The Pure

The second Beatitude of the last four, (so actually the sixth one in Christ’s sermon) is "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." This is what it says in the amplified version: "Blessed (happy, enviably fortunate, and spiritually prosperous—possessing the happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His grace, regardless of their outward conditions) are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!"

In the Old Testament, in Psalm 24, David asks the question in verse 3: "…who shall stand in His (God’s) Holy Place?" And he answers it with (verse 4) "He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted himself up to falsehood or to what is false, nor sworn deceitfully."

How can we, mere human beings have a pure heart? The principle for being pure would seem to be giving one’s heart wholly to God! Even then it makes one wonder how it is possible.

In I Kings 11:4 it states David’s heart was "wholly devoted to the Lord his God." We know from reading all about the life of David that he did not always act pure. He had committed murder as well as adultery, yet it says he had a ‘wholly devoted heart’. As we think about David’s life, however, we see that he always had a song. When he was a shepherd boy, he sang; running from his enemies, he had a song. When he sinned, he wrote the most beautiful and heartbroken hymn of repentance (see Psalm 51). So, he sinned, yet in his heart he was praiseworthy. No man or woman will have a totally "pure" performance, but when we give the Lord our God our heart, He sees us as "pure".

When we are pure, the way we treat others will come from our love for God. The way the sixth Beatitude reads in The Message helps to explain this. "You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world." And not only will we see God in the outside world, but also the outside world will see God in us. He is not looking for a perfect performance, but He does look for a heart wholly devoted to Him.

A.W. Tozer tells us how to have our minds "wholly on the Lord". It is "by faith and obedience, by constant meditation on the holiness of God, by loving righteousness and hating iniquity, by a growing acquaintance with the Spirit of holiness." Proverbs 23:26 states "my son (daughter), give me your heart and let your eyes observe and delight in my ways."

My daily prayer is that I will have a heart wholly devoted to the Lord; He will see me as "pure", and others will see Jesus in me.

The Merciful

For the past few weeks we have looked at the first four Beatitudes as found in Matthew 5. Each of these has shown us we have a "need". Each of them is all about what we need, and that need is for God and others.

The last four Beatitudes also have something in common, and that is, how we are to show Christ to the world through Christ-like qualities, by going beyond ourselves and reaching out to others.

The first Christ-like quality is to be "merciful". In Christ’s sermon He said, "Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy." This is an interesting remark in that we can’t really ‘give’ mercy or be merciful unless we have received that mercy through Grace from God. Then, we in turn are to reach out to others by showing mercy, and God in turn will bless us and show us mercy. It has the principle here of ‘reciprocity." (my spell checker even took this word!). He gives us mercy through salvation, we show mercy to others, and He gives us blessings.

To show mercy is to be merciful and show compassion. Jesus showed compassion in His healings. He showed compassion when it says He bore the ‘infirmities’ of the weak in Matthew 8:17. He showed compassion at Lazarus’ tomb when it says He wept. He shared in the feelings of Mary and Martha even though He knew what He was about to do. It was Jesus compassion and merciful spirit that was so forgiving and from the Cross He said "Father forgive them."

To be merciful is to learn from Jesus example and what He has done for us, and have compassion and be forgiving to others, even those who wrong us.

My Prayer (part of a prayer by A.W.Tozer in "The Knowledge of the Holy"):
"Holy Father...How can we thank thee enough for thy mercy which comes down to the lowest part of our need to give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and for the spirit of heaviness a garment of praise? We bless and magnify thy mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord." May I too, show mercy as Your ambassador in this world. In Jesus name, Amen

Those Who Hunger and Thirst

Jesus said "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be satisfied. Only Jesus can satisfy. Psalm 42:1 states "As the deer pants for the water brook, so my soul pants for you." Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4 that whoever drank the water that He would give would never thirst. A person who is thirsty craves water; a soul thirsty for God craves or yearns for Him.

Jesus also likens Himself to giving us food for our souls. In John 6:35 He says "I am the Bread of life, He who comes to me will never be hungry…" Psalm 107:9 states "He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness." The hunger of our souls and the thirst for more can only be satisfied in Jesus.

The principle we find here is that of ‘yearning’. We are yearning for righteousness, and since Christ is our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6) we are desiring and yearning for Christ Himself.

I would like to quote a part of a prayer by A.W. Tozer; it fits the longing and yearning of my own soul: "O God, the Triune God, I want to want thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be more thirsty still. Show me thy glory I pray thee, that so I may know thee indeed." Just give me Jesus, and I will be satisfied. Amen

The Meek

In Matthew 5:5 we read "Blessed are the Meek for they shall inherit the earth." A true meekness is humility coupled with strength. The principle that is behind the blessing of meekness would be submission. We have learned that the poor in spirit are submissive to God. To be ‘meek’ is to be first submissive to God, but then we are to be submissive to our leaders, our spouse and to others in the family of God. In other words, we are to be submissive to each other.

In the New Testament, we have only one person who is called "meek" and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Of Himself He says He is "meek and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29). In the Old Testament, Moses was the only person with this distinction. In Numbers 12:3 it states "Now the man Moses was very meek (gentle, kind and humble) above all men on the face of the earth" (Amplified Version). Neither one of these men were weak; not in their character and not in their physical being; yet they were meek in their submission to God.

The opposite of meekness would be arrogance. Jesus was never arrogant. And Moses was said to be more humble than any man.

When we admit we need God and others, we will be showing meekness. This is not weakness but submitting to God’s strength. Paul said "When I am weak, then am I strong" (II Cor. 12:10). The Amplified says it this way: "…for when I am weak (in human strength), then am I (truly) strong (able, powerful in divine strength)." And why? Because he was submitting to God’s strength.

My Prayer: O Lord, my desire is to know You better, to go deeper into Your Word and deeper into submission to You. You have said that my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I say with Paul "I will glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ will rest on me". Meekness is truly having the Mind of Christ. Amen

Those Who Mourn

According to Webster’s Dictionary, "mourn" means: ‘ To feel sorrow, grieve.’ Jesus words were: "Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted". The principle of this beatitude is brokenness. A broken person will be open to God’s will.

What does a ‘mourner’ need? He needs to be comforted. In II Corinthians 1:3,4 we read that God is the Father of Comfort. Verse 4 from the Amplified Version reads: "Who comforts (consoles and encourages) us in every trouble (calamity and affliction), so that we may also be able to comfort (console and encourage) those who are in any kind of trouble or distress, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

When we desire to become more spiritual, brokenness is the key to a deeper work and understanding of God. He uses this as a means of taking us deeper into our need for Him, it teaches, and purifies and brings us into a deeper relationship with Him.

We may see such breakings in a Christian that will lead to bitterness, but if we desire to be more spiritual, God will turn the trials into blessings. He is seeking to help us learn to depend on Him, see our need for God, and bless us in doing this.

My Prayer: Oh Lord, I desire to have the mind of Christ. If it takes brokenness for me to learn this, then I accept it as a means of teaching me new insights and new blessings from Your Hand. You are my Comfort and my Joy. Amen

Poor in Spirit

I think just about everyone has heard of the Sermon on the Mount…even the non-believer. This sermon, found in Matthew 5, is begun with 8 blessings called beatitudes. These beatitudes are actually principles for us to follow in learning how to please God.

For the next few weeks I plan to look at one of the beatitudes each week and see how it can be applied to each of us. The first four are related to each other in that they show our dependence on God and our need for God. The last 4 Beatitudes are related to each other by showing us as ‘giving’ to others.

The first Beatitude in Matthew 5:3 is "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The Amplified Version gives it this way: "Blessed (happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous—with life—joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the poor in spirit (the humble, who rate themselves insignificant), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!" The poverty spoken of here is spiritual. Without God we are totally helpless.

Until one realizes he or she is poor in spirit, one can not repent; but to repent is to be poor in spirit. It is then that one realizes redemption depends on God alone.

Even after we have repented and received salvation, we are poor, in that we still have a tendency to sin. We have to realize that even as a believer we can do nothing unless we depend on God. If we want to live a spiritual life and a righteous life, we must realize how helpless we are on our own, and depend completely on the Lord.

Being ‘poor in spirit’ is our first step in helping us become a spiritual being. When we are poor in spirit, things of the spirit will become more important to us than the material world.

The poor in spirit know they need God.

My Prayer: Dear Lord, You say the ‘poor in spirit’ is blessed as he is the one who is humble before You. He is the one who realizes that he is nothing in himself, and yet in You he has everything. Here is my heart, Lord. I bow humbly before You; I know that without You I can do nothing. I offer You my worship and my praise. Amen

Inspiration From the Psalms

So many Psalms have spoken to God’s children’s hearts down through the ages. The Children of Israel sang them; they were sung by the early Church in the First Century AD. We don’t know the tunes from those long ago days, but many have put them into song in recent years, or been inspired to create new verse from some of them.

My mother was blessed with the ability to write both words inspired by the Psalms, and some she put to music, either the Psalm as written in the Bible, or her own inspired words from the Psalm. The following is one she wrote from Psalm 121:1 & 2 entitled
"I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes":

"I will lift up mine eyes to the hills,"
The mighty ageless mountains.
The towering rocks,
The wooded hills,
The streamlets tumbling down the rills;
The rushing falls,
The lakes serene,
The mighty peaks that I have seen.

"I will flee as a bird to the hills,"
My anguished heart once said.
In them find joy
Where troubles cease,
Amongst the hills there’s surely peace.
But lo, there was no peace of mind,
No ease from sorrow could I find.

Then a question clear I heard,
"From whence shall my help come?"
From towering rocks?
From wooded hills?
From streamlets rushing down the rills?
I pondered long,
And dark my way—
Till God revealed Himself one day.

Yea, my help cometh from the LORD,
The ONE who made the mountains.
His Mighty Word,
His loving Hand
Did make these hills on which I stand.
In HIM alone I now can see
Is perfect peace and VICTORY.
-- By Marjorie S. Paton