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NUTS AND BOLTS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

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The Beatitudes Part 5

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."            Matthew 5:7.  NKJV

The word 'Merciful,' in the Greek is a word called eleemon. It demonstrates active compassion, especially to the poor. It is kind, compassionate, sympathetic, merciful and sensitive. A person with these qualities finds outlets for their merciful nature.

Usually, the one who gives out this type of mercy is one who has received it. They know just how it feels to receive mercy just when they need it, when all is lost and suddenly, someone shows them mercy. The merciful one will be forgiving to others, always thinking the best of them wherever possible. To receive mercy ourselves, we need to show mercy to others. It is rather like forgiveness. If we forgive people we in return are forgiven. If we don't forgive people, neither will we be forgiven. (Matthew 6:14-15).

William Barclay describes how Queen Victoria was a close friend of Principal John Tulloch of St Andrews. When Prince Albert died Victoria was left all alone. Around the same time, Principal Tulloch died also. Therefore, Mrs Tulloch was also left all alone. Totally unannounced, Queen Victoria went to call on Mrs Tulloch. When she arrived Mrs Tulloch was resting on a couch. When she saw the Queen, she struggles to get up and curtsey, but Queen Victoria said, 'Don't rise. I'm not coming to you today as the Queen to a subject but as a woman who has lost her husband too.'   (William Barclay 1956 The Gospel of Matthew).

God showed us mercy also. He came to us in the form of Jesus. He showed each one of us love and mercy; forgiveness and friendship. This is how He expects us to be with all we meet. Yes, people hurt us but don't we hurt Jesus just the same? Yet He still shows us His love and mercy. Let us go and show that mercy to all we may meet today.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

The Beatitudes Part 4

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled."
                                                                                                                Matthew 5:6.  NKJV

The term here, hunger and thirst, is the same feeling as starving for natural food and drink but with a spiritual tense. There is an ongoing passion which is never satisfied. It is extremely intense. It is a hunger and thirst for God and all He stands for and it is never quenched; and it won't be until we see Him face to face.

Many Christians seek, hunger and thirst for the things of this world - power, authority, success, comfort and happiness but the hunger and thirst here in this verse is for righteousness.

King David had a dream within his heart to build a temple for God. However, it was denied him and his son Solomon, was the one who built it. David could have thrown a wobbly and been totally angry and upset about all of this. But David was a warrior; a man of God and he accepted this. Solomon was God's choice to build the temple but God said to David, 

'Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well that it was in your heart.' 
                                                                                                   1 Kings 8:17-19   NKJV

You also may have been holding a dream within your heart to do something special for God but you've not been able to. You have had to watch someone else fulfilling your dream and it has hurt quite a lot. Don't be sad or crestfallen. Be encouraged because God wants to say to you, 'You did well that it was in your heart.' Your intentions were good and God is pleased and He has noted your intentions. You will be rewarded.

The Ancient Greek had an interpretation for hungering and thirsting. If they needed bread, they were happy to settle for just a piece, not the whole. It was the same for water and really anything else. They settled for a portion not the whole.

William Barclay writes:

'This Beatitude says that it is not enough to be satisfied with a partial goodness. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for the goodness which is total.'

God does not want you settling for second best. He doesn't want you settling for a piece of righteous and blessing. He wants you to have it all: 'For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.'  2 Corinthians 5:21.

Therefore, you righteous person of God, rise up in Jesus because you're blessed and your hunger and thirst for Him will be satisfied.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

The Beatitudes Part 3

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."                       Matthew 5:5.  NKJV

The Ancient Greek word for 'meek,' is praus. The word carries the ideas of humility and self-discipline. It is not a sign of weakness or being spineless but rather having a controlled strength.   
It gives the idea of one not easily pushed around but in control enough to be humble. 
David Guzik comments:
'It has the idea of the proper balance between anger and indifference, of a powerful personality properly controlled and of humility.'

God always loves humility. He hates the proud and opposes it (James 4:6). James further comments on this in James 4:10: 'Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up.' A meek person can be angry but not sin (Ephesians 4:26). Suffering wrong without bitterness or a desire for revenge is characteristic of a meek person, as is having a willingness to submit and work under authority. This confidence is from having a deep trust in Jesus to perform on their behalf should they be wronged. God watches over the lives of the meek person; He watches over their cause and he will not let His meek ones be taken for a ride. 

Moses was possibly the greatest leader that ever lived. He wasn't weak at all, he was meek and so was able to control his temper when the Israelites were doing everything but what they should have been doing. He was humble and God was there to help him.

Proverbs 16:31 says it all: 'He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.' 

This is the perfect description of a meek person. When we take control of our temper and seek humility and the willingness to serve, we are not showing weakness at all. We are showing the world meekness and God likes this and therefore acts on our behalf if we are wronged in anyway. This is the meaning of, 'they shall inherit the earth.' By living the life of a meek person. we submit to Our Heavenly Father and to all He shows us and directs us to do. In return, he watches our back. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a good deal to me. Don't you think?

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

The Beatitudes Part 2

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."                    Matthew 5:4.  NKJV

William Barclay says of this Beatitude:

'It's true meaning is, 'Blessed are those who are desperately sorry for their own sin and their own unworthiness.'

Many may say that the meaning was to do with bereavement and grief - the loss of someone very close to us. And they would be right. The word to mourn has a very strong meaning and that meaning was included in Jesus' mention of it. However, here it was referring to our sin. Don't let us forget that initially Jesus had set out and begun preaching, 'Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.' (Matthew 4:1). We can't repent unless we are sorry for our sins - convicted. When the full realisation of the cross hits us and we see how Jesus suffered on it so that we could be declared 'Not Guilty,' we see how powerful and deadly is the sin we carried around and how close we were to going to hell when we die. Strong words I know but true all the same. This is why we need to repent each and every time that we become involved with sin.

As I mentioned earlier, the meaning of mourning here, is the same as when we are in grief when someone we love dies. The pain felt is the same type of pain mentioned in the Beatitude. Even though Jesus' first thought for teaching it, was for the weight of sin, He wouldn't have dismissed the feelings bereavement causes. After-all, Jesus knew the pain of losing someone close to Him. When He stood outside Lazarus' tomb, He wept. (John 11:36) Even though Jesus knew He was going to raise him back to life, when He saw the pain of Lazarus' family and friends, He hurt and His emotions erupted. And this is how He is with all people who are in grief.

Maybe this is you. You may be in mourning at this time. Grief takes time to heal. People in your neighbourhood move on much quicker than you because they were not that closely linked. You are still suffering and this is normal. Don't be hurt when the people you know in the street, either make a quick exit from you or just don't feel like you do. Life's busy and often they just don't know what to say so they may ignore the situation you're in, but they still care.

But accept this, Jesus still cares. He was with you when it happened and will be with you all the way through. The One who is mourning with you is saying, 'Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.' So let Him!

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

The Beatitudes Part 1

"Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."        Matthew 5:3.  NKJV

The poor in spirit are those who recognise their spiritual poverty and casting aside their self-dependence, seek God's grace. The poor in spirit recognise that they have no spiritual “assets.” They know they are spiritually bankrupt. The ancient Greek had a word for the “working poor," which was penes. This was those who had to work for a living just to make ends meet. This was the basic, they had money to survive with nothing left over. The Greek also had a word for the “truly poor, which was ptochos this was absolute and abject poverty - those who were completely destitute. Jesus used the word for the truly poor here. It indicates someone who must beg for whatever they have or get. 

'Blessed," is recognised as being 'Happy', but it is quite a strange thing to start this teaching with. However, just stop for a moment here and think it through. In God's eyes we are all poor in the spirit. There is nothing we can offer God. Nothing that we can use to barter with. Yet through the precious blood of Jesus; by His Grace, we are rich in Jesus and share the Kingdom of God with Him. We reign with Him. Now that's something to shout about.

This Beatitude is first, because this is where we start with God. It's the first step near to our walk with Him, our first step in getting to know Him. This verse is not just for people starting out with Jesus. It is there for us all. Most of us can identify with being poor in spirit before we met with Jesus. We had no hope, no future, possibly no one who was there for us who wouldn't take us for granted. Then Jesus turned up. But we still have times when we feel like walking around as if we have nothing left. This verse is a reminder of just what we have in Jesus. We have been lifted from the scrap heap, and placed not among hired servants in the field, but among princes in the Kingdom of God. We reign with Jesus. We have a place in Heaven. We are His Ambassadors. 

Once you had nothing in spiritual terms, now you have everything. Once you may have been ashamed to be in the presence of Godly people, now you're one of them. But don't forget, there are 'Godly' people and 'Happy or Blessed,' people and if you know Jesus you're one of the latter. Why? Because Jesus said so, that's why and that is all that matters.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com

He never changes

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever."                      Hebrews 13:8.  NKJV

People change; situations change even moods change, but Jesus Christ never changes! He is the same yesterday, today and forever! A good night's sleep can bring changes - changes to our mood, because we have been exhausted and not handled things very well. A good rest can bring changes to the way we view a particular thing. People often say, 'It'll be alright in the morning, you just need a good night's sleep,' and this can be so true for many things, but not always.

Over-tiredness can bring about mood swings, arguments and words spoken that were never intended but nevertheless have now caused heartache or division. Taking on too much work is not good. We should only do what we are physically able to perform. Anymore can be a recipe for sickness or at the very least, a volatile home and/or work life.

Take a look at how Jesus operated. He never took on more than He should and He even encouraged the disciples to do the same: 'Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.' (Mark 6:31). In other words, take some time out; slow down or you'll wear yourselves out.

Probably there is a lot going on in your life at the moment and you're finding it difficult to cope with it all. If you can change the situation, then go ahead and do so. If you can't, then you need to find a better way to be able to work through it. This is where Jesus comes in. He's done it all. There's not a thing that he has not seen or heard about and what's more, he has the answer to where you are at. The Jesus that was there  in the beginning - God Himself - is the same Jesus who lives in your heart, if you've invited Him in. He is committed to you and is waiting for you to call on Him. Even your angels are doing the same. The thing is, they can do nothing until you call on God for help. As soon as you do, he releases your angels to minister to you, or in other words, to work on your behalf and deal with what needs dealing with. If you don't call on Him, He can't help, 'For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.' (Romans 10:13).

Jesus has not changed. He's still God and He's still your friend. You may say, 'Yes, but you don't know what I did last night. You don't know what I said.' True, I don't, but Jesus does and He still loves you, He never changes. Repent and move on with Jesus. Kenneth Copeland says, 'Jesus died for the ungodly, I said to myself, I qualify for that, and I've never looked back since.' 

As the song goes, 'What a difference a day makes - 24 little hours,' and it's so true. One day things may seem impossible to get through, but somehow you do; tomorrow may be different. Don't look too far ahead. One day at a time is enough. Jesus told us, 'So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today' Matthew 6:34 NLT.

Whatever happens, Jesus is still on the Throne! So give Him praise. It opens doors. There's always a reason to thank Him for His provision, healing, blessing, home, family, food and lots more. Rejoice in the God who never changes.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com