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Posts tagged with: beatitudes
Feb 7, 2012    |       3 comments

HYDRATE — WINNING FROM THE INSIDE 4 (Mt.5:6) “Righteousness”

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6

DRINK IT IN:
Have you ever been out on a walk or a drive and you pass through the invisible waves of Bar B Que aroma floating out of someone’s back yard? It catches your attention immediately. I think it might be my favorite smell on the planet. Its almost torturous to smell such an aroma when I’m hungry. The smell nearly causes my mouth to water and my stomach to growl. When there is ample food available, I think one of the greatest feelings is when my stomach growls and I know that I am getting ready to eat something delicious. I just love to eat! You too?

Another powerful feeling is the desire called thirst. I grew up on a farm in Kansas and I remember the couple of times that I ran out of water to drink while out driving the farm tractor on those hot summer days. I was never in trouble of becoming dehydrated, but I remember the desire of thirst growing intensely when I had to wait for a couple of hours for my dad to drive out to the field to check on me. He would always have an insulated container with ice cold water in it. When he would arrive on the field I remember the strong to desire of wanting to get my hands on that ice cold water. Thirst is a powerful desire.

So it makes sense when Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.”

Jesus said things like, “Man cannot live on bread alone.” He also said in John 4:34, “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.”

I wish I could give you some quick formula that would help you increase in your hunger and thirst for God. There is no quick formula. Its something that we grow into. Did you notice that these first four phrases, that Jesus mentions in His very first sermon that are recorded in Matthew 5, show a PROCESS of maturity.

The first step is being “poor in spirit.” This means being totally dependent on God. The next progression that Jesus mentions is being a person that “mourns.” This means recognizing that the world is not what God meant for it to be and it actually saddens you and causes you to long for what Heaven is. The third progression towards spiritual maturity is living a life of “meekness.” This means that we don’t focus on our own lives very much because we are serving others. When we are growing in these areas of our lives, then what is actually happening, is God is helping us to be in constant Hunger and Thirst for Him…which causes us to want to please Him and we know that righteousness is a key element in pleasing God.

“Blessed are those who Hunger and Thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.”

When you hunger for Chocolate…what do you constantly focus on? Chocolate.
When you thirst…what do you constantly focus on? Your favorite beverage.

Hunger or thirst are actually focus! What we focus on is what we give our priorities to. Our priorities are what we commit to. What we commit to, is what we become.

You and I will become what we are committed to.

If we hunger and thirst for righteousness, then we focus on living right. When we focus on living right, then we do right. When we do right, then we make a strong impact on the circles of influence around us. When we have a strong impact on those around us, then we are living a life of purpose and significance. Living a life of purpose and significance is fulfilling. If we are fulfilled, then our lives are full.

Jesus says…”you will be filled…if you hunger and thirst for righteousness.” He’s not saying anything profound here. He’s speaking common sense.

Its not that Jesus sends some magical blessing down upon us when we hunger and thirst for righteousness. He is simply saying…we will become what we are committed to. What you hunger and thirst for you focus on. What you focus on, you become.

SWEAT IT OUT:

So, here is the deal. If you are frustrated with where your life is headed, isn’t it fair for me to ask you to inspect where your hunger and thirst is? Where is your focus?

If you struggle in determining where your focus is, then I want to share with you a short-cut to help you determine the undeniable truth as to where your focus is.

Do a quick peak at your CALENDAR. What are you spending a major portion of your life doing? You might say “work.” That’s okay. Work is a blessing from God. I’m not asking you to make God the “First” priority in your life…I’m asking you to make God the “Center” of everything you do. There is a difference in First and Center. If God is first in your life, then every time you go to work you are going to feel like you are letting God down because you are focused on work. So, the solution is to make God the center of your life and then no matter where you go or what you do, God is always in your central focus. Make sense? So, again, what are you spending a major portion of your time doing?

Another quick short-cut to help you determine where you focus is, is to take a look at your Bank Account expenditures. I’m not asking you to do this to make you feel guilty, I’m simply asking you to measure where you spend a majority of your money. It will help you understand where your priorities are. I do challenge you to set aside and give to God a minimum of 10% of all your income. This is something that God asks of every one of us. It is a part of hungering and thirsting for righteousness. This kind of generosity is good for you. That’s why God asks us to give it. Your giving not only helps you stay selfless, but also helps meet the needs of many that Jesus commands us to help. You should give this tithe/10% to a ministry that is clearly focusing on Hungering and Thirsting for righteousness.

Are you a part of a local church that focus’ on teaching and learning the Word of God and pushes you to serve others using your strengths and talents? Keep looking until you find the right fit. When you do, jump on board fully.

Take a few moments to rate yourself in how you are doing with the first 4 phrases of Matthew 5. Use a scale of 1 to 10 to show how you are doing in each one. Is one weaker than the others? Focus a little more on that one weaker one. Keep growing in the ones you are doing well in. You should be pretty balanced with each one. They should all be a strong and growing reality in our lives.

Focusing on the key elements I mentioned above are a critical factor in living a fulfilling life.
I hope you will commit to moving forward in all of these starting now.
Make your day today one of hungering and thirsting for righteousness.

Feb 5, 2012    |       2 comments

HYDRATE — WINNING FROM THE INSIDE 2 (Mt.5:4) “Mourn”

“Those who mourn are blessed, for they will be comforted.”
Matthew 5:4 (HCSB)

DRINK IT IN:

Have you ever truly mourned? It usually takes the loss of something in our lives to cause us to mourn. So, it’s fair for me to say that EVERYBODY at one point or another has mourned, right? I do not think this is what Jesus was talking about when He said, “Those who mourn are blessed.” If that is the case, Jesus would have just said…”Blessed is Everybody!” Because everybody, sooner or later mourns. So what did Jesus mean when He said, “Those who mourn are blessed?”
Put on your thinking caps with me here.

Remember that BLESSED, in this instance, does not mean happy. It means, ACCEPTED. This passage could be translated, “God accepts into Heaven those who mourn…for they will be comforted.” The hard truth in this teaching of Jesus is the fact that God LOVES everyone, but He only ACCEPTS into Heaven those who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior into their personal lives AND mourn. Big difference.

So what does Jesus mean in this passage? “Those who Mourn will be blessed, for they will be comforted.”

I think the best way to fully grasp what Jesus meant here, is to understand what I like to call, origins. In order to understand the origins of God, then we need to reexamine the very beginning of time. We do this by asking this question…what did God intend for mankind from the very beginning? When I say beginning, I mean, Adam and Eve. The Beginning! What did God intend for the world to be like? Let’s go to the beginning.

And so, God created Adam. He put Adam in charge over everything on the planet to manage and steward. Adam got to spend “face-time” with The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God’s intent from the very beginning is for mankind to be up-close and personal with God all the time! Adam got to do some pretty cool things under the leadership of God. Adam actually got to name all the animals. I like to have fun thinking about how Adam started naming all the animals…one by one he got started on naming the animals with great creativity and energy. This early and energetic start allowed Adam to come up with names like, Hippopotamus, Duck-billed platypus, Giraffe, Elephant, Tyrannosaurus, Barracuda, Flamingo, Orangutang, Alligator, chimpanzee, and salamander. My opinion…about this naming task that Adam was given to do…it began to tire him, and much like any person, his patience grew thin as he looked down the long line of animals yet to be named. So instead of being creative, because creativity takes a lot of energy, Adam turned into, “Mr. Obvious.” He started naming the animals based off what they obviously did or at least what they looked like. Hummingbird, Road Runner, Grasshopper, Jellyfish, Red Deer, Stinkbug, and Woodpecker. So as the day wore on, and it is obvious that Adam got tired and grouchy and names began to shorten and we ended up with dog, pig, cat, rat, yak, Bee, Ant, Ox and in a grouchy last minute decision he named one an Ass! LOL

But…as the story moves forward…Adam, after naming all the creatures is still alone. God said at this moment, “Its not good for man to be alone!” And so he put Adam to sleep and in a miraculous move of creation, God creates someone just like Adam, but “better.” This new “creature” is a total compliment to Adam and is very similar but also different. She has “curves” that he doesn’t have. He is immediately very “impressed” and says out-loud to God…”WO–Man!” And God said…that works! Let’s call her Woman!

Sorry. Can we get back to the point please?

What I’m really trying to point out here is this. God was with Adam and Eve, face to face! Adam and Eve had no shame or embarrassment of any kind. There was no competition, no comparisons, no jealousy, no revenge, no hurt, no anger, etc. Animals and people were not afraid of each other. Perfect Community. No, greed, weeds, dirty deeds, or plastic surgeries.

God meant for it all to be perfect. Perfect community. Perfect relationships. Perfect life! That was God’s intent for the origin.

AND THEN CAME SIN. Freedom of choice turned selfish. Deception grew, jealousy and scarcity began to breed. Hurt…anger…murder…revenge. People taking advantage of each other. Sharing began to dissipate. Greed. In the lost face-time and community with God, people began to “re-group.” Racism formed, superiority complexes, gangs formed, cliques. Instead of share and love it became take and separate. Instead of give and share, it turned to keep and protect. Instead of work together, it became monopolize and dominate.

Every year that has passed since that first sin, it grows worse. Nearly 2000 years ago, the Apostle Paul warned of what times would be like as it grows closer to Jesus returning to break this world’s curse. Paul wrote in the letter of the Bible called 2 Timothy 2:3-4, “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths.”

As Christians, we understand what God intended our lives to be, starting with creation. We also know what has happened to our world. We understand that each of us have contributed to the problem. All this causes us to MOURN. We long for the day that Jesus will return and make all things new. He will RE-new all things to the original intent when He returns. Until then, we watch the 10 O’clock News and it causes us to Mourn. We see infants born with unbelievable mal-formities and we see the curse of sin growing through disease and disorders of every kind…and it causes us to MOURN. We see a child being bullied because he is different, and it causes us to MOURN. We study our history and read about people who, under the name of Christianity, marched forth to rape, kill and murder muslims in the Crusades of old…and it causes us to MOURN. We see Muslims Extremists fly airplanes into buildings…and it causes us to MOURN. Lying, cheating, stealing, sexual deviation, and every other form of self-serving action…growing, and growing out of control and it all causes true understanders of the origins of God to MOURN.

Its almost maddening to simply read the paragraph we just read above. Its really out of control. How long will Jesus wait?

If you want to read a passage in scripture, only 11 verses long, that perfectly talks about what I mean by, “Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted,” then read Ezekiel Chapter 9 in the Old Testament. Notice what happens to those who are in the city who are “mourning.” How do the angels know which ones are mourning? It says they are the ones, “weeping and sighing because of all the detestable sins that are happening in their city.” The Lord commands the angels to put a mark on these people’s heads. Go and read what happens to the people who DO NOT have the “mark.” What happens to the people with the “mark?” (Grab a Bible and read it.)

There is something deeply inspiring about this story of Ezekiel 9. The “Mark” that is given to those who are “MOURNING” is written on their foreheads. The people with the mark written on their foreheads are promised that they will be saved/comforted while everybody else is annihilated. The cool part of this story is the actual “mark.” The mark is the Hebrew alphabet letter called the Tav. The Tav…in Ezekiel’s time…when drawn on the foreheads of the people who were mourning…is this. Here is the “Tav” as it was written on the foreheads of the people in Ezekiel’s time. Today we know this symbol to be the sign of the CROSS!! This story happened nearly 600 years before Jesus dies on the cross. The sign of the cross that was written on the people’s heads, because they were mourning, “saves” them and comforts them from the wrath. (Do you see the prophecy in this story?)

So…eventually Jesus shows up on the scene and teaches about those who mourn and how they will be blessed. The people who mourn today, do it because they know what the world SHOULD be if it weren’t for sin. Those who mourn have a deep desire to live in the “God intended world.” Those who mourn understand this. Those who mourn will be comforted. Those who mourn will be the ones accepted into God’s Kingdom of Heaven where they will live just as physically as we do today, but in a renewed world. The world renewed as God had originally planned it to be. That is something worth mourning for!

“Blessed are those who Mourn, for they will be comforted.”

SWEAT IT OUT:
As you dwell on the depth of this one sentence that Jesus said, I hope you will focus on what ultimately has caused those who do mourn, to mourn. It is sin. So in this short devotion, I hope you will do some practical things to help you be in a better “up-close and personal” relationship with God, right now. We don’t have to wait until Heaven to have some up close and personal time with God. Your relationship with God won’t fully be what you would like it to be until eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven begins. Don’t forget, though, that God wants us to bring some Heaven to earth right now. If He didn’t, He would not have taught us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done ON EARTH…AS it is in Heaven! So here are a few things to do, to bring a taste of Heaven to earth right now.

First of all…are there any sins that you are continually practicing that are causing you extra pain and regret in your life? 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Are you being Greedy, arrogant, rude, selfish, drunk, sexual deviation, continual overeating, jealous, revengeful, judgmental, etc? If so, confess them and stop committing them.

You should be mourning this world right now, and wishing it were what it is supposed to be. So why don’t you contribute to the “what it is supposed to be?” There are a lot of people who suffer extra because of this “fallen” world. Jesus tells us what to do for these people. Feed them, clothe them, visit them, give water to the thirsty, care for the orphan, etc. Join a local church that is actively doing these things and participate yourself. Find somebody in your circle of influence who is struggling because of our world’s condition. Help them in anyway they need help.

If you have secrets in your life…those secrets are the beginning to sin and destruction. Admit the truth and accept the consequences and be free in the eyes of God. Forgiveness is real. Its not easy, but it is real.

Something to think about…Do you MOURN the current status of our earthly condition? If you do not…are you okay with that? Have you become hardened and cynical and sarcastic? I struggle with having a hard heart sometimes and also with sarcasm and cynicism. Those are not traits we should be proud of. Practice what Philippians 4:4-8 says. “Rejoice in the Lord always. Think about those things that are lovely, admirable and worthy of praise. Then the God of peace will be with you.” This world SHOULD make you mourn. If you do not, something is not right with you and your walk with Christ. Until Jesus returns there should be at least a little mourning going on in your life…an ache for what life is supposed to be.

The world we live in right now…was not meant to be this way. Someday Jesus will return to restore it to its intended condition. Make sure you are ready. What a world its going to be! I am hoping to see you there and spend eternity with you. If you don’t know for sure that you are going to spend eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven, then we need to talk. Contact me and we’ll get this all straightened out. It will be more than worth it.

“Those who Mourn are blessed, for they will be comforted.”