Matthew 5:12a Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.
The beatitudes can be simply said sublime happiness. How do these teachings of Jesus apply to happiness? They apply to the way life is best lived. Jesus knew that life apart from him is filled with sin and sadness so he told us how to live. The beatitudes are the Christian life put into words. This is the road to happiness or satisfaction in Jesus Christ. They tell us about Christian character which leads to right living.
It is no wonder that Jesus would tell his disciples and us that when you live this way you will be treated poorly by the world around you, but take joy or rejoice for you have pleased your heavenly Father and your reward is in him. Jesus knows his people and what they need to understand life.
This year as we uncover the beatitudes through the “M5 Files” ask your self how does God want me to live or what do I need God to fix in me that I might live out this sublime happiness? What you are going to see is that God knows you inside and out, he knows what you need to be effective in his kingdom. God has a plan for his children so that they would look and live differently than the world.
The beatitudes will open your eyes to the life you have always wanted. They will show you how big and how perfect our God is. Jesus is the best teacher who ever walked the earth, open your hearts and let him show how life is best lived in his grace and mercy.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
And so...
What a wonderful way to spend the day after Christmas than to be with the people he came for. It is amazing to me to think about the joy and blessing that come from Christ giving all for me, that he would rescue me and give me everything that kneed for life and godliness. I love how one of the most well know verses in the Bible, John 3:16 gives us the perfect perspective on Christmas. Out of love the father gave. Out of obedience the son came. In udder despair we did not know we need him. Yet he chose to give perfectly.
So as you wake tomorrow or even in 2 Thursdays from now maybe that anticipation of Christmas can still linger because the Father gave.
So as you wake tomorrow or even in 2 Thursdays from now maybe that anticipation of Christmas can still linger because the Father gave.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
clarity in discomfort
God has an amazing way to redirect us to himself. I like to think of it as purposeful pain. Now this is not always physical but sometimes emotional or mental. I love when God intervenes in the midst of a mental cloud a funk of sorts and says "ask me i know what to do". So when you are at a loss or feel like your not sure about the issues try to sift through the discomfort of "yourself" and see what God thinks. For me it is a prayerful petition to fix my heart attitude even if i do hurt or am confused. When my heart is bound to the things of God all things can come together for our good and His glory.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Christmas and the messiah
When we think about celebrating christmas we thinking about the coming of the Christ child. I wonder what it would have been like to be apart of israel as they would have hoped for the coming messiah? They would have known he would be great, greater than David and would rule for ever. They would have longed to be rescued from oppression and fear from other nations. They would have been the world power. But this is not why the messiah came. As people living 2000 years after the coming of the messiah we no longer have to hope for his coming we can know the truth that he came. He cam to rescue us from sin and our selves. The messiah has come and he have the joy of celebrating what he has done in us. We can remember what we were when he saved us, what he did in us, and who are based on his amazing love and grace in our lives. As we lead up to Christmas we have the joy and the security the messiah has accomplished what he came for to save a people for himself!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
3 things to ask about culture
There is much talk today about culture and what we should do with it. The obvious question to me is to first ask what how do you define the word culture? Is it people, their customs, they sub groups in them? I am not sure that there is one specific way to define culture to make everyone happy, what I do think is that we can work with things in culture and help give ourselves and families better direction.
Here are the three things: first we can accept what culture wants us to give it no thought and continue on ilife with out a care. Second we can reject it, determine that there is nothing good iit at all and run fast fromm it. Third we can redeem it look at it from Gospel perspective to see how the scripture might influence what we do.
I know this very general but when we look at life through a gospel lens it will give us one of these three options. Not everything is bad, or good, or needs to be changed. So let's seek Gods word for how life should be defined and what we see in culture and react to.
Here are the three things: first we can accept what culture wants us to give it no thought and continue on ilife with out a care. Second we can reject it, determine that there is nothing good iit at all and run fast fromm it. Third we can redeem it look at it from Gospel perspective to see how the scripture might influence what we do.
I know this very general but when we look at life through a gospel lens it will give us one of these three options. Not everything is bad, or good, or needs to be changed. So let's seek Gods word for how life should be defined and what we see in culture and react to.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Who will be your savior?
The world ( culture) has a way of trying to convince you to believe It will be your savior. From the time we are young it promises hope, if you try hard enough. It promises satisfaction if you give your self to it. The world has been an overwhelming force of false hope, false satisfaction and a false sense of belonging. When the world is done with you it will leave you in the dust, with out a care or worry of your well being.
Jesus came that we would not be lost any longer! Through the blood of Jesus we are satisfied, find hope and belong to the greatest family. The amazing thing is that this is not new news. This is the good news of the last 2000 years! But for whatever reason most likely selfishness we push past what will fill us to what will fail us every time. Jesus never fails never gives up on his people. So who will be your savior the world(culture) or Jesus Christ? Who has your heart?
Jesus came that we would not be lost any longer! Through the blood of Jesus we are satisfied, find hope and belong to the greatest family. The amazing thing is that this is not new news. This is the good news of the last 2000 years! But for whatever reason most likely selfishness we push past what will fill us to what will fail us every time. Jesus never fails never gives up on his people. So who will be your savior the world(culture) or Jesus Christ? Who has your heart?
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
A mother and the Gospel
Mothering for the Sake of the Gospel
by Jenni Roney
I don’t want to be a good mother. I want to be a great mother. I want to speak sweetly to my children like Marmee in Little Women. I want to perform musical marionette shows with my kids and sew their clothes from drapes like Maria in The Sound of Music. I want to teach my boys to relate to each other like the kids in The Boxcar Children. But in reality, I identify more with the Apostle Paul when he says, “I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out” (Romans 7:18).
As an exercise this week, I made a list of all the things that “good mothers” do. In just 10 minutes, I came up with 75 impossible standards that lurk somewhere in the recesses of my subconscious.
Here are a few of the highlights: A good mother never yells, she has a freezer full of nutritious and frugal meals, her children know all of their Fighter Verses, she exercises daily, her kids would rather read than watch a movie, she gives her children only happy memories and records them in scrapbooks, she makes homemade cookies but never eats them herself, her laundry is always caught up, her babies sleep through the night at six weeks, and her boys always lift the toilet lid.
If you’re a mom, I’m sure your list is as lengthy as mine. And if we were truly honest, we would add a few of our personal convictions about the ways that “good mothers” feed, educate, and discipline their children. Here’s the problem—we are living under a self-imposed law of “Mommy Legalism” that isn’t necessarily biblical. Are we mothering for the sake of our own self-righteousness or mothering for the sake of the gospel?
Unfortunately, we will never measure up to our own imaginary laws of good mothering. And when we fall short, we either condemn ourselves or condemn other moms to make ourselves feel better. But the Old Testament Law existed to show us that we can never keep a high enough standard to please God.
Why are we trying to add extra righteousness through “good mothering” when we are already justified through Christ? Mothers, God is pleased with you because when he looks at you, he sees Christ. And there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.
Judgmental Whitewashed Tomb Moms do not bring glory to God. But if we can be mothers who understand our own propensity to sin, we will be astonished by and thankful for the grace of God. We can then extend that grace to our sinful children and to other struggling mothers who may hold different convictions, pointing them to our only hope, Jesus Christ.
I think we could shorten our “good mother” lists to one single item: A good mother models the gospel for her children and for other moms. It is a wonderful thing for our children to see our weaknesses to learn that our strength and hope come from the Lord. And it’s not just our children who need to see our moment-by-moment dependence on Christ. Other women need to know that we, too, are imperfect mothers, in need of God’s grace and sanctification.
We need to encourage one another to press on toward the goal through the many challenging seasons of motherhood. We need godly older women and biblical counsel to help us fight the fight of faith. We need to “stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another” (Hebrews 10:24–25)… As imperfect mothers, may we display the gospel to our children as we point them to a perfect Savior.
by Jenni Roney
I don’t want to be a good mother. I want to be a great mother. I want to speak sweetly to my children like Marmee in Little Women. I want to perform musical marionette shows with my kids and sew their clothes from drapes like Maria in The Sound of Music. I want to teach my boys to relate to each other like the kids in The Boxcar Children. But in reality, I identify more with the Apostle Paul when he says, “I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out” (Romans 7:18).
As an exercise this week, I made a list of all the things that “good mothers” do. In just 10 minutes, I came up with 75 impossible standards that lurk somewhere in the recesses of my subconscious.
Here are a few of the highlights: A good mother never yells, she has a freezer full of nutritious and frugal meals, her children know all of their Fighter Verses, she exercises daily, her kids would rather read than watch a movie, she gives her children only happy memories and records them in scrapbooks, she makes homemade cookies but never eats them herself, her laundry is always caught up, her babies sleep through the night at six weeks, and her boys always lift the toilet lid.
If you’re a mom, I’m sure your list is as lengthy as mine. And if we were truly honest, we would add a few of our personal convictions about the ways that “good mothers” feed, educate, and discipline their children. Here’s the problem—we are living under a self-imposed law of “Mommy Legalism” that isn’t necessarily biblical. Are we mothering for the sake of our own self-righteousness or mothering for the sake of the gospel?
Unfortunately, we will never measure up to our own imaginary laws of good mothering. And when we fall short, we either condemn ourselves or condemn other moms to make ourselves feel better. But the Old Testament Law existed to show us that we can never keep a high enough standard to please God.
Why are we trying to add extra righteousness through “good mothering” when we are already justified through Christ? Mothers, God is pleased with you because when he looks at you, he sees Christ. And there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.
Judgmental Whitewashed Tomb Moms do not bring glory to God. But if we can be mothers who understand our own propensity to sin, we will be astonished by and thankful for the grace of God. We can then extend that grace to our sinful children and to other struggling mothers who may hold different convictions, pointing them to our only hope, Jesus Christ.
I think we could shorten our “good mother” lists to one single item: A good mother models the gospel for her children and for other moms. It is a wonderful thing for our children to see our weaknesses to learn that our strength and hope come from the Lord. And it’s not just our children who need to see our moment-by-moment dependence on Christ. Other women need to know that we, too, are imperfect mothers, in need of God’s grace and sanctification.
We need to encourage one another to press on toward the goal through the many challenging seasons of motherhood. We need godly older women and biblical counsel to help us fight the fight of faith. We need to “stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another” (Hebrews 10:24–25)… As imperfect mothers, may we display the gospel to our children as we point them to a perfect Savior.
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