In our Lord’s famed address on a mountain near the Sea of Galilee, He powerfully
taught the multitude of
individuals who had gathered around regarding an array of spiritual
principles
that were to guide His disciples in their daily lives. In the beginning
of the
discourse, Jesus delivers what is commonly referred to as the
“beatitudes”
(Matthew 5:3-12). Within this portion of Scripture, Jesus pronounced
incomparable blessings to befall us when we possess certain qualities
of spirit
and behave in a way that is worthy of the kingdom of heaven. If you and
I are
judicious, we will consciously pursue the cultivating of these
attitudes that
we may be in complete alignment with Jesus Christ and continually grow
in His
favor.
May you and I never forget that we are daily to reflect
the unity that we share with God by manifesting a spiritual
like–mindedness. It
is imperative we hold and highly esteem the same spiritual values as
our
Father, His Son and the Holy Spirit.
May we carefully consider a couple of Jesus’
affirmations from the text: First, “Blessed are the merciful:
for they shall
obtain mercy” (verse 7). Second, “Blessed are the
peacemakers: for they shall
be called the children of God” (verse 9). Do we agree with
Jesus here?
God is “rich in mercy” (Ephesians 2:4), and he
calls
upon you and me to follow His example in extending mercy to others (cf.
Matthew 23:23).
God’s will and power unite those
who are truth-seeking and truth-loving. We are to do our part in living
peaceably with all men (Romans 12:18). A man is either of the spirit of
truth
or the spirit of error (1 John
4:6).
Of which are you? Of which am I?
Perseverance
By Tim Childs
Merriam-Webster
Online Dictionary defines “persevere” as
“to persist in a state,
enterprise, or undertaking in spite of counterinfluences, opposition,
or
discouragement.” Perseverance is a “key
word” in the Christian’s life because
without it one will surely digress into unfaithfulness and ultimately
be
rejected and burned as the chaff when it has been separated from the
good grain
(Luke 3:17).
God has neither deceived us by telling us that living a
faithful Christian life will be easy, nor has he told us we may win the
incorruptible crown of eternal life by charting our own courses
(Jeremiah
10:23), or by seeking the downhill path of least resistance. Rather,
our Father
has revealed how we are engaged in a life and death struggle where our
adversary, the devil, wants to separate us from the Shepherd and Bishop
of our
souls (1 Peter 2:25). Like Peter, Satan wants to sift us as wheat (Luke
22:31).
Like a lion, Satan’s heart is definitively set on tearing us
“to shreds” in
destruction (1 Peter 5:8).
The great news is, however, you and I can escape “the
tempter’s charm” and we can overcome in this
spiritual warfare because “God is
faithful.” In addition to “delivering us out of the
kingdom of darkness”
(Colossians 1:13), he has given us “access into his
grace” (Romans 5:2), along with
everything pertaining to “life and godliness” (2
Peter 1:3). Our Lord’s apostle,
Paul, writes, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as
is common to man:
but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that
ye are
able, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but
will
with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to
bear it”
(1 Corinthians 10:13). Yes, God is faithful. God has imposed
limitations on
Satan’s work and power just as he did in the case with Job.
Our victory is in
and through Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57)!
