KAFWEMBE

The issue at the centre of the parable of the Friend at Midnight and the Window and the Unjust Judge is that of persistence in all our efforts Both of them get their results at the end. This relates to the command "knock and the door shall be opened unto you" and " Ask and it shall be given unto you" as found in Matthew 7:7-8.

The three words "ask", "seek" and "knock" have in common the fact that they all call for persistance. We should never give up asking God for what we want nor seeking our desires nor knocking on His door until we are successful. Ask means we expect God to reply while in seeking there is personal pro-activity. God promises that if we really search for what we want without giving up, we can find it. We should not remain in one place but should go out and look until we are rewarded. Knocking is about taking advantage of our opportunities. If one does not work out then we should try the next one. In my view they are all equally powereful and each can meet our point of need. However I think I like the one on kncking because it is denoting that I should not just sit there but try all I can until I'm successful. I think this onr spurs you on a lot more

The reason we seek to be independent of asking anyone for help is because we want to give credit to ourselves. We want it to go down that our achievements are due to us and not anybody else and therefore Glory must go to ourselves. We seek to be indepent of God because of the selfcentredness that is in all of us. We need to be liberated from this thinking. We are rebelious and want to think that we are responsible for our own existence. We think that following God's plan is restrictive because it does not allow us to do what we want. When we are separated from God we can do what we want. But what we do not realise is that going our own way lead to destruction. God's way is the one that leads to life.

When we say to our God "thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven, we are calling upon God to reign on this earth by letting His will be done in all our lives. The Kingdom of God comes to us when God's will reigns in all that we do. This is an important prayer. It makes us realise that the ultimate is th reign of God in our world. We should learn to make Him first in our lives and always submit to His will. The time when each human being submits to God, that time God's Kingdom will have been done and Jesus will make His triumphant return.

When we become Christians we become "Children" of our Father God. This means that we should give him the respect due to Him. What we do and say must reflect that we are His children. Our lives must give respect to Him because we must live for Him and other people must see God in us. When we begin to pray we should give respect to God because we are coming before a Holy Father. We should praise and let Him know that He is Holy and that there is no other God but Him.

The teaching that comes out is that when you help the poor you are doing it for Jesus because Jesus has a very high regard and love for them. I now see giving to the poor and needy as an important undertaking as a Christian and I want to do it to the "odience of one" I think what prevents us from giving to the poor is mainly the fact that we seem to blame them for being in that situation. We see them us a burden on our resources. Such reasons do not take away the fact that they need help. We must help whatever the circumstance.

The commands in this section relate to the "performance of one " in the sense that whatever we do we should do it in the name of God and not in the name of our fellow men. Our alms and offerings should be because we love God and not because we want people to see us so that they can praise us. The chief sin addressed here is self centredness, self praise, palying to the people rather than to God. When such groups as NGOs and even churches ask for donations they usually do it with pomp. Those who have given are publicly praised and decorated. The danger is that the donor may be tempted to enjoy the pomp rather than God's glory in giving.

When you measure out big heaps of judgement with a critical spirit God will give us the same measure of judgement at judgement day. According to Luke the measure will be according to the same measure you have used. If your measure is more then you get more and if your measure is less then you get less. What we should measure out is love and support for those who have failed. The more the love and support the higher the measure.

I think in my Christian life I may have fallen pray to this practice. It is a question of being self righteous and this drives us to be excessively critical of others. I suppose that Projectionism comes when we want to escape from our own faults. What we condemn others about may be due to the fact that we practise exactly the same. Christians must show love in the face of a brother's or sister's failing because we may not be any better than them. We need to help one another because the next day it might be our turn to fail.

I suppose there is humor but it is humor with a serious message. The point Jesus is raising is that we have enough problems today. Lets deal with them now without bothering ourselves with tomorrow's problems. The command is "Do not worry about tomorrow"

The command in the verse is that we must seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. We must seek God first and then the rest, food and clothing will be added. This is God's promise that all things shall be added unto us.

By mentioning the "pagans" or "gentiles" Jesus means that these are full of worry and pursue the issues of food and clothing as the only things that matter in life. If they havent got them then to them that is the end of their existence. A Christian on other hand knows that God cares for him and will ensure that he is provided for. Therefore what is required is to just bring these concerns to God in prayer. The prayer helps the Cristian to be assured and therefore his heart will be set at peace. God is our sustainance, our supplier and I can rely on Him because He knows what I want.

According to my count the number is three. Yes, excessive worry borders on sin because it seems to be contrary to God's promise which is that we should not worry because He is there to care for us. Excessive worry seems to imply that there is no one to help us out of our problem. But God says He is there! I think that worry and trust are exact opposites because when you are worried it means that you do not trust that God is going to help you.

Jesus is making the point that God loves us so much that he will provide all our needs and we need not worry. This is valid as all Christians have experienced it. Just when you think all is lost God steps in and offers a solution.

I think one stroes up treasure in heaven by believing in Jesus and living the way He wants us to so that at the end of our time He will reward us. Earthly possessiond end when we die, they are only for as long as we live. God's rewards go on for ever. We are not confortable with rewards in heaven because of our lack of faith. We are not sure if it is true, whereas we can see the earthly wealth with our own eyes.