Pure Heart

Mat 5:2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Today's lesson from the Greatest Teacher to ever live-
Blessed are the PURE in HEART.

The pure in heart shall see GOD.

Jesus said this--
Mat 23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Mat 23:26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Mat 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Mat 23:28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Having a pure heart, being inwardly beautiful, inwardly clean.
Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites- OUTWARDLY they appeared RIGHTEOUS to others, but HE knew their inward parts, He knew their hearts.

Do you know people who appear outwardly righteous? We all do, don't we? We know of those we'd like to be more like and wish we could behave and live like they are. We are told that we shall know others by their works, and yet even then we are sometimes fooled by the works aren't we? This means really that sometimes it is blatantly obvious what a person's works are revealing. Yet other times things aren't quite on the up and up. I may see the good works of a man and he could be very corrupt, his works good only for his own gain. I may see the works of an evil man and this at least reveals little hypocrisy, right? The man who chooses to blatantly steal, lie, be contentious isn't hiding his evil deeds. When we hide our evil ways choosing to be evil secretly it's that much harder to ever be Christ's. We get so used to hiding our inward evil that it becomes very easy to simply ignore that it's very evil at all.

Blessed are the pure in heart.

Truly those whose hearts are opened to our Savior and made clean by HIM will see GOD.
Remember this--

Psa_51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
We need God to create a CLEAN heart in us.
We need to choose to allow our God to clean our hearts. We need to desire this cleansing, this spirit renewal.
Pure hearts.
Psa 24:3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
Psa 24:4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
Psa 24:5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

　
1Ti_1:5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned
　
2Ti_2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

　
1Pe_1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently

　
Please Lord, it is ONLY through You and Your righteousness that we can be made clean, that you can give us the pure heart that we need.

We want to have pure hearts! We need hearts cleaned by Your cleansing love! We desire to have UNFEIGNED love of others.

Help us to CHOOSE to be loving as we choose to be wholly YOURS.

Bless us LORD, only in YOU are our hearts make us pure!

Mercy

Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
Mat 5:7  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
 'Strong's: From G1653; compassionate (actively): - merciful.'
The merciful, the compassionate.
Does being merciful and compassionate come naturally to us?  It seems like it does to some people. Their instant response to situations calling for compassion and mercy seem to be perfect. So what happens to the rest of the people who don't have this instant, natural sympathetic, merciful, compassionate side? Do we throw in the towel and just say we'll never be like that? We'll never be what  Jesus wants us to be?
That's one of Satan's favorite traps for us. He LOVES getting us to the place of giving up, of giving in to despair of ever being Christ-like.
Jesus is TEACHING us.
The key word is TEACHING.
'He OPENED His mouth, and TAUGHT…' 
He did NOT open His mouth and say those who are already all these things are the ones I want with me. He was TEACHING us what it means to be like HIM, to be HIS, THROUGH HIM!
He knew we were not naturally all these things. He wants us to recognize in ourselves our NEED of HIM.
Those who show mercy will in fact obtain mercy.
Meaning- those who do NOT show mercy will NOT obtain mercy.
And again MERCY does NOT HAVE TO BE CONSIDERED AN EMOTION!
You can have mercy without having an overwhelming feeling involved. We get so hung up on what we FEEL.  Can you show compassion without feeling?
'Compassion - Merriam-Webster Online-
sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it. '
Sympathetic meaning being sensitive to another's needs.
Can you be sympathetic towards others and want to alleviate their distress without being all choked up? Can those who are geared towards being more logical and less emotional be merciful- filled with compassion, sympathetic towards others distress wanting to help?  YES.
These are CHOICES we make!
These are situations we will be faced with and a choice will need to be made by us. Do we HELP or IGNORE the need tor help? Do we comprehend our NEED to help, to be merciful?  Do we WANT mercy shown to us by others and most importantly, do we want mercy shown to us by our SAVIOR?
We must choose MERCY!
Satan will at every opportunity try to steal away any mercy we are inclined to show towards others. Satan will try to confuse us with emotions telling us if we don't FEEL it then it's not real, if we don't FEEL it then we are liars, if we don't FEEL it then we are false, if we don't FEEL it then we are not God's! 
We cannot let ourselves get caught in this awful trap, and it IS A TRAP!  It's one of many sneaky traps Satan has to lead us down a path that ultimately ends in our despair and destruction.
We need to SET ASIDE our FEELINGS and cling to our KNOWING CHRIST, knowing how our LORD would have us live. Being taught of Christ.
We are told to LEARN- MERCY.
If we are MERCIFUL we will be shown MERCY.
We need mercy.
By the grace of God we need mercy.

Thrist after Christ's Righteousness

Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

Mat 5:5  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Yesterday I talked about the meek but forgot to add the second part.

Blessed are the meek- FOR THEY SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH.

Inheriting the earth.
We've already read this--

Mat 5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

The kingdom of heaven and being comforted, and now inheriting the earth.

In truth we have to realize that every single one of these 'rewards' if you will, are given to all who are poor in spirit, all who mourn, all who are meek.  What I mean is, if you are poor in spirit then you are going to have the kingdom of heaven and the fact that yours is the kingdom of heaven means you are God's and if you are God's you will also end up being comforted and inheriting the earth. 

It's amazing the rewards of those who are GOD's. In the end of all this, the lesson we have to learn is we need to be God's in ALL THINGS. The lesson we are learning from our Savior is that LIFE here and now is NOT supposed to be wonderful. So many people imagine life is supposed to be wonderful right now and when things aren't going good they get upset and depressed and all too often we BLAME God rather than comprehend that we are BLESSED in our misfortune. Who wants to believe they are BLESSED when they are hurting, when they are emotionally spent, when their hearts are ripped apart, when they are poor in spirit,, when they are mourning, when they are meek and in all this they are suffering by living in a world that is ruled by Satan.

Blessed to be poor in spirit.
Blessed to mourn.
Blessed to be meek.

Blessed because those who are Christ's comprehend their all consuming NEED of Christ and they do this through their weakness,  finding strength in the LORD, not in themselves.

Mat 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Hunger and thirst.

We know what it means to be hungry and thirsty. We know the desire to fill the hunger in our bellies, to quench our thirst. Those who don't know hunger or thirst to the extreme do know it at least to some degree, even if it's slight.  A missed meal, no chance to drink for some time, we know this and we get to the point where we can't wait to eat something to fill that emptiness inside, to drink to no longer have that awful dryness in our throats and mouths.  If we hunger, and thirst for something we want that hunger and thirst satisfied.  It's a NEED in us, not simply a want. 

Blessed are they which HUNGER and THIRST AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Desire RIGHTEOUSNESSS.

Desire righteousness as if it is something you NEED to live!

We need food, we need drink to live, and we need the RIGHTEOUSNESS of CHRIST to live!  Without the Righteousness of Christ we do NOT live.

We are blessed in hungering and thirsting for CHRIST'S Righteousness, and we will be filled!  That hunger, that thirst will be FILLED by our SAVIOR.

Do we hunger, do we thirst for Christ's righteousness?  Is it a REAL desire for us? A REAL need to us? It has to be!
Just because we do not recognize the pangs of needing Christ's righteousness as we do the physical pangs of hunger and thirst, doesn't mean we shouldn't REALIZE intellectually, spiritually that we NEED to fill ourselves with CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS by choosing to live for CHRIST. As often as we need to eat and drink, we need to have Christ's in our thoughts and if we don't we are missing out on a chance to have Him in our LIVES more fully. This is TRUTH, this is CHRIST'S LOVE, this is CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS.

By HIS GRACE!
THROUGH HIS LOVE!
ALWAYS!

Blessed are the MEEK

Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying…

 

Mat 5:5  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

 

The Teacher tells us- blessed are the meek.

 

Blessed.

 

 

Strong's Dictionary- 'A prolonged form of the poetical μάκαρ makar (meaning the same); supremely blest; by extension fortunate well off: - blessed happy (X -ier). '

 

Supremely blessed.

Fortunate.

Well off.

Happy.

 

Are the meek, the humble.

 

In our world today a lot of people are anything but meek. Standing out, making a name for yourself, being the center of attention, these are desired qualities. We have show after show on television of people trying to make names for themselves, becoming well known celebrities. The goal of so many is to do just that, become the newest sensation for people to idolize. You see some of those shows and the hundreds of thousands of people who apply to be on them is astounding. In the end of the show only one is 'crowned' so to speak and the hopes and dreams of all the others are dashed. They are focusing on becoming anything but meek.  Now I don't know the hearts of these people, I haven't a clue of their eternal status at all whatsoever and there could be some very God fearing people trying to make it this way, I can't judge any one's eternal life. I do know that the majority of people are on the road that is wide and leads to destruction, not on the narrow path that leads to eternal life in Christ. The Bible tells me this and it is factual, not made up of mere possibilities, but filled with truth.  And in our world today becoming the latest fad, the current viral video hit is something many are trying to do, they are striving for this to be their life. We idolize those in important positions, we envy them, we admire them. Being meek,  being humble isn't something we applaud.  Sure we want a certain amount of humbleness from those we have a hand in choosing to put in 'super star' position, but more often than not, those who become these super stars show very little humbleness. Again, I'm not saying none of them do, not at all, but there is a lot of arrogance in our world today, a lot.

 

Stepping out of the superstar arena and bringing this down to the average person, we find much arrogance in little circles.

 

Arrogance, cockiness, brashness, and those who are full of this admire themselves for their attitudes, for their ability to take nothing from no one and stand out as being the top dog, so to speak. It's sickening is what it is.

 

Recently I had the opportunity to witness this sort of behavior first hand and it literally sickened me so much so that it was on my mind for days afterwards, and obviously I'm still thinking about it. Why? Because this sort of behavior was directed at my son, for no reason. No, he wasn't abused, but he was bullied by this arrogant, cocky person just because they could be that way. I lost a lot of respect for the person who did this bullying, a lot and in retrospect maybe I should have said something but at the time in the situation (which lasted all of 10 seconds if that) I was stunned and then it became a matter of keeping the peace rather than start something and ruin a family event for others. Don't worry, my son was reassured greatly that he wasn't in the wrong at all and the other person was and is nothing but an arrogant, rude human being that thinks they are special, but in my estimation they are very far from being anything but a bully.

 

This isn't something odd though, this isn't something that is rare at all, this is something that happens ALL the time EVERYWHERE!

 

Meekness is NOT applauded. Meekness is determined to be a DEFECT! Being able to stand up to others is deemed GOOD. Saying your peace, taking nothing from any one, not letting yourself be walked all over is what supposedly makes a person good in some way. 

 

This is the WORLD'S definition of a good person, not CHRIST'S!

 

So while people pat themselves and each other on the back for being able to stick up for themselves and give as good as they are getting, taking nothing from anyone, all the while they are NOT imitating Christ at all in any way, but are revealing characteristics of Satan.

 

Blessed are the MEEK.

 

Not blessed are those who are able to stand up for themselves.

Not blessed are those who are arrogant.

Not blessed are those who are cocky.

Not blessed are those who are self-absorbed bullies.

 

Blessed are the MEEK.

 

Blessed are those who understand that Satan has infiltrated the majority of all human beings causing them to display his traits, not God's.

Blessed are those who in understanding this, pray for meekness, pray for forgiveness as Satan strives to poison them with his evil ways.

 

As people continue to applaud the rude and arrogant all the while telling the meek they need to grow a back bone, Satan is exalted and pleased.

 

Please LORD help us to be MEEK, to be HUMBLE in a world that despises such things.

 

Please LORD forgive us our arrogance.

 

We are nothing without YOU, nothing! 

 

And YOU, our TEACHER is an example of true meekness, may we imitate YOU LORD, YOU are GREAT EXAMPLE in ALL things!

 

 

Mourning

Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying

 

Mat 5:4  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

 

Psa 69:29  But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.

 

Psa 126:5  They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

Psa 126:6  He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

 

Isa 61:2  To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

Isa 61:3  To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

 

Joh 16:20  Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

Joh 16:21  A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.

Joh 16:22  And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

 

2Co 1:4  Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

2Co 1:5  For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

2Co 1:6  And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.

2Co 1:7  And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

 

2Co 7:9  Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.

2Co 7:10  For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

 

Rev 7:14  And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Rev 7:15  Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

Rev 7:16  They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

Rev 7:17  For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

 

*******

 

Mat 5:4  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

 

We are taught that as Christ followers we will mourn.

How can we not mourn?

Godly sorrow works repentance to salvation.

Suffering brings forth mourning- partakers of the suffering we will also partake of the consoling.

Now we have sorrow, but we will see our Savior and then we will have joy that NO MAN can take from us.

 

So why do we tend to believe we are slipping further from Christ when we mourn? Satan would have us believe that we are to be happy- to have that happy emotion because if we don't then we are not trusting in our God for all things. Satan LOVES EMOTIONS because he's so masterfully warped them, twisted them along with our thinking so that we are led to DESPAIR, so we are led past all hope.  Satan would have our sorrow consume us so that we forget about the HOPE we have in CHRIST. We truly may suffer horrifically here and now, we may mourn here and now constantly, but in that suffering, in that mourning we do have HOPE that one day all the suffering and mourning will be taken away forever by our Savior.

 

We can mourn and still have hope.

We can suffer and still have hope.

 

We are blessed when we mourn because we SHALL be comforted.

 

We have this Blessed HOPE.

 

We must learn what our Savior is teaching us, this is a LIFE lesson.  This is a lesson we need to learn and hold fast to the rest of our lives. 

 

By the grace of God may we LEARN the lessons our SAVIOR has to teach us!

 

All through HIS LOVE!

 

 

Poor in spirit

Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

Mat 5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

Jesus is teaching.

 

When someone teaches - someone is expected to learn.

Does anyone ever teach without having someone to learn? Is it even possible to be a teacher without at least one student?  It kind of negates teaching if no one is there to learn.

 

Jesus is teaching.

We are His students, we must learn from HIM.

 

His first lesson here-

 

'Blessed are the poor in spirit- for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'

 

Mat 11:25  At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

 

Poor in spirit- babes.

 

Mat 18:1  At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

Mat 18:2  And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,

Mat 18:3  And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

 

Poor in spirit- little children.

 

Deu 8:2  And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

 

Poor in spirit- humbled.

 

Job 42:6  Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

 

Poor in spirit- repentant.

 

Psa 34:18  The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

 

Poor is spirit- broken hearted, contrite in spirit.

 

Isa 57:15  For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

 

Poor in spirit- contrite and humble in spirit.

 

Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

 

Poor in spirit - contrite.

 

Mic 6:8  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

 

Poor in spirit- humble.

 

Luk 4:18  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised

 

Poor in spirit - Preach the gospel to the poor.

 

Poor in spirit- contrite, humble, repentant, broken hearted.

 

Understanding our condition.

Understanding our place in the grand scheme of things.

Comprehending in a world where self exaltation is the norm, that self exaltation is the worst.

 

Being poor we recognize our need to be made rich by another.

Being poor we recognize our need of a Savior.

 

Those who believe they are rich in spirit in and of their own accord are not rich at all.

 

We have to realize our state and that state is one of dependency on our Savior for all things.

 

Blessed are the poor in spirit-  because they truly comprehend their need.

 

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

 

WE buy of our SAVIOR, we realize that there is no other source to buy from, no other way we can obtain what we need. We are POOR and we need to BUY of JESUS GOLD TRIED IN FIRE- FAITH IN HIM. 

 

Blessed are the POOR IN SPIRIT.

 

Please LORD help us to realize our need of YOU in all things.

 

Help us to be POOR in SPIRIT so that we may have the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.

 

Help us to be contrite, to understand our nothingness without CHRIST.

 

Please LORD teach us, help us LEARN from YOU all that we need to learn and live all that you would have us live.

 

All IN YOU.

 

All in Your LOVE.

Whosoever hears...

Jesus said--

 

Mat 7:24  Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

Mat 7:25  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

Mat 7:26  And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

Mat 7:27  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

 

Whoever HEARS what JESUS is saying, and DOES what He is saying- is WISE.

Whoever HEARS what JESUS is saying, and DOES NOT DO what He is saying- is FOOLISH.

 

We HAVE to hear our Savior and then DO what He tells us to do.

 

This is Jesus speaking! This is straight from our SAVIOR!  So why do so many believe they don't have to do anything at all? Why?

 

Jesus teaches we must learn.

 

What we have to learn is what choices we have to make in our lives. 

The differences between right and wrong.

We aren't left to wonder what we should do and what we shouldn't do.

 

We are given the idealized life for a reason and that reason is to make us realize what our Savior expects, and the knowledge that it is ONLY THROUGH HIM we can have HOPE. It is HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS we are to HOPE in, all the while we are to STRIVE to be all He wants us to be, knowing HE is our RIGHTEOUSNESS and we are ONLY doing all He says to do, or trying to do all He says because we want to OBEY His commands.  WE want to OBEY HIM so we act, knowing that we are striving to do His will as He commands.  We are putting our TRUST in HIM, fully IN HIM for SALVATION, we cannot save ourselves by anything we do other than CHOOSING HIM, CHOOSING to obey HIM.

 

Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying…

 

We've studied all this before, and you know what, we could study it from now until eternity and we will keep learning. This is our LIFE, this is our SAVIOR TEACHING US LIFE and HOW TO LIVE.

 

So we begin… again all by the GRACE OF GOD.

 

IN HIS LOVE.