear and out the other, without the brain

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being disturbed. When the Bible talks about hearing,

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it means so much more than being present when

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words are spoken. Have you ever sat through the

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notices at church or maybe the weather forecast

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at home and then been none the wiser because

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you weren't really listening? In a Hebrew mindset,

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you have only heard when you act. If you don't

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act, then you haven't heard. This must be the

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backdrop for James as he argues that actions

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prove you have faith. So what about you and me?

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Do we put into practice what we learn from God?

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Don't sit there feeling guilty, just resolve

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to listen better next time, and then, with God's

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help, act on your new teaching. You could make

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the world of difference to the world.