Hungry Today?

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled." This verse, Matthew 5:6, is a powerful promise to those who hunger for God and His way of doing things. The word "righteousness" can be translated "God's way of doing things" and Jesus here promises those who seek "God's way" will find that for which they seek!

God desires for each of us to have relationship with Him and live in obedience to Him; God is working in our life to make this happen ("For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose." Phil. 2:13). God is working things together in our life so we might become like Christ ("And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28). As we grow in our walk with Christ we take comfort in the fact that God will bring the work of perfecting us to completion ("He who began a good work in you, will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Phil 1:6b).

The believer in Christ desires God and obedience to Him! Thank God for making relationship with Him possible through the Cross! Thank God for making obedience to Him possible through the work of His Holy Spirit in us!

James

Meek Isn't Weak!

"Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth." Jesus tells His disciples a world of information in this short verse (Matthew 5:5). We enter this life with nothing and will leave with nothing (physically speaking)! In the interim, we must always remember from whom our possessions come and who is in control of everything...God! We cannot control or defend our life and if we try to do so we will find ourselves frustrated, tired and defeated. The meek man or woman has learned this lesson and receives God's intended blessings both for this life and the one to come.

Anything we "possess" during our life is something given by God for our time here on earth to bring glory to Him. God makes us temporary stewards (managers) over part of His creation during our lifetime. If we forget from whom our earthly possessions come we may easily become tempted to "possess" and fight for what God desires to give us. It is the meek person who relies upon God for his life and in so doing never falls into the trap of being possessed by his possessions. The meek person understands this world is temporary and one day he will inherit the earth with Christ as a child of God. The meek can trust God for what they have or do not have in this life, because they know this world in its present form is not the totality of all God intends for them!

The meek person is gentle, self-controlled and demonstrates a sense of peace. This kind of disposition is found in those who have fully surrendered their life to Christ and placed their trust in Him for all they have in this life and the next!

James

Comfortable Living...

"Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted." These words from the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:4) are directed to two groups of people: those who mourn over the loss of loved ones and those who mourn over sin and repent.

When a loved one who knew Christ as Savior dies we grieve because of our loss. We miss them! I still wish for the opportunity to talk to many folks for whom I have attended a funeral. My granddad and I talked many hours about life, the Bible and Heaven. I miss those talks. I grieve but I do NOT grieve as one who has no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). I know the words of Christ are true and one day my grief will be completely taken away and I will be reunited with my grandfather in the presence of Christ. I have this hope (anticipation of good) because we both accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.

When you sin do you grieve over your sin? And if you grieve are you grieving because you hurt the heart of God (Godly sorrow) or because you were caught doing wrong? Or maybe you grieve because it was wrong to do what you did (worldly sorrow). Paul teaches in 2 Corinthians 7:10, "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." Are you genuinely sorry for your sin because you know it offended a holy God who loves you and died for your sins? If so, comfort for your sorrow is available in repentance and the knowledge Jesus forgives you. You do not have to carry the burden of guilt, pain and sorrow for your sin! If you are sorry your sin hurt the heart of God and repent God is ready to lift the burden and give you comfort and rest!

I pray for those of you who are mourning today. I pray you will find the Lord's kind of comfort and be encouraged!

James

Dying To Live

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself take up his cross and follow me."" These words have been misunderstood by some who believe the cross to be a type of burden to carry. These poor misguided people see the Christian life as burden and toil as they attempt to attain relationship with God by their own self-effort. But the Cross was never an instrument of burden! The Cross was always an instrument of death.

Jesus is teaching that in order to become a Christian you must die to who you are and be raised to new life in Him! Die to your sin, self-effort and old way of living. Die to all you are in order to become all He is! Make sure you aren't attempting to live a good life in order to earn Christ when you should be dying to self in order to be raised with Christ. Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ therefore I no longer live, Jesus Christ now lives in me. And the life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Paul recognized the necessity of taking up his cross and dying to himself so he might enjoy new life in Christ. Have you laid down your burdens and self-effort to receive life in Christ?

It is through faith and relationship with Christ that you become a Christian NOT by bearing burdens or doing good works!

James

Don't Worry... Seek Him!

I do not have children yet, but I have many friends who are mothers and one very common temptation among them is worry! It is very easy for mothers to spend hours worrying about their children's safety, choices they will make, people they may encounter, situations they may face, etc... However, worrying is not a temptation unique to mothers! Worry is something we all struggle with on a daily basis. We are tempted to worry about our future, our finances, our health, our family, if something will happen or won't happen! Worrying can easily become a very natural part of life but as Christians we are not supposed to worry. We do not need to waste time or lose sleep worrying! God, Himself, has told us in the book of Matthew that we do not need to worry!

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

So what is the alternative to worry? Wouldn't it be great if we could use all the energy wasted worrying on something else? In Matthew, 6:33 God tells us what to do with all that energy!

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

How exactly do we seek God's Kingdom and righteousness? We acknowledge Him, talk to Him, praise Him, and ask Him for help and guidance in all that we do. We thank Him, we represent Him, we serve Him and we honor Him in all we say and do!

Next time you feel yourself tempted to worry - remember verse 33 and seek first His kingdom!

Kim

How Poor Are You?

"Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God." These are the first words of the most famous sermon ever preached, the "Sermon on the Mount" by Jesus Christ. Have you ever meditated on what these words might mean? What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Why is it necessary to be so in order to be given the Kingdom of God? And what does it mean to be given the Kingdom of God???

To be poor in spirit means we recognize our complete spiritual poverty apart from Christ. Apart from Christ there is no forgiveness of sins, no salvation and no relationship with God. To recognize one's poverty is to recognize complete dependency upon Christ. As long as we think we can save ourselves or attempt to appease God through activity we are denying complete and total dependency on Christ for everything!

To be given the Kingdom of God means becoming a child of the King! Poverty of spirit allows us to receive the salvation Jesus came to give us through the Cross. This Kingdom of God means forgiveness, salvation, relationship with God and eternity with Him in heaven. Of course there is much more to the "Kingdom" than any human could ever comprehend but this short list gives us a good start in understanding what we have to look forward to because of our salvation through Christ alone.

It is by God's grace that we are saved and not because of works! Jesus loves us and has done EVERYTHING for our salvation so we might spend eternity worshipping Him and enjoying the inheritance He is preparing for us! Rest in Him today!

James

Faith and Obedience...The Relationship

A reader of yesterday's post asked me, "what about obedience?" Is obedience to Christ part of what makes up genuine faith? Good question! So, today we will take a look at the part obedience plays in a life of faith.

In Romans 1:5 Paul writes of an "obedience which come from (some translations "produced by") faith;" herein lies the relationship between obedience and faith. Remember, faith happens when we believe something to be true and place trust in that newfound belief. If we believe and trust (faith) something, we will necessarily be affected by that faith and our behavior will change. Real, genuine faith in Christ will affect every part of our being including how we speak, think and act.

James writes in chapter 2:18 that our faith is demonstrated by what we do! Real, genuine faith in Christ is more than lip service or simple belief in a set of facts. Faith is belief and trust which produces new expectations and a changed life (Hebrews 11:1). Faith in Christ necessarily produces obedience to Christ. So, have faith and be obedient to Jesus today!

James