“The Horizontal Affects the Vertical” Gospel Reflection for Sunday’s Message on 1/22/23
What we do to others we do to Jesus.
- Acts 9:1-5 -“I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” (Verse 5)
- Matthew 25:37-40 – “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” (Verse 40)
- Jesus has so tied Himself to us, the body of Christ, that when someone does something to one of us, Jesus takes it personally.
- There are 50 plus “one another” commands in the New Testament. How does your approach to these “one another” commands change when you realize that what you do to others is what you’re doing to Jesus?
The horizontal is connected to the vertical.
- Matthew 5:23-24 – reconciliation before worship.
- 1 John 4:20-21 – if you don’t love your brother, you cannot love God.
- Jesus is clearly teaching that our horizontal relationships are directly connected to our vertical relationship with Him.
- Have you considered that your relationship with others does impact your relationship with God?
Forgive just as you have been forgiven.
- How did Jesus forgive you? (Psalm 103:11-13, Isaiah 43:25)
- In light of that, how should you and I forgive others?
- Saint Augustine – “Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”
- If we have unforgiveness, resentment, or bitterness in our hearts it will compromise our relationship with God.
- The antidote for a lack of desire to forgive is to meditate on the magnitude and
completeness of Jesus Christ’s forgiveness of you. (Luke 7:36-50)
Pray
- Matthew 6:9-15, Mark 11:25
- Are you willing to deal with your horizontal relationships so that your vertical relationship can grow?
- Ask your Heavenly Father for help. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any areas in relationships that need attention. Study the life of Jesus and observe how He did horizontal relationships.
- Be doers of the Word and not hearers only.
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Living Hope Ministries 