Monday, February 9,
2015, 1:17 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Broken and Contrite.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 6:17-26 (NASB).
A Great Throng
Jesus
came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was a large crowd of
His disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and
the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear Him and to be healed
of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being
cured. And all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from
Him and healing them all.
And
turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say…
Jesus had just healed a man on the Sabbath. The Scribes and
the Pharisees were watching him carefully so they might find a reason to accuse
him. After he healed the man, the Pharisees and Scribes were filled with rage
and discussed what they might do to Jesus. So, Jesus then spent the night on a
mountain in prayer to his Father in heaven.
In the morning he gathered together his twelve disciples
whom he had chosen. He came down from the mountain with them and stood on a
level place. Although there was a large crowd of people who had come to hear
him speak, it appears that he directed these thoughts specifically toward his
disciples. A disciple is a follower, believer and a student. So, these were
people who believed in Jesus Christ, who were following after him, and who were
being taught by him.
The Poor in Spirit
“Blessed
are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”
This word translated here as “poor” can mean those who are
physically poor with regard to not having much at all in the way of material
wealth, or it can mean those who are “poor in spirit,” i.e. those who are
humble, who realize their need of a Savior, and that they have nothing in
themselves whereby they could ever attain heaven or gain God’s approval. They
realize their own righteousness is as filthy rags, that they are lost, that
they are sinners, and that they need Jesus Christ to save them from their sins.
I believe the context of this passage favors this latter
meaning of the word “poor,” and thus this is to be understood that it is those
who have humbled themselves before God, who have acknowledged and have repented
of their sins, who have believed in Jesus Christ to be their Lord and their
Savior, and who have trusted in him to meet all of their needs who have the
promise and hope of eternal life with God both now and forevermore. His
kingdom, nonetheless, should not be viewed merely as the place we go when we
die, but it entails the life of the church here on earth, as well, and all that
is promised to us by God for those who believe in him in the way of spiritual
blessings, ministry, and spiritual fruit and harvest, etc.
Who Hunger Now
“Blessed
are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.”
Again, I believe the context here favors that we translate
these words, not in the natural sense, but rather in a spiritual sense. In
other words, this is speaking of those who hunger and thirst after
righteousness. We will be satisfied. So, what does that mean exactly? I believe
to hunger and thirst after righteousness (after God) means to desire intimacy
with God and to want to be in fellowship with him and to crave his Word as one
would hunger after food or thirst after a cool and refreshing cup of water on a
hot day. Most of us would not think about starving ourselves to death, in a
natural sense, but how many who profess the name of Jesus spiritually starve
themselves because they do not hunger and thirst after righteousness but only
have a casual or passing interest in God/Jesus?
Yet, when we long to be with our Lord, to spend time with
him daily at his feet listening to him speak his words to our hearts, and we
yearn to learn from him all that he has for our lives, and we desire to please
him in all that we do and say and are, we will not come up empty. He will fill
us to overflowing with all that we need to live godly and holy lives in this
present age while we wait for his return. He will comfort us when we are
downcast, he will bring joy to our hearts when we are sad, he will instruct us
in the way we should go, and he will teach us and guide us and encourage us,
too. We will never be lacking any good thing.
Who Weep Now
“Blessed
are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.”
This is speaking to Jesus’ followers. Jesus said his sheep
listen to him and they follow him (in obedience). So, for those of us who are
following the Lord Jesus, I believe there is a promise for us of joy now and joy
yet to come in heaven when he wipes all the tears from our eyes. First of all,
I believe this weeping has to do with our weeping over sin, not just feeling
badly that we sinned, but the kind of sorrow that leads to repentance and to
changed hearts and lives by the grace of God. That sorrow is turned to joy when
we accept God’s great salvation into our lives and we are set free from slavery
to sin and we are now able, by the grace of God, to walk daily in Christ’s
righteousness and holiness. Being delivered out of that pit of sin and being
set free brings so much joy! Amen!
In this life, though, we will also face many sorrows. I just
recently lost a sister to death, and that was a sad day in some ways, because
she is no longer with us, but it was also a happy day in that we know she is
with Jesus, and thus we rejoice. As well, we face sickness, injury, personal
loss, concern over unsaved loved ones, hardships, persecutions, rejections, betrayal,
etc. And, all those hurt. Yet, Jesus sympathizes with us in our weaknesses, and
he brings much comfort and encouragement into our lives, and so that fills us
with joy.
Who Are Persecuted
“Blessed
are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your
name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day and leap for
joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their
fathers used to treat the prophets.”
Jesus said that if we are his followers we will be hated and
mistreated just as he was hated and mistreated, and even put to death. He was
hated because he claimed to be God, who he is, and because he told people the
truth about their sins. When we preach the full gospel message, and we tell the
truth about sin, and we call people to repentance and obedience, we will not
gain many friends in this life, but we may gain many enemies, even within the
church, and even among church leadership in churches where they water down the
gospel to make it more palatable and appealing to human flesh. We may even be
asked to leave certain church congregations because we hold to the truths of
scripture, and because we teach the full gospel message, and we don’t bow to
the wisdom of human flesh.
Yet, we are in good company, for that his how they treated
Jesus and the prophets and the apostles, too. We should consider ourselves
blessed to be treated thus for the sake of Christ and for the sake of his
gospel, not that we go about purposefully trying to incite people, but because
we speak the truth of God’s word in the hope that it may bring healing,
comfort, encouragement, hope and salvation to all who will listen and who will
heed its counsel. As well, we are to be glad and leap for joy when we are
treated thus, because God is using us in other people’s lives for his glory and
for their good to bring them to faith in Jesus or to help them to grow and to
mature in their faith, so we should rejoice!
Woe To The
Self-Sufficient
“But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in
full. Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who
laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of
you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.”
Nonetheless, if we are self-sufficient, live for the moment
without regard to our future, don’t even acknowledge our need of God or our own
sinfulness, think we can make it on our own, live to entertain ourselves and live
for self-pleasure and self-gratification, and have little to no concern at all
for others’ eternal destiny or for their deliverance from sin’s deceitfulness, then
the kingdom of God is not ours, we will never be fully satisfied, our happiness
is only temporary and fleeting, and we have no eternal rewards awaiting us in
heaven. Jesus’ sheep listen to him, not just with their ears, but with their
hearts, and they follow him in obedience and in surrender to his will for their
lives, not in absolute perfection, and not without fault, but they are
consistent in their thirst and hunger after God and his word.
Since Jesus said that if we follow him and we do what he
says and we are like him in thought, word and deed, we will be hated and
persecuted, if nearly everyone likes us and speaks well of us, then I would
question why that is so. I realize that not everyone who is liked is liked
because they live only for themselves, nor is everyone who is hated treated so
because they are followers of Christ and they walk in obedience to him. Yet, if
nearly everyone likes us and speaks well of us, and if we are generally not
hated at all, then I think we should search the scriptures and seek God’s face
and ask him why. Perhaps it is because, although we claim to know Christ, we
are not really walking in fellowship with him, and we are not truly his
disciples, and we are not different from the world and set apart for God and
for his service, and so the world has no reason to hate us because we are too
much like them. If this is true of you, I pray you will allow God to change
your heart today.
Broken and Contrite / An Original Work /
May 13, 2012
I come before You,
Lord, my Savior,
With humble heart and
crushed in spirit.
I bow before You, I
implore You,
Heal my broken heart,
I pray.
Love You, Jesus, Lord,
my master,
You are the King of my
heart.
Lord, purify my heart
within me;
Sanctify me, whole
within.
Oh, Lord, I long to
obey fully
The words You’ve
spoken through Your Spirit.
I pray You give me
grace and mercy,
Strength and wisdom to
obey.
Father God, my heart’s
desire,
Won’t You set my heart
on fire?
Lord, cleanse my heart
of all that hinders
My walk with You, now
I pray.
Oh, Jesus, Savior,
full of mercy,
My heart cries out for
understanding.
I want to follow You
in all ways,
Never straying from
Your truth.
Holy Spirit, come in
power,
Fill me with Your love
today.
Lord, mold and make
me;
Your hands formed me;
Live Your life through
me, I pray.
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