Romans 15:4 "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
How can we keep our circumstances from determining our mood? How can we free ourselves from the continuous limitations that life continually deals us? This wondrous trio of commandments opens the door for the other two to be true — we can rejoice in hope, and we can be patient in affliction because we have been faithful in prayer. No matter what our situation is, we can pray with joy because of our hope in Christ no matter what our current situation is. We can remain patient, persevering through affliction, by presenting our requests and intercessions to God with thanksgiving. Prayer is God’s gift to us so that we can be surely patient and joyful, even when things don’t appear to be going well.
Romans 12:10-13 New American Standard Bible
10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; [a]give preference to one another in honor, 11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, 13 contributing to the needs of the [b]saints, [c]practicing hospitality.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Apostle Paul composed a lengthy and weighty letter to the Roman Church that addressed every issue which is so vital to daily living the normal Christian life, in this post-cross era. His extensive epistle is written in such a wise way as to provide us with a wonderful understanding of all church-age doctrines and how to properly apply them in our 21st century lives today, so that we are enabled to live a victorious Christian life – the life that God intended for all His children.
Just as the main body of Romans is lengthy and weighty, so his final remarks are by contrast are succinct yet compelling. In a few short, crisp verses Paul sums up all that is necessary to live a life which is fully pleasing unto the Lord. In verse 12 we are challenged and encouraged to continuously Rejoice in hope, be continuously patient in tribulation, and be in a continual attitude in prayer.
To continually rejoice in hope is to have that unfaltering assurance in God’s Word as a continuous source of wisdom and truth – knowing that our hope of glory is secured for us in heavenly places for the eternal ages to come, simply because God’s Word is continuously true and cannot be broken. Our hope is built on nothing less than our own continuously trusting in the cross of Christ, continually taking God at His Word. We are continuously giving God a chance.
To be continuously patient in tribulation is to continually know and accept that in this world we will have constant tribulation – but to wait patiently in our suffering, without murmurings – and to be of good cheer, knowing that His strength is sufficient to see us through every difficulty of life, because He has already overcome sin and death – and we are united with Him and His victory.
To be constant in prayer is to recognise that prayer, is one of the chief weapons of the spiritual warfare in which all Christians are engaged. As saints of God, we should all be instant in prayer – constantly lifting our hearts and voice unto the Lord in prayers of thanks and praise and intercession and requests – and laying them before the throne of God’s Grace, in the name of JESUS – knowing that so much infinitely greater is He that is continuously within us that He who is in the world. It is this continuous connection and continuous conversation with God which serves to continually keep our hearts and souls and hands on God.
Come! Let us work out with God a plan to continually exercise all Paul’s short, crisp instructions for godly living which are found in this final section of His epistle to the Romans as well as taking time to study this lengthy and weighty letter that has been written for our learning – so that we too may live a life that is pleasing to the Lord – so Christ can be continually seen in me and in you too!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Father, I thank you, because no matter what struggles I face, you assure me of your ultimate victory. I thank you, dear God, because no matter the hardship or burden, I know you will help me through it and bring me to your presence with great joy. Until that day of ultimate victorious joy, please ransom my heart from discouragement by the power of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Alleluia! Amen.
It is commonly thought among humans that if one wants to be somebody, he or she must find something of some measure of significance to accomplish. Most people will do this by looking all around the world to see who and what others most admire, then set their hearts on becoming that, or accomplishing it. The plan becomes to set into motion a carefully laid out step-by-step plan to try and achieve their desired end. The hope is that once they have achieved their victory, they will be somebody, be happy, or even earn some kind of salvation.
Even those who do not have even the minimal self-discipline and drive to go after their dreams will spend all of their waking time wishing and dreaming and planning the steps even if it takes the form of condemnation for their failures.
This is the proposed, supposed way of the world. It will lead to either achieving the goals and being left with pride, or worse, emptiness upon finding that the goal was not worthy. Alternatively, it will lead to failure, self-condemnation, feeling low and full of self-pity. Breaking the cycle, to understand that the Lord establishes his, her steps will set a person free from this self-destructive cycle.
Right from the beginning of all created things, God has always said to us, seek first the long planned for, created things of the Kingdom of God, and the Lord, who, from the beginning establishes all your steps, will add all things to you.
Proverbs 16:9 The Message
9 We plan the way we want to live, but only God makes us able to live it.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Throughout history, mankind has made their plans for what they will do each day. In the office, we start out our days with a detailed planning sheet we create for ourselves and organize our days and weeks and prioritize tasks to ensure the most important ones get done. We also make plans for holidays and vacations.
We budget our money; we set out our financial goals and make step-by-step plans with our financial planners for how we ourselves see fit to achieve them. We make, have daily planners, plans for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and other events. Expectant parents plan and prepare for a new child. Teachers make lesson plans. The corporate owner plans for his, her business to grow and expand and become profitable. It is perpetual motion. We make plans.
There is nothing whatsoever wrong with planning. In fact, it is always a great idea to set goals and plan for their maximum success. If we did not, our lives would be a little here and a little there but mostly going nowhere fast– kind of like a balloon you completely blow up and then let go without tying a knot in it – and we’d really never accomplish much. Planning is definitely a good thing.
Our plans should always begin with prayer and seeking God’s will for our lives. If God has been included in our planning process right from the exact starting, we can be reasonably assured, those plans will have some measure of success. The only thing to remember here is that we are not the ones who get to define what that success is. Our personal vision of success will always be too limited.
We will probably let all the “bumps and the grinds, hills and valleys,” define whether or not we will even bother to continue that single-minded pursuit of what we ourselves define and measure out as the definition of our successes. We may end up quitting on ourselves, our hopes, our dreams way, way too quickly. We may not give ourselves the proper time to learn about perseverance in life. The glue in our “stick-to-itiveness ” will not be allowed to do its proper work.
It is here when we unceremoniously and regretfully, inconveniently, “forget” about God. When our planning is contrary to God’s will, we become guilty of sin.
In James 4:13-17, James wrote, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.’ You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring — what your life will be! For you are like smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Instead, you should say, ‘If the Lord will, we will live and do this or that.’ But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So, it is a sin for the person who knows to do what is good and doesn’t do it.”
Godmay still allow you and me to make our own plans without properly, prayerfully consulting with Him. He will even allow you and me to make our own plans, own our own plans when you and I do not particularly like His plans or His will and decide to do things our way anyway. But you and I can be assured regardless of what you and I plan, God will be ONLY the one finally directing each and every step you and I take. And if in our arrogance and pride we choose to do things our way, God will always bring about His divine will.
The Prophet Jonah is a very familiar example of someone who didn’t like what God was telling him to do and so he trusted in himself and made his own plans. God had wanted Jonah to go preach in Nineveh and Jonah didn’t want to go.
He got on a boat and went in the opposite direction from Nineveh. As a result, a great storm came up and everyone on the boat became afraid they would die at sea. They started throwing the cargo over to lighten the boat’s load and then Jonah told them they had to throw him overboard and the storm would stop.
The sailor’s thought Jonah was crazy, but after a while, they conceded and tossed Jonah into the storm-tossed waves. God was not only directing Jonah’s steps, but he also directed the swim path of a great fish who came along at that exact moment and swallowed Jonah up. After living three days in the belly of the fish, Jonah finally repents and finally, humbly prays to God. God then has the fish throw up Jonah and Jonah goes to Nineveh and preaches repentance.
Breaking Down the Key Parts of Proverbs 16:9
#1 “In their hearts…” In most places where the heart is mentioned in Scripture, it is not looked upon very kindly. Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it” (Jeremiah 17:9)? Mark 7:21-22 says, “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.” The advice of others to “Just follow your heart” may work great in the movies, but it is foolish, terrible advice for the believer.
#2 “…humans plan their course,” It is, and always will be a good and righteous thing to plan our day to a certain extent; for example, what is for dinner tonight? When will I finish my work? But the kind of planning that is not good is the arrogant kind that desires its own way and has self-promoting expectations for how things are going to go.
This is essentially mankind significantly over-extending his own abilities, taking on God’s job. James 4:13-17 calls it “boasting about tomorrow.”
#3 “but the Lord establishes their steps.” What is going to happen is what God wants to happen. Seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6:25-34), don’t worry for tomorrow, live in his presence right now, and watch him unfold his perfect plan before you.
This means consciously remembering God, to live according to his principles in his Word and lay down your life for him and for his Kingdom. You cannot even imagine what His control over your life has in store for those who trust in him.
In the New Testament, a group of shepherds made plans for tending their flock throughout the long cold night. But God suddenly interrupted their long night and sent angels to proclaim the birth of Jesus which brought the shepherds to worship the newborn King. Their plans were to simply care for their flock of sheep – God’s plans were “glorify the Lord,” to bring them to worship Jesus.
In Acts Chapter 3, A lame man who had been lame since birth had plans for going to the temple to beg for alms but as Peter and James saw him and listened to the leading of the Holy Spirit, Peter said to him, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk.” In an instant, he was healed, and he rose up on his newly strengthened legs and went walking and leaping and praising God. The Lame Man’s plans were to get enough alms so he could eat – God’s plan was a miraculous healing.
Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God has good plans for us – plans for our welfare and not destruction. If we truly believe this, then we should have no problems starting our planning time in prayer and seeking God’s will to be sure that the plans we make align with God’s will. If they do, then we can surrender our plans into His hands and trust that even if the path to get where we were planning looks different than how we planned it, that ultimately God will get us there, He will work all things out for our good (Romans. 8:28), and He will forever and ever be with us every single step of the way and keeping us from stumbling.
But if we try to go our own way like Jonah, we might find ourselves in some trouble just like Jonah did and then find ourselves right where God wanted us in the first place. Had Jonah simply cooperated with God’s plan in the first place, he could have saved himself three days in the belly of a fish – and if we will cooperate with God’s plans for our lives, we can save ourselves from all the unpleasant consequences that running from God brings. (Luke 15:11-32)
So go ahead and make your plans, but start every plan with prayer, seeking God’s will first. Then as you make your plans centered around His will, ask that your plans will bring Him honor and glory. If, like Joseph, the path getting to where God wants you looks different than you thought it would and includes a “pit” or “prison” along the way, remember that God is always with you and if the “palace” is God’s plan for you, you can trust Him to get you there at just the right moment so you are in position for what God wants to do in your whole life.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Dear Father in heaven, your Son promised that we would see him again if we wait patiently and listen to what the Holy Spirit says to us. Illuminate our hearts and send your Spirit in. All that is yours will be ours through your Spirit. I pray that I learn to quiet my mind so I can hear the Holy Spirit. I pray that I am filled with the understanding to know how to follow its guidance for me. Amen.
Today, I am asking you to take more than a few moments to look at anything and everything around you and surrounding you. I believe you will be pleasantly surprised to know that you got to know its name or its purpose simply because someone, somewhere, somehow taught this to you at some early stage in your life. Interestingly, most of the basics we learnt as children, and then as we grew into adulthood, we may have taken it further, studied or researched further, to excitedly increase our knowledge. So also, our understanding of God, His word and prayer are contributions made by many people right from our childhood. This list of contributors includes our Parents, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Siblings, Teachers, Sunday School Teachers, Pastors, Friends, many others.
Meditate upon these things! Meditate on the God who brought all of this into existence. Meditate on the Word of God which brings these truths unto life, who gives these truths new and sustained life, completely, unimaginable vibrancy. Such a renewed and refreshing perception of life is so desperately necessary. Ponder and Reflect upon the significance of the Psalmists word “MEDITATE!”
In this devotional effort we are prayerfully going to explore the ways in which we as children of God, through meditation can grow more in the knowledge of God. For this to happen it is vital we have a teachable heart. Hope this teaching will help us understand the various aspects of being a godly teachable person.
Psalm 119:9-16 Complete Jewish Bible
ב (Bet)
9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. 10 I seek you with all my heart; don’t let me stray from your mitzvot. 11 I treasure your word in my heart, so that I won’t sin against you. 12 Blessed are you, Adonai! Teach me your laws. 13 I proclaim with my mouth all the rulings you have spoken. 14 I rejoice in the way of your instruction more than in any kind of wealth. 15 I will meditate on your precepts and keep my eyes on your ways. 16 I will find my delight in your regulations. I will not forget your word.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Christian meditation is a spiritual virtue that every believer should cultivate. The Holy Spirit through David has taught us the discipline of meditation when we read, “I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word” (Psalm 119:15-16).
Christian meditation is not merely Scriptural memorization, though such an exercise will certainly yield that virtue. Christian meditation is a most sublime division of private prayer. The teaching on Christian meditation is dealt with in the larger context of the most careful planning and execution of the Psalmists poetic reflection. Thus, the Prince of Preachers, the Reverend Charles Spurgeon wrote of Psalm 119, “The manner it is composed in is very elegant; full of art, rule, method theological matter in a logical manner, a spiritual alphabet framed and formed according to the Hebrew alphabet.”
Thus, the long methodical approach of the Psalmist to creating this longest contribution to the Psalter gives an example of the effect of such spiritual exercise in his own life. Ponder for a long while upon all of the time and effort and prayer and study and personal reflection and personal introspection it took for the Psalmist to bring such an empowering writing as Psalm 119 into being
To meditate is to gaze upon a divine object of incalculable worth with the spirit of humble devotion. It is to locate the precious jewels of truth in the Word. It is to mark the truths carefully and to recite those Biblical truths to your own soul. It is to listen quietly as the Holy Spirit applies His truth to your heart and mind.
It is to collect and gather those truths as an offering of thanksgiving to the Lord. Christian meditation, humbly practiced in devout prayer, will inaugurate a deep and genuinely delightful journey of intimate time, turning into a lifetime of closeness, with your Creator. It is to enter the holy of holies “praying in the Spirit” and thus rendering your sacrifice of praise as a priest of the Almighty.
“I will meditate . . .” This is the resolute soliloquy of the author, most likely an aged King David, near the end of his life, as he reflects upon, charges his own soul in response to all of the blessings and curses he walked and lived through.
Is it any different for us today as we sometimes consider all our blessings and curses, our ups and our downs, our left turns and our right turns, and all of the square pegs of our choices we have tried to hammer through round holes we drilled out to make them work, have had to contend with, as we ourselves make a deliberate effort to “carve out” some very much needed quality time with God away from the unseemly ruinous efforts of chaos as it threatens to run amok.
I encourage all you readers to try a wholly different tactic. Pick up your Bibles and invite God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit to sit with you. God is the One who commands and speaks order from chaos. We cannot know God’s ways of doing this, but we can know and be inspired and empowered by the truth that He did in fact, in the beginning of all things brought chaos under his full command. We freely ponder on the ever-present trouble chaos brings to our very doorsteps. I do not know how much time we spend meditating on God bringing even more trouble to chaos’s doorstep. Meditate upon God commanding chaos to leave.
To receive change in our lives away from the sovereignty of chaos into the light of the divine order of the absolute sovereignty of God, we must make this our firm resolution and immovable conviction. From this, we will come to learn that our alone moments with God passes quite effortlessly into hours as you meditate upon God’s precepts according to Scripture. Eventually, miraculously, the incomparable spiritual experience transforms your life of prayer, you will discover what it means to “pray without ceasing.” The benefits of Christian meditation are many—peace, perspective, power, perseverance—yet none so glorious as the blessing that becomes affirmation: “I have been with God.”
A teachable person is…
• Humble – Psalm 25:9 – He leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble his way. (ESV) Someone said, true humility is being truly teachable, regardless of how much you know.
• Wise – Proverbs 9:9 – Instruct the wise and they will be even wiser.
• Righteous – Proverbs 9:9 – Teach the righteous and they will learn even more (NLT)
I am sure there may many other qualities that mark a person who is teachable, but I would just like to highlight the above three.
The basic characteristic of a teachable person is humility. Someone said it this way, “True humility is being truly teachable, regardless of how much you know.” In other words, a person who is not humble, will not be willing to take any kind of teaching from anyone. So also Proverbs 9:9 explains that a wise and righteous person will certainly be teachable, because they understand the value of receiving instructions and gaining knowledge.
As children of God, who teaches us?
1. The Word of God – 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” (NLT)
Someone said this aptly, the word of God is useful for teaching (teaches us what is right), for reproof (teaches us what is not right), for correction (teaches us how to get right) and training (teaches us how to stay right). David understood the significance of God’s word when he said in Psalm 119:11, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (NLT). God’s word is of 100% paramount importance, as all of our guidance and teaching to live a holy life comes from the individual’s knowledge and deep experience with word of God.
2. The Holy Spirit – 1 Corinthians 2:13-14“When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them, and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.” (NLT)
John 14:26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (ESV)
The Holy Spirit of God is absolutely our best teacher, counsellor and guide. You may have heard someone say that they could not understand the bible as they read it. The reason is that only the Holy Spirit of God can reveal to us the truths about God. Ergo, only a spiritual person, who has the Holy Spirit indwelling them, can receive these spiritual insights. Also, we may have experienced times when we are struggling mightily with and against sin, temptation or a badly complicated situation, that the Holy Spirit of God will bring to remembrance the Word of God and give us strength to overcome these trials and temptations.
The Holy Spirit of God is that still small voice of God inside us that is constantly prompting us to walk in the ways of God and live a life that is pleasing to God.
3. People of God – Philippians 3:17, “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” (ESV)
The church of God is the gathering place of believers, where with the Word of God for the Children of God, we are covenanted, called upon to both bless, edify and encourage one another. Paul could boldly tell his fellow-believers that they should strive to imitate him and also keep their eyes on other people who are role models whom they could follow.
Acts 2:42-47 English Standard Version
The Fellowship of the Believers
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe[a] came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Take the time to look around and you will notice many men and women of God who are working and praying hard at living exemplary lives, from whom we can learn. It is important that we should mentor those who are younger to us, but it is also crucial that we have in our lives those older to us who can mentor us as well, if we want to continue to grow in our faith and our knowledge of God.
4. Experiences (our own and others as well)
Romans 5:3-5,“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (ESV)
2 Corinthians 1:4, “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” (NLT)
Each of us go through our own singularly unique and various experiences, good and bad. The experiences we go through are also very great teachers, if we are willing to learn. Each experience can make us bitter or better, depending on how teachable our hearts are. Paul explains this in great detail these sufferings are what produce character, teach us patience and give us hope for the future. This hope is based on God’s love and the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Every time we come out victorious, we allow God to fulfill His purposes in our lives. These experiences are God’s way to refine us to be more like Jesus.
It is important to learn from our own experiences it is equally beneficial to learn from other’s experiences too. Someone said, ‘Smart people learn from their mistakes, wise people learn from others’ mistakes. Someone else said it this way, ‘Learn from other people’s mistakes, and then go and make new ones.” It is also a fact that God comforts us and teaches us through all the hard times, so that we can, in return, comfort those who are going through a similar path.
What should we be taught?
The way we should go…. Psalm 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;” (ESV)
• To walk in God’s truth Psalm 86:11, “Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth;” (ESV)
• To do God’s will Psalm 143:13, “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God!” (ESV)
Every day we are faced with numerous challenges and have to make so many decisions. God is willing to instruct and teach us the way we should go if we are willing to let Him do so. We also need to walk in the truth.
These are days where it is so easy to compromise, when challenged with conflict between the word of God and the world.
It is only when we talk and walk in the truth, (and we know that Jesus is the Truth), can we live a life of no compromise. The other important aspect we need to be taught, is the will of God. If we choose anything other than the will of God, revealed through Scripture, we will lose out on the peace and joy that should be ours. Staying within the will of God is the safest place for us as God’s children.
Psalm 119:9-16 The Message
9-16 How can a young person live a clean life? By carefully reading the map of your Word. I’m single-minded in pursuit of you; don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted. I’ve banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won’t sin myself bankrupt. Be blessed, God; train me in your ways of wise living. I’ll transfer to my lips all the counsel that comes from your mouth; I delight far more in what you tell me about living than in gathering a pile of riches. I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you, I attentively watch how you’ve done it. I relish everything you’ve told me of life, I won’t forget a word of it.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us pray,
Holy God, make me a partaker of your Holy Spirit. Enlighten me, oh, God. May I taste this heavenly gift that you reserve for your righteous people. Cleanse me of any barriers in my heart and mind that may stop me from feeling your whole presence in me. Flood any dark spots in my heart with your light. Help me to walk in your light and shine your beauty and grace on everyone I meet. Amen.
We spend a lot of time thinking about God’s plans for us. What does God have in mind for me? What is God’s plan for my future? This is definitely something I can and will hang onto while I am trying to sort out just exactly what the plan is for the exact moment I am in right now as I sit and contemplate this devotion.
While this is definitely a wonderful thing to sit alone in one’s quiet places and ponder and perhaps even pray over, the plan for the next moments when I will take my next breath of life, and then the one after that, should God grace me in that moment with another breath, in a moment of Holy Spirit clarity, it came to me and I realized something, it’s easy to have the attitude: “It’s all about me.”
Am I thinking about God in the exact moments when I am trying to plan for my future? When I’m making my own plans to take my very own next breath of life? Have I even thought to plan on including God in my own plans for myself? God cares about every intricate detail in our lives (Psalm 139:1-18). Jesus said that he even numbers the hairs on our heads (Luke 12:7). And after all, when compared to God, everything is small. Am I planning on or for any Holy Spirit revelation?
What about God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? But should we expect that the main purpose of God’s plans is to solely make us happy right here, right now? Is it the least bit realistic to believe God’s plan “for me” is really only “my plan?” Where have I even minimally planned to try to make any living space for God? Where have I made any plans to invite Jesus into my home, my heart and soul? Where are my plans to have a Holy Spirit “party of all parties” to celebrate life?
Jeremiah 29:10-11 The Message
10-11 This is God’s Word on the subject: “As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
God’s Word is full of wisdom and encouragement that guide Christians through life. Memorizing Scripture can serve as a powerful weapon against temptation, despair, hopelessness and worldliness. However, learning verses in isolation, without context can lead to misunderstanding and misapplying the virtues and lessons that God has already planned for all of His people to possess and learn.
One familiar verse that Christians often quote is Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” It is a critically important text to become acquainted with.
This is a message of hope and a promise of a good future that is easy to cling to and repeat. But knowing the full context of the verse is quite interesting and it reveals the enormous scope of God’s design and will for mankind. Let’s dig into what it really means when its God alone who tells all of us, he has plans for us.
What Does, Ought, It to Mean to ME That God Knows the Plans He Has for Me?
In the context of Jeremiah 29, the phrase, “I know the plans I have for you,” refers to the plans the Lord has had for the people of Israel from the beginning. This verse is a reiteration of the promises of God from the beginning of creation as well as the beyond absolute guarantee that He always keeps His covenants.
They were the descendants of Abraham, with whom God made a covenant to bless His descendants. They were the people of David, a man after God’s own heart. Even though they broke their promise to worship only the one true God, He was not going to forget His word, and would restore them to blessings. In fact, this verse is a foreshadowing of the coming Messiah, the Lord Jesus.
God promised David, a descendant who would reign forever, “You have said, ‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant: ‘I will establish your offspring forever and build your throne for all generations’”(Psalm 89:3-4). There is only one throne that lasts forever, the throne of God where Jesus Christ will live and reign forever. If God allowed the descendants of David to stop being carried out to Babylon to go extinct in exile, that promise of an eternal throne for David’s descendants could not ever have been fulfilled.
In context, this verse came to serve as an inspiration and encouragement for the Jews in exile and therefore should be a great inspiration and encouragement for Christians today. God’s timing is God’s timing. God is not fickle. He keeps all of His promises! Because the Father kept His promises to use the Jewish people in His plans, the whole world now has access to salvation through Jesus Christ.
Man would forsake man without hesitation. God did not forsake His people, redeeming them for His glory and their good. When the Lord promises that we are saved, He means it. When Jesus promises to return for His church, we can have confidence in His word. As Jesus says in the New Testament, centuries later, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). We change! God does not change, no matter how individuals or the world does, and believers can rest assured that He will keep His promises.
Who Wrote Jeremiah?
The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah is one of three books of prophecy called the Major Prophets. Its name comes from its author, who wrote during the last days before the exile to Babylon. Jeremiah, also known to us as the weeping prophet, wrote most of the text during the exile of the Israelites.
At this time in the history of the Jewish people, Israel was divided into two kingdoms: Israel to the north and Judah to the south. Both kingdoms were conquered by foreign powers during this period. Jeremiah was the main prophet to Judah and unto the exiles in Babylon working at the same time as the minor prophet Zephaniah, who is likewise briefly mentioned in Jeremiah’s book.
Babylon and the Kingdom of Judah had been in conflict for a few years, resulting in the Babylonian empire conquering Jerusalem, destroying the Temple, and carrying the Israelites into slavery. The book includes more than just prophetic text; it also has biographical information, sermons, and poetic messages which Jeremiah uses to communicate God’s will unto the people.
The prophet provides some biographic information about himself early in the book. He says, “The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign” (Jeremiah 1:1-2). He gives his father and his tribe, as well as the time he began receiving prophecy and prophetic messages from the Lord.
God’s Prophet Jeremiah preached all throughout Israel and received much persecution; “But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know it was against me they devised schemes, saying, ‘Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more’”(Jeremiah 11:19). Though God often guarded, protected him from these persecutions, Jeremiah’s prophecies were generally laughed at and ignored.
What Is Happening in Jeremiah 29?
Chapter 29 in the Book of Jeremiah is a letter with a specific message to a specific audience. The prophet wrote this passage to those Israelites in exile in Babylon. Many despaired, separated from their homes, their history, and their God. Solomon’s Temple was destroyed as well, adding to the calamity.
The Israelites received warnings from the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah that this would happen. Because they had been worshipping Baal and Moloch, false gods imported from foreign lands, breaking their covenant, the Lord allowed Babylon to invade. The Jews would be taken from their homeland for a period of seventy years. In chapter 29, the prophet wrote to encourage the people in exile, and warn them against false prophets during this time.
The letter can be broken up into sections. Verses 1-3 serve as introductions, stating who wrote the letter and when. The following verses, 4-10, contain an edict from the Lord for the Jews to continue living, to not give up, and to ignore prophets whom He had not ordained.
“Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters…multiply there and do not decrease…Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you.”
Jeremiah 24:4, and verse 8a
Next is a word of promise, an assurance that God has not forsaken His people. In this passage, verses 10-14 contains the famous verse. The Lord said through his prophet, “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will hear you”(Jeremiah 29:10-13).
God gave the Israelites in captivity a deadline for their time under Babylonian rule. Verse eleven contains God’s assurances that He was not finished using Israel for His divine plan, and there were blessings to come in the future. After 70 years, the people would return to the Lord in prayer, and the relationship between God and His people would be restored. God alone would restore all!
What Covenant Did Israel Break?
To understand how incredible God’s statement in verse 11 is, it is important to understand the meaning and significance of the many covenants in that culture. It is often compared to a promise, which is not an incorrect assessment, but there is significantly more to it.
Covenants were seen as binding and lifelong. Because God lives forever, His promises live forever. One of the best examples of this kind of commitment from God is the rainbow, a sign of His promise to Noah that He would never again destroy the earth with water and flood.
Most covenants required both parties to do something. In Genesis 17, God makes a covenant with Abram, from that point forward called Abraham, to make him the father of many nations, with generations of blessings and kings. Abraham and his male descendants through all generations were to be circumcised to uphold their part of the covenant.
The specific promise between Israel and the Lord that the Israelites broke, leading them into exile, was also reinforced several times through the Old Testament. If they kept God’s commandments, He would be with them. A specific message given to Solomon that illustrates this relationship is a clear articulation of this guarantee, and underscores how they violated it.
God said to Solomon:
“And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples.”
1 Kings 9:4-7
Not only did Solomon allow his various wives from many other lands to worship and set up altars to their own gods, but his descendants would engage in idol worship for years before God cut them off from the land through conquest and exile. Yet, as He states in Jeremiah 29:11, He already had plans to restore them to a right relationship with Him.
What Does Jeremiah 29:11 NOT Mean?
This verse promises restoration and redemption for a people in exile that would lead to the salvation of mankind. It is full of hope and assurance. However, it is not always used to convey that message. It can sometimes be used, when taken out of context, to mean that Christians today have guarantees of blessings and prosperity. It can also be used to give a false sense of purpose, chasing after material blessings in a worldly fashion, rather than seeking after God. This verse only guarantees the exiled Israelites that they had not been forgotten by their Lord, not that He guarantees material gain for people who believe in Him.
Does this mean that, we the Christians of this 21st century cannot look to this magnificently hope-filled inspirational verse for hope and encouragement?
Not at all!
While the verse does not guarantee comfort and success, it does promise redemption, something the modern Christian experiences daily after being forgiven of their sins, because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
God does have a plan for all His people, and Jesus even says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore you are of more value than many sparrows”(Matthew 10:29-31).
The truth Jesus states here is the same one from Jeremiah 29:11.
God loves all humanity, wants to redeem them to Himself, and plans for a glorious eternity together.
From Psalm 107, There will be trials and troubles in this world, and the Bible never promises believers a problem-free life. There are many verses in the Old and New Testament that give assurance of His love and that He will keep His promises; Jeremiah 29:11 is such a “I want to hug God” transformational verse.
I am very big on not pulling Bible verses out of context. I want to know what does this verse mean for someone going through the worst of pain or abuse?
How could we ever share or pray this verse for a person living out life in prison? Wandering aimlessly in wildernesses? If those examples seem too extreme, try this: Does God really intend for us to apply this verse to our everyday lives?
I believe God does, and I have, by my own experiences, have discovered three ways we can live like we have a future and a hope, which is what God intends!
1. Live Fully No Matter Your Circumstances
No sooner had the Israelites been carried off into exile in Babylon than God prompted Jeremiah to send them a letter to encourage and instruct them! This is what we read in the 29th chapter of Jeremiah: a letter sent to people held captive, not living where or how they wanted. “Seek out the place of Shalom.”
Can you relate to any part of that?
Surprisingly, God didn’t first chastise them, and he also didn’t immediately rescue them. Instead, he encouraged them to put down roots and live fully despite their circumstances!
4 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. (Jeremiah 29:4-6 ESV)
We can apply this strong encouragement from God to our lives: When we are going through tough times, it is tempting to hang our heads and throw in our towel. But God says, “Don’t give up! Live, thrive! Build, plant, multiply!”
What part of that do you want to apply to your 21st century life today?
2. Pray for Peace, Pray for Shalom, and for Welfare for Those Who Are Troubling You
This next step is perhaps more difficult than we want to admit. Raise your hand if you have trouble praying for the good of all people around you, including those who are causing you problems. Hand raised here! Goodness, this hits between the eyes! Look at the reasons God’s covenant calls us to do just that:
7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. (Jeremiah 29:7 ESV)
The NIV translates “welfare” here as “peace and prosperity.” Does it sound unspiritual to say this? When the people around us live in peace and prosperity, so will we, and wouldn’t we want that?
You know, in this passage–in this letter from Jeremiah to the exiles–God was reminding the Israelites they were his people, and he was still taking care of them. Part of that care was for them to be safe and to prosper in this new land.
How are we to live in peace if people in our lives are in turmoil?
Will you commit with me today to pray for the hardest people in your life to pray for? Will you commit to being a part of God’s greatest best plan for them?
3. Trust God’s Long-Term Plan! NOT Yours
Finally, God’s covenant calls us to surrender our best plans for our greatest future. Surrender, trust God’s plan for the long-term despite what things look like today. For the people of Israel, the wait for freedom would last 70 years. They would see kings rise and fall; they would live through persecution and trial. They would have more than their fair share of highest energy concerns.
Remember Daniel’s faith being severely tested in the Lion’s Den and too the account of Daniel’s friends thrown into The Fiery Furnace? Those events and countless other trials challenged the Israelites during their time in Babylon.
Yet God encouraged them to remain faithful, faith-filled, hope-filled and hopeful followers, to zealously hold onto to him, to implicitly trust in him, and trust that when God declared the exact time was right, their trial would end.
10 “For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:10-11 ESV)
God had a future and a hope planned for the Israelites, and he does for us, too!
Remember Joseph’s warm words to his brothers?
20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. (Genesis 50:20 ESV)
So, too, we might experience what seems like straight-out evil for a time. But God is working for good. Matthew Henry in his commentary says,
We are sometimes ready to fear that God’s designs are all against us; but as to his own people, even that which seems evil, is for good. He will give them, not the expectations of their fears, or the expectations of their fancies, but the expectations of their faith; the end he has promised, which will be the best for them.
You might be thinking of another favorite verse at this very exacting time!
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 ESV)
So, as you face today, with its plans, trials and stressors, trust God for the long term. He has a plan. It is utterly good! And in it you have a future and a hope!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, thank you that every good and perfect gift comes from you, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. You have promised that, if I commit whatever I do to you, then you will timely cause my plans to succeed. My success will come from aligning my plans with your will. Guide my path and show me favor. Now may you, the Lord of all, give me success at all times and in every way. In your mighty name, Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Growing up I remember many times when my parents would be concerned with who my friends were. One time in particular, they basically forbid me from my continuing to hang out with a couple of guys. I was not too happy with the situation but knew that disobedience to such a strong prohibition came with very real consequences. Little did I know but it would only be a few months later my mom told me that they were caught shoplifting. I am not sure what would have happened to me if I had been there with them – but that was not an issue because of the prevailing wisdom of my father and mother over my own.
My dad never quoted this proverb outright to me – but he must have read it. More than once my parents would remind me that the company, I keep would have direct, decisive implications upon the character I later would possess. If we walk among the foolish, we risk becoming even greater fools than them. Yet, we cannot help but walk among our fellow citizens – we have no choice other than to isolate ourselves in our homes, in the woods somewhere or deep in a cave. In my own foolishness, I cannot always tell the “ever wise” apart from the foolish.
No matter how highly regarded and wise mankind believes himself to be, he will continue to be the consummate fool in the eyes of someone who does not know him. Jesus came sauntering into our lives and we thought him the drunken fool for doing what he was doing among those he was interacting with. But we did not know Him yet. We did not take the time to get to know him because we all thought him to be the consummate fool. We could not even muster up curiosity.
Pharisees thought him to be the ultimate fool for entering into the homes of the tax collector Levi who would become Matthew. Instead of interacting with the crowds in Jericho, Jesus looked up into the Sycamore Tree and called Zacchaeus down – to share a meal and fellowship and salvation. How did that crowd feel?? Jesus crossed the border of the hated Samaritans. What did the disciples feel?? How did the disciples feel about walking on such ground with their Rabbi in the lead? When we first read such stories, how do we feel about such foolish acts?
After we have read them, studied them, pondered and prayed over them, do we continue to feel, continue to believe they were such completely foolish acts?
Just a closer walk with this ever so dramatically foolish Jesus will make us wiser. Wiser to the lesser ways of my even greater foolishness for not taking the risk, walking even among the most foolish with my Rabbi, walking with my Savior who is Jesus Christ my Lord. Walking among fools reveals my true character!
I am weak but Thou art strong Jesus keep me from all wrong I’ll be satisfied as long As I walk, let me walk close to Thee
“Just a closer walk with Thee Grant it, Jesus, is my plea Daily walking close to Thee Let it be, dear Lord, let it be” (Author Anonymous)
Proverbs 13:20 The Message
20 Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Today’s proverb speaks of these very things. It speaks of a “walk with wise men” versus a “shepherding by fools.”
First let’s look at the walk with “wise men.” The one who walks with wise men will be wise. The word for “walk” here refers to a journey or a walk from one place to another. The company during this walk was a wise man, or wise men.
Proverbs 2:20 refers to it as a walk with “good men” and a “pathway of the righteous.” When looking for companions and mentors – we do well to look for people who have walked with God (Who Himself is the wisest companion to have on the roads of life).
These people are characterized by the apparent fact that they “allegedly” know God. This they have supposedly “acquired” over a long or short lifetime of pursuing a relationship with Him through “reading and knowing His Word.”
They have learned by “experience” that obedience to God is the wisest way to walk – and seeing life through His perspective and Word is how to obtain this.
Look for such people and surround yourself with them and their counsel. They will counsel you to walk closely with God – and learn to apply His Word to every situation in life. Their lives will have the sweet smell of God’s favor upon them (even if the world deems them less than a success by their standards).
Such people will be humble, gracious, loving, kind – and yet strong and willing to stand on God’s principles no matter what. The blessing for being around such people is that you will become one of them. The one who walks with wise men – will himself become wise. One thing I would add to this is that a wise man or woman will look for at least one wise man or woman with some age on them. The Word makes one wise – but wisdom over time is a rare thing to find. When you do – befriend the one who has it – and – listen to them often! That is, of course, if the one “wiser than us” we are walking with is truly the wiser.
This one who grows wise in the company of wise men is contrasted with the “companion of fools.” The word companion here is the Hebrew word “ra ah” which means to tend or feed sheep – i.e., a genuine shepherd of one another.
Here is one who is being shepherded by fools. He is fed and tended by them – having them lead him into their ways and their paths. The fools he considers friends and mentors are mentioned in several ways in Scripture. The word for fool is “kesiyl” and it means a fool or one lacking in wisdom.
In Ecclesiastes 4:5 the fool is lazy, folding his hands in inactivity as his life wastes away. In that same chapter verse 13 uses this word to describe a young man who “knows everything” and will not be instructed by anyone around him. He even mocks those who offer wisdom – preferring the company of His own foolishness to any advice or instruction, sort of like Jesus’ own disciples as they argued among themselves over who would be greatest. (Luke 22:24-30)
Psalm 49:10 refers to this fool as one who thinks his stuff will last forever and lives for it rather than any kind of spiritual pursuit of God.
Proverbs 1:32 speaks of the fool as one who loves wayward living and not only ignores the wisdom of God – but written earlier in chapter 1verse 22ESV we see him hating both the wisdom and the God who gave it. 22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?
Psalm 92:6-7 reminds us that he also mocks the whole concept of God’s justice and judgment. Proverbs 3:35 reminds us that he displays his godless dishonor like a trophy – and finally Ecclesiastes 10:2 the Teacher says that his heart (that which hates wisdom) is always turning him towards the wrong direction in life.
What happens to the one who has such foolish companions and mentors?
The language here is a very pointed. He will suffer harm as a result of these leaders and friends. The word used here is quite descriptive. It is the Hebrew word “rua” – which referred to the deafening shout or blast of a horn that took place right before your enemy came upon you in battle.
Such a shout was called a shout of victory – and to those about to be vanquished – it was the most terrifying sound you can imagine. Often those who heard it were not prepared for the devastating defeat they were about to receive.
The psychology of the battlefield. But when the shout rang out – their cockiness would be soon replaced by terror and fear. Too often that is how the foolish are awakened to the measures of their folly. They are full of self-confidence and self-congratulation until disaster awakens them to their true state. The result of their poor choice of companions and commanders is the threat of great ruin.
Unfortunately, some will read this and mock – saying that they are doing fine. They will even point to a life where everything seemed pretty good for their friends and mentors. But whether we live in relative comfort, ease, and man-oriented success is not the measure of a man.
The true measure of a person and the way they lived happens in the twinkling of an eye – in the exact moment after they leave this world. We are reminded in Hebrews 9:27 that we all have an appointment with death. This happens only once, “It is appointed for man to die once, then comes the judgment.”
There is not a second chance – no reincarnation to have another shot. When we die – we will either be present with the Lord – or wholly absent from His favor forever. In that very moment it truly will be seen how wise it was to walk with people who are wise. And ultimately the One Wise Man with whom we should walk is Jesus Christ. It is by His immeasurable wisdom we will escape so great a peril – so great a judgment – and forever enjoy so great a salvation. Walk with Him – take a risk – be wise – and be blessed far beyond your days on this earth!
When my feeble life is o’er Time for me will be no more Guide me gently, safely o’er To Thy kingdom’s shore, to Thy shore
Just a closer walk with Thee Grant it, Jesus, is my plea Daily walking close to Thee Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Holy and gracious God, you are the greatest of all. You are full of wonders that no mere human can comprehend. Lord, I seek to understand you and your ways so that I can live according to your commandments. I pray for your divine illumination in my heart and mind. Help me see what you intend for me to see. Help me understand what you intend for me to understand. Open my eyes and my ears to see you and hear your whispers. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
I do not guess that this devotion will be one which will be well received by the many who may eventually stumble upon it and actually come to read it. It is not one which I would genuinely strive to write to “stimulate and encourage” hope.
Except that, reading and re-reading these passages caused me to finally notice the all too human element contained within the words spoken of by Jesus and many years later, after his death and resurrection, to be narrated by Matthew.
I found myself standing convicted by God of losing sight of the humanity in and unto whom Jesus spoke to on that hillside. It is simple to make things complex and complex to make things simple and that is what I have consistently done in my writings – focus on the theology and not so much on the humanity behind it. What of the humanity Rabbi Jesus was speaking of as being so “BLESSED?” Was there a far deeper understanding Jesus intended lying underneath that word??? I have always deliberately avoided this discussion of “blessedness” and my sin.
So, this is going to be a long and I sincerely apologize for it. I only pray that you will indulge only in what God is about to tell you and probably convict you of, if you can stand up under the unbearable weight of the burden of Him who is now surely going to deliberately interfere in your life by truly coming among you!!
Be BLESSED or Be CURSED. I leave it up to the sinful nature of your heart and your obsessive nature to either continually ignore sin or be blessed by God. I leave the final result solely in the hands of God, the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. I pray we each have the grace to receive what God is preparing to unleash on us.
Matthew 5:1-12 The Message
You’re Blessed
5 1-2 When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:
3 “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
4 “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
5 “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.
6 “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.
7 “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.
8 “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
9 “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.
10 “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.
11-12 “Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort, and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even! —for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
The “Sermon on the Mount” is a concentration of the teaching of Jesus during His life and ministry. This devotion presents us with a kind of distillation of our Lord’s teaching. The themes of this devotion (from Matthew’s account) are taken up through the entire account of Luke. Many of the major themes of our Lord’s teaching are found in this one beautifully, eloquently crafted sermon.
“The Beatitudes.” The Beatitudes describe the character of one who is truly righteous and who will experience kingdom life. It is a stark contrast with the character of the scribes and Pharisees of the day. The teaching of our Lord, and His interpretation of the Old Testament scriptures was radically different from Jewish accepted traditions and the well-considered teachings of the Rabbis of ancient Israel. As they studied the Torah against the backdrop of the issues and circumstances of the day, The Rabbi’s spoke and debated amongst themselves. As circumstances among the Israelites changed the Rabbi’s would gather to consider how best to move the Temple traditions and all the people forward.
The general population of people were not involved in those debates and in the discussions. They were all just going about their everyday lives trying to do the best they could for themselves, their families, their communities, neighbors. The people found about any changes through their local tribal leadership, and they were expected to follow along, adhere to any and all Rabbinical changes. All well and good. The people respected and listened to their Rabbi’s teachings.
Except, the total weight of years on top of the burden of one rule after the other eventually would take its toll and there was a great disconnect between God, the Rabbinical Teachers, the Priests, the Torah experts and all the Israelite people. It got to be such a scramble to define and then redefine written and unwritten Torah, there grew to become a great divide. The Priests “knew” the law, but they no longer “knew” the people who are expected to adhere to the teachings.
This divide only grew wider, all the people could do was frustratingly adapt. It became the greatest blessing that they could adapt themselves to the Temple but not unto the genuine precepts of God laid out in the original Torah writings. The deeper meanings of God’s precepts were obscured under all the Rabbinical machinations to either be 100% for God or to be 100% for the prevailing culture.
“Blessed” is a term which is frequently spoken of by Rabbi Jesus as it related to the people trying to live their daily lives. Except, the genuine meaning of that term got obscured and lost in the myriad of laws the people were expected to follow. Laws which their own teachers themselves did not always adhere unto.
What does it mean to be blessed? Many will translate this as “happy”. But I can’t buy that. Happiness is an emotion that is based upon circumstances.
The Lord is not just talking about an emotion here, He is talking about our condition before God. “Blessed” means: “one who has received a gift or favor from God”. We are not just talking about “happy.” Blessed is the opposite of cursed. We could translate this: “O the blessedness of the poor in spirit!”
In commenting on verse 4 one writer said, “Jesus is saying, ‘Happy are the sad'”. Does that make any sense? That outright violates the very first law of logic, which is the law of contradiction. If you are happy, you are not sad; and if you are sad, you are not happy. What Jesus is saying is, “O the blessedness of those who mourn!” We’ll get to what that means in a little while.
What does it mean to be “poor in spirit?”
The word that Jesus used for “poor” is the Greek word ptochos. The verb form in the Greek text means: “to cower and cringe like a beggar.” A person who is poor in spirit has no sense of self-sufficiency.
This describes the person who understands that he is absolutely incapable of improving his spiritual condition, that he is totally dependent on God’s grace.
Have you ever heard the expression, “Christianity is a crutch for people who can’t make it on their own”?
What do you think of that, is it true? I would say, “Absolutely!”
Let me ask you another question, “Why is the thought that Christianity is a crutch considered to be a bad thing?” People don’t usually look at a crutch and say, “That’s bad. It’s just a crutch.” People don’t in general think that crutches are bad things. Why does a crutch become a bad thing when it’s Christianity?
I think the reason that the thought of Christianity being a crutch is considered a bad thing is because if Christianity is a crutch, then it’s only good for those with dysfunctional hips, broken legs. But we don’t like to see ourselves as “cripples.” And so, it is offensive to our self-sufficiency to label Christianity as a “crutch.”
Notice what Jesus said:
Mark 2:17 (NKJV) When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
In other words, the only people who will ever come to get what Jesus has to give are sick people, people who know that they are spiritually and morally broken.
Why is the thought that Christianity is a crutch considered a bad thing? It is considered bad, because we don’t want to see ourselves as broken cripples. We believe that real joy and fulfillment in life are to be found in the total pursuit of our own self-reliance, self-confidence, self-determination, and self-esteem.
Any Savior who comes along and proposes to replace self-reliance with any semblance of childlike God-reliance, and self-confidence with submissive God-confidence, and self-determination with sovereign grace, and self-esteem with magnificent mercy for the unworthy – that Savior is going to be a threat to the religion of self-admiration. Our Savior takes the disease that we hate most; namely, sin, and instead of “covering it”, makes it the doorway to heaven – Blessed are the spiritually bankrupt, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The next thing that our Lord says in this sermon on the mount is:
Matthew 5:4 (NKJV) Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.
This seems contrary to human experience – O the blessedness of those who mourn. Our society is pleasure mad and has an entertainment-park mentality. People spend too much of their money, time, and energy in an attempt to be entertained. They want to enjoy life and put sorrow and mourning as far away as possible. But our Lord said, “Blessed are those who mourn”. As we have been made aware of now, “Blessed” means: “one who has received a gift or favor from God”. So, those who mourn are “wholly blessed and approved by God.”
Now, in order to understand who receives favor from God, we must understand what it means to mourn. What kind of mourning is Jesus talking about here?
There are several types of mourning in the Scripture.
1. Mourning Over Unfulfilled Evil Desire:
Someone might mourn, because he can’t satisfy his lust. David’s son, Amnon, wanted to have sex with his sister. He mourned over his unfulfilled lust until he became sick:
2 Samuel 13:1-2 (NKJV) After this Absalom the son of David had a lovely sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her. 2 Amnon was so distressed over his sister Tamar that he became sick; for she was a virgin. And it was improper for Amnon to do anything to her.
Amnon was so consumed by unfulfilled, hyper-sexual lust that he mourned over it. There are those who mourn over their unfulfilled desires, even when those desires are sinful in nature.
King Ahab mourned mightily, because he couldn’t reach out from his throne room and possess a vineyard that belonged to another man named Naboth:
1 Kings 21:4 (NKJV) So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food.
He obsessively coveted Naboth’s vineyard so much that he mourned over it. This kind of mourning is certainly not what Jesus had in mind when He said, “Blessed are those who mourn.”
2. Mourning Over The Circumstances Of Life:
This kind of mourning encompasses all the legitimate sorrows which are all common to mankind. It is perfectly proper to mourn over events that bring us sorrow. The death of a loved one brings mourning. I’ll never forget the day my father died, I vividly remember the deep pain and the mourning it caused me.
When David’s son, Absalom, was killed in battle, David mourned greatly:
2 Samuel 18:33 (NKJV) Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went, he said thus: “O my son Absalom; my son, my son Absalom; if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son!”
After the death of Absalom, David carried on so much his soldiers were actually ashamed they had won the battle.
Joab, David’s commander-in-chief, told him,
“…I perceive that if Absalom had lived and all of us had died today, then it would have pleased you well” (2 Samuel 19:6).
News of the sickness of someone we love also brings mourning. Many tragic events bring mourning. The tragic events of this pandemic have caused most Americans to mourn mightily. These are legitimate expressions of the human condition. But while Jesus’ comfort extends to these situations, there is a more specific application to make here concerning the mourning Jesus had in mind.
Some say Matthew 5:4 is saying that after you’ve mourned, you feel better. They point out sorrow has a way of building up and strengthening a person.
William Barclay illustrated that perspective with this poem in his commentary on Matthew (The Gospel of Matthew, vol. 1, rev. ed. [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975], p. 94):
“I walked a mile with Pleasure, She chatted all the way, But left me none the wiser For all she had to say.
I walked a while with Sorrow, And ne’er a word said she, But, oh, the things I learned from her When Sorrow walked with me!”
An old Arab proverb says, “All sunshine makes a desert” (Barclay, p. 93). That’s a nice sentiment, and it is true that sorrow teaches us many things. But here, Matthew 5:4 isn’t talking about feeling better after mourning. Jesus was not just talking about the sorrow of the world, whether legitimate or illegitimate.
One commentator writes, “‘Blessed are those who mourn.’ How very different than the usual salutation given to mourners! Imagine saying ‘You are blessed’ to someone who is mourning a great loss. Jesus said that it is those who mourn, those who experience painful, difficult circumstances and yet don’t cover it up and deny it, but rather mourn over it, who are comforted.”
This is not what precisely what Master Rabbi Jesus is talking about!
As a Lay Pastor, it is often painfully obvious to me that all who mourn will not allow themselves to be comforted!! “Permission Denied!” Have you ever tried to comfort grieving relatives in an unsaved family, who have lost a loved one, who lived his life with no obvious thought of God? It is heartbreaking! How can you comfort them when you believe their family member is in the Lake of fire?
3. Mourning Over Sin:
The mourning and weeping referred to in this beatitude is not just because of financial loss, terminal sickness, the death of loved ones, loneliness, a divorce, a problem with children, or rejections experienced. This “mourning” springs from a sense of sin, from a tender conscience, from a broken heart. It is a godly sorrow over rebellion against God and hostility to His will. In some cases, it is their hidden and unspoken grief over the very morality in which the heart has trusted, over the self-righteousness which has now caused such complacency.
To mourn is something that of necessity follows being poor in spirit. As I am confronted with God’s holiness, I see my utter helplessness and hopelessness, and I mourn because I realize that I have sinned against a holy God and have brought the greatest possible degree, measure, of dishonor unto his name.
We must realize that we all have violated God’s law. But only Christians, under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, will realistically declare that not only are they spiritually bankrupt, but also, they are grieving over the vast multitude of their personal sins. Only Christians will declare unto God that they are by their nature sworn enemies of God, acknowledging that to sin means to set oneself against a holy God. Opposition, open rebellion to God is the very heart and essence of sin.
It begins with poverty of spirit. The Beatitudes begin, “Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). A person who is poor in spirit knows he is spiritually bankrupt. He knows that in his flesh there is no good thing (Romans 7:18). When you are convinced intellectually that you are spiritually bankrupt, you will prayerfully recognize and fully acknowledge the 100% critical need to respond emotionally by mourning over your sinfulness.
The Greek word translated “mourn” in Matthew 5:4 is pentheo. It is the strongest of all the Greek words used in the New Testament to express grief. It often refers to mourning for the dead – the passionate lament expressed for a lost loved one. In the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Old Testament) it is used of Jacob’s grief when he was told his son Joseph was dead:
Genesis 37:32-34 (NKJV) Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?” 33 And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” 34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
A form of the word is used in Mark 16:10 of the disciples “as they mourned and wept” over Jesus’ death.
Pentheo conveys the idea of deep inner agony – not just external grief.
How many people do you know who MOURN over their sin? One problem we increasingly face in our day is a conspicuous lack of seriousness concerning sin.
In many places, even among Christians, sin is seemingly not taken seriously anymore. Oh, there are those churches where pastors rail against sin, but they have usually identified certain outward behaviors of which they disapprove, while ignoring many of the more deadly attitudes of the heart- like pride, arrogance, self-righteousness, a judgmental spirit. This is not taking sin seriously. This giving sin an unneeded free pass to wreak maximum havoc.
Taking sin seriously means that we truly mourn over our sinful condition. This is what it means to mourn. It is the cry of the one whose heart has been broken, because he has sinned against God. After King David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed, after Nathan pointed out the gravity of his sin he mourned deeply over his sin – his soul was wrenched to its very core:
Psalms 51:3-4 (NKJV) For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. 4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight; That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.
David was devastated by the effects of sin on his relationship to God. He wrote:
Psalms 51:10-12 (NKJV) Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
David had sinned against God, and he could not escape that sin. He mourned over it, not because he had been caught, but because he had committed the sin itself. It was a genuinely massive affront against God, and broke David’s heart.
Psalms 32:3-4 (NKJV) When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
Does your sin cause you to mourn? When is the last time you mourned over your sin? For me it was yesterday; I spoke of someone in an angry hostile manner, and as soon as I calmed down and allowed the Lord to deal with me, I prayed, and I mourned over my behavior. We ought to be 100% mourning over our sin.
The seriousness with which we must take sin is evidenced by the Greek word used to speak of mourning in our text. There are nine different Greek words used in the New Testament to speak of sorrow. The one used here is the strongest. Like grieving over the death of a loved one, so we are to mourn our sin. It is a present participle, indicating continuous action. In other words, we are to continually mourn our sin that Father God may continually apply His forgiveness to our lives. And this will never happen unless we take sin seriously.
How seriously does God take sin? God takes sins so seriously that He sent Jesus, His only Son, to die to pay the penalty for sin. In God’s sight, sin is so serious that nothing else short of the death of Jesus Christ could deal with it. It was because of the seriousness of sin that Jesus Christ had to go to the Cross.
When those nails were driven through His hands and feet, it was because of your sin and mine. Because of my sin and yours, He suffered hour after hour upon the Cross, His life slowly, ever so painfully ebbing away. God the Father had His Son suffer this horrible agony, because it was the only way to deal with our sin. Let there be no doubt what God’s opinion of sin is. As we casually joke about sin, we need to be repeatedly reminded that, sin, to God it is never funny.
How seriously do you take your sins? Does it break your heart when you have sinned against God? Do you laugh when you see evil? Do you laugh at ungodly jokes and television shows? Proverbs 2:14 says there are some who “delight in the perverseness of the wicked.”Many in the church today have a defective sense of sin; we take it much to lightly.
Mourning has to do, first of all, with personal sins, and we see that aspect of it demonstrated in the life of David. But a person exhibiting godly sorrow also grieves for others. In the ninth chapter of the book of Daniel, Daniel not only confesses his own sins and weeps for them, but he also weeps for the sins of others. And after Ezra prayed his great prayer in Ezra 9, we read:
Ezra 10:6 (NKJV) Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib; and when he came there, he ate no bread and drank no water, for he mourned because of the guilt of those from the captivity.
A true mourner mourns not only over his own sin but also over the sins of others.
Jeremiah 9:1 (NKJV) Oh, that my head were waters, And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people!
He cried for those who were going to be judged for their sinfulness.
Matthew 23:37 (NKJV) “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!
Jesus is weeping over the city of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 9:4 (NKJV) and the LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”
If this were to be done by the church today, would you or I be marked by God as ones who 100% mourns over the abomination being committed in our society?
The psalmist, reflecting on the sins of others, said:
Psalms 119:136 (NKJV) Rivers of water run down from my eyes, Because men do not keep Your law.
Do you or I weep like that? Is your heart, my heart broken when God’s heart is broken? We should mourn for our own sins, but we should also mourn for the sins of our family, for the sins of church, and the sins of the world. I mourn over the loss of fellowship I have with different people because of sin. When you see a friend or loved one involved in sin, do you mourn? Does it break your heart?
They Shall Be Comforted:
The pronoun translated “they” in Matthew 5:4 is placed emphatically; only those who continually mourn over their sin will be comforted.
The background for what Christ is saying is found in Isaiah 61, a passage Christ applied to Himself:
Isaiah 61:1-3 (NKJV) “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”
This passage describes those who are overwhelmed with their sinfulness when the Messiah comes. Isaiah spoke of the promise of comfort the Messiah will bring. This is tied inseparably with what Christ says in Matthew 5:4 regarding those who mourn. The Jews would recognize this message in the context of the coming Messiah. Those who have experienced anguish and sorrow over their sin will receive the blessing that only the Messiah can bring.
In Isaiah 40:1, we read: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” God’s plan from all eternity was to comfort his people. And the truth is, the Comforter – the Christ, the Anointed One, the Suffering Servant – came. And in Isaiah 53:5 we read,“The punishment that brought us peace,” that is, comfort, “was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed,” meaning we are saved, we are comforted.
“Do you or I view being “poor in spirit” as covenantal or practical? My answer is, “Yes!” I think it is both. In the Beatitudes we are shown the character of the Christian. Christians are blessed, because they see their bankruptcy and turn to Savior Christ. Christians are blessed, because they 100% mourn over their sin.
Christians are blessed, because they are in a covenant relationship with God – this is covenantal. But the more a Christian grows in poverty of spirit, the greater his fellowship with God, and he is blessed practically and temporally.
Do you or I understand the distinction between union and communion? We were united to Christ when we placed our trust in Him for our eternal salvation.
We can never lose our union with Christ. But our communion with Christ, our experiential fellowship, can be obscured and inevitably lost by our disobedience and unbelief. Notice what James says:
James 4:8-10 (NKJV) Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
What does he mean by “draw near to God”?
One writer described our relationship with God this way: “Closer to God I can never be, for in the person of Christ I am as close as he.”
This is very true – positionally. It speaks of our union.
How can believers who are in genuine union with Christ be told to “draw near”? This call by James to “draw near” speaks of an experiential relationship to God, our communion, if you will. The GOD call to draw near in this text is a call to communion to believers who are already in union with God. Drawing near speaks of our experiential relationship with God. We, as believers, are joined to God by faith through Jesus Christ. Our communion is based upon our union.
God has given us a picture of union and communion in marriage. When a man and a woman get married, they enter into a relationship, a union. As the years pass, their relationship, their communion, may be good or bad or indifferent.
But whatever their experience, the fact of their union remains. In a similar way, when we confess Christ as our Savior with a whole and genuine heart (Romans 10:9-13) we enter an eternal union with God at salvation, but our communion is based upon a dynamic living, active faith. We can drift in and out of communion with God, just as we can precisely drift in and out of communion with a spouse.
1 John 1:6-9 gives us the condition of fellowship:
1 John 1:6-9 (NKJV) “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness [disobedience], we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Willful disobedience willfully breaks our communion with God; when we are in communion with God, we are constantly cleansed by Christ’s blood. This is a beautiful description of the intimacy and fellowship that our union in Christ should bring.
The Bible indicates from the earliest chapters that God desires our communion:
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
Genesis 3:8-9 NKJV
God is calling out to that Adam that they may fellowship. We see this same idea in Revelation where God is calling his church to have fellowship with Him:
Revelation 3:20 (NKJV) “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
So, “They shall be comforted.” receives its fulfillment, first, in that Divine consolation which immediately follows a conversion, namely the removal of that conscious burden of guilt which lies as an intolerable burden on the conscience. It finds its accomplishment in the Spirit’s application of the Gospel of God’s grace to the one whom He has convicted of his dire need of a Savior.
This “comfort” issues in a sense of a free and full forgiveness through the merits of the atoning blood of Christ – this is 100% covenantal.
Second, there is a continual “comforting” of the mourning saint by Christ who comforts by the assurance that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
The blessed mourn over their sin. As the clouds come between the earth and the sun making the sun disappear, so do our sins come between us and the Lord disrupting our communion.
Isaiah 59:2 (NKJV) But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.
So, all these beatitudes speak of the attitude of one who is in union with God – one who is in His kingdom. But they also speak of the ongoing attitude of one who is in communion with God.
The tense of the verb is not “have mourned,” but “mourn” – a present and continuous experience. The Christian himself has much to mourn over.
The sins which he now commits are a sense of daily grief to him, or should be, and will be, if he is in fellowship with God.
True mourning is sorrow over sinning against such a loving, good-giving God. The Lord’s chastening hand is not our main concern. The primary concern is we have sinned against our loving God causing a separation between us and the Lord. Because of our sin, God has become our estranged stranger. We have lost communion with God. This offense against such a benevolent God, not just the consequences of sin, causes us to mourn.
Do we understand what it means to love God? Do we mourn every time we have broken His law? Does it cause us to mourn that we are displeasing Him in so many ways? We desire after the inner man to obey His law, but we come so short. This is not with a desire to merit heaven, because Christ purchased it with His blood. We mourn over sin because we have sinned against such love by every violation of His commandments.
Does sin break your heart? Whether it be your sin or the sin of others, does it cause you to mourn? It should! If it doesn’t, why doesn’t it? Let me propose that it is either because you are out of fellowship with God or because you are not a believer. We must mourn at knowing how God’s glory is affected by our sins and how we heap dishonor on the name of our glorious God by our sins.
It Is Well with My Soul by Horatio G. Spafford
1. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. Refrain: It is well with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul.
2. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blest assurance control, that Christ has regarded my helpless estate, and hath shed his own blood for my soul. (Refrain)
3. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul! (Refrain)
4. And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll; the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, even so, it is well with my soul. (Refrain)
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us pray,
God, my Father, Jesus my Guide, Holy Spirit my Guardian, illuminate my mind so I can understand how you want me to live. Your word tells me that people of integrity who follow your instructions are joyful. You have said that those who obey your laws and search for you with all their hearts are blessed and happy. I want that joy! Holy Spirit, please guard me against allowing evil to influence what I believe and do. Help me walk only in your paths. I plead, may my actions consistently reflect what you have said is right and good. Alleluia! Amen.
Jesus, keep me near the cross, There a precious fountain— Free to all, a healing stream— Flows from Calv’ry’s mountain.
Refrain: In the cross, in the cross, Be my glory ever; Till my raptured soul shall find Rest beyond the river.
Near the cross, a trembling soul, Love and Mercy found me; There the bright and morning star Sheds its beams around me.
Near the cross! O Lamb of God, Bring its scenes before me; Help me walk from day to day, With its shadows o’er me.
Near the cross I’ll watch and wait Hoping, trusting ever, Till I reach the golden strand, Just beyond the river.
Fannie Crosby, Published in 1869.
2 Corinthians 1:1-4 English Standard Version
Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
God of All Comfort
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
The Gospel Truth: Our God is with us when we experience pain, loss, regret, sadness, and all manner of pain. He is not only with us but promises to bring us the comfort we need when we face troubles. He is with us through all things.
“God of Comfort” can also be translated as “God of Compassion.” To have compassion is to have concern and empathy for the sufferings of others. This first shows us God recognizes our need to be seen, to receive the empathy and care of others. God is interested in what we are going through. He does not casually dismiss our current circumstances or minimize our daily stressors as insignificant. He absolutely cares about and is absolutely there for each and every up and down that we face. He gathers our tears in a bottle (Psalm 56:8)
It’s easy for many of us to think our heartbreak doesn’t count because others have gone through worse. While we should realize the uncountable ways we are blessed, that does not mean God doesn’t see your pain as “minimal” compared to others. Compassion and comfort from Jesus are available whenever we need them! God’s grace is not reserved solely for our hardest moments; it’s available to each and every one of us on a day-by-day, even moment-by-moment basis!
We can call on God’s powerful Holy Spirit when we need comfort because we are having trouble resolving a conflict with those closest to us, when plans have to be scrapped due to unforeseen circumstances, or when sudden disappointment attempts to steal our joy. God comforts us when we face job losses, unmet goals, loneliness, grief, illness, separation, depression, anxiety, and relational strife; whatever we face we must remember that we can have absolute confidence in the absolute power of God to absolutely help us through the trials in our lives.
The beautiful thing is that God offers us his peace not just to carry us through our own circumstances but so we can also “comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” In God’s economy, nothing is wasted, no opportunity is ever lost! His power is multiplied through us. His grace overflows from our lives and spills into the lives of those around us.
God gives purpose to our hard places.
Joseph said to his brothers who tried to kill him, betrayed him into Egyptian slavery; Genesis 50:20 says, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.”
From the beginning, God has re-written the stories of people’s lives for His glory. Joseph, who utters the words from Genesis about God’s grace over this life, endured many hardships that began when his brothers sold him into slavery due to jealousy. Rather than letting bitterness steal his future, he relied on God’s comforting strength to help change the narrative of his life. There is 100% no circumstance that God can’t heal and then use as a blessing to others.
When you and I face difficulties remember God’s Holy Spirit is always at your disposal. While we suffer God comforts. As we heal God mercifully uses our lives to bless others who need a listening ear, wise counsel, or a love-filled embrace. Praise our God for He is a God of all Comfort! All of God’s hugs are 100% FREE!
No Matter Where You Are in Life, It’s Never Too Late. Allow Yourself New Hope.
What kind of affliction are you facing right now? How overwhelming is it?
Where do you tend to first turn for comfort? Or do you choose to suffer?
How long does it take you to remember God is your Father?
How long does it take you to remember Jesus is your Savior?
How long does it take you to remember the Holy Spirit is your Comforter?
Do you remember How God, Jesus, Holy Spirit brought you comfort in the past?
Did you know God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are comforting you right now?
Are you grateful? Are you humbled? Are you mindful of His Presence now?
How do you express your gratitude to God for His blessings you’ve received?
How can you share God’s comfort with others?
How DO you share God’s comfort right now?
Do you share God’s comfort with anyone, or do you try to keep it all to yourself?
Having carefully pondered these questions, what is your Prayer right now?
Write YOUR prayer here ________________________________
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us pray,
Lord, my comfort, I’m often confused when I need to make important decisions about my work, my relationships, my health, or finances. Show me the way I should go when I don’t know which way to turn. Help me remember to come to you, rather than trying to figure everything out on my own. Guide me along the best pathway for my life. Advise me and watch over me. Help me to listen to your guidance and not resist it. I thank you that your unfailing love surrounds those who trust you. Let my life be the example You need it to be. Amen. Amen.
It has been suggested that a knowledge of one’s own ignorance is the beginning of wisdom and recognizing our lack of wisdom is the first prudent step towards understanding. Proverbs 1:1-7 reminds us of this truth: fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, that a knowledge of the holy brings true understanding.
Life is full of pitfalls and snares, and we often make wrong choices, but it is comforting to know that no matter what trials we may be called upon to face, or what foolish choices we have made in the past, what foolish choices we will definitely and decisively make in the future, how righteous is it to know that we can go to the Lord, ask Him for godly insight and spiritual understanding, and He has promised to give us all the wisdom we can handle, is needed for the task.
1 How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent Word! What more can he say than to you he has said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
James 1:5-8 The Message
5-8 If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Do not think you are going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
A man was given a tour of heaven in a dream. As the tour ended, he noted one particular building was skipped over. The angel sternly warned that he did not want to see the inside of the building. This only heightened the man’s curiosity. The angel finally showed him. It was a building filled with beautifully wrapped presents. When the man asked what these were, the angel answered these were gifts which God had prepared for his children that were never claimed in prayer.
How many mansions does God have set aside for us? How many rooms are in all of those many mansions? How many are full? How many are empty? How many are unoccupied by God’s children but are used only as simple storehouses? If it’s one building, one mansion in heaven, storing and housing unclaimed gifts, how many boxes would contain unclaimed, unwanted gift of wisdom? When facing trials, we pray for provision, healing, strength, protection, intervention, miracles, deliverance, and so very many other things, besides God’s wisdom.
In this short passage, James, the half-brother of the Lord Jesus, is particularly referencing the wisdom of God we need when compassed about by the various difficulties we encounter in our everyday lives and the tough choices we are all required to make. Until Christ’s resurrection, James was at enmity with God and scornful towards his older sibling. It must have been shocking for this young man to discover that the brother whom he had treated with such contempt, during his life, was his Lord, his Savior, was the source of all the best wisdom.
This bondservant of Christ may have lacked wisdom in his earlier days but was ready to admit his folly and willing to share with us how easy it is to gain godly wisdom and spiritual understanding. James began his lesson on wisdom by pointing out that the suffering of this life produces patient endurance, which will furnish us with spiritual maturity. “However,” he continues, “if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” If we do really, seriously, unreservedly, want to know how we can set our ultra-unwise selves aside, James writes.
Don’t ask how we entered into or exactly how can get out of our trials.
But PRAY! God, the Father, Son, Spirit, what we can get out of our trials?
There are times when we do not know what to do or which way to turn, and I am sure James was shocked and mortified when the resurrected Christ visited his petulant, younger brother. But James was a young man with a teachable spirit, who was quick to embrace the wisdom of faith he lacked and encourages those of us who are deficient in spiritual insight to ask the Lord for all the necessary wisdom we need – and never to doubt that God will provide for us liberally.
James also knows that trusting the Lord for godly wisdom as we travel through life… is a tool the Lord uses to test and strengthen our faith in Him, and which helps to produce in us the patient endurance that is so needful for our spiritual growth – we are reminded to stand fast in the faith unwaveringly – if we are to honor the Lord Who bought us with His precious blood, to come forth as gold.
How much we all need God’s heavenly wisdom in the tests and trials of life’s disappointments and difficulties, which are so much a part of our everyday lives. How much we need His guidance in the choices we have to make, a willingness to admit our faults, a readiness to learn the lessons God desires to teach us, and an eagerness to put into practice the truth we have learned.
James 1:1-4 The Message
1 I, James, am a slave of God and the Master Jesus, writing to the twelve tribes scattered to Kingdom Come: Hello!
Faith Under Pressure
2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work, so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
James is saying, Pray for the unclaimed, unwanted, but precious gift of wisdom.
James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” This verse is a continuation of the previous paragraph. Verses 2-4 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Then here it seems that James abruptly shifts to the subject of prayer. But the two passages are connected. The link is the word “lack.”Verse 4 says that the purpose of trials is to become “perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” Verse 5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God.”
It is God’s will for you to become a mature Christian that lacks no good thing. But we need to grow up. But we need our trials to know how to “gird ourselves” to mature in our faith. Our faith is always going to somehow be incomplete. We consistently lack needed virtues for godly living against all situations. We can in no way predict who, what, where when and why of every exact situation. One thing we always lack is wisdom. God uses trials to expose our need for wisdom.
James 1:5-8 teaches that God freely provides wisdom to face life’s trials to those who come to him in believing prayer. Vance Havner said it well: “If you lack knowledge, go to school. If you lack wisdom, get to God on your knees!”
How do you access the wisdom you need to face life’s trials?
Ask God for Wisdom.
Verse 5 says, “If anyone of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”
The Problem. Verse 5 begins: “If any of you lacks wisdom…” This conditional statement does not suggest some do not need wisdom. James states the fact in a way that requires each person to examine himself and be humble enough to confess need for wisdom. No one is perfect in wisdom! (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)
What is wisdom? In scripture, wisdom is not academic, philosophical, or intellectual. Wisdom is not knowledge. Wisdom requires knowledge. But you can have knowledge and not be wise. You can be an “over-educated fool.” Our world is truly filled with them. We live in truly the most skilled, knowledgeable, and advanced generation ever. We also live in the most profane, violent, and hedonistic generation ever. We have our knowledge. We lack God’s wisdom.
Wisdom begins with a certain kind of knowledge. Psalms 14:1 says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” This knowledge of God comes through God’s self-revelation of himself in scripture. The wisdom of God is found in the word of God.
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the incarnate wisdom of God. (John 1:1-5)
Colossians 2:3 says in Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” When Adan and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they made fools of us all. But God sent his Son into the world to live a righteous life, die on the cross for our sins, and rise from the dead to give us new life. The gospel is able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ. But saving faith does not automatically produce perfect wisdom. Jesus is the answer. That does not mean you will not have to face life’s difficult questions.
Proverbs 4:7 says, “Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.”
The Prescription. God is the source of all wisdom. To receive wisdom to face life’s trials, ask God for it. The prescription for wisdom is simple yet dynamic. You do not need time, experience, or education to be wise. The young, naive, and unlearned can ask God for wisdom. There is never a time God is unavailable.
The prescription is personal: “let him ask God.” You need godly people in your life to intercede for you. But there are things you need from God you will not receive from the intercession of others. You must ask God for yourself. If you need wisdom, you do not have only to go to your pastor, visit a counselor, inform your prayer partners, or go to your family and friends. They are 100% important. But true wisdom you need to face life’s trials is only a prayer away.
God gives. After commanding to us ask God for wisdom, James describes the character of God that makes him inclined to grant our request. God is a giving God. It is wrong to view God with clenched fists that must be pried open. God’s arms are outstretched. God’s hands are full, open, and ready to give. God’s pitcher is tilted toward his children to pour out blessings (Matthew 7:11).
God gives generously. The word “generously” means to be simple, single, or sincere. It is that which is pure. James uses the term to say God’s gifts are true gifts. Proverbs 23:1-3 says, “When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is set before you, and put a knife to you throat if you are given to appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food.” Sometimes a person’s generosity is not genuine generosity. That is not the case with God (Romans 11:35). God gives generously, liberally, purely, sincerely, and freely.
God gives generously to all. Divine generosity is nondiscriminatory. God does not play favorites. He is no respecter of persons. In Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus tells a parable about a landowner who kept going to the marketplace to hire workers. He hired workers early in the morning. he hired workers before the end of the workday. But he chose to pay them all the same things. The early birds whined, grumbled against the landowner. The landowner responded, “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what belongs to me?” Indeed, God has the right to do what he wants. In his sovereign grace, he chooses to be generous to all.
God gives generously to all without reproach. You may know people who could help in your time of need. But are they the first people you want to help because of the lecture you will hear when you ask for help? You would never hear the end of it after they help. God will never chastise you for asking him for His wisdom.
You do not have to worry God is too busy running the world to help you.
You do not have to worry God may mock you for not knowing how to face life’s trials.
You do not have to worry God will become irritated because you ask for the same thing.
The Promise. When Solomon became king of Israel, God signed a blank check and gave it to him. In 1 Kings 3:5, God said to Solomon, ask what I shall give you.” What should you ask for if you had a guarantee that God would grant your request? In 1 Kings 3:9, Solomon asked, “Give your servant an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”
Solomon asked for wisdom. This request so pleased God that he gave Solomon wisdom and threw in wealth, longevity, and success. The wisdom God gave Solomon was not an exclusive gift. God has signed a check and made it out to any believer in Christ who asks for wisdom. All you have to do is endorse it in prayer. Verse 5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”
James 1:5 promises those who ask God will receive wisdom, not answers. All too often, answers become idols. We are in many ways like Job, who demanded to interrogate God about his suffering. When God finally took the witness stand, Job was interrogated with questions and never answered one of Job’s questions. Yet Job emerged with greater wisdom. This is precisely how Savior God works.
Wisdom is not a spiritual navigation system with turn-by-turn directions. It is spiritual alertness to see the potholes in the road, or the guy who darts in front of you, and respond in a wiser way that does not ruin your Christian wisdom, dishonor the Lord, or discourage other believers.
Trust God for Wisdom.
There is a natural and critical progression in the text. Trials demand wisdom. Wisdom demands prayer. Prayer demands faith.
Verse 5 commands us to ask God for wisdom. Verses 6-8 explain how to ask God for wisdom. Verse 5 is an open gift every Christian can claim. Verse 6-8 establish an essential condition for receiving the promise. As you ask God for wisdom, trust God for wisdom.
God responds to the one who prays in faith. Verse 6 says, “But let him ask in faith.” God generously gives wisdom without reproach to all who ask him. But God requires that we ask in faith. This requirement applies to anything you ask.
Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
Whatever you ask in prayer must be asked in faith. James specifies that when you pray for wisdom, you must ask in faith. In Mark 11:22-24, Jesus says, “Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
God rejects the one who prays with doubt. Verse 6 says, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting.” There is a sense in which double is a friend of faith, not its enemy. Doubt is the ants in the pants of faith. It keeps faith alive, awake, and alert. Yet James commands us to ask in faith with no doubting. It is a prohibition against spiritual indecisiveness that wavers between trust and double. Doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs!
What God thinks about the doubter. Verse 6 says, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that tis driven and tossed by the wind.”
This marine analogy is one of many images from nature in James. Growing up with his half-brother Jesus near the Sea of Galilee, James was familiar with storms at sea. Winds drove the waves in one direction, then another. Winds tossed the waves, lifting them high and then crashing them down. It is the kind of storm the disciples experienced that caused them to wake up Jesus and ask, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38) The one who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and fearfully tossed about by the wind.
Psalm 107:23-30 Authorized (King James) Version
23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; 24 these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. 25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. 26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. 27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. 28 Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. 29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. 30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
What the doubter thinks about God. The doubter lives with a foolish assumption. He supposed he can pray with doubt and receive an answer to his prayers. She supposes God will grant her request even though she does not trust God for what she asks. The doubter is confused about who God is and how God works. James disabused the doubter of this erroneous supposition.
James 1 Verse 7 says, “For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the lord.” James 1:2, James addresses his readers as “brothers,” a term of spiritual communion used throughout this letter. James addresses the doubter in verse 6 as “that person,” disassociating himself from the one who prays with doubt.
“For that Person must not suppose he will receive anything from the Lord.” “Anything” is not absolute. Matthew 5:45 says, God “makes his sun rise on the evil and the good and sends his rain on the just and on the unjust.” This is called “common grace.” It is the favor of God put out one all humanity.
James does not mean God refuses to do absolutely anything for the one who doubts. “Anything” must be understood in the context of prayer.
God does many things for doubters. But the doubter should never think he or she will receive anything they ask God for in prayer.
James states this as a divine command: “For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.” Doubt receives God’s rejection slip that reads: “Request denied due to insufficient faith.”
Verse 8 gives readers a final, devastating description of the one who believes but doubts: “he is a double-minded man,” unstable in all his ways.” “Double-minded” is unique to this epistle. Scholars believe James coined the term. It means to have two souls. It is to be two different people. Yet the term does not suggest duplicity or deceitfulness. It describes something far worse: Doubt rooted in divided loyalties.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 declares, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
There is one God. This One God alone demands every last ounce of your total devotion. Doublemindedness is exact the opposite of such complete devotion.
James 4:8 says,“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
The doubled minded has a sinful heart which needs to be purified to draw near to God (Psalm 51).
This is how a 21st Century version of James would describe the one who doubts.
He is a double-minded man.
He is a fence-straddler.
He is “Mr. Facing-Both-Ways.”
He is a walking civil war.
He trusts, but he doubts.
He hopes for the best but expects the worst.
He tries to be a “best friend forever” of the world and God at the same time.
In 1 Kings 18:21, Elijah the prophet confronts the double-minded children of Israel: “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? IF the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 says,
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
1 How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent Word! What more can he say than to you he has said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
2 “Fear not, I am with you, O be not dismayed, for I am your God and will still give you aid; I’ll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand, upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.
3 “When through the deep waters I call you to go, the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow, for I will be with you, your troubles to bless, and sanctify to you your deepest distress.
4 “When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie, my grace all sufficient shall be your supply; the flames will not hurt you; I only design your dross to consume and your gold to refine.
5 “The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose I will not, I will not, desert to its foes; that soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!”
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Lord of wisdom, I sometimes finding understanding the Bible to be difficult. I know you want me to apply your word to my life. I thank you for giving me your word so I can grow in my relationship with you. Help me grasp what you want me to know as I read your revealed word. Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions. Be my teacher, so I can live and obey your word. Thank you for your ever greater, wiser advice. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Understanding the fourth beatitude turns on the readers understanding what Jesus meant by righteousness. In ancient Judaism, righteousness meant “to acquit, vindicate, restore to a right relationship.” The righteous are those who maintain right relationships—with God and with the people around them. On the basis of right relationships, those who commit infractions are acquitted of guilt provided If your hearts were genuinely in the right relationship with God.
Have you received the blessing of being filled with right relationships? It flows from meekness (the third beatitude) because we can only form genuinely right relationships with others when we cease making all our actions revolve around ourselves. Do you hunger and thirst for right relationships—with God, with your co-workers, with your family, and your community? Hunger is a sign of life. We are genuinely hungry for good relationships if we yearn for others for their own sake, not just as candy or snack food for meeting our own needs. If we see we have God’s grace for this, we will hunger, thirst for right relationships, not only with God, but with the people, neighbors, with whom we work or live.
When you’re really hungry or thirsty, you’ll do anything you can to get food or drink. In fact, it becomes all you can think about. When you are desperate for a drink, you don’t want to chat with a friend for two hours about your neighbors’ best recipes. Instead, you want to do whatever you can to quench your thirst.
This is a lot like what today’s Bible verse is challenging us with. It’s telling us that we should be hungry and thirsty for righteousness. Doing the right things for God’s Kingdom. It should be something that we’re going after and wanting.
Challenge yourself today to zealously pursue after righteousness. Don’t become so used to your friends and what’s going on around you that you forget that you should be hungering and thirsting to get to know God better, to become .001% more like Him every day. Determine to hunger and thirst after righteousness.
Matthew 5:6 The Message
6 “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
We each understand the concept of hunger quite differently. You might be hungry, even desperately starving for the want of a bowl of rice right now. I do not know what hunger feels like to other people, but I can only tell you what it feels like to me. What usually starts out as a mild feeling of discomfort from the stomach turns into a growing and maturing hunger that affects my entire body.
I know that if I allow my hunger to go on long enough, I get a big headache and experience dizziness. My body is screaming into my mind to tell my feet and my hands to get into the kitchen and do something fast! I am told that other people do not feel this way. That is why they will eat a later dinner at 8pm at night. The hunger pangs in my body would become so great I could never wait that long.
Thirst operates in the same way. When you are thirsty you can hardly think of anything else. Your mind becomes consumed with needing water to drink. There is nothing better than a cold glass of water when you are truly thirst.
After working outside noon day heat, you do not want anything else to drink than water. Nothing else will satisfy the needs of the body more. You do not want to do anything else – just drink. Hunger and thirst will become so great that you cannot do anything else. When our desperate hunger and thirst kick in, life not so subtly stops, and we drink, quench our thirst and eat, fill our hunger.
This has become a metaphor for a having a strong desire. When a sports team wins a game, the coaches and athletes will often talk about being hungry for being and becoming a champion. The idea is that of a driving pursuit and a growing and maturing passion that comes from deep within the soul of that person. Another word which may help us to understand the idea is ambition.
Hunger and Thirst
With this in mind, let us listen to the words of Jesus as he continues to teach the crowds which have now come and gathered to hear him speak on the mountain. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6 ESV)
Therefore, hungering and thirsting is not any one person’s mild desire. To say that you are hungry for something does not mean that you do not really care if you have it or not. To say that you are thirsting for something does not mean that you are presently content or satisfied. Hungering and thirsting speaks of having a deep craving, a zealous yearning, and wildly passionate pursuit. The scriptures speak of having this brand of hunger and thirst in a number of places.
As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? (Psalm 42:1–2 ESV)
Like a deer panting and thirsting for flowing streams of water is the thirst that David and his whole entire being has for the living God. Listen to David again:
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1 ESV)
We are reading these so we can have a sense of what the scriptures mean to hunger or thirst for the things of God. David does not speak of being mildly interested in God. He earnestly seeks the Lord. His souls’ thirsts for the Lord.
His flesh faints for the Lord. Do you hear the passion? Do you hear the desire dripping from his words? Now let us turn our attention back to Matthew 5:6, notice what Jesus says those who belong to his kingdom hunger and thirst for.
For Righteousness
Notice that Jesus says that our passionate pursuit is not simply for the Lord but for righteousness. Righteousness is used a few different ways in the scriptures.
When we read the writings of the apostle Paul, righteousness refers to the idea of justification. Paul will often write about how we are not righteous, but God makes us righteous through the cross of Jesus.
Justification is the word that we typically use to describe this.
Is Jesus saying the kingdom of heaven belongs to the people who desire to be justified, by God? While we could argue that this is true, in Matthew’s gospel the word righteousness is never used in this way like the Apostle Paul uses it.
To see how Matthew uses the word righteousness in his gospel, we can look a few sentences down the page and understand the meaning. Look further into the Sermon on the Mount.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:10 ESV)
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20 ESV)
Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 6:1 ESV)
We will examine the meaning of these teachings in later lessons.
For now, it is enough for us to observe Matthew is not using righteousness in these places to describe God justifying us or declaring us righteous.
Rather, righteousness is here used in Matthew’s gospel in terms of personal righteousness by doing God’s will.
God’s people are those who passionately, zealously desire to do God’s will and equally pursue to keep God’s requirements. They look at God’s laws and ways as spiritual necessities to be desired just as food and drink are physical necessities for physical life. Covenanting to, conforming to God’s will be the highest desire.
The character of God’s people is that deep inside their souls they long so much for a godly life and relationship with God as much as a starving person long for his next meal or as a parched tongue longs for drops of water. God’s people are desperate for the things of God. All which we desire is to be right with our God.
It is an interesting and sad to note how modern Christianity seems to have no concern for right living or holiness. Right living appears to be inconsequential in these days. People think that they are Christians or that they serve the Lord while their desires are for any and everything else but God. Their desire for God is mild curiosity and not a burning passion or raging hunger. We cannot think that a luke warm, mild interest in God is what Jesus is calling for in today’s text. Listen very carefully to what Jesus said unto the Samaritan woman at the well.
“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:10 ESV)
Just slow down over those words, “If you knew the gift of God” and if you knew who is speaking to you, you would have asked him for the drink and received Living water. Those who know the gift of God and comprehend who Jesus is and what he is offering hunger and thirst for righteousness. Right living becomes as passionately, zealously important to them as food and drink. These are the ones who can never get enough of feasting and thirsting God’s word. They see their relationship with God as Isaiah pictured it: the eating of rich food (Isaiah 55:1).
Satisfied
Looking for satisfaction is the pursuit and goal of our culture.
All magazine headlines and television advertisements suggest that what they offer you will truly satisfy. Everyone wants to be satisfied. We try to fill our hunger and thirst with what will only eventually rust and be thrown away.
It is sad how often we desire lesser things. The prophet Jeremiah pictured this problem in the second chapter of his book where the people are described as having broken cisterns that do not hold water.
The reason it is so foolish is because God is offering flowing, clean, clear water. Yet we try to drink old, stale water thinking we will be satisfied in this way.
This is why the scriptures so often tell us to be godly and pursue righteousness and holiness decisively, exactly and exactingly like our lives depended on them. Satisfaction can only come through living such a lifestyle. Those in the kingdom understand that only filling and satisfaction is Christ. Listen to Jesus again:
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35 ESV)
The more we are satisfied with God, the more we are dissatisfied with “rust worthy” substitutes. What Jesus has done is create in us a hunger for God. The pursuit of His righteousness destroys our own self-righteousness because the pursuit reinforces our poverty of spirit, insufficiency, and need for repentance.
What Jesus says challenges each and every one of us to ask ourselves what we hunger and thirst for. Salvation comes only to those who truly and deeply want every last ounce and scrap of it. Our spiritual poverty and mourning over our sins should compel us to 100% desire salvation, restoration, reconciliation, and righteousness. Those who hunger for God desire to conform to the will of God.
I am going to say this another way I hope will make us a little uncomfortable so that we clearly get Jesus’ message. Jesus is calling for starving believers. We are fanatical about eating and drinking. We never miss meals and very regimented in our eating, drinking throughout the day. We absolutely must eat and drink!
Now we have read all of these passages that tell us that Jesus is to be our food and drink. We want Jesus and we do not want any substitute. We want time with him, and nothing can change us from that effort and passionate pursuit. Jesus is zealously upon our minds like food and drink are when we all hunger and thirst. We are called to be 1000% consumed with Jesus and desire his ways in our lives.
What is your passionate pursuit in life? What satisfies you? What do you hunger and thirst for? Your hungry heart, Your thirsty soul, Your time, your money will reveal those answers to you. Only Jesus can satisfy. Give your life to him today.
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
Helen Howarth Lemmel, 1922
O soul are you weary and troubled No light in the darkness you see There’s light for a look at the Savior And life more abundant and free
Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full in his wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of his glory and grace
His word shall not fail you he promised Believe him and all will be well Then go to a world that is dying His perfect salvation to tell
Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full in his wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of his glory and grace
O soul are you weary and troubled No light in the darkness you see There’s light for a look at the Savior And life more abundant and free
Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full in his wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of his glory and grace
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Father, my Guide, illuminate my mind so I can understand how you want me to live. Your word tells me that people of integrity who follow your instructions are joyful. You have said that those who obey your laws and search for you with all their hearts are blessed and happy. I want that joy! Holy Spirit, please guard me against allowing evil to influence what I believe and do. Help me walk only in your paths. May my actions consistently reflect what you have said is right and good. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
It was perfect LOVE that caused the almighty God act in the affairs of mankind, to send His only begotten Son into the world to become the sin-sacrifice for the entire race of humanity and it was perfect love that caused the Lord Jesus Christ to lay down His life for us. It was perfect love which caused the Lord Jesus to be a perfectly willing sacrifice, to talk the talk and walk the walk all the long and humiliating and painful way to be crucified upon the cruelest criminal’s cross… willingly, so all who believe on Him might not perish but have everlasting life.
Ponder for a while in your 21st century heart those words “perfect love.” What comes into your mind? What thoughts come rushing into your soul that either say; “I can hold my head up high to that one!” or “my head now “comfortably” rests on my knees and my “perfect” shame are resting ever before mine eyes.” Be vigorously and rigorously honest with yourself – God is right beside you!!! Whose standard of “Yeah, I got this love thing down perfectly” “Hallelujah”” are you living, loving, placing before Jesus as your standard of Christianity?
Read and reread Psalm One. Place your standard of “Hallelujah” before God!!!
Now, let us examine today’s text,
1 John 3:16-24 The Message
16-17 This is how we have come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.
When We Practice Real Love
18-20 My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.
21-24 And friends, once that’s taken care of and we’re no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we’re bold and free before God! We’re able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we’re doing what he said, doing what pleases him. Again, this is God’s command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
In the most perfect example of love in all history, God sent His only Son into the affairs and works of mankind. For the sake of love alone, the Lord Jesus offered for mankind’s consideration the supreme example of ultimate love when He willingly laid down His life for friends and enemies alike. Jesus’ Perfect Love is made manifest in its highest measure at the cross of Calvary and as His children we might ponder our own hyper dramatic, self-serving standard of perfect love.
Mankind is steadily crumpling under the weight of sin and collapsing under the satanic influence of evil, which is suffocating a world in distress, but the true character of the spiritual Christian is based on a godly love and stands in stark contrast with the evil hatred that reigns supreme over this fallen world system.
From our 21st century context we cannot begin to imagine what it cost God the Father to turn His back on His only begotten Son and pour out the full force of His holy hatred of sin… upon HIM. It was for love of us that God the Father poured out the full force of His holy wrath for the accumulated sin of the whole world, upon His innocent and dearly beloved Son – Whom He had loved from before the conception of the universe. And He did it out of LOVE… for the world.
From our 21st century “smart phone” applications we cannot dare presume to comprehend what it cost the innocent Lord Jesus, Who as God incarnate… had to freely lay aside His eternal majesty and supreme glory and be clothed in our decaying human flesh… and then be made indescribable sin for you and for me.
The eternal Creator God demonstrated His perfect standard of love towards us in that while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:6-8), He laid down His perfect life for us and became a perfect curse and a perfect hissing – as the weight of the accumulated sin of the world was laid perfectly upon His shoulders – and He did it for perfect LOVE of an imperfect you and for perfect LOVE of an imperfect me.
When we look at the cross of Christ and the blood that He shed for us at Calvary – we see incarnate LOVE. and we know what real godly love is by this: that the only Son of God, Christ Jesus perfectly laid down His perfect life for us. Ought not we for HIS sake, imperfectly lay down our lives for our imperfect brethren?
One “soul grabbing” “spiritually sobering” passage of biblical text which grabs our attention in this regard is the message of 1 John 3:16-18, where it is written:
1 John 3:16-18 Amplified Bible
16 By this we know [and have come to understand the depth and essence of His precious] love: that He [willingly] laid down His life for us [because He loved us]. And we ought to lay down our lives for the believers. 17 But whoever has the [a] world’s goods (adequate resources), and sees his brother in need, but has no compassion for him, how does the love of God live in him? 18 Little children (believers, dear ones), let us not love [merely in theory] with word or with tongue [giving lip service to compassion], but in action and in truth [in practice and in sincerity, because practical acts of love are more than words].
What a marvelous, memorable message that is! Let us look at those words and the surrounding context to learn about God’s will for love in our lives.
Love – a recurring theme in this letter. Love for our fellow Christians is one of the dominant themes of this epistle, especially in chapters three and four.
From a whole heavenly host number of angles, the Spirit through John appealed to these first-century disciples to love one another. That is just a part of whom God’s children are, recognizing this truth: “. . . we should love one another” (3:11). Would it be correct to say that God commands members of His church in our own troubled 21st century context to love each other? Read for yourself: “And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment” (3:23).
Love in word – When we read, “. . . let us not love in word or in tongue” (3:18), that is not a divine decree forbidding children of God from verbalizing their love for one another. The point being made here is that we ought to do 100% more than talk about love – we need to show it in our action. Jesus told His apostles,
“. . . I have loved you” (John 13:1-17, 34-35, John 15:9-17). Paul wrote the same thing to the saints in Corinth, saying, “. . . though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved” (2 Corinthians 12:14-15). When it comes from our sincere sacrificial heart, saying, “I love you” doesn’t violate Jesus’ teachings.
Love “in deed and in truth” – Again, that is the plain point of 1 John 3:18. Genuine love for other humans is something that we put into practice.
In this context, we see that such love was exemplified. It was shown by none other than the Lord Himself. What was His greatest manifestation of love for humanity? “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us” (3:16). What kind of perfect love was that? It was perfect love in perfect action, love sacrificing, love doing what always will be in the very best interest of others.
In this context, we also see that such love is expected of every single follower of the Christ. He exemplified it and He expect it from us, too. In view of what He did for us, we know, “And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (3:16). In this matter, Cain seriously failed his brother (3:12). We must not do the same. When we see our brother in need of material goods, we need to have compassion, open our hearts and our stockpile of blessings, and help! (3:17). Until we grow to the point of putting love into helpful action, we are just talking and tinkering, prancing and dancing around and maybe, deceiving ourselves.
Love in deed and in truth – love from the heart. Immediately following the charge for you and me to love in deed and in truth (3:18), in each of the next three statements/sentences there is reference made to a Christian’s heart. Look at them: “our hearts before Him” (3:19), “our heart” (3:20), and “our heart” (3:21). Our heart may or may not condemn us (3:20,21). God sees! God knows!
Words are words. Action is action. But do the words and/or action come from the heart? Are they sincere before God and man, or are we like the hypocrites of Jesus’ day who looked great on the outside but were a mess within? (Matthew 23:27,28). Yes, God calls us to put love into action, but none of us should believe the faulty notion that all action shows true love. Such is not the case. Action without proper motivation (love!) is empty, fraudulent and seriously fruitless.
Lack of love – This is not a very pretty picture, but it is one which John sets forth before us. If I fail to love my brother in the Lord, which is the same as hating him, that makes me a murderer (1 John 3:15). Is that relevant today? That is what the Bible says, and such language gets my attention. What else?
If a child of God does not love his brother, he is “not of God” (3:10). Such a disciple of Jesus is acting like Cain (3:12). Raise your hand if you want that label (“Acts Just Like Cain”) for your conduct. The world hates us, and we expect that (3:13), but we do not expect to see such among God’s family. What else?
One who does not love his brother abides in death, which is separation from God (3:14). The saint who hates his brother is a murderer, and the consequence of being a murderer is one does not possess eternal life (3:15). You see, my own relationship with God, depends on exactly “how do I treat other people now?”
Think about it.
Ponder it in your heart.
Ponder it in your soul.
Ponder it in your strength.
Ponder it in your weakness.
Ponder it in all of your imperfections.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us pray,
Today, O’ God, this is my perfect plea, Lead Me out upon thy Level Ground!
Loving Father of mine, teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your Holy Spirit lead me forth on level ground. I see your faithfulness and goodness in what you have done for me throughout my life. I think about all these things, and I thirst for you. Let me hear of your unfailing love every morning, for I am trusting you. Show me how to talk. Show me where to walk, for I give my whole self to you. Keep me on firm footing for the glory of your name. Alleluia! Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 