Blessed
(def.) – “describes a believer in enviable (‘fortunate’) position from
receiving God's provisions (favor) – which (literally) extend (‘make long,
large’) His grace (benefits). This happens with receiving (obeying) the Lord's
inbirthings of faith” (biblehub.com).
Wednesday, December
16, 2015, 6:00 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “I Pray for Them.” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read Matthew 5:1-12
(NASB).
Humble and Contrite
(vv. 1-5)
When
Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His
disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,
“Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The poor in spirit are those who are humble (unassuming) before
God, realizing they are completely without resources, totally lacking in
ability to affect their own salvation. They know that they are sinners in need
of the Savior, and that without Jesus Christ and his salvation that they are
utterly hopeless, lost, and doomed to spend eternity in hell. They willingly
submit to God, die with Jesus Christ to sin, allow the Spirit of God to
transform them in heart and mind, and thus they are translated from death to
life in the Spirit unto salvation and to eternal life with God in glory,
putting on their new lives in Christ, “created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness” (See: Eph. 4:17-24; Ro. 6:1-23).
“Blessed
are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
To mourn is to grieve, to lament, to feel guilt or sorrow, and/or
to weep; to suffer distress; to express sorrow or regret. We read in 2 Co.
7:10: “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no
regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” I believe that worldly sorrow, thus,
is not a recipient of God’s comfort (encouragement), but only godly sorrow, or
the sorrow of the godly who are going through trials and tribulations. Yet, Jesus
did bring comfort (solace) to the ungodly through healing their diseases, and
via raising the dead, etc., it would appear, and in this way he demonstrated to
them God’s love and healing power, not just for physical healing, though, but
for spiritual healing, as well.
When we think of comfort, we often think of someone giving
us reassuring words, a pat on the back, a hug, or words which make us feel good
inside. Yet, the Greek word translated as “comfort” in English means “to summon
(to call upon), implore (appeal), exhort (urge strongly), admonish (reprove,
warn), encourage (inspire or incite), and console (soothe). So, when God
comforts us, it is not just to make us feel warm and fuzzy inside, but he
counsels, corrects, instructs, urges, warns, inspires, incites and soothes us,
depending upon what we need at that time, in relation to what specifically we
are going through. Often when I am feeling sad the Lord counsels me and shows
me the way to peace and reassurance. So, when others are feeling sorrow, we
need to be careful that we don’t reassure them or give them a pat on the back
if what they need, instead, is correction or urging to change.
“Blessed
are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Biblical meekness is not weakness but rather refers to
exercising God's strength under His control – i.e. demonstrating power without
undue harshness. The English term ‘meek’ often lacks this blend – i.e. of
gentleness (reserve) and strength” (biblehub.com).
Jesus Christ is the prime example of what this means. He had
great strength of character spiritually, yet he was compassionate, merciful,
and tenderhearted. He had no difficulty speaking strongly against wickedness,
hypocrisy and injustice, when it was called for, and yet he demonstrated much
self-control and reserve, often in difficult situations or when he was being
persecuted severely. It is a wise person who knows how to gently balance
gentleness with strength, exercising much self-control, thought, and care to
his or her actions and words. It is these who will “inherit the earth.” To me,
the greatest way in which this can be fulfilled is in effecting the salvation
of souls from sin through our lives, our testimonies, and via our witness for
Jesus Christ and for his gospel of salvation.
Thirst for
Righteousness (vv. 6-9)
“Blessed
are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
To hunger and to thirst means to crave, desire, need, and to
yearn (long) for passionately, eagerly and persistently. Righteousness “refers
to what is deemed right by the Lord (after His examination), i.e. what is
approved in His eyes” (biblehub.com). How many of us, if we are honest, can
truly say that we crave eagerly and persistently what is approved in the eyes
of God? Not one of us can truly be righteous outside of faith in Jesus Christ,
though, for our own righteousness (goodness) is as filthy rags in God’s sight.
We are only made righteous by God’s grace, through the blood of Jesus Christ
shed on the cross for our sins, and through our faith in him and in what he did
for us in dying for our sins. That faith, though, is realized through
repentance (turning from sin) and obedience (turning to follow God and his
ways). In this way Christ’s righteousness is now credited to our accounts.
And, yet, righteousness is not merely possessive, but it is
active in the life of the believer, i.e. it is to be lived out day by day.
Scripture teaches that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him
who gave himself up for us. He died that the righteous requirements of the law
might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but according to the
Spirit, for if we walk after the flesh, we will die, but if by the Spirit we
put to death the deeds of the flesh, we will live. God’s grace is not a free
license to continue in sin without guilt or remorse. His grace teaches us to
say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled,
upright and godly lives while we wait for his return. So, we should yearn for
passionately the righteousness of Christ to be lived out in our lives on a
day-to-day basis.
“Blessed
are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
“Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Merciful is “acting consistently with the revelation of
God's covenant,” is compassionate and “full of pity” (biblehub.com). In our day
and time, this word is being twisted to mean something other than what God
intended, though. It is being stressed these days by those who serve as
messengers of the beast (of Satan) that mercy means being tolerant of all religions
and all walks of life, accepting of sin, non-judgmental, and being willing to
compromise faith and convictions of the Spirit in order to not offend others
with the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They would have you believe that
the Christian faith and practice, as taught by Jesus and his NT apostles, is
intolerant, hateful, bigoted, mean, judgmental, and fits into the category of “religious
extremism” which they intend to obliterate. So, they are calling on people of
all faiths to join together in unity in order to be merciful and to do away
with “religious extremism,” i.e. what divides us as humans.
Yet, true mercy considers the real needs of people, and it
cares more about others than it does about itself. It is willing to be
misunderstood and even hated for the sake of the gospel, rather than compromise
truth. It understands that making people feel better in this life may be
sending them to hell for eternity, because we are more concerned over our own
skin, i.e. what people think of us, than we care about the eternal destiny of
the people of this world. True mercy tells people the truth. It does not lie to
them or console them in their sin. It does not approve of what God calls sin,
nor does it allow itself to be entertained by the sins of others via TV,
movies, et al. And, it certainly does not validate false religion. If we want
to be pure in heart, we need to be untainted, unstained by the world around us.
We are commanded in scripture to be holy. Holy means to be set apart (unlike,
different) from the world, because we are becoming like Jesus, transformed into
his likeness.
“Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
People often confuse the terms “peacemaking” and “peacekeeping.”
They are not one and the same. A peacekeeper is one who tries to keep peace –
absence of conflict - at all costs, including the compromise of principle,
truth, integrity, personal health and well-being, sanity, true conflict
resolution, and sincerity (genuineness) in order to avoid conflict of any kind.
This helps no one, it saves no one, and only serves to internalize anger and
resentment within the mind and heart of the peacekeeper, and brings nothing to
resolution.
Jesus Christ was a peacemaker, not a peacekeeper. He never
compromised his faith and integrity for the sake of absence of conflict. In
fact, he frequently incited conflict in order to bring about conflict
resolution. He took the Pharisees and religious leaders of his day head on. He
did not sugar-coat anything with them. He told them the truth about their
wickedness and their hypocrisy, and this only angered them more. Yet, he did so
because he cared about their sinful condition, and because he was concerned
about the people whom they were leading astray, and so he brought these things
to the surface so they could be dealt with, so that true peace could come to
the hearts of his listeners, which is peace with God, forgiveness of sins,
restoration with God, and true fellowship with Jesus Christ.
Persecuted for
Righteousness (vv. 10-12)
“Blessed
are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed
are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of
evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven
is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Yet, when we are merciful in the way in which Jesus was
merciful, when we are meek in the manner in which he demonstrated meekness, and
when we comfort others in a similar approach in which Jesus comforts us; when
we seek passionately after Christ’s righteousness, are pure in heart, and when
we decide to be peacemakers instead of peacekeepers, we will be hated and
persecuted for righteousness’ sake. In the same way in which they hated and
persecuted the real Jesus (Christ), they will hate and persecute us if we
follow his example, and if we walk righteously and in obedience to his Word.
There are those today who are serving Satan (and the beast)
as its messengers who are preaching another Jesus, not the Jesus of the Bible,
and they want us to follow them, instead, so do not listen to them. Their goal
is to do away with the gospel and its messengers in order to bring the world
into a one-world religion under a one-world totalitarian regime. So, know the
truth, and follow the truth and reject the lies. Follow Jesus Christ, his word,
his teachings and his ways. And, pray for one another, because we live in an
evil world of great deception which desires to deceive Christians in order to
pull them away from their pure faith and devotion to Jesus Christ. So, pray
much for discernment.
I Pray for Them /
An Original Work / June 4, 2013
Based off John 17
“Glorify Your Son, that Your Son
May glorify our God in heav’n.
Father, You granted Him all power
And all authority over men,
That He might give eternal life
To all those whom now
You have given Him.”
“This now then is eternal life:
That they may know You,
Father, and Your Son;
That they may know the only true God,
And Jesus Christ whom the Father sent.
I have brought You the glory by
Finishing the work that You’ve given Me.”
“I have shown You to those whom
You gave to Me out of the world;
They were Yours. You gave them to Me
And they have obeyed Your words
And they accepted them. They knew
That I came from You, and they believed
With certainty, I was sent.”
“Holy Father, I pray for them by the
Power of Your name: Protect them,
So that they may be one as we are,
For they are still living in this world.
I have given them Your word;
Because of Your word, the world
Has hated them.”
“I pray they may have the full measure of
My joy now living within them.
Father, I pray You sanctify them
By Your word; truly Your word is truth.
As You sent Me into the world,
I send them to tell the world to repent.”
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