This week’s reading: Matthew 5:1-12
Hi Friends,
We begin today with the most famous, and greatest, sermon of all time. We call it the “Sermon on the Mount” and it has so many incredible teachings from Jesus that it will take us several weeks to go through them all. But I’m up for the challenge, how about you? This week’s reading is Matthew chapter 5, verses 1 through 12. Hear the blessings for God’s children:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Mt 5:3-12 NIV
Poor in spirit. It is only as we are ready to humbly admit that we are in need of a savior that we can whole-heartedly turn to THE Savior. When we confess that we need Him, when we acknowledge that we cannot have the peace and joy our hearts long for, it is then, at that moment, that we can have the Kingdom of Heaven, by receiving its King. Jesus is more than willing to come reside in our poor spirits, via the Holy Spirit, and make us New. We go from being a sinner doomed to an eternity alone and apart from the God Who gives all good and perfect things to His children, to being a saint, destined for Heaven united with God and all the other saints, when our time here is done. But before we go, we can already have a taste of this great Kingdom. So long as we continue to remember we used to be “poor” in our spirits, we can become “rich” in the way we live our lives. Imitating Jesus, we can love and be loved. That my Friends, is this amazing Kingdom God offers us, and one of His greatest blessings.
Those who mourn. There are certain realities that cannot be changed this side of Heaven. For instance, my Baby Girl passed away and there is nothing anyone can do to bring her back to me. As King David said, I will go to her but she cannot come to me. (2Sa 12:23) So to have the comfort of God, the comfort that I will see her again, the comfort that everything is working together for her good, my good and the good of all those who love God, well, it is more precious than anything else this world can offer. Because of sin, because of evil, because of Pride, we will mourn. But unlike those who are not “Blessed” because they belong to Christ, when we cry, we can cry with Hope. Oh my Friends, if you do not know this yet, please know and hold on to it today! Hope is our reason for getting up everyday and moving forward, doing good and loving God and others as much as humanly possible. But this Hope is not based on anything or anyone in this world. It sits squarely on the shoulders of our God. This is vital to know because then, no matter what happens here, we can still have this Hope because God never changes. It is secure in Christ because He has already made the way by being The Way. This Hope is our comfort and strength and will bless us mightily.
The meek. Some versions say gentle or humble. The problem is that this world thinks those who are humble are pushovers. They most definitely have never encountered our Humble Jesus then. It is His bold and passionate Humility that won the war against sin, death and Satan. When we are more concerned with lifting up God than MMI, we have a power this world does not understand. It is called endurance. Like Jesus, we can put up with “come what may” because we know that we will live on forevermore, and thereby inheriting it all. The earth this verse talks about is the New Earth that will come…do I understand how that works? No. But God does, and that is all I need to know. It will be glorious just like Him. And because of that, I am ok with being considered meek. The glory that is to come will be well worth it. But remember, we are not doormats. We do not allow others to walk all over us. We are bold and passionate and focused on God’s Kingdom just like Jesus was, and still is. Boldly humble. Standing our ground. Loving others in whichever way we can. This is what causes us to be blessed.
Hunger and thirst for righteousness. Not just doing the right thing, here or there, or when we feel like it, or when it is convenient! But hungering and thirsting, like our lives depend on it…because they do! If you are sincerely born again, then this does not bring into question your Eternal Life, but if does talk about the quality of this earthly life. If you and I are not seeking God’s way of living, if we are still thinking we know what to do and say, then we are not desperate for the righteousness that leads to the Abundant Life God promises. You want your life to be fulfilling, satisfying? You want to leave a good and godly legacy behind when you leave this world? Then, my Friends, you and I must pursue righteousness with every ounce of energy we can muster. It is the only way to be consistently blessed.
The merciful. Mercy is not something anyone deserves or earns. It is a free gift given simply because the Giver loves us. As we receive this amazing offering, we too must give it away to those around us that do not deserve it. This becomes a sowing and reaping thing. We take these seeds of love from God, give them to others and then, we get even more mercy from God in return. Every time you and I mature in Christ and actually do what we were created to do, to love others the way Jesus loves us, it expands our hearts so we can receive even more of these incredible gifts God desires to give us. The merciful will be shown mercy…this means the opposite is true too, my Friends. Let’s choose to freely and willingly obey this great blessing, so we do not have to ever experience this “opposite,” shall we?
The pure in heart. While what we think, say and do might never be 100% pure this side of Heaven, our hearts can be. The more we choose to surrender to Jesus, the purer they become. You see, Jesus continues to be our Savior in that He continues to cleanse us from that old, sinful MMI state that used to be our identity. That is who we were, but by God’s Grace, no more! The Bible says we have already gone from death to life. We are New Creations, still becoming who we will always be. This is just one of the countless reasons why we must stay connected to God in spirit and in truth. In our inner, private life where it is only God and us, as well as when we live out our lives in front of others. We do not only say we are pure, but we show we are…and then listen to the blessing that is promised us: we will see God! Does this mean face to face like Moses did? Oh if I had the time to tell you the story of how Beckie did that very thing! But maybe some other time, yes? Now know we will see God in ourselves as we love, and hopefully we will see God as others love us in return. Continuing to allow Jesus to purify our hearts brings us huge blessings.
The peacemakers. My goodness in a world that seems to be getting more and more divided, how precious are those who desire to bring peace?! Whether this is between a husband and wife, between two very different cultures or between the citizens of a country that has forgotten why we were founded in the first place, whichever way God moves our hearts to be pacemakers, know that we will be following in the steps of Jesus as we do this much needed assignment. And we will be called children of God as we do so because we are imitating the Son of God. To be granted an identity with Him? What a blessing!
Those persecuted, insulted and slandered because of the righteousness of God. Our way of viewing life and God’s are certainly different. Who would feel blessed or want to rejoice when others are treating us so horribly? Children of God would. I love the story in the Book of Acts where, after some Apostles are beaten awfully, they go about rejoicing that they were “considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.” (Acts 5:40-42) Wow. Inspirational…and in a world that continues to get more and more hostile towards God’s people, we must learn to do the same. Imagine leaning on God so closely that others do not have the power to make you angry or depressed or anxious or…fill in the blank. These blessings, if we connect with God and trust Him to work in us and through us for our good, have this exact power to free us
For great is your reward in heaven. All of these Beatitudes are counter-intuitive. That is, they do not make human sense…but then again, after we are born again, we are not supposed to be living according to that mentality anymore anyway! This world is temporary, do we get that? Sometimes I watch the “church” and many are clinging to this corrupt world as if they are meant to live in it forever. No, my Friends. We live here, for there. Heaven is the goal. To be united with God the way we were always meant to be? To have Him wipe away all our tears, so much so that we will not even remember the pain, suffering and struggles anymore? To live in Paradise where everyone will simply love and be loved? Our rewards will be great in Heaven because we will be in Heaven with our Great God! The more I live my life for God and for my destiny, the more I can let go of the things that still cause me to stumble so much. It’s a journey, but it is well worth taking. Want it? Then won’t you join me?
Until we meet again, keep lifting your eyes to God, He’s closer than you think.
<>< Peace, Diane
