Matthew 5:4

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

I recently listened to a re-dramatization of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express. Dame Agatha drew that marvelous story out of the heartache of mourning. The story was built around the extended grief caused by the kidnapping and murder of a child.

Mourning is indeed one of the most painful aspects of life in this fallen world. Every pastor has to deal with such heartbreak. Many years ago I was pastor in a dairy community near a large city in Texas. A family I did not know came knocking on my door one morning before daylight asking if I would pray for their baby. Unfortunately their baby, who turned out to be a four or five year old child, was already dead. The child had died that night in a careless accident. And, of course, the hearts of that whole family were broken.

My Father's heart was broken when my mother died after they had been married 60 years. I had no memory of seeing my father weep in my entire life, even at his own mother's funeral. But for over a year after my mother's death he hated to go anywhere because he could not seem to speak to anyone without tears streaming down his face.

The one time that Scripture tells us Jesus wept was at the graveside of a friend. Jesus knew He was preparing to raise Lazarus from the dead. But He also knew the depth of pain death inflicted upon those whom He loved.

You can read a great deal about means of comforting those who have lost loved ones. And I am sure many of them have some efficacy. But there is a depth of pain there that can never be completely alleviated in this life.

And yet we find this promise from Jesus, that those who mourn are blessed because they will indeed be comforted. The comfort Jesus is speaking of is greater than any comfort we can administer. And in fact this is a comfort we can only grasp by faith in this life. God alone can bring about complete comfort to those who mourn.

In the Return of the King, the final book in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Sam Gamgee wakes up after the ring has been destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom. He is amazed that he is alive. And Gandalf, whom he was certain was dead, is standing before him. And he asks, “Is everything sad going to become untrue?” Though we must endure heartbreak in this life, we are promised all things lost will be renewed and every tear will be wiped away when we stand before our Lord in the end. And while it is hard for us to believe from this perspective, the goodness of that day will be good enough to turn even our heartache into comfort. Our deepest heartache will be replaced by Joy.

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Prayer Report on the ION NAR Gathering

https://ionprayer.com/2018/09/25/prayer-report-for-the-ion-nar-gathering/

A praise to God for His Mighty Hand in my life!

Matthew 5:6

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

But someone may ask, aren't our hungers natural? Aren't they beyond our control? To some extent I think that is true. But they can also be trained or tantalized.

A child asks, “May I have some more candy?”

The parent answers, “No, it will ruin your supper.”

The parent who loves a child knows she can be trained to desire roast beef and carrots. If she only wants candy she will not find tooth decay, obesity and death rather than satisfaction.

You may not have to think too hard to remember times when you desired something desperately. But when you finally got it, you were disappointed. It may even have turned out to be horrible. Wouldn't you rather have spent all that energy and time longing for something that would have satisfied you deeply?

Real satisfaction only comes from things that are right with God. But we live in a world that is hopelessly rebellious against the will of God. One of the places you can see this most clearly is in our attitudes toward righteousness. If you think of righteousness in terms of satisfaction and joy, you have probably been a believer in Jesus Christ long enough that experience has changed your perspective.

It is more likely that you see righteousness and pleasure as opposite ends of the same scale.

You may want to ask, “Why isn't that, or he, right for me? That is why the Bible uses a word we seldom use in other contexts. The word “righteousness” is more comprehensive. It refers to the whole purpose of something being to please God.

Of course, nothing in this world can completely fulfill our lives. But we can long for and put our faith in heaven where righteousness will be complete.

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Morning by Morning, September 25 - A Voice for All Victims -- Whether Wrongfully Abused or Wrongfully Accused

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be at the center of my heart and every moment of my day, as I live and move and have my being in You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  ...

"Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined; he remained there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. The chief jailer committed to Joseph's care all the prisoners who were in prison, and whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The chief jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph's care, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper" (Genesis 39:20-23).

Joseph was wrongfully accused of sexual assault. His integrity and honor were questioned. His good name was slandered. And the one who claimed to be the victim and survivor was lying to cover up her deeper motives and advance her own agenda (v. 6-18). But he was judged and condemned by the mere accusation alone, with his life forever changed (v. 19).

You're a God who hates violence and abuse of any kind. You heal the brokenhearted and save the crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18). You're an Advocate who speaks up for us and an Activist who does something about the injustice You see, as You seek to set things right in the righteousness of Your will and Your ways (Psalm 17). And at the same time, You're a God who hates lies and deceit, cover-ups and smears. "These are the things that you should do:  Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace, do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath; for all these are things that I hate, says the Lord" (Zechariah 8:16-17).

But even in the prison of all Joseph was made to endure, You were with him (Genesis 39:23). Even through the injustice and slander, You "showed him steadfast love (and) gave him favor" (v. 21). Even when his world was falling apart from the perspective of this world, You stood by him and even prospered him (v. 23). You weren't wasting a moment of his sufferings to prepare him to yet accomplish through him exceedingly, abundantly far more than he could ever ask or imagine (Genesis 41:57). You turned around all that was intended for evil in his life and used it all for great good in his life and all the lives You would touch through him for many generations to come (v. 50:20).

Lord, give voice to the victims -- whether wrongfully abused or wrongfully accused. And bring all things out of darkness and into Your light. When it's in the light, it's a fair fight. Then You can set things right, for "righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before You" (Psalm 89:14). And no matter what comes or how long it takes, You will always bring good out of it -- no matter the source or the motive of it -- for those who love You and are called according to Your purpose (Romans 8:28). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays

My friend, I join with you in prayer for the voice of every victim to be heard, whether wrongfully abused or wrongfully accused, and that the Lord our God would set things right and work it all together for good, in Jesus' name! God bless you, my friend!

Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries

Healing from the Inside Out

www.Messiah-Ministries.org 

Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries

4 Dominion Drive, Building 1

San Antonio, Texas 78257

www.RaphaGodMinistries.com 

Please share this word to encourage a friend!

Matthew 5:7

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

This is the first of the Beatitudes that may come close to making sense to modern Westerners. However that is because we really do not understand. This almost sounds like Jesus was saying, “If you are nice to people, they will be nice to you.” There is some truth to that. But it misses the reality of human nature and society. The world is not made up of nice people who will always be nice to you. If you only know those kinds of people your life is indeed sheltered.

I recently heard a testimony of a man who shortly after coming to faith in Christ heard Brother Andrew, God's Smuggler, talking with a prominent Near Eastern Sheikh who was ordering the death of 8 Israelis because 4 Palestinians had been killed. Brother Andrew ask him, “But where does forgiveness come in?” The sheikh answered, “That is only for those who deserve it.”

Much closer to home, I heard a woman tell about a man in her child’s Public School who mistreated and lied about her daughter. This was a horrible time for their family. Later she got some perspective on the events because the man was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She said, “I can forgive him because we found out his behavior was affected by the tumor. But I can't forgive other School Employees, and even friends in our church, who believed him when he said those things, even though they had known our daughter all her life.”

I understand her hurt, and why she said what she did, but that was not what Jesus taught. Christian Mercy does not end with those who are excusable. Later in this same chapter Jesus tells us we are to be like our Heavenly Father who sends sunshine and rain on the just and the unjust. We are even to love our enemies with the love of God.

What some of you are already thinking is important to understand. It is not true that your enemy will show you mercy, if you show him compassion. What then did Jesus mean? Like all of the Beatitudes this looks beyond the rewards given by other humans on this Earth. Jesus was pointing to the ultimate mercy of our Heavenly Father.

Toward the end of Mark 11 Jesus gives us one the most powerful promises of praying in faith. And then in verse 25 he extends what he says about faith with these words.

“And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

Jesus clearly links trusting God to forgive our own sins with forgiving those who have wronged us.

Matthew 5 concludes with the words, “Be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” How in the world are we ever going to obey this command? The only way we could do it is through the gospel. When we receive Jesus Christ, we receive His mercy, His righteousness, and His forgiveness for all who who receive Him. Are you striving and praying to show His mercy toward those around you? We receive His power in our lives to love and forgive as He forgives. But we will not know our final Christ-like perfection until we stand before the Father in His forgiveness and grace.

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To my surprise, the church announced their high-attendance Sunday goal and then prayed that God would help them to reach it. I was only their Interim Pastor, so was not in on the setting of the goal. When I asked how they arrived at the number, the answer was that it was ten more people than they had last year on high-attendance Sunday. Why do we ask God for things we know we can achieve in case He doesn’t? Were they afraid to ask God for fifty or a hundred more people? Afraid that the God who responds to our requests, “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask” (Ephesians 3:20), would not respond and thus they would look bad, like people of little faith? Had they never heard of the law of large numbers - invite 1000 people, 100 would show interest, and 10 would show up. I encouraged them to refrain from asking God for what they could do for themselves - then give God the glory. After all, which is worse, to set a goal for ten and reach it, or set a goal for fifty and only reach twenty-five? Pray big this week. Why not pray so big that if God is not in favor of your request, it will fail.

PURE IN HEART

Matthew 5:9

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

One of my favorite spiritual songs is Change My Heart O God by Eddie Espinoza. The lyrics read,

“Change my heart oh God.

Make it ever true.

Change my heart oh God

May I be like you.”

Purity of heart goes deeper than actions. It is purity of motives, purity of desire, purity of devotion to God and His righteousness. Purity of heart is purity in the very depth of your being. Purity can mean sinlessness. There is a sense in which purity means single mindedness. It also means transparency especially before God. And the promise here fits this latter meaning well. If you are open and transparent before God, He can reveal Himself to you. Purity of heart does not mean ultimate sinlessness except in the life of Jesus. But it does mean a willingness to be honest with God about our sins.

And I think it must extend to honesty with people, not operating with hidden motives. Someone once told me about hearing someone say about a friend, “He pretends to like me, but he probably talks about my behind my back.”

The man answered him, “No, you're wrong. He (the friend he was talking about) is as pure as water.” But to be honest, it is easier to give examples of underhanded motives than pure hearts. That is until we think about Jesus. One of the best places to observe His pure motives is when He was attacked and accused by the religious leaders. His purity always showed up their false motives.

In the 21st chapter of Matthew Jesus entered the temple not long after driving out the money changers. The scribes and Pharisees challenged Him asking by what authority He did those things.

Jesus said, “I will answer you if you will answer one question. ‘The baptism of John was it from heaven or from man?’”They talk among themselves saying, 'If we say it is from Heaven,’ he will ask us why we didn't believe in John. But if we say, 'It was from Men,’ We will lose popularity because all the people held John as a prophet.” He had them by their own prejudices. This is not the only example of their duplicity. Again and again they revealed their false motives.

So in Matthew 5:20 Jesus told us,

“Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

But Jesus was saying much more about our righteousness in this verse. He was saying unless His righteousness, His purity of heart, was given to us by God, we could never in our own righteousness enter the kingdom of heaven.

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• Matthew 5:10

  “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

  
  

  Has there ever been a time of greater need for peacemakers? In these days everything from politics to dietary preferences divides people. What will bring us back together?

  Years ago now, I took a team to Thailand to help lead a conference for missionaries working in Northwest China. One of our responsibilities for that week was to provide programs for the children of those missionaries. All the children spoke good English, but their families came from different parts of the world. Most of them probably also spoke one of the minority languages of Xinjiang Province. It may or may not surprise you to learn that some of those missionary children reflected stress on their lives. And we had to deal with conflicts nearly every day.

  One afternoon one of the boys who seemed to be in emotional high gear all the time, ran right in front of me, accidentally knocking a smaller child down, and hit another boy in the back of the head with his fist. The boy who was hit was not hurt severely, though he did put his hand on the back of his head and look around for who had smacked him.

  We were in the process of taking the children into the next room for one of their twice-a-day VeggieTale treats. I caught the offender by the arm and detained him while the other workers directed the rest of the children to gather around the television set to watch the video.

  “What did you do wrong?” I asked the boy.

  On the verge of tears he screamed at me, “I want to go watch VeggieTales!”

  “But what did you do wrong?” I asked the second time.

  “But he said . . .”

  I cut him off. “What did you do wrong?” He wouldn't answer. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. I held him as he struggled to go into the next room. We were near the open door and he could hear the introductory song of VeggieTales.

  “I want to go see the movie.” He yelled again.

  “You have to tell me what you did wrong.”

  “But I want to go!”

  “You evidently don't want to go badly enough to talk to me about what you did wrong.”

  “But Joshua. . .”

  I stopped him again. “I'm not talking to Joshua. I am asking you to tell me what you did wrong.”

  He struggled with me for about 20 minutes before he began to calm down.

  He finally admitted that he had hit the other boy in the back of the head because he was mad. He evidently didn't know he had knocked the small girl down as he charged across the room.

  “What do you think you need to do about this?” I asked. He was at first willing to miss the rest of the VeggieTales video rather than apologize. But the video was still playing within earshot. His restrained tears finally began to run as he agreed to apologise to the other two children as soon as the video was over. I took him in to see the rest of the video. He scooted in among the other children seated on the floor around the TV. He was still obviously upset.

  After he was settled in, the boy he was angry at touched his shoulder and motioned for him to sit by him. He scooted back to be next to the other boy who grinned at him. He didn't wait until the video was over to say he was sorry to the boy who reached out to him.

  I did not tell you this story so you would identify the peacemaker here. But I do think it highlights some of the dynamics of peacemaking that Jesus gives us in Matthew 5:10.

  
  

  First, peace comes from a peacemaker rather than a situation.

  
  

  A peacemaker is always someone who is at peace with God. Note I did not say someone who has made peace with God. If you are at peace with God, God has made peace with you. But you must humble yourself to respond to His grace.

  
  

  Those who have received God's peace have had their arrogance washed away at the cross of Jesus.

  
  

  And finally, peacemakers reach out to others as God has reached out to us.

  
  

  These are not necessarily a sequence of steps. The relationship, humility, and purpose of God's peace are fundamental our relationship with God. People will see and recognize a radical difference in God's peacemakers. And God Himself will not be ashamed to identify us as His own.

  
  
  

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Some of the most hope filled verses in the Bible are found in the Beatitudes as Jesus began his ministry with The Sermon on the Mount. These words are quite as hopeful as the most powerful promises at the end of The Revelation.

For several reasons I want to look at the Beatitudes in reverse order. When we do this we see some things very clearly about them. When you plunge into the deep water first, you get a better idea of this pool's depth. I fear that many people who say they love the Beatitudes have only dabbled their toes in the shallow end. These teachings certainly do not reflect the ease and pleasure ethic that has saturated society in the West and to some extent the entire world. These words of Jesus come to their stinging conclusion in Matthew 5:10-12.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

These words are not an abrupt change from the rest of the Beatitudes or of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. They represent the heart of who Jesus was, of what He did, and of what He taught. Many years ago now I served for short time in Uganda. I had a friend there whose name was Onesimus Jonah Juma. As I was returning to the United States Onesimus went to serve in a very difficult place. We exchanged letters for some time. And he shared with me in those letters some of the difficulties he faced in the name of Jesus. At the end of one of his letters he wrote, “Remember, we serve a crucified Christ.”

To some extent, I'm going to have to take what Jesus said here on faith, because I am not going to easily understand the blessedness of persecution.

But there is sense in which the Holy Spirit at least gives us a glimpse, or maybe a taste, of goodness in this extreme.

The first facet of what Jesus tells us is The Possession of the Kingdom in Persecution.

This is not merely something we will enjoy when we get to heaven. Jesus says, “Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven,” not, theirs will be the Kingdom. Even while you are being reviled, shamed, lied about, or tortured, you are proving that Jesus Christ is King! He is Lord in your life, and Lord of the universe. And there is great joy in that realization.

Next, in the midst of persecution we come to grips with the reality of God's Promises in Persecution.

Jesus tells us to rejoice because our reward will be great in Heaven. What you are paid for something makes a great difference in how you think about it. If you were employed to carry bricks at $0.50 an hour, you might be tempted to complain about the drudgery. But what if you had signed a contract to carry bricks for $1,000 a minute? We have assurance that whatever we suffer will by no means compare with the ultimate reward of faithfulness to God. The more you have to endure, the more assurance you can have of the glory that is yet to come.

Finally Jesus points out the Identity that is Affirmed in Persecution.

Jesus said this is how they treated the prophets who were before you. When you suffer for the name of Christ, you join an elite corp. You are standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Elijah on Mount Carmel. You stand with Isaiah and Jeremiah, Daniel in the Lion's Den. You are identified by God as being among those who are most faithful to Him.

This is a very crucial promise for those living in our day. In the past few centuries most Christians in the West were not severely persecuted, although there was always a price to pay. That is not true if it ever was on the world scene. In many parts of the world people joyfully pay a terrible price for following Christ. In fact some misseologists have estimated that more people died for the name of Christ in the 20th century than in all 20 centuries since the cross. And few would dispute that more are paying the ultimate cost in the 21st century. And it is important for us to encourage our brothers and sisters, joining Jesus in assuring them, “Rejoice, for your reward is great in heaven.”

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Morning by Morning, September 19 - "Sow to the Spirit" for Good Harvest

My friend, I pray you the Holy Spirit inspires and empowers you to sow good seed that produces a good harvest that please our Father today, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!

 

 

 

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