Matthew 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Persecution is when people want to get rid of you for what you believe. Jesus says we are blessed when we are persecuted, not for what we believe but for righteousness sake. Jesus said earlier that righteousness was: the person who hungers and thirst for righteousness is the man who sees that sin and rebellion have separated him from God. He/she longs to get into right relationship of righteousness in the presence of God. When you are persecuted because you are becoming more like Christ, you will be happy.
The only way that you and I can be happy when we are persecuted is if we remember all that Jesus has said in the Beatitudes before this.
-Poor in spirit
-Mourn
-Meek
-Hunger and thirst for righteousness
-Merciful
-Pure in heart
-Peacemakers
-Persecuted for righteousness
All of these are building blocks for what God has done in us. Remember, the Beatitudes are not things you can just decide to do or be. God is the one who does the changing. These changes happen because of the Holy Spirit in us.
The result of being persecuted for righteousness sake is just like the first Beatitude. It ends with being with God in the Kingdom of Heaven. When we realize that we need Him and become poor in spirit, He will change us. When He changes us we will be like Him, and when we are like Him, we will be persecuted because God is righteousness.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers
Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
What does it mean to be a peacemaker? What would it look like to bring people back together that were at odds with one another? Being a peacemaker is to act out the character of God. God is a Peacemaker. He sent His Son to make peace with sinners though His blood. When we act as a peacemaker, we are acting like God. This is what children do. They act like their parents. Think about how many times your mom or dad says that you are just like your father or mother.
A peacemaker is someone who does not look at how things will affect them. They are looking at how they can bring two people back together. They do not worry about their own feelings but the feelings of the other people. Peacemakers do not only want people to be back in relationship with each other. Greater than that, they want to see people in right relationship with God.
A peacemaker is also someone who knows how to control his or her tongue. They do not gossip or slander people. They never talk behind someone’s back or make jokes about others that will hurt them. Being a peacemaker shows that you think about others more than you think about yourself. Peacemakers are not trying to make others like them, but trying to honor God by acting like a child of the King.
This is what it means when Jesus says “They will be sons of God.” When you are a peacemaker you are acting like your heavenly father. Great happiness comes when you are acting like the One who loves you most. Sublime happiness comes when you are living the way God intended you to live.
What does it mean to be a peacemaker? What would it look like to bring people back together that were at odds with one another? Being a peacemaker is to act out the character of God. God is a Peacemaker. He sent His Son to make peace with sinners though His blood. When we act as a peacemaker, we are acting like God. This is what children do. They act like their parents. Think about how many times your mom or dad says that you are just like your father or mother.
A peacemaker is someone who does not look at how things will affect them. They are looking at how they can bring two people back together. They do not worry about their own feelings but the feelings of the other people. Peacemakers do not only want people to be back in relationship with each other. Greater than that, they want to see people in right relationship with God.
A peacemaker is also someone who knows how to control his or her tongue. They do not gossip or slander people. They never talk behind someone’s back or make jokes about others that will hurt them. Being a peacemaker shows that you think about others more than you think about yourself. Peacemakers are not trying to make others like them, but trying to honor God by acting like a child of the King.
This is what it means when Jesus says “They will be sons of God.” When you are a peacemaker you are acting like your heavenly father. Great happiness comes when you are acting like the One who loves you most. Sublime happiness comes when you are living the way God intended you to live.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Can you imagine what it will be like to see God? Jesus tells here that we can see God if we are pure in heart. So what does this mean? Why does a pure heart also bring happiness? Why would “seeing God” be so far down the list in the Beatitudes? Remember what Jesus has been doing while teaching us. We need to realize that it is all about what He is doing in us to make us more like Himself.
Being pure in heart can simply be put as a single-minded love for God. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 22:37 what the greatest commandment is: to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength. Jesus wants all of us to be chasing Him to bring Him glory. Think about what pure means: free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind. When Jesus has our hearts and we live for him, all the things of this world are gone. Jesus knows that He has to be what we live for in order to see God.
Jesus knows our hearts very well. He knows that our hearts are divided. He wants us to have a heart that is united. Our hearts will normally want lots of things, and not just one thing. Jesus knows we will see God when we have one thing that we want; Jesus.
So, seeing God for sure will come in heaven, when we are with him forever. But how do we see God now? When all we want is to love God and be with Him we can see God in all the places of every day. God is active. He is always working for His people. We need to be focused on having our hearts in a single, passionate pursuit of Jesus with our eyes ready to see all that God is doing.
Can you imagine what it will be like to see God? Jesus tells here that we can see God if we are pure in heart. So what does this mean? Why does a pure heart also bring happiness? Why would “seeing God” be so far down the list in the Beatitudes? Remember what Jesus has been doing while teaching us. We need to realize that it is all about what He is doing in us to make us more like Himself.
Being pure in heart can simply be put as a single-minded love for God. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 22:37 what the greatest commandment is: to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength. Jesus wants all of us to be chasing Him to bring Him glory. Think about what pure means: free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind. When Jesus has our hearts and we live for him, all the things of this world are gone. Jesus knows that He has to be what we live for in order to see God.
Jesus knows our hearts very well. He knows that our hearts are divided. He wants us to have a heart that is united. Our hearts will normally want lots of things, and not just one thing. Jesus knows we will see God when we have one thing that we want; Jesus.
So, seeing God for sure will come in heaven, when we are with him forever. But how do we see God now? When all we want is to love God and be with Him we can see God in all the places of every day. God is active. He is always working for His people. We need to be focused on having our hearts in a single, passionate pursuit of Jesus with our eyes ready to see all that God is doing.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful
Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
As we go through the Beatitudes we need to remind ourselves that all of these phrases build on each other. They are not meant to be taken as individual phrases, but as a whole. When Jesus taught these, He knew what He was doing. He taught so that we might understand the Christian life better. Remember, Jesus is showing us the way to sublime happiness. Don’t forget, this is about what God is doing in us not what we are doing to ourselves.
The fifth Beatitude shows us that we been given mercy. God has given us something we do not deserve. He had pity on us. What did we deserve? We deserved punishment for our sin but He gave us mercy in punishing His Son instead of us. God showed us mercy when we did not deserve it.
When we look at all that God has done for us through Jesus, we begin to have a new point of view on life. We are no longer living for ourselves but for God. We now have a new way to respond when someone sins against us. We now have the ability to think like Christ. How did Jesus show mercy to sinners? How will you show mercy to them?
Being merciful doesn’t mean to be easygoing or to let sin go by. Being merciful is showing forgiveness and loving someone even when they do not do what is right. Jesus continually told people the truth about their sin and gave them mercy. Mercy is not weakness. It is power. We are not letting people off the hook for their sin, but are pointing them to Jesus.
When you have experienced mercy you show mercy. Read Matthew 18:21-35. This parable shows us what happens to our hearts when we really do not understand how much mercy and grace God has shown us. We begin to be hard and unmerciful to those who sin against us. Jesus says there is happiness in showing the mercy we have been shown.
As we go through the Beatitudes we need to remind ourselves that all of these phrases build on each other. They are not meant to be taken as individual phrases, but as a whole. When Jesus taught these, He knew what He was doing. He taught so that we might understand the Christian life better. Remember, Jesus is showing us the way to sublime happiness. Don’t forget, this is about what God is doing in us not what we are doing to ourselves.
The fifth Beatitude shows us that we been given mercy. God has given us something we do not deserve. He had pity on us. What did we deserve? We deserved punishment for our sin but He gave us mercy in punishing His Son instead of us. God showed us mercy when we did not deserve it.
When we look at all that God has done for us through Jesus, we begin to have a new point of view on life. We are no longer living for ourselves but for God. We now have a new way to respond when someone sins against us. We now have the ability to think like Christ. How did Jesus show mercy to sinners? How will you show mercy to them?
Being merciful doesn’t mean to be easygoing or to let sin go by. Being merciful is showing forgiveness and loving someone even when they do not do what is right. Jesus continually told people the truth about their sin and gave them mercy. Mercy is not weakness. It is power. We are not letting people off the hook for their sin, but are pointing them to Jesus.
When you have experienced mercy you show mercy. Read Matthew 18:21-35. This parable shows us what happens to our hearts when we really do not understand how much mercy and grace God has shown us. We begin to be hard and unmerciful to those who sin against us. Jesus says there is happiness in showing the mercy we have been shown.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
What do you hunger and thirst for? I don’t mean food. What are the things you want to see in this world or in your life? When you think about the commercials you watch on tv what are they selling you? In almost every advertisement you hear or read they are trying to sell you happiness. Our world wants you to hunger and thirst for happiness. They want you to be filled with stuff and things. The truth is, happiness is not something to seek after. Things will not satisfy you. Look at this verse again: 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
When Jesus was speaking and teaching He knew what the human heart wants. Jesus knew He needed to say that happiness is not what we are hungry for, but what we get when we are filled.
So what does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness? It does not mean that you want to see justice in the world or people obeying. Those are both good things but this is a personal call to you as an individual, not to the world. Here is a great definition: the person who hungers and thirsts for righteousness is the man who sees that sin and rebellion have separated him from God. That person longs to get into right relationship of righteousness in the presence of God. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are those who want to be with Jesus. If Jesus is perfect and holy and righteousness, then being with Him and like Him is something to hunger and thirst for.
So what are you filled with to get happiness? Did you get this happiness on your own? Where did this righteousness come from? The thing we will notice about all of the Beatitudes is that they are a gift from God. They were nothing you could do on your own. What a joy to know that God knows how to fix us. We hunger and thirst for all sorts of things, but when we hunger and thirst for Him we can be filled. This is possible because of what He did in us through Jesus’ death on the cross, not something we did to ourselves.
What do you hunger and thirst for? I don’t mean food. What are the things you want to see in this world or in your life? When you think about the commercials you watch on tv what are they selling you? In almost every advertisement you hear or read they are trying to sell you happiness. Our world wants you to hunger and thirst for happiness. They want you to be filled with stuff and things. The truth is, happiness is not something to seek after. Things will not satisfy you. Look at this verse again: 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
When Jesus was speaking and teaching He knew what the human heart wants. Jesus knew He needed to say that happiness is not what we are hungry for, but what we get when we are filled.
So what does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness? It does not mean that you want to see justice in the world or people obeying. Those are both good things but this is a personal call to you as an individual, not to the world. Here is a great definition: the person who hungers and thirsts for righteousness is the man who sees that sin and rebellion have separated him from God. That person longs to get into right relationship of righteousness in the presence of God. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are those who want to be with Jesus. If Jesus is perfect and holy and righteousness, then being with Him and like Him is something to hunger and thirst for.
So what are you filled with to get happiness? Did you get this happiness on your own? Where did this righteousness come from? The thing we will notice about all of the Beatitudes is that they are a gift from God. They were nothing you could do on your own. What a joy to know that God knows how to fix us. We hunger and thirst for all sorts of things, but when we hunger and thirst for Him we can be filled. This is possible because of what He did in us through Jesus’ death on the cross, not something we did to ourselves.
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