“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” – Matthew 5:7
Webster’s dictionary defines mercy as “compassion or forbearance (not enforcing due payment) shown especially to an offender or to one subject to ones power.” Basically, mercy is when a person has compassion and decides not to collect what is due. For example, if you were late on rent, mercy would be when the landlord decides to not evict you, and could even grant you more time to come up with what you owe. Blessed is the person who grants mercy to others, because they will be given mercy. Hosea 6:6 says God desires MERCY not sacrifice, and for us to get to know Him, instead of giving burnt offerings. James 2:13 says “mercy triumphs over judgment.” Luke 6:37 tells us to not judge but to forgive (show mercy). Micah 6:8 tells us to seek justice and to love mercy. In Deuteronomy 15, God tells us to forgive someone’s debts after 7 years. What that means is if someone borrowed from you, give them 7 years to pay you back, and at the end of 7 years whatever they haven’t paid is to be forgiven and forgotten. That is literally Mercy in action… having compassion and forbearance toward someone. Why?? Why does God care so much about us being merciful? Why does God put such an emphasis on His children being merciful? There are 2 main reasons I find in scripture to help us understand God’s desire (almost obsession) for getting His children to be merciful. The first reason is He is merciful. One of the most famous sermons ever quoted or mentioned in American history was preached in 1741, by Jonathan Edwards: Sinners in the hands of an Angry God. As much as that sermon did to bring an awakening to this country almost 300 years ago, I sometimes wish I could help people understand the damage this sermon title did for the image of God in this present generation… Listen, I am not saying it’s a bad sermon at all. It is in fact a beautiful sermon about the mercy of God, about how the only thing that keeps sinners from falling into hell is God’s mercy. But the title makes God seem like He is an angry old man with lightning bolts in His fists, ready to destroy everyone on the planet. If we don’t know the content of the sermon, we get a very twisted picture and image of who God is… Far too many Christians preach about the anger of God, never seeming to realize He has constantly pled for His children to be merciful. Matthew 18:23-35 is a beautiful section of scripture where Jesus again talks about the necessity of mercy (especially 32-35). Aren’t the red letters beautiful? Check this out: “I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” Wow. God loves mercy, and expects us to have mercy on others. Why? Because He is merciful, and He expects us to be like Him. Ephesians 5:1 says, “Be imitators of God.” The second reason God wants us to be merciful is a little less obvious, but is still found in scripture. The entire book of Galatians was written with the intention of correcting a group of believers who were being convinced that it is more important to follow the Law than it is to be led by Holy Spirit. Let me say that again: God told Paul to write to a group of His children in order to correct a wrong belief- God would rather we be led by Holy Spirit than do good things that He wrote in the Law. And at the very end of the letter, God put something very powerful on Paul’s heart. “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are of the Spirit should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you may also be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ… the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life… Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”- Galatians 6:1-10 (1,2,8,10) Did you catch it? I told you, it’s a little bit tough to see. Being merciful fulfills Christ’s Law- entirely. When we are merciful to others, believers or not, we are truly fulfilling the Law of Christ. Not outwardly, in a way that impresses others, but inwardly, in a way that blesses God. If you’ve ever wondered how to bless God, I can give you a few different ways: worship Him, love Him, evangelize to people- sharing His love for people, and Be Merciful. I believe mercy builds people up in Christ. When we are given mercy, it draws us closer to God and to the person who gave the mercy. When we give mercy, it brings us closer to God and to people. Love builds us up in Christ (Ephesians 4:16). Lastly, Jesus didn’t just tell us to be merciful. He said we will be blessed because when we give mercy, we will be given mercy. The reward for being merciful is we will receive more. We give what we have, and we gain in return. The more we give, the more we get. Pour out what you have, give it away, bless people. In return, others will give to you. Even better, God will pour out into your life. It may be blessings that prosper you, financially or whatever you need… but even more than those temporary things, God will bless you with Righteousness, Peace, and Joy in Holy Spirit. There isn’t anything better than that. Bless you
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“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”- Matthew 5:6
I feel like I probably talk about the upside-down Kingdom way too often in these blogs, but the truth is every time I reflect on the Kingdom of God, I realize it truly is upside-down compared to this world. The greatest become the least, faith is having evidence that is not permissible in a court room (it’s invisible), the first become the last… the list can literally go on and on. This verse contains two truths that are completely upside down: hunger and thirst, and righteousness. Allow me to explain. First, let’s tackle the hunger and thirst topic. In this world, the way to get hungry or thirsty is to deprive ourselves of food and water, or to eat something that has been enhanced… If you go without eating for 3 days, you will without a doubt be hungry. If you don’t drink any water for a day, you will be thirsty and your body will show you how dehydrated you are. Also, if you eat or drink something salty, you will become thirsty. If you eat the plain, white bread that is the cheapest in a store, you will become hungry faster than if you eat the whole grain, expensive breads. When I was in Armenia a few months ago, I ate less and was far less hungry because everything I ate there was not enhanced by our American systems (plus it tasted so much better there). So a lot of things can make us hungry and thirsty in this world. But in the Kingdom of God, the upside-down Kingdom, only one thing makes us hungry and thirsty: Him. The more time we spend with God, the more we want Him. The more time we read our Word, the more we want to read our Word. The more time we spend evangelizing, the more we want to evangelize. Why? Because He is just that good. The more we experience His goodness, the more we want of His goodness. But this verse doesn’t say, “Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty in the Kingdom…” It says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for Righteousness…” Here, the point still applies. The more we hunger and thirst for righteousness, the better we will be because we find out how amazing He really is. In Matthew 6:33, Jesus said if we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all the things you are worrying about will be taken care of. So what is Righteousness? Why is it good to seek for it? When God healed my body, I found out He was better than I thought. It made me want more of Him. I became obsessed with spending time with Him, as well as telling everyone I meet just how amazing He really is. I can’t count the number of people I have sat down with and told them of the beauty of His goodness, but as I type this out, I can see many of their faces. Having those conversations has been amazing, but spending time with Him has been even more amazing. One of the first things God did after my healing was to teach me about His righteousness. For example, He led me to Romans 10 and 2 Corinthians 5. The first passage tells us that people were zealous for God, but they didn’t know Him and so they pursued the wrong thing: their own righteousness through the Law. That is a huge key for us to realize. Trying to gain righteousness from your own behavior is no what God wants. The next verse tells us that Christ is the end of the law, so that righteousness is given to anyone who believes and knows God. Anyone who trusts in Jesus will never be put to shame, but instead are exalted and justified by God. 2 Corinthians 5 tells us that God no longer counts our sins against us, but instead became our sin so that we could be His righteousness. So God became sin, and transformed us (who know God) from sinners into righteousness. Therefore, when Jesus instructed us to not worry anymore about anything, and to instead simply seek His righteousness, He was telling us to get to know Him and to believe in the work He did on the cross. And blessed are those who hunger and thirst for that righteousness, because they will be filled with His righteousness. This leads to the second upside-down truth found in Matthew 5:6- righteousness. See, righteousness isn’t found by our own efforts. We can’t obtain it. We cannot purchase it, earn it, steal it, or fabricate it. The righteousness of God is given by God. Righteousness doesn’t come by your ability to obey the Laws of Moses, or your ability to control yourself. That was the wrong type of righteousness which Paul wrote about in Romans 10 (technically he wrote about it throughout all of his letter to the church of Rome, as well as the churches in Galatia). When we think our righteousness has anything to do with our behavior or sinlessness (good luck with that, by the way) we are actually making two mistakes: 1) we are proving we don’t know God, 2) we are denying what Jesus did on the cross. Knowing God is what He wants from us. Psalms 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God…” Jesus said, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3) And just for the sake of redundancy, Romans 10:2 says, “For I can testify about them (Jews) that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge, since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God…” Secondly, if we cannot add to what Jesus did for us on the cross. Either it was enough, or it wasn’t. There are many people out there that believe we are still in the process of attaining righteousness through a process called sanctification. I understand that line of thinking, but it is wrong. We aren’t attaining righteousness from sanctification. That is what the Jews believe they are doing (according to Romans 10:2). We attain righteousness from believing Jesus is the Messiah and because we know God. Romans 3:21-24 says, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and all have been freely justified by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Those who hunger and thirst for this truth, can’t get enough of it. At the same time, all the searching and constant desires of the flesh that we deal with subside in this truth. Like Jesus said, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Bless you “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”- Matthew 5:5 This has always been both a simple Beatitude for me to comprehend, and a very difficult one. On the one hand, being meek has always been a quality of God that I am attracted to, and when I meet meek people, I always enjoy being with them. Meekness has always been something that I enjoy. In that way I always understood this Beatitude. The Greek word for “meek” is “Praus” which means to be gentle, humble, considerate, patient, or kind. So someone who is meek is someone who is gentle towards others, humble, considerate, patient, and kind. That’s pretty basic. Obviously, God loves people like this. Throughout the Bible, we find passages where God desires for us to be these things. Passages like Philippians 2:3, which says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,” are simple and clear. 1 Corinthians 13:4 says, “Love is patient, love is kind… it does not boast…” God’s love is all about meekness. The part that was more difficult to understand about this Beatitude was inheriting the earth. I’ve never thought that inheriting the earth was something that I should pursue. I want to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. In Matthew 7:21, Jesus tells that the goal should be the Kingdom of Heaven. In 1 Corinthians 6:9, Paul states the same basic thing. Inheriting the Kingdom of God/the Kingdom of Heaven is our goal. And the 1 st Beatitude was the one that tells us how to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Not only has that, but James 2:5 reminded us that Jesus taught us how to inherit that kingdom by summarizing Jesus in Matthew 5:3… Also, in verse 10, it says those who are persecuted because of righteousness have the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is clearly my goal, as it is for all of us. It is because of this I have always struggles with inheriting the earth. When looking for better understanding, I came across Isaiah 57:15: “For this is what the High and Exalted One says— He who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is remorseful and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the repentant.” It’s here in Isaiah that I found a better understanding of what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5:5. When we are Meek- gentle, humble, kind, considerate, patient- it is because we have a heart of contriteness (remorse), we are lowly in spirit. When we get to this place, Holy Spirit has access to our soul and can bring comfort. When Holy Spirit does this, He not only revives our soul, but also our spirit, and I have never met anyone who has been revived by Holy Spirit who was struggling with their thoughts or emotions. People who have been revived by Holy Spirit have personally tasted and seen the goodness of God. They know Him. They are permanently impacted by the Presence of God- the Doxa presence. The old no longer has any appeal. The more we encounter Holy Spirit, the stronger we get. But the strength that comes from Him isn’t a strength that manifests as power, in the sense of bullying and violence. It is a strength of character, as if we stand on a foundation so strong that even when massive winds and waves come we don’t falter. We don’t waiver. Every person I have ever met that has this calm assurance inside them has been meek. They are always gentle, always humble, always considerate and patient, always kind. I don’t mean they are individually perfectly gentle 100% of the time. I’m saying that every person is gentle and humble, considerate and patient, and kind. I am saying that meekness is a true characteristic of the person who has been revived by God. And for these rare people, who have surrendered their pride, their ego, their excuses, they are unfazed by the world. The earth, its prince, and principles have no effect on these people. It’s as if they are King, and they know it. They don’t lose their character when bad things happen. They don’t lose their faith. They are like David: a man who pursued God’s heart. They don’t worry when crazy things happen. David’s son wanted to be king and talked most of the country into letting him be their king. David let it happen. He didn’t freak out when his throne and crown were taken from him. His loyal soldiers wanted to kill the people who turned on him, and they wanted David to take his throne back. But David didn’t do that. He remained meek, because he had been revived by God. From a lowly shepherd, God revived David, making him the hero of the nation, and then He made David king. David knew God had chosen him, not his son to be king. David didn’t panic. He actually calmed everyone else down, and eventually got his throne back. David never doubted. Why? Because he had been revived. He had become meek. Nothing the earth can throw at us can affect us, if we are truly meek. Why? Holy Spirit will make sure that when He revives our lowly, repentant hearts, He brings true transformation. The toughest, most violent among us become gentle. I knew a man, who has passed in recent years, that was a brutal man of the world. He did drugs, sold drugs, and even killed some people. He was a cold-blooded killer, with no remorse. One day, he met God, and he began to change. Holy Spirit saw the remorse in his heart, and entered in, transforming him into a bold, yet meek, preacher of the Gospel. I went on many mission trips with this man, and listened/watched as he led countless people to Jesus. I didn’t know him personally before he met God in my grandfather’s church, but I know many people who did. To give you a sense of the type of man he was before he met God, he actually came to kill his wife during church, carrying a loaded pistol. Before he could pull the trigger, in the middle of the Sunday morning service, God met him and transformed him. I knew him for 22 years, and never saw him lose his temper. I never saw any violence in him. But he also was as bold as any man I ever met, as he would talk to anyone about Jesus. Always with the most gentle voice, most patient heart, most kind and considerate humility. May we all be as meek as Jesse was. Because the earth will be our inheritance… Bless you. |
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July 2023
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