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A Message of Hope » 2012 » January
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A Hunger for God

Jan 17, 2012 @ 11:16 am by claypot

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
   for they will be filled.  Matthew 5: 6
            What do we hunger for?  Each of us has our own favorite meal.  Steak, potatoes, chicken fried chicken, pecan pies, the list is endless.  We each have a desire to eat and fill our stomachs, but why?
            Our bodies are miracles in and of themselves.  We take in food and the stomach transforms it into all the things our bodies need to grow, develop, and just continue running.  We all have sulfuric acid sitting in our stomachs that breaks down the food we eat.  Nutrients are taken to our body via our blood.  Waste products from the process are sent out of the body.  (For more details, just ask Sheila).
            So God has designed us to desire food to ensure that we continue to live.  Food is our unleaded gasoline that keeps us going.  We need food and water to live.  Hunger is God’s way of telling us we need to eat to live.
            Strangely enough, spiritual hunger is God’s way of telling us we need spiritual food.  Every human has a need for God.  No matter the situation.  No matter the age.  No matter the sin.  People need God.  Jesus in Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount blessed those who recognized and acted on this need.  When we understand our soul is telling us we need spiritual food and water, then God is ready to fill that void.
            In John 4 and 6, Jesus speaks to these issues.  He tells the woman at the well that he has living water that will last forever (John 4: 14).  He tells his disciples in John 6 that He is the bread of life (vs 35) and that we will never hunger and thirst again as His followers.  That is a promise with enduring ramifications.  Our bodies age and grow frail.  They break down and eventually stop working.  But our eternal soul lives forever and sating our hunger for God with the teachings of Jesus will never let us down or feeling empty.  Let’s fill our soul’s hunger for God with eternal food.
Scripture:  John 4 and 6
 

 

Meekness

Jan 17, 2012 @ 11:15 am by claypot

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.  Matthew 5: 5
            Who are the meek and why are they going to inherit the earth?  Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount relates to the people by quoting David in the Psalms.  In Psalms 37:11, David writes that “the meek will inherit the land.”  Jesus returns to this passage to reinforce the blessings for the people in his audience.  But why?
            The idea that the meek will inherit the earth is not new.  Jesus reiterated the promise in the form of a blessing in the Sermon on the Mount.  In Psalm 37, David is making a contrast with those that are evil and good people.  In fact, in verse 9, he writes that the evil will be cut off and those who “hope in the Lord will inherit the land.”  In verse 10, he indicates the wicked will be no more prior to saying the meek will inherit the earth.  Notice that David is reassuring the people that God will bring His righteous judgment and those who are patient will ultimately triumph.
            But who really wants to be meek?  We often hear the word meek and think timid or mousey.  Good Texicans aren’t meek.  We stand up for ourselves and others.  Meekness is not in our DNA…or is it?  David uses several descriptive terms to identify who the meek are.  In verse 1, he tells us the meek are not envious of the evil people.  God’s people do good and trust God (vs 3).  The  meek delight in the Lord and are blessed (vs 4).  The meek commit to God while we wait patiently for him (vs 5,7).  We refrain from anger, wrath, and fretting because that only leads us to evil (vs 8) .  The meek inherit the earth because they are God’s people.
            Meekness is a trait of Godly people.  Sometimes that is one of the changes that occur in our lives as we begin to seek God.  We understand that we need to transform ourselves by the renewing of our minds as Paul tells us in Romans 12:2.  We become new creations in Christ that yearn to draw near God as we read about in 2 Corinthians 5:17.  Meekness doesn’t mean that we are subservient to other people.  It means we choose to serve God and not ourselves.  That is the change that makes us God’s meek people who inherit everything.  Meekness is Christian DNA.
Scripture:  Matthew 5: 3-12
 

Blessings

Jan 04, 2012 @ 10:15 am by claypot

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 5: 3
            The Sermon on the Mount is Matthew’s rendition of Jesus’ ministry to the masses.  He sat down and started teaching about the new kingdom he was instituting on earth.  The words were new and different for those hearing Him on that mountainside in Galilee.  He talked about God’s kingdom and how they were to live in it.  Jesus was a change agent of God for the earth and He still is today.
            Jesus begins His sermon by talking about those who are blessed.  He does not say you who are rich are blessed.  He does not say you religious people are blessed.  He does not say you famous people are blessed.  He literally turns their world upside down by identifying the weak and oppressed as blessed in the Lord’s kingdom.  How do we today process that image?
            Blessings are in the eye of the beholder.  We live in a free nation:  blessing.  We live in a modern society:  blessing.  We have loving families:  blessing.   We are saved by the blood of Jesus without any preexisting condition on our part:  blessing.  Are these the blessings that Jesus was talking about in the first century?
            Jesus identified nine types of people that are blessed in the Kingdom of God.  Each of these categories is also identified with a specific kind of blessing.  First, he tells us that blessed Christians are in the Kingdom of Heaven.  That is the ultimate blessing of life.  Additionally, Jesus does not say they will eventually get into heaven.  He says that is their blessing.  We need to seek that blessing as we go through this temporal world and not hope for it after this life.
            I mentioned the blessing of the Kingdom, but who really is eligible.  The first group Jesus mentions is the “poor in spirit.”  Ever wondered who these people are in the Kingdom of Heaven?  In Luke 6: 20, Jesus just says the poor are blessed with the Kingdom of God.  Many people understand these lines to mean that His ministry was to both the spiritually and financially poor; those with no creditable means of support in the secular or religious world.  Who are these people today who have God’s Kingdom?
            That is the real question for us today.  Who are these disenfranchised people today?  In the first century, Christ ministered to those who needed the doctor.  He brought hope to people without it; people not good enough by societal standards.  This idea that we are blessed spiritually should resonate for us as we try to live in this world.  Blessings in life are often a matter of our perspective.  Let us revel in the Kingdom of God and trust our King to bless us.
Scripture:  Matthew 5: 3-12