Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord, for I hide myself in You. Psalm 143:9.

You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Psalm 32:7.

I loved this from Hearing God by Dallas Willard: “Abide in Me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. John 15:4 NRSV. Who among us would really know what to do if the great God came down in splendor and somehow stood spectacularly before us? It makes us want to become more ready to be addressed by the still, small voice of Jesus! How good it is that God left the spectacular forms that had been necessary – and perhaps still are necessary for some purpose – and came to deal with us by the very whispers of His Spirit. In Take Another Look at Guidance, Bob Mumford writes: God wants to bring us beyond the point where we need signs to discern His guiding hand. Satan cannot counterfeit the peace of God or the love of God dwelling in us. When Christ’s abiding presence becomes our guide, then guidance becomes an almost unconscious response to the gentle moving of His Holy Spirit within us.”

And in our chapter, Matthew 7, the final chapter of what is known as the Sermon on the Mount, I can’t help but think about Jesus, the Son, teaching people words they have never heard before. They are difficult to hear still today. Because they go against the very fabric of this life we have thought was the way it has to be. “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” v. 1-2. Is Jesus talking about us being judged by one another? Do we not respond to others as they respond to us? “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” v. 3-5. Can we see how hypocritical we are as we judge others and dismiss our own same faults? “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” v. 6. That’s a really hard saying. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him? So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” v. 7-12. Asking the Father…doing to others what we would have them do to us…sums up the Law and the Prophets? Yes! “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” v. 13-14. The road that is narrow and the gate that is small is Jesus, the Son. How few truly want that road with Him? And the way to destruction? Hurting others which is the way without Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit. “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name drive out demons and in Your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!’ Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at His teaching, because He taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. v. 15-29. How will Jesus know us? The same way we know Him. By trusting Him. By walking with Him. By being with Him. That is how we abide in Him as He guides us on the true path of Life. How else can we love Him and our fellow human beings? Our world today will have us hate one another and think of each other as enemies and as evil…the wide gate and broad road leading to destruction to accommodate the many who choose that way. But with the help and love of Creator God, we will see the bad fruit of that way today and turn back to God. Are you afraid to really trust God? Tell Him. He already knows. In His great love, He will help you.