35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. 37 "Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." 39 And He spoke a parable to them: "Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch?
40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. 41 And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye. 43 "For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. 46 "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say? 47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:
48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great."
(Luke 6:35-49). NKJV
Looking at verse 48 and 49, Jesus was giving us an example. He said in verse 47 “Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:” As you are going into 2019, one of the critical choices we must not joke with is for you to locate a foundation. In 2019, you don't want to just build, you have to find a foundation, locate a foundation upon which you will build because the important thing is not the building, what is important here is the foundation. The Bible said “if the foundation be destroyed what can the righteous do?” If the foundation of 2019 is destroyed what can you do in December? Having built from January to December and the storm comes and the wind blows what happened to all that you have been building? The most important choice you must make in 2019 is to locate the right foundation, the foundation of the word of God. That is why Jesus made it clear.
He said “whoever hears this sayings of mine and do them has found the right foundation,” The foundation is the word. Don't build on sand, don't build on men's theories and principles that do not last. Build upon the foundation of the word of God, the solid rock foundation. Don't build on your ideas, don't build on Karl Max's principle, don't build on 48 laws of power. Build on the word of God which is the solid foundation that can house everything that God is sending you to build in 2019. That is the foundation that cannot be destroyed. It is an incorruptible foundation.
Firstly, As you are in 2019, what is the word the Lord has given to you? What word has God given to you to build on? Don't enter 2019 without a word from the Lord. It will be a catastrophic error. Enter 2019 with a clear picture, with a clear foundation. What is the word that God is giving you for this year? That is the foundation upon which you will build everything you want to build because it will guide you. If the foundation of a house is for a 3-bedroom flat, you cannot build a one bedroom on it.
If the foundation of a house is a duplex, you cannot build a sky scrapper on it because the word of God gives you direction on how and what to do. So, find the right foundation, that’s the first choice you must make. Sit down with the lord and expect a word. If God says “I want you to run in 2019” then you know that what you should be building in 2019 should be what will help you to run not things that will help you to sit down. Looking for a chair would be an anomaly, you should be looking for things that would help you to fly.
Listen to Podcast: The Critical Choices You Should Make in 2019
Verse 35 says “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.” Choose unconditional love in 2019. Love after the order of Christ. “But God demonstrates his own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8), loving us in hope unconditionally, in hope that we will give our lives to him, that we will be reconciled with the father. Love unconditionally, these are the words of Jesus. He said “just like your heavenly father, for you are sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the unthankful and evil”. Be kind and good in 2019. Don't say your resolution in 2019 is to let people be, an eye for an eye is not part of the instruction of God. Love unconditionally. Choose to love unconditionally. These are the kind of choices God wants us to make in 2019 just like we made in 2018. When we are confronted with many situations, when we are confronted with people, these are the choices he wants us to make, to love unconditionally, expecting nothing in return, do good.
Do all that you do as unto God not as unto any man Jesus said that in verse 35 “your reward will be great”. Man will not reward you, it’s God. So, don't look to men for reward, do good as unto the lord for he will reward you. The bible makes us to understand that God does not forget our labor of love, he is not unfaithful. When we are loving, it’s a labor of love that He will not forget, He will reward. Choose to love unconditionally
Thirdly, Choose to be merciful. It amazed me when Jesus defined mercy in verse 37, He said “judge not and you will not be judged”, condemn not. If you are merciful towards somebody, you won't judge, you won't condemn that person, that’s mercy. When Jesus met that woman and her accusers said they caught her in the very act of adultery, they wanted to judge her, they wanted to condemn her and Jesus said to them “is there any one of you that have not sinned, he should cast the first stone?” and Jesus bent down before he could raise his head, it was only Jesus that remained all of them had gone and Jesus said to her “neither have I condemned you, neither have I judged, neither have I condemned you because you have received mercy, go and sin no more”, that’s mercy.
Choose to be merciful in 2019. Yes, that person deserves to be condemned, those people deserve to be judged but choose to forgive, choose to let go, forgive just as your heavenly father is also merciful. Choose it, we will face these in 2019. Situations will arise. Offences will come and we will be faced live with these situations. What choice will you make at that point? These are important choices that will help us shift 2019
Jesus said in verse 38, “give, sow, be a blessing “, Choose to be a blessing and this is what will happen. He said give, sow be a blessing in 2019 and it will be given unto us “good measure pressed down shaken together and running over will be put into your blossom for the same measure that you use it will be measured back to you.” Don't be tight fisted in 2019. The bible said “give, scatter the seed of the word, give your time to people as instructed by the Holy Spirit, give of your substance, your attention give love, give material things, give as you are led, don't hold back. 2019 is not a time to hold back, give to the lord, give praise, give worship, sow, give, let it go. These are some of the choices that we will be facing in 2019 and God wants us to give attention to.
