{"id":6790,"date":"2011-04-20T19:00:55","date_gmt":"2011-04-21T00:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/?p=6790"},"modified":"2011-04-20T14:22:07","modified_gmt":"2011-04-20T19:22:07","slug":"blogging-through-the-gospels-matthew-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/blogging-through-the-gospels-matthew-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Blogging Through the Gospels: Matthew 18"},"content":{"rendered":"

The reading for Thursday is Matthew 18<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

When it is time to read, please start first by praying and thanking God for His many blessings. Be specific.<\/p>\n

Next present your requests to Him. Ask Him for whatever you want and need.<\/p>\n

Third, ask Him to guide you in your reading, so that you will hear his message for you today.<\/p>\n

After you read, record your SOAP observations<\/a> and then listen for three minutes. Set a timer and just\u00a0 listen to what he might be sharing. Don’t ask. Don’t thank. Just listen. (You can pray more after you listen, if you like.)<\/p>\n

Here is what I heard in the reading:<\/p>\n

Scripture: Matthew 18: 6<\/strong><\/p>\n

But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Observation:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leading others to sin is a very bad thing and, if you do that, you will be punished for it.<\/p>\n

Application:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I need to always keep an eye out for what I am doing and how it can be seen by others.<\/p>\n

I do not want my actions to lead another to sin or send someone down the wrong path.<\/p>\n

No, I am not perfect, and I am not expected to be, but others see me as a follower of Christ. I am an example to others, whether I want to be (or even realize it) or not.<\/p>\n

I need to lead my life in ways which will not cause others to sin by my example. And that means asking for forgiveness when I make mistakes as well as granting forgiveness to others when they ask me and taking\u00a0 into account the other things mentioned here in Matthew 18.<\/p>\n

I am not expected to be perfect, but I do need to remember that others are watching, and learning from my example.<\/p>\n

Prayer:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lord, thank you for loving me as I am, mistakes and sin and all.<\/p>\n

Thank you for forgiving me and for teaching me and for putting people in my life whom I can watch and learn from. Please, Lord, help me as I serve as an example to others, as well. Help me to see my mistakes which are misleading others and guide me to make the appropriate changes. I never want to lead others to sin by my actions or lack of action, my words or my silence.<\/p>\n

Please continue to grow me as your servant. Show me how to live and how to follow you.<\/p>\n

Thank you for your love, acceptance, forgiveness and guidance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What about you? What did you see and hear in your reading of Matthew 18? Please share with the rest of us, if you are comfortable doing so. <\/em><\/strong>Feel free to leave your thoughts, or a link to post with your thoughts, in the comments. If you do link a post, please include a link in your own post back to this post so your readers can see what others had to say, as well, and potentially join us.<\/em> <\/em>
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Didn’t start reading or Blogging Through\u00a0 the Gospels<\/a> with us? That’s okay, join in anytime. Each Sunday evening I post the reading schedule for the week ahead and each evening I post the next day’s reading assignment and devotional. Feel free to jump in where we are anytime and blog or journal along using the SOAP format<\/a><\/em>.<\/em>
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The reading for Thursday is Matthew 18. When it is time to read, please start first by praying and thanking God for His many blessings. Be specific. Next present your requests to Him. Ask Him for whatever you want and need. Third, ask Him to guide you in your reading, so that you will hear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[268],"tags":[682,229,672],"class_list":["post-6790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogging-through-the-gospels","tag-blogging-through-the-gospels","tag-matthew","tag-soap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6790"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6954,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6790\/revisions\/6954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}