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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

What Are You Hungry For?

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” The late Malcolm Muggeridge, a successful writer, had a good grasp of what that meant. Here’s his take on it.

"I may, I suppose, regard myself or pass for being a relatively successful man. People occasionally stare at me in the streets—that's fame. I can fairly easily earn enough to qualify for admission to the higher slopes of the Internal Revenue—that's success. Furnished with money and a little fame even the elderly, if they care to, may partake of trendy diversions—that's pleasure."

"It might happen once in a while that something I said or wrote was sufficiently heeded for me to persuade myself that it represented a serious impact on our time--that's fulfillment. Yet, I say to you--and I beg you to believe me--multiply these tiny triumphs by a million, add them all together, and they are nothing--less than nothing, a positive impediment--measured against one draft of that living water Christ offers to the spiritually thirsty, irrespective of who or what they are."

So what are you hungry for? Wealth? Fame? Fulfillment? Love? Respect? Whatever it is, if you happen to find it, I can promise you that it will not satisfy. You will still be hungry. But if you hunger and thirst for righteousness you will be filled. For when you find righteousness, you will have found Christ. This is how the Apostle Paul said it.

I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. (Phil 3:8-9 NIV)

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

BLESSED ARE THE MEEK?

Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” But what exactly is meekness? Does meekness mean I become the world’s doormat? Does it mean I’m to give in to the demands of obnoxious people? No.

Meekness is a humble and gentle attitude toward others. Meekness is strength under control. A well-trained horse is a good example. A horse is a powerful animal. But its power is wasted – even destructive - if it won’t submit to harness and bridle. To submit to control of the rider or farmer is meekness in a horse. To submit to the control of God is meekness in a man.

President Theodore Roosevelt adopted as his pet proverb, "Speak softly and carry a big stick." By that he meant that if the U.S. had a strong military, it could work its will among the nations of the world. In 1901, Roosevelt elaborated on his philosophy: "If a man continually blusters,… a big stick will not save him from trouble; and neither will speaking softly avail, if back of the softness there does not lie strength, power."

When Jesus said, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth," he was not speaking of armies and foreign policy, but some principles are the same for people and nations. The meek Christian does not need to bluster, as if his or her personal self-confidence could win the day. Whether we're contesting a point, responding to criticism, or speaking of the hope within, we can do so in meekness, with quiet confidence. For in "back of the softness," within us, lies the strength and power of God.

Meekness does not mean giving in to every demand made by unreasonable people. Meekness has to do with how we say no to unreasonable people.

Lord, when we are wrong, make us willing to change. And when we are right, make us easy to live with. -- Peter Marshall

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

BLESSED MOURNING

By Dane Skelton
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Doesn’t that sound strange?

In other words, Happy are the Unhappy. This is not the mourning that comes with the loss of a loved one. It is the mourning that comes with the loss of innocence, righteousness, self –respect. It is the sorrow of repentance.

Author and Pastor John Stott writes: “The Christian life, according to Jesus, is not all joy and laughter. Some Christians seem to imagine that, especially if they are filled with the Spirit, they must wear a perpetual grin on their face and be continuously boisterous and bubbly. How unbiblical can we become? The truth is that there are such things as Christian tears, and too few of us ever weep them.”

Mourning is something we do when we suffer a great loss. It’s natural and right. When a loved one dies, we mourn. When we lose a job we mourn. When we lose our dreams, we mourn.

God has so wired the soul that we need to mourn when we have lost something. When we sin, we lose something. We lose touch with God. We lose the dignity and nobility that comes from being made in His image. We need to grieve over those things because they hurt us and grieve God. Until that happens, something will be left undone in our souls. Until we have mourned the losses that come from sin they are still with us.

If your soul is disturbed within you and you do not know why, ask the Lord to expose you to the tragedy of sin – what you have lost and what he has lost in you. And do not be afraid to grieve. For when you do, God himself will comfort you.