Unexpected Message

Matthew 5:4-6
4“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

 Jesus continues His discourse on what it means to live in the kingdom of God with more unexpected admonishments. Everything outside of God demands that you take care of yourself first. The wants and needs of the individual take on way more importance in the secular world than they do in the Kingdom of God. For the follower of Christ, the opposite is true. The needs of others outweigh your own desires. Since we are trusting in God to care for us, we are able to reach outward rather than in to the self.

 Each of these phrases can be thought of alone, and certainly are worthy of singular mediation. So that Matthew doesn't take several years to accomplish, we will look at them in small groupings. In verse 4, Jesus says that those who mourn will be comforted. That mourning covers more than being sad over circumstances such as the death of a loved one or illness. This mourning also includes mourning over your own sinfulness. That is indeed worth your emotional energy and hopefully leads to repentance. In our culture, meekness is not considered an admirable trait. But meekness means to live humbly before God and others. This is always attractive. That does not mean you live as a doormat for others. Jesus does not teach us to line up for abuse. But a truly humble person is rare but amazing. 

 Those who hunger for righteousness are truly soft clay in the hands of an almighty God. If your spirit is willing to allow God to work on you, it is much easier than if you go along kicking and screaming. Sometimes, we are so attached to our sin that we refuse to allow our fingers to be pried open so that sin can be released. That means we are truly not interested in righteousness. But those who are willing to be molded by God can experience His work in their lives. The Kingdom of God is designed for those who are malleable in God's hands.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more