Matthew 5:1-12 NIV
5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he
went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and
he began to teach them.
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of
righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you
and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice
and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they
persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Walking Along
The Fall weather here in Ohio, these past couple of weeks
has been beautiful. It’s hard to express the stretch of wonderful days that I
have experienced. It’s not really the norm. So, with this, it’s been a pleasure
to walk the dogs. And I’ve been blessed to take a few long walks with my dogs,
Barney and Andy.
On one of these walks, as I turned the corner to head back
to the house, I looked up to the sky to notice all the blue sky, and the wispy
clouds present. I couldn’t help but to respond. I was listening to Contemporary
Christian Praise music in my ear buds, to a song that reflected my feelings as
I stared into the sky. Music that declared all heaven and earth praising God. I
couldn’t help but to think of All Saints Day, approaching, and how all the
faithful disciples of Jesus, were in one place, in Paradise, and with me and
others, here on this planet, together. And what were we doing? Praising God!
Praising God in the joy of what God has done for all of us, by claiming us as
His Children. Praising God for His love from before Creation, to give us life
with Him, in His Kingdom in eternity.
Perhaps, at least in my mind, after the study of this
passage of Scripture, ALL of us were gathered in the presence of Jesus and
listening to Him teach and grant all the blessings that we DO NOT deserve, but
blessings that God freely gives to us.
Anyone reading this, I encourage you to look at the end of
this reflection and listen to the music that I was listening to on this walk,
that opened up to that blue sky with wispy clouds. You that are listening to my
YouTube Video “Pointing to Jesus,” Go and listen to the Chris Tomlin song…
“Holy Forever.”
So, let’s listen to the word of Jesus, WITH, ALL the saints,
before… now… and beyond…
Now, on to the reflection…
Boy oh boy, these people that had been listening to Jesus
teach and that witnessed His healings, all gathered together to listen to Him.
But the thing is, Jesus went out, away to do this teaching. He went up on, what
was probably some hills somewhere around the Sea of Galilee, to teach. But
teach what? Well, Jesus was going to level with them about the Kingdom of God. As
was evident to His drawing away, I have to think of how God drew the Israelites
away from Egypt, as Moses brought God’s Law and teaching to the people then.
Likewise, Jesus draws the people away to teach some important aspects and
characteristics of the Kingdom of God.
This too, was important. It was an important time to LISTEN
to God’s Word, directly out of the mouth of the WORD made flesh, Jesus, that
came to dwell among us.
And on this mount or hill, Jesus reveals, with the authority
of God, what the righteousness of God, in God’s Kingdom is all about.
So first we see the “poor in spirit.” Boy, aren’t we all in
this category! Especially as Children of God. Not in any kind of negative way.
We come into the presence of God in Christ Jesus, with absolutely NOTHING! We
are in need both physically and spiritually. We NEED a Savior, and Jesus is
always there, present for us. As He comes to us, even in this passage, as His
teaching, we too fall at His feet to hear His Word and to see His
righteousness, and to witness His compassion, forgiveness and love. Yep! I’m
“poor in spirit.” Yep! I’m humble in the presence of God and my neighbor.
Humble in a great kind of way!
And as God makes me aware of my needs, and my sins; I mourn.
I mourn that, out of my own rebellious, denying, actions, I fall to sin, each
day of my life. I mourn! And when we witness this mourning over sin and death,
even in Old Testament Scripture, we see all the sackcloth, the fasting, the
wailing and recognize our guilt and need for God. So, mourn fully in the
confidence and sure hope of the forgiveness of sin through Jesus our Savior.
God heals broken, mourning, people, with His Love and Grace,
and like we heard last week; His Truth… that’s Jesus.
And following along is meekness. I’m for sure, meek, in the
presence of God. For in my meekness, I am driven to trust in all that God does
for me. And all that God does for me in the midst of my meekness, is to give me
faith. GIVE me faith. Faith is NOT something I can muster up on my own. NOPE!
I recited this last week, and these words of Paul deserve
the punctuation mark from God’s gift…
Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV
8 For it is by grace you
have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift
of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For
we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God
prepared in advance for us to do.
I added verse 10 this week. Not only is faith a gift from
God… not something that we can muster up and build ourselves… we are also God’s
work… we are the created, NOT the creators. So, the “works” part is our
response to God’s GIFT of faith. How could we do anything else?
Now there is some joyful inheritance of the earth upon which
we live. NOT works that we do to gain credit, but rather, works we do out of
the joy for what God has given us, TO give to all He gives to us each and every
day. All comes from God… even our faith… even our works… even our love of
neighbor… even the forgiveness we live out, each and every day, joyful of what
God has done. This is NEVER about me, or you, or anything we do… Nope! It’s all
about what God has done! So, be blessed and inherit the earth and the will of
God in your life to live, love, and forgive, each other, joyfully.
Do you hunger and thirst for sin? Or do you hunger and
thirst for righteousness? Maybe you just hunger and thirst for the needs of
your body, or the needs you have at this moment in your life.
As disciples we can rest assured that God takes care of our
needs. Remember several times in past reflections, there was talk about “daily
bread,” that is, God takes care of all of our needs.
In this world, as disciples of Jesus we are called away from
the sins and pleasures, brought on by selfish desires in this world, TOWARDS, a
call to see righteousness as a gift only granted through what God has done, and
given to us, through the actions of Jesus, ministry, suffering, death,
resurrection and ascension, TO BE, completed when He comes again to resurrect
our bodies and live in a new heaven and earth, with Him in eternity.
Now that there, is a promise to be filled. Yes, to be filled
physically AND spiritually, through Christ Jesus. Filled not from our own
efforts, rather, filled by what God does for us. That’s a call to believe,
anchored in the faith God provides.
All righteousness comes from God. And boy of boy, do I
hunger for righteousness from Jesus Christ my Savior.
As we respond to the love of God, we become merciful. How’s
that? We see all the love God has given to us, and in that same love, give our
love to God and to our neighbor. We become merciful to those around us and
those God gives us each and every day. We act, not to become, or earn God’s
favor, we act in mercy and love, because of what God has done for us. It’s a
response!
1 John 4:19 NIV
19 We love because he first loved us.
You, see? It’s a response, NOT an act. And that response
needs to be real. Not just words, but real action. Many times, in today’s
society, people want to act out of duty to gain favor, or pay back. This is NOT
that! This love is a response to what God has done first, and all along. So,
act out your love in mercy and love towards those around you. Act in
compassion, forgiveness, and kindness towards others. Do it even for those you
hate, or that are different from you and your beliefs.
In this action, people will see God acting. Be innocent and
pure in your actions. Live them as real response to the love of God. How? Well,
first look inward. Reflect on your own sin, your own failures during the day.
We all sin and fall short. We all fail. Look back on those, and face God in
your sinfulness, to seek forgiveness, and guidance, and His will in your life
from that moment on. We are not perfect through our own efforts, nor will we
ever be, but turn to God and seek to be reformed, made new, and sent out once
again. In this the Holy Spirit will work on you and reform you and lead you to
do God’s will in whatever way God chooses for His will to be done through you.
This life IS NOT, just for you. This life, IS FOR, God! That’s “pure in heart.”
As you respond in action, God will lead you towards peace.
God will lead you to forgive others. God will lead you to resolve conflict, not
by giving in, but rather by you and those God gives to you, to turn to Him for
the love and guidance needed, to forgive one another and live together in
unity. That’s peace. That’s the peace of God that passes all understanding…
Philippians 4:7 NIV
7 And the peace of God,
which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus.
In the peacemaking, you can rest assured, that you, just may
be persecuted. Face it, this world, and the people influenced by the sins, the
greed, and the hunger for power, want things to be like THEY want them to be. So,
expect to be persecuted. You are NOT giving in to selfish directions, rather,
you are responding to a call to give up self, FOR the love of God and to give
that very love to your neighbor.
People will hurl insults at you. They will speak evil, vile
things about you, and they will detest you. That’s just how Satan works his
evil wiles in this world. You can’t defeat that! Nope! Not on your own… the
only One to defeat any and all of this is God the Father, God the Son, and God
the Holy Spirit. So, turn to God, even in the midst of the evils of this world
and DEPEND on God!
And that brings us back full circle. Our response to God and
all He has done for us, is, guess what? It’s a response. And in that response
to joy and gladness and the assurance of life eternal in the presence of a God
that WANTS us! That’s reward beyond all things…
Yes, Lord, salvation belongs to You and You alone!
How could I do anything else, but to praise You and give all
the honor, power and glory to You!
I conclude with this word…
1 John 3:1-3 NIV
3 See what great love the Father has lavished on us,
that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason
the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear
friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made
known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify
themselves, just as he is pure.
Enjoy this music as much as I did on that walk…
” Holy Forever” … Chris Tomlin
No comments:
Post a Comment