Category: Matthew

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

Matthew 5:8

There is on thing that hinders our relationship with God. That one thing is sin. No matter what you call it or what it looks like, the root of the issue is sin. Sin in the antithesis of purity and the complete opposite of God and who He is.

Jesus tells us that the pure in heart will see God. Pure is a hard truth and concept for us in the western realm to understand. Follow me for a second. We eat apple juice that isn’t made completely from apples; we have artificial sugars and sweeteners. We don’t even consume things in our bodies that are pure. We live in a culture that is full of harmful additives. On top of that, we live in a very sexually immoral culture. Don’t believe me? Let me know how you feel about those Victoria Secret Commercials. Or flip on ABC ‘family” and tell me how that crap was good for your teenager? Pure in our American culture is not pure. It’s a rationalized and compromised excuse for our YOLO mentality.

To understand pure or even to obtain purity, we must know the pure and perfect One. Jesus. Jesus shows us in this passage that purity in our hearts allows us to see God. Our heart drives our soul. What or who you long for is what or who your lord is. Jesus tells us that we are blessed when we are pure in heart, because then we will see God.

I know I’m in the minority on this. But I stand by it. In this culture of life is short live it to the fullest, are we as Christians willing to miss out on God by indulging in the impurity of the world. New life in Christ is just that a new life. A life that is consumed with Him. Ask God to search your heart, to purify you gently. He will. Trust me, once you see God, the things of this world will fail in comparison. Be blessed, be pure. See Him. His cleansing purity ushers in His presence.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

Matthew 5:7

Mercy. We all want it; yet we struggle to show it from time to time. The epitome of mercy is Jesus. Jesus demonstrated in His life on earth and on the cross what mercy looks like in 3D. Mercy isn’t simply sucking it up and taking a moral high road. Mercy is having true compassion in Christ on others for no other reason than that the Father’s heart is a compassionate heart. That same heart was given to us the moment of salvation.

In a world that practices socially barbaric tactics on one anther, it is imperative that we allow God’s Spirit to move in us and to be agents of mercy. I’ll be the first to confess that this is not the easy thing to do. Showing mercy is something that our flesh wants to resist so badly. However showing mercy brings us into deeper intimacy with God because is stretches our faith to make us trust God that he truly has us.

Nobody likes to be the one to keep turning his or her cheek time and time again. The slaps always seem to sting and leave a bitter taste in our mouth. But when we trust and believe that showing mercy reveals the Father’s love to others, we are also able to trust that He hasn’t left us or forsaken us. Show mercy. Ask God for the strength and wisdom to show mercy. I guarantee He will supernaturally empower you to be blessed. The blessed life isn’t a bumper sticker, it is a life submitted to Jesus in total trust despite the demonic patterns of the world. Be blessed, He has you. Be merciful, He is merciful to you.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

Matthew 5:6

Most people reading this are residents of the United States of America. We have one of the largest obesity rates in the world. One of the reasons for that is because we go through food like most teenage boys through girlfriends. We eat and eat and eat. And we drink and we drink and we drink. But not water. We drink things that we call “good.” We want the sweet tea, the soda, and the sugary foods. We want it! It’s ok; don’t be upset, it’s just a reality. I’m guilty of it.

In the Spiritual realm there are things that we can hunger and thirst for as well. We all have a spiritual appetite that is ravenous. I remember being 16 years old and coming home and clearing out my parents pantry because I was starving! The four pieces of pizza and the fries I had at lunch that day wasn’t’ good enough. So I needed to eat a meal before dinner. My appetite just didn’t seem to be satisfied. The same is true with our souls appetite.

We can go our whole life devouring things that we think will fill our souls and bring us peace and joy. But the only substance that can truly satisfy is Jesus. Jesus tells us blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Here’s some brutal truth. Only in Jesus can we find true righteousness. Blessed are we when we seek out Jesus for all He is! Blessed are we when we crave Him and only Him. Blessed are we when we find our souls longing for Him. Jesus and only He can satisfy.

I want to encourage you not to settle for the fake things. The spiritual MSG that just leaves you more hungry than you were before you take your first bite. Hunger for Jesus, thirst for Him. He satisfies.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

Matthew 5:5

There is a tendency to want to advance ourselves. It’s in our DNA. We learn it as a child observing the culture we grow up in. We learn that the person who get’s up the earliest catches the worm. The biggest dog wins the fight. We learn that if we want to get somewhere in life we have to work harder and better than those around us. There are countless other phrases we could list if we wanted to. The issue with those American mantras is that they completely go against what Jesus teaches His followers.

It’s hard to not want to be successful and to want to see advancement of ourselves. We want it. We don’t need to deny it, it’s good and healthy to acknowledge our thoughts and feelings. Jesus shows His followers that His followers do not live as the world, and they do not have the heart of self-advancement.

The term meek in this passage is a reference to ones positioning of their heart toward the Lord. Having a heard that is meek towards and before the Lord gives us breakthrough to a life of meekness. When we realize that God is the One who gives us what we need and that it is God who has given us this new life in Christ, we no longer think as the world does. We think and move and function as people who have seen and tasted heaven.

When we observe Christian culture today, this meekness is hard to find. I’m not saying that it is absent, but it certainly is scarce. I’ve heard the phrase nice guys finish last and heard people say, “Jesus wants me to take up for myself, and He doesn’t want us to be run over.” I want to challenge you with a few thoughts. When you look at the church in Acts in times of confrontation and turmoil, how did the early church respond? In meekness or madness? They responded in meekness. Stephen while being stoned showed meekness, Paul’s imprisonments show his meekness. There are historical documents that demonstrate the meekness of these early believers. Jesus even told us to turn the other cheek.

There is a terrible tragedy that has taken place in the American Church culture. We have mixed American rights with the Kingdom inheritance and Kingdom living. The issue with that is the inheritance which Jesus promises is not the American dream. It is so much greater, purer, and holier. And His ways are higher than our corrupting self-advancing ways. Forget taking the moral high ground. Take up your cross and follow Jesus. That path is far greater and higher than the grey moral road American churches have paved.

Trust in the One who saved you. He who saved you will see you through. A heart that is possessed by the Lord is a heart that can trust in the promises of the Lord. When you are meek, He will advance you. You will receive an inheritance. Believe it. This isn’t a metaphor, it is a promise. Believe in His truth. Let your heart be meek before Him, and see Him use you and elevate you to places you never dreamed possible. This blessing is a promise.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

Matthew 5:4

Jesus came to a people in distress to be their Messiah, to be the promised deliverer, which had been promised from the Garden of Eden when man gave into sinful desire. The beatitudes reveal the redemptive and loving heart of the Father shown through His Son.

“Blessed are you when you mourn.” Have you ever felt that you have to be strong and that you don’t have the right or freedom to express your sorrow? Jesus tells us that we are free to do so. Blessed are you mourn. This is another one of Jesus teachings that to the human mind and understanding seems to contradict the message Jesus came to give. How can a redemptive and loving God say such a thing?

Jesus tells us that in this world we will face trouble (John 16:33; Matthew 10:16; Luke10: 3). But with each warning of trouble comes the victorious promise of His triumph. The triumph that Jesus promises us in Matthew 5:4 is that of comfort. God will comfort us in our mourning.

This mindset may conflict with what you have been trained to do in times of peril. When times come in your life when mourning is necessary for whatever reason, I want to encourage you to mourn. Mourn at His feet, mourn clinging to the cross, mourn and let the Spirit intercede for you (Romans 8:26). The finished work of the cross gives us freedom to find freedom in Christ in our times of mourning.

I have fallen short of this blessing many times. I have tried to be strong and hold things together. What I was missing out in by that doing that was the Comforter (John 14:26), and the Father’s love given to me through Him because of the victorious work of Jesus on the cross. Be weak, be vulnerable, be available for God’s healing comforting work in your life. He loves you. He is Faithful. When Jesus says a blessing is coming, take it to the bank. Blessed are you when you mourn, He will be faithful, and He will comfort. He is the God who brings us from mourning to morning. He tells us “weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). He will take you from your mourning and bring you to a new day and a brighter morning. He is faithful. He is God.

“Little Children, you are from God and overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

1 John 4:4     

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”

Matthew 5:3

I live in the Bible belt, Fort Mill, SC to be exact. Growing up here in the south I heard the word “bless” thrown around like a football on Friday nights. Perhaps I became numb to it’s meaning with the rampant misuse of this word. To bless or be blessed is a highly favorable inheritance from the Lord. Not a southern mantra for frustrating situations.

Jesus says in the opening of His teaching in this passage that those who are “poor in spirit” will receive a great inheritance known as the “kingdom of heaven.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t know many in our culture who would view poverty as a blessing. Many would even find it hard to see how poverty could lead to anything other than homelessness or a poverty stricken life style.

Jesus shows us that His kingdom and His blessings are given differently than the world. True life, life to the fullest that is, is only found in Jesus. It is our moment of realizing this and accepting the depravity and poverty of our human condition that we can find that blessings, the happiness and joy found in Jesus. It is not a superficial happiness or an annoying churchy idea. It is new life in Jesus Christ.

When we come to the end of ourselves, we find ourselves in Him. We do not live as those who live in the dark, we live as the enlightened ones. Redeemed, renewed, and restored in Him. Struggles will come, and hard seasons will be present. But if it was in our spiritual poverty that Christ came to us and died for us in the first place, then how much more of a blessing will it be to allow Him to come to us in our times of weakness as the redeemed.

The blessed life isn’t just a bumper sticker. The blessed life is a life found in the richness and goodness of Jesus’ redemptive love. Blessed are you, when you realize you don’t have it all together. Blessed are you when you realize your righteousness if as filthy rages to Him. Blessed are you, when you accept the new life given freely to all who will receive Him, Jesus Christ. BE BLESSED. Blessed are you when it is Jesus, and only Him that will satisfy your soul.

Check this out.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eMMKVO8mXw8