Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” If humility is my outward expression to my fellow man, meekness is my inward expression to God. No matter how harsh my situation is I accept it without blame or anger towards Him. As Job said in 13:6, “. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: I will maintain mine own ways before him.” Despite the severity of Jobs afflictions they did not change his belief in a just and loving God. Even if God would take his life, he knew that God would be acting in love. Like Job, we need to mature to a point that our hardships do not redefine God as any less than just and good. And like Job we may not understand the why until much later, but that does not change who God is. His love for me has been proven by The Cross and it is all the assurance I need. He will use all events, both good and bad for my good if I continue to seek Him. The often quoted verse in Roman’s
8:28 promises this,
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose,” our trails give us opportunity to believe this.
Ultimately, He seeks to use all trials to draw us closer to Him. To learn to live in His strenght and not our own as Paul learned in 2 Cor 12:9 “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in ( your) weakness. Most gladly — therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. This is meekness, a calm surrender and a willingness to accept one’s circumstances knowing that nothing escapes the Great Shepherd’s eye. By doing so we acknowledge the truth of Isaiah 58:11
“And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.”
And with meekness, as with the other Be Attitudes, there comes a blessed reward. To inherit a world where all injustice and evil has been purged and put away forever.“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”
From poor in spirit, bankrupt of any righteousness on my part to save myself, to mourning over my offenses that sent a Holy God to The Cross, to an attitude of meekness towards my Heavenly Father, the next natural response would be “to hunger and thirst after righteousness;” becoming ever emptied of self and wanting to be filled with His truth, this now becomes my ambition as I continue to place myself before His Word and His Holy Spirit.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled (satisfied). In this society we have the immense opportunity to hunger for many things. Because of our overal affluence compared to many countries we have multiple choices. From homes, to cars, to shoes, to loaves of bread, our choices are endless. Yet the single thing that makes them all one is the motive behind the choice, it is to be satisfied. To have hunger, be it physical, emotional, or spiritual shows man’s need to be satisfied. To be at peace and content with oneself and life is what often eludes man. “Just a little bit more,” would be the sign on the tombstone of many. Yet to be satisfied is a promise for those who seek to be in relationship with God, for those who ” …hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
As a car is designed to run on fuel, we are created to run on His Holy Spirit. The truer we are to receiving our input from The Lord himself, be it the scriptures, a meaningful message from church or from a favorite Christian radio station, or all of the above, the less the gods of this world and the desires of my flesh will have any influence over me.The life of a Christian is best summed up with a fuller reading of Isaiah 58:9 -11
“Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday
And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” Amen.
Christ draws a line, to cross it is to become His follower. To be lukewarm one may think is better than nothing at all and that makes sense to us. At least we are open to the gospel, yet The Maker and Lover of man’s soul does not agree, in Revelation
3 :14 – 21,
“
And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.
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:
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 eye salve, that thou mayest see.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
As the New Year is approaching no more important resolution could be made than a full surrender to Christ’s calling in our life. The state of being lukewarm is because to one degree or another perceived needs are being met, according to our standard, but not according to what the Lord can give. A decision needs to be made, Hebrews
3:15 “
While it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.” Rather in Roman’s 12:1-2 says
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
What better new year resolution could one make?
Father God,
Thank you for these past two studies in the Be Attitudes. Help us to see the wisdom of putting you first in our life. Close our eyes to all that is vain and pointless with respect to our walk with You. Thank you and Amen
Move Forward in His Grace – Arthur
