Chapter 6 - The
Beatitudes
Bonhoeffer- 'Having
reached the end of the beatitudes, we naturally ask if there is any place on
this earth for the community which they describe. Clearly, there is one place, and only one,
and that is where the poorest, meekest, and the most sorely tried of all men is
to be found-- on the cross of Golgotha.'
My thoughts-
TRUTH!
We can try all we
want to find this place all around us, try to create it as we seek to be what
our Savior so clearly longs for us to be. But He tells us that the place is
ONLY found in Him.
We are to seek first
the kingdom of God- and He is the kingdom of God.
Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
If we do NOT seek
the kingdom of God first we can't expect ANYTHING else, not a single
thing. We must bring ourselves to Christ
first, surrendering ourselves to Him, and allowing Him to recreate us in the
new birth, the new life in Him. We have
to surrender ourselves daily, because if we don't we will find ourselves trying
to take back our own lives and steering it down our own path which isn't His. It has to be HIS path, not ours, and all too
often the only path we head towards is one of our own making. A daily
surrender. A constant surrender. A
surrender always.
Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you,
and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my
sake.
Bonhoeffer- 'His
disciples are reproached, but because it is for his sake, the reproach falls on
him. It is he who bears the guilt. The curse, the deadly persecution and evil
slander confirm the blessed state of the disciples in their fellowship with Jesus.
It could not be otherwise, for these meek strangers are bound to provoke the
world to insult, violence, and slander. Too menacing, too loud are the voices
of these poor meek men, too patient and too silent their suffering. Too
powerful are the testimony of their poverty and their endurance of the wrongs
of the world. This is fatal, and so, while Jesus calls them blessed, the world
cries: "Away with them, away with them!" Yes, but whither? To the
kingdom of heaven.'
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is
your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before
you.
Bonhoeffer- 'There
shall the poor be seen in the halls of joy. With his own hand God wipes away
the tears from the eyes of those who had mourned upon earth. He feeds the
hungry at his Banquet. There stand the scarred bodies of the martyrs, now
glorified and clothed in the white robes of eternal righteousness instead of
the rags of sin and repentance. The echoes of this joy reach the little flock
below as it stands beneath the cross, and they hear Jesus saying: "Blessed
are ye!" '
My thoughts-
Imagine.
We have to imagine
this as being a reality we hope for, we live for.
We can imagine our
lives tomorrow. We make plans to do things, to go to the store, to go to
school, to go on a trip, to stay home, we envision ourselves in the future at
least as far as this. We also envision ourselves in many future situations.
Some can see themselves getting married, having babies, getting a career, jobs.
Others see the next major celebration, a birthday, Christmas, Thanksgiving,
etc. We have this ability to make plans
with ourselves in those plans. With this ability comes the ability, by the
GRACE of GOD, to imagine ourselves as HIS, with HIM when He returns for us and
calls us to meet Him in the air, to be his forever more.
We need to utilize
this ability constantly, because our Hope is the KINGDOM of GOD we are to seek
first. The gospel, the good news that
Jesus lived on earth to bring to US! He wants us to be with Him, to know this is
the hope we have!
This world isn't our
hope.
Jesus said-
Joh_17:14 I have given them thy word; and the world
hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the
world.
Our hope must be in
JESUS and HIS WORLD, the WORLD HE OFFERS, where HE prepares a place for us!
Joh 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it
were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh_14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be
also
By HIS LOVE!
Through HIS GRACE
and MERCY!
ALWAYS!
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