The Beatitudes

I went to a Catholic grade school when I was younger and I remember learning about the Beatitudes but it never really stuck in my mind what they truly meant. So, I thought it would be appropriate to revisit these again.

A short background to set the stage:

Jesus Christ gave us the eight Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, recorded for all posterity in the Gospel of Matthew, the first Book of the New Testament of the Bible. Jesus offers us a way of life that promises eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven.

-http://www.jesuschristsavior.net


The Beatitudes

1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called sons of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:1-12


God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

Patience and Proverbs

It’s natural for human beings to make uneducated judgments or assumptions based solely upon a person’s outward appearance. For without truly knowing what’s in the heart of another, evaluation and supposition through perception is what we default to.

But this is not the case with the Lord. For our Lord and Savior knows what’s in our hearts and minds.

⁷ But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV)

How many times have you made a quick judgment of someone without giving them the benefit of the doubt? I remember one time back in college I met a guy who was a friend of a friend. He came off as arrogant, obnoxious and sarcastic and it didn’t take very long for me to realize that not only did I not like him, but I wanted to fight him (forgive me, but I’m being honest). Over the course of time, I got to know this person a little better each day. Eventually, he became one of my closest friends at school and to this day we still keep in touch every now and again.

¹¹ A man's wisdom gives him patience;
it is to his glory to overlook an offense.

Proverbs 19:11 (NIV)

Therefore, my message is this…be patient with one another and remember to not prematurely judge others, least you be judged the same way. God knows what’s in our hearts and minds and He cannot be fooled by outward appearance or deception. The Lord has given us scripture as His commands to follow. We must try to remember that every action we take should be to glorify God. For God is pleased when we are righteous and obey Him. However, sin is a direct insult to God and we will be accountable for all of our transgressions. Therefore, Lord, I pray that we are made wise by the Holy Spirit and remember to remain humble and patient with others. Amen.

I’ll leave you with one final verse from the book of Proverbs.

²³ Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life.

Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

Are you with Him?

The following is a true story -

After giving a sermon and finishing up all of his duties the preacher was on his way out of church. Before the preacher was able to get out the door a man came up and introduced himself. The man said that he was a secret service agent and asked the preacher if he would be interested in visiting the Oval Office. The preacher agreed and met the agent the very next day. As the preacher walked with the secret service agent they passed through one of the main gates that allowed them to enter the White House grounds. Immediately, they were met by other secret service agents who said, “You with him? Then go on through.” As the preacher followed the agent down the endless hallways of the White House they saw several other agents that looked him over and asked, “You with him? Then go on through.” Finally the preacher and the agent made it to the door directly outside of the Oval Office. A single guard stood there at attention and looked at the preacher. He said, “Sir, you are with him, so you may enter.” So the preacher entered the Oval Office with the secret service agent that he had only met the previous day. The preacher smiled in wonder and amazement at both the beauty and history of the highest office in the land.

Now let’s look at this in a slightly different way…

Let’s say that your time has come and you are standing outside the gates of Heaven. Immediately, you are met by Jesus and He joyfully embraces you. Jesus turns and you feel compelled to follow Him. He passes through the magnificent front gates of Heaven and as you follow Him you see a dozen angels standing guard at the gate. They look you over and say “You with Him? Then go on through.” As you walk through Heaven you come up to a large mansion that is guarded by more angels. Jesus walks through the door and they look you over. “You with Him?” They ask. “Then go on through.” So, you follow Jesus into the mansion and pass many other angels that nod at you since they know you are with Jesus. Finally, you come to a great door of magnificent brightness that resembles no color ever seen on the Earth. Jesus walks through the door and you feel compelled to follow. As you take a step, you see a very large angel looking down upon you. The angel says, “Blessed are you, for you walk with Jesus. You may enter.” So, you walk through the door and into the glorious presence of God.

The previous story of walking with Jesus was provided by the very same preacher that visited the White House. I wish that I knew his name.

God bless you. And this if for His Glory!

Are you Amazed?

This was too powerful of a message for me to pass up. You will be glad that you took 5 quiet minutes to watch this.






God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

God's Will

The Lord’s Prayer-

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses. As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. Amen.

I’d like to reflect upon the “thy will be done” part of this prayer. Many times we ask God for things that we feel as though we need or will need in the future. These things can be anything such as a new car, a better job, passing a test, getting along with your spouse, health, safety, etc. But, what we need to remember is that God’s will always trump our personal priorities. His glorious plan for us has already been outlined and is in motion. The Lord will provide us with the things that we need when He is ready. This means that when He is ready, then we will be ready as well. Many times, we ask for things prematurely or in great haste, not fully considering the consequences or long-term effect. Even worse, we ask for things out of personal gain, i.e. such as material items or even money. The Lord knows all of our needs and desires and He also knows why we sk for everything. The one thing we must continue to reminder ourselves is that everything will happen according to God’s timeline. What he wants to happen will happen, when it’s suppose to happen. Everything that we have at this moment in time is because he has provided it to us as a gift. We might not see all of God’s blessings as gifts, but we need remember that we are not able to understand the glorious mysteries of the Lord. Not even the Angels in Heaven understand the ways of the Lord. His reasons and actions are perfect and are completed with purpose according to His ultimate plan.

I heard a true story once about a woman that had being trying very hard to get her youngest child to go to sleep one night. Just as the infant began to calm down and fall asleep, her older child came running up the stairs and unintentionally woke the infant up. The mother was exhausted and of course, got frustrated. Then by the grace of the Holy Spirit, she realized how blessed she actually was to even have children. And immediately she was at ease and gave thanks to God that she had two healthy children and that she was able to take care of.

God’s blessings are all around us. Everything that we have is a gift and at times, it’s difficult to remember to give Him thanks for all that we have instead of getting frustrated for all that we don’t have. The next time you become frustrated with a situation I hope the Holy Spirit falls upon you (as it did with this young mother) and you give thanks to God for your life and all that you have in it. Remember – it could always be much worse.

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!