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HYDRATE — WINNING FROM THE INSIDE 10 (Mt.5:14-16) “Light”


“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 5:14-16

DRINK IT IN:
Have you ever seen light run from Darkness? Have you ever seen a strip of darkness piercing through the middle of a light room? No Way. But, we know what it looks like to be in a dark room and see a glance of light streaming through the darkness. This “sword” of light always strikes a gleam of hope in my heart. It always provides a touch of comfort. It lets me know that in the middle of darkness there is something on the outside that is piercing the darkness.

In this simple teaching, Jesus is using some common sense word pictures to make people think about how He created us to be. Let me rewrite Jesus’ teaching in a way that I think Jesus meant it to literally be.
“You–My followers–are the light of the world. You are to be like a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. Don’t become a Christian and be secretive about it. Instead, SHINE ON, and give light to everyone in the world. Yes, you as Christians, let your light shine before the whole world, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

I love how Jesus just “rubs in” what is supposed to be the brightness and greatness of a Christian. He is saying that we as Christians GLOW. We should glow and it makes no sense to give our lives to Him and then hide it.

My fear in this kind of talk from Jesus is that it will empower the wacko. Nowhere does Jesus say in this passage that you should shout out negative, hurtful, hateful things from across the street at people who are far from Him. In fact that would cause Kingdom damage. That would push people farther from God. That would actually be contributing to darkness. Peter wrote in the Bible, that we are always supposed to be ready to give an answer for the hope that we have, but we should do it with gentleness and respect. So…Don’t be a wacko. Be light. Be love. Be peace. Be patience. Be joy. Be kindness. Be goodness. Be faithfulness. Be gentleness. Be self-control. Be respectful. Be like Jesus. Be light!

SWEAT IT OUT:
Are you being secretive, in any way or form, about being a follower of Jesus?
If you are, what are you afraid of?

Think of somebody today that is “stuck in a dark room” of sin/shame/evil/hopelessness/depression/loneliness/etc. Be a piercing streak of light in their life and help them smile and shine. Give them a taste of Heaven today by being the light that Jesus referred to.

If you behave this way. If you put the high-beams of your faith on for all the world to experience…they WILL give PRAISE to THE FATHER IN HEAVEN.

What a blindingly halogenic 🙂 objective for today…
Did you notice the word halogenic has the word halo in it?
SHINE ON.


HYDRATE — WINNING FROM THE INSIDE 3 (Mt.5:5) “Meek”


“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
Matthew 5:5

DRINK IT IN:
Are you meek? The average person might respond, when asked this question, with, “heck no…I’m not meek!” This character trait, called meekness, is not one that the world determines to be of value. In fact, I would say, that the world believes that if you are meek you are weak. The world would continue to say, ‘If you are meek, then you are weak, which means you are going to get your butt kicked over and over and finish last.” Jesus would push back on this argument by saying, “The last shall be first.” Jesus also would say, “whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.”

So, I suppose the big question is this. Who’s right? Jesus, or the world? When “its” all said and done…does Jesus win? When the world is finished as we know it today, will Jesus have been right? I’m not a betting man…but this one is worth betting on! This is one bet I’m willing to go, “All In!”

Let’s get right to it. What is MEEKNESS?

Maybe a better way to understand what being meek is, is to first understand what it is not. An easy way to understand meekness, is to first admit, that JESUS IS MEEK. We know that Jesus was strong and had all the power of God, the Father. We know that Jesus got angry and made a whip and used it to whip people out of the Temple. We know that Jesus called the Religious leaders bad names. So meek does not mean weak. Meek does not mean, to remain quiet. It most definitely does not mean timid. Meek does not mean, never get angry. Meek does not mean to think poorly of yourself. It does not mean that you should think of yourself as of little worth.

Meekness does not demand to think poorly of yourself, I think meek simply means that you do not think about yourself much at all.

A meek person is a secure person. A meek person accepts that they, in the big picture of life, are small and do not have real control. A meek person knows that their Creator is great and totally in control. A meek person knows that they have been made in the likeness of their Creator. A meek person knows that they are a child of Almighty God and that cannot be taken away. A meek person knows that God doesn’t NEED them, but wants to know them and work together with them to bring a touch of Heaven to earth. A meek person does not have to defend themselves, because they are already secure in who God made them to be. A meek person believes in what God says about them and ignores what other people say about them.

A meek person can have unbelievable power and strength and could dominate any situation they wanted to control. But a meek person doesn’t have to control and they acknowledge this fact and are okay with it. A meek person understands the Bible passage that says, “Where I am weak, God is strong.” A meek person’s major goal is to do his/her very best to behave like Jesus Christ and leave the results up to God. To the meek, ALL CONTROL belongs to God.

I think that is a solid idea of what MEEK is.

Now what does Jesus mean when He says that the meek shall inherit the earth?

Some people are confused about what Heaven is going to be like. Some people are confused about what the end times are really going to be like. Now, the reality, is that none of us knows every detail, but the Bible does paint a strong picture of what Heaven is going to be like. Its pretty clear in the Scriptures, that when Jesus returns to settle the score once and for all with the devil, that everything on the earth is going to be destroyed. It doesn’t necessarily say that the Earth is going to be destroyed. Everything is going to be destroyed by fire. That means that God is going to rebuild. Re-new and re-do. Maybe its kind of like when God “destroyed” everything with the great flood. God started over. The Bible says that a New Jerusalem will be built and placed on earth. Sin will be destroyed. Our earthly bodies will be destroyed and we will be given new bodies for our souls to live in. The Bible talks about relationships, food, worship, no more pain, etc. etc. when it explains Heaven.

Its very easy for me to read the Bible, and be able to say, that Heaven is going to be just as physical and real as our lives are today. Heaven is earth renewed to what God intended when He first created it all from the very beginning. If you would like to do a very technical study on Heaven, then I would highly recommend Randy Alcorn’s book titled, “Heaven.” It will excite you about the realities of Heaven. Your expanded understanding of Heaven will encourage you to work on your meekness…because the meek will inherit the earth!

Be meek. It will be worth it. It might make you finish last here on earth…but…the promise is…the meek shall be first in eternity! Hmmm…not a bad deal. Call it delayed gratification. The average life span is about 85 years. Eternity is forever. I’ll trade 85 years of potential last places for an eternity of Champion.

Have you ever said this phrase…”Your day is coming?” That phrase can be spoken to both the non-meek and the meek. Which ever one you are or choose to be…Your Day is Coming!

Its your choice which one you want to be.

SWEAT IT OUT:

Are there areas in your life where you are not meek? Maybe ask a trusted person in your life to help you notice areas.
Are there things you are trying to control and/or force to happen?
Who have you been “dominating” lately in life? What can you do today to elevate them and show more meekness?

How would your day look today, if you chose to let God have all the control and you focused only on behaving in a way that honors God?

Maybe, an easy way to remember how to live today as a person of meekness, is to remember these two words.

HONOR & DELIGHT.

What if all day…you focused on “honoring” the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, Jesus Christ & worked on “delighting” the people that God puts in your circle of influence?

Think that would make your day a good one? Ultimately it won’t matter if your day is a good one or not…what will matter is that you will be a person of Meekness.

If you are meek, then Jesus says you are Blessed!

Have a meek day.


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