How should Matt. 6:25-26 be correctly interpreted?

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

Massive numbers of wild birds starve to death all over the world, especially during the winter, as well as other undernourished wild animals. Jesus would have known this, of course, and so would his hearers. I would just like your perspective, because I do not like having cognitive dissonance where Christ (and our Father’s provision) is concerned, and I hope you can help me be more comfortable with this saying.

Matthew 5: 29-30 says, “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” Did Jesus literally mean for us to maim ourselves ?

Recently, I feel like I’ve lost my sense of purpose. Since I believe the Lord’s return is right around the corner, maintaining my current schedule seems pointless to me. I spend most of my time either working or studying – and it kills me to know that I could be spending this time with my family. I’ve talked to my wife about this, and she believes that I should continue doing what I have been doing, in case the end is not as close as I think. What’s your opinion?

The Pastor on Sunday was teaching on Discipleship and how we can be better disciples for Christ, He was drawing from (an apparently popular book) I have never read or even heard of. The Pastor said that we needed to Love God with all of our Hearts, Minds and Souls, and that this is a commandment, which I agreed with. He went on to say in order to show God that we loved him we needed to follow and obey all of Jesus’ Commandments in the New Testament and he listed about 44 of them. He then said that if we do not follow these then we don’t love God and we aren’t saved. He even said that our salvation is based on a lot more than a little prayer we said when we accepted Christ.

I’ve had a great problem with lusting after women and really being a womanizer. I was unfaithful to my wife and our marriage was headed for divorce. At that time I got on my knees and cried out for mercy from God. He answered swiftly and restored my marriage (absolute miracle) and gave me another chance. I took a step in faith and confessed to my wife what I had been doing and she forgave me. But recently I’ve been fighting off thoughts that I have not been forgiven because I haven’t told my wife every single detail of what I’ve done. Your advice would be appreciated.

I’m terrified that I’m a waste of Christ’s blood, and when I die I won’t get any rewards. I can’t help be scared. I was a dud Christian that didn’t even deposit the one talent I was given to get interest. Is it wrong for me to think this way?

4 yrs ago I lost my wife. We served and loved the Lord for many years together. I led her to Him and know with all my heart she was saved and now is with Him. But since this happened I have slid so far from God. I have withdrawn from any organized church teachings, for I was led to believe that with prayer and faith my wife wouldn’t die. I was told that just by speaking it in faith and standing on his word she would be healed. I did all that and when my wife was called home I lost my faith in Him. Now I have this deep yearning to get back. But how do I ask Him to forgive me for the bitterness I have had and really expect to be forgiven?

Through my studies in soteriology I have reached some confusion regarding the atonement of Christ. When the Bible says to believe in Christ, does that include understanding/believing the significance of Jesus’ blood; what about the exact happenings of Jesus sacrifice onward, like if it was on a cross, and if He went to heaven to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat in Heaven, etc. It seems like there are so many add-ons and technicalities to ‘believe in Jesus.’ The way to salvation is something that we just can’t afford to get wrong- and yet, it seems so easy to make some kind of mistake that could end up sending one to Hell.

In Ephesians 1:5 Paul writes, “Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.” Now I understand that every time we see predestined in the scriptures, it is talking about foreknowing. So, this means God knew us before we were born and knew how we would respond to His plan of salvation. I understand that God did not create us to accept, nor did He create some not to accept, He just knew who would accept. My question is, knowing who would accept and who wouldn’t, why did he create those that He knew wouldn’t?

I was reading in the gospel of Luke this morning and have a question for you. In Luke 13:4 Jesus speaks of the tower of Siloam falling and killing 18 people. I had never heard of that before. Can you elaborate on this subject for me if you have time?