THE BLESSINGS IN PERSECUTION

Devotion for Thursday December 22, 2016

Topic: THE BLESSINGS IN PERSECUTION      

Text: Matthew 5:10 – 12                  

As we conclude the study on the Beatitudes, we should note these four ways to understand and imbibe its lessons.

(1) They are codes of ethics for us and a standard of conduct for all Christians. What it means is that we are not to choose the one we want and discard the others rather we are bound to have them and live by them.

(2) They contrast Kingdom values (what is eternal) with worldly values (what is temporary). Most Christians of today are much more interested in the worldly things and their values. We should be careful to understand the things that are needful for us so as not to be carried away by worldly value and we miss heaven at last.

(3) They contrast the superficial faith of the Pharisees with the real faith that Christ demands. What Christ demands from us is what matters even when people do not consider it as normal or they see them as outdated.

(4) They show how the Old Testament expectations will be fulfilled in the new Kingdom.

These Beatitudes are not multiple choices to pick from; rather, it must be taken as a whole. They describe what we should be like, as Christ’s followers and how we should relate with God and Man.

In this last of the Beatitudes, Jesus stresses what will mark us out as matured Christians. It takes a high level of maturity to endure temptations and trials without losing your faith. Jesus said we should rejoice when we’re persecuted for our faith for the following reasons.

(1) It takes our eyes off earthly rewards.

(2) It strips away superficial belief,

(3) It strengthens our faith when we endure, and

(4) Our attitude going through it serves as an example to others who follow.

We should be comforted knowing that God’s greatest prophets were persecuted (Elijah, Jeremiah, Daniel, etc). The fact that we are being persecuted proves that we have been faithful. Remain faithful because God will reward those faithful by receiving them into His eternal Kingdom, where there will be no more persecution.  Will you be there?

Food for Thought: Persecution strengthens our faith when we endure it.

Memory verse: Matthew 5 verse 10: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (KJV).

Prayer: God, I need your grace to endure persecution, trial and temptations that may come my way in Jesus name. Amen.

BE MERCIFUL

DEVOTION FOR MONDAY DECEMBER 19, 2016

Topic: BE MERCIFUL              

Text: Matthew 5:7         

The blessed state for the merciful as Jesus used it here, does not promise outright laughter, pleasure or earthly prosperity rather the experience of hope and joy, independent of outward circumstances. Romans 9:15 tells us that God shows mercy. Mercy means capacity for holding oneself back from punishing or causing suffering to someone whom one has the right to punish. Just like Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9–13); forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us, so we should be merciful in others so as to obtain mercy. Do you show mercy to people who have truly offended you, that you may also obtain mercy? Are you of the group that believes in an eye for an eye (Exodus 21:24)? God expects us to be merciful, because He is merciful to us (Exodus 34:6 & 7). If God counts all our shortcomings, who will stand before Him?

If you desire the blessedness of God in this life, joy; the deepest form of happiness and peace of God which passes all understanding, then you must be ready to show mercy to people you meet on regular basis.  You must follow the example of Jesus to the woman caught in the very act (John 8:1–11). Always show mercy and you will also receive it.

Food for Thought: Mercy imitates God, and disappoints Satan - St Chrysostom.

Memory verse: Matthew 5:7

Prayer: God, sow in me the spirit of mercy and grant me the grace not to retaliate when people offend or hurt me.

BLESSING IN ARDENT DESIRE TO DO RIGHT

DEVOTION FOR SUNDAY DECEMBER 18, 2016

Topic: BLESSING IN ARDENT DESIRE TO DO RIGHT    

Text: Matthew 5:6               Memory verse: Matthew 5:6

Righteousness as we have it here denotes that spiritual and entire conformity to the laws of God. To hunger and thirst here means to have an ardent desire to conform to the laws of God. As hunger and thirst are the keenest of our appetites, Jesus, by using these words here, plainly mean those whose deepest cravings are to live in a right relationship with God. Jesus Christ wants us to understand that to hunger and thirst after righteousness is to apprehend its worth, to desire it, and to be restless in endeavours to posses it, as people usually do when they are haggard as a result of hunger.

Hunger and thirsty are what we experience daily. The use here implies that our desire for righteousness should be on daily basis. No one satisfies hunger and thirst once and for all. Therefore, we cannot claim righteousness once and for all. When we take a proper look at the first four of the beatitudes, they centre on personal relationship with God in terms of salvation and righteousness while the remainders show us how to relate with people accordingly. Do you have this kind of hunger and thirst? Our desires of spiritual blessings especially for righteousness must be sincere and earnest.

Food for Thought: As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after Thee. You alone are my heart desire and I long to worship thee. Chorus: You alone are my strength, my shield, to you alone may my spirit yield; you alone are my heart desire, and I long to worship Thee (Song). 

Prayer: Almighty God, satisfy my hunger and thirst after spiritual blessings. 

BLESSEDNESS IN MEEKNESS

Devotion for Saturday December 17, 2016

Topic: BLESSEDNESS IN MEEKNESS       

Text: Matthew 5 verse 5                    

The meek are those people who are gentle and forgiving, submissive and teachable, patient under injuries, disposed not to render evil for evil, but to overcome evil with good. Meek symbolized gentle demeanour. Demeanour means somebody’s outward behaviour, manner or appearance especially as it reflects character. Jesus was gentle as He attested in Matthew 11:29. Meekness is the opposite of a quarrelsome and revengeful attitude but shouldn’t be misunderstood as meanness, or a surrender of our rights, or cowardice. Meekness produces peace. It is proof of true greatness of soul and it comes from a heart too great to be moved by little insults. Do you have such heart? Are you easily moved by insults?

To inherit the earth means to receive and enjoy every earthly and spiritual blessing that is for our best good here, and reign with Christ for ever hereafter. Our text, quoted from Psalm 37:11 is the passage Jehovah Witness hold on to as their claim that there is no heaven. Don’t be deceived by their lopsided view of the scriptures. In Psalm 37 from where these words were taken, the promise to the meek is not held forth as an arbitrary recompense but as having a kind of natural fulfillment. When we delight ourselves in the Lord, He gives us the desires of our hearts. When we commit our ways to Him, He brings it to pass; bringing forth our righteousness as the light.

Food for Thought: The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in human heart; in human power to reflect, in human meekness and human responsibility – Vaclav Havel

Memory verse: Matthew 5 verse 5

Prayer: God grant me the spirit of meekness which is a panacea for receiving my blessings in Jesus name. 

BLESSING FOR THOSE WHO MOURN

DEVOTION FOR FRIDAY DECEMBER 16, 2016

Topic: BLESSING FOR THOSE WHO MOURN      

Text: Matthew 4 verse 4 - Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.                   

People who mourn over their spiritual wants and over sin because they are guilty; people who long for spiritual blessings, and come to Jesus Christ for them, according to His directions are blessed (Revelation 3:18). This beatitude includes also all the mourning which children of God are subjected to by the chastening through which God prepared them for the everlasting joy of heaven (Compare Hebrew 12:5-12). 

Obviously, mourning for righteousness here is that entire feeling which the sense of our spiritual poverty causes, and so the second beatitude is but the complement of the first. It is poverty of spirit that says, “I am undone” – Romans 7:24; and the mourning it causes, make it to break forth in lamentation. Thus they shall be comforted as God promised (Isaiah 61:3).

Beloved in Christ, we should note that as mourning goes before comfort, so comfort shall follow after mourning. Our godly sorrow for our own and others' sins shall end in everlasting joy and comfort. Our mourning and tears for the ills of the present day shall end also in joy. Just like sowing in tears and reaping in joy so shall all those who mourn will be comforted because the days of their mourning shall soon end, and then God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Do you have that poor spirit that will lead you into mourning? Do you have the tears God will wipe away so as to comfort you?

Food for Thought: Revelation 21:4

Memory verse: Matthew 4 verse 4 - Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Prayer: Give me the heart, O Lord, to mourn over my spiritual wants, sins and that of the world in Jesus name.

THE POOR IN SPIRIT

DEVOTION FOR THURSDAY DECEMBER 15, 2016

Topic: THE POOR IN SPIRIT                      

Text: Matthew 5 verse 3                    

Each of the beatitude tells us how God blesses us. Christians should spend time to study the beatitude because some of us have been following the wrong path and when they come to the crossroad (when the blessings they had hoped for didn’t come), they will begin to see the promises of God as not true and subsequently fall out of the faith.

Blessed, means more than happiness. It implies the fortunate and enviable state of believers. It is more of inward and not outward. We shall look at the beatitude for the next 10 days. The poor as used here means the humble, who depend on God in all things, temporal and spiritual, and look to Him for the supply of every want; more especially those who feel their need, as sinners, of spiritual blessings, and look to Jesus Christ to grant them (Isaiah 66:2).

It is proper to understand that being poor as Jesus Christ used it is not those that are poor in estate, or those whom the world has made poor in possession, but those whom the gospel has made poor in spirit, that is, the truly humble and lowly spirits. They have a right and title to the kingdom of heaven. Beloved, what is the effect of the gospel in your life? The gospel should make us do the accepted things in the likeness of Christ. Christ was not keen on material things while on earth but whenever the need arises there is always a provision for that. Though, a King, He live a life of poor spirit. We should emulate Him.      

Food for Thought: True happiness does not consist in external condition, but in the state of the mind.

Memory verse: Matthew 5 verse 3

Prayer: God, grant me the understanding of what being poor in spirit means so I will live to receive the blessings therein in Jesus name.