MONDAY, OCTOBER 17

Monday, October 17

Listen

Asbury Seminary faculty comment on the Sermon on the Mount at asburyreader.com.

Behold

Matthew 13:54-58 NRSV

He came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?” And they took offense at him.

But Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house.” And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.

Be Perfect

Jesus then is that personal approach from the unseen God coming so near that He becomes inescapable. He becomes inescapable for I know if I escape from Him, I escape from—salvation! To find God then, is the easiest thing in the world. You don’t have to find Him—you simply have to consent to be found. No one is farther than one step from God. And that one step is a short step; turn around and say, “Yes,” and you are at once in the arms of redemptive Love. But that “Yes” must carry with it, you—you must be behind the “Yes,” not a lip-Yes, but a life-Yes. His “Yes” has been said; the Incarnation is God saying, “Yes.” When your “Yes” of response meets His “Yes” of invitation, you are simply there—at the place of transformation.

E. Stanley Jones, How to be a Transformed Person.