Category: Jesus Christ

Blessed?

 

“Blessed … Blessed … Blessed … Blessed …”

Matthew 5:3-10

Extract all the blessings from Scripture, and you would be left with very little.  Remove the promises and it would become a poison to the souls of men.  We are in such a feeble state that we would be desperate for anything that would ease our pain.  Being crushed on the wheels of life without any hope is a grim prospect.

That is why He gives us the promises and blessings embedded in the Bible.  They are like diamonds in the clay, which must be released in order to make them ours.  The blessings of the Word await those desperate enough to abandon lethargy and to dig.  One time a treasure chest was buried in a field, and a poor man who knew went and sold everything.  He scraped all he had and purchased that property to gain access to the wealth within.

Some will never make the effort.  The blessings of scripture are never gripped and seized with any real alacrity or desperation.  Those vital promises swirl by their hearts, but are never comprehended.  They are so close to glory, but they will not reach for it.  The issue is not with the Bible, it is the folly and darkness of the human heart.

Having God’s blessing is a state of grace that elevates us to reality.  If you are “poor in spirit”. or if you mourn, you are in that state of blessed truth.  You might say that the Beatitudes are keys that will open the doors of truth.  They are not optional, we must receive them and the richness they give us.

There are those who will harden their heart.  That is a given.  They have a calloused mind and a stiff neck.  But the promises and blessings of God continue to call out, but if they are spurned they will become the property of a more receptive and eager heart.

 

ybic, Bryan

 

Related articles

Seeing Our Size

Comparisons of Planets/Stars

“Is not God high in the heavens?
    See the highest stars, how lofty they are!”

Job 22:12

“He determines the number of the stars;
    he gives to all of them their names.”

Psalm 147:4

The Quiet Power of Jesus

“The master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.  He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside.”   John 2:9 

Jesus Christ performs the first miracle of his short ministry.  He will perform thousands of them in his brief work on planet Earth.  This miracle was done silently, there was absolutely no fanfare or hoopla. (What a contrast for ministry today!)

Silently, quietly, much like he does today, he touches the hearts of thousands of men and women.  I wouldn’t have done it this way, I would’ve advertised, had the 12 disciples out doing some PR work, maybe some autographs and definitely make it quite the show!

He is not in the storm, or the fire, or an earthquake.  That is not the way he operates (but he can). He comes quietly in a still, small voice to our confused hearts.  Silently help comes to us, and silently the answers to our prayers glide down to us.  Not a shred of ostentation; no gaudy bows or ribbons.  When Jesus is ministering to someone who is in a horrible fix, he does it peaceably–quietly and calmly.  He is infinitely gentle.

It is significant that “the servants who had drawn the water knew”.  Often those who minister for Christ get to see his omnipotence and his power, they know it first-hand.  As a young man, I worked as a full-time evangelist in San Francisco.  I saw God change people! Addicts, gays and transvestites would often come for the Bible studies, and God would work and they were changed.  As you and I mature and step into service, we are privy to the work of Jesus.  We are no longer strangers but friends, and he lets us see his wonders for ourselves.  I have been allowed to see up close his workings in a twisted heart of a lost soul.  The water is turned into wine. I simply stand in awe.

The master of the feast did not know what had happened.  Is this not the same with us quite often?  We cannot explain where the blessings come from.  It happens quickly and quietly.  Look, over there, see the confused woman as she desperately seeks an intervention.  She sobs out in prayer, imploring the Lord for mercy.  Suddenly, through faith something happens, and it is completely supernatural.  And no trumpets sounded, for these are common, regular everyday miracles.

We drink the wine, but we don’t quite grasp the miracle.  But that’s okay.  Our limited understanding handles these quiet miracles and we will step into the light that grace leaves behind.  The water has become wine and we are changed as well, forever, by the quiet power of Jesus.

ybic, Bryan

Let the Church Be the Church

Brennan Manning

“Any church that will not accept that it consists of sinful men and women, and exists for them, implicitly rejects the gospel of grace. As Hans Kung wrote, “it deserves neither God’s mercy nor men’s trust”.

The church must constantly be aware that its faith is weak, its knowledge dim, its profession of faith halting, that there is not a single sin or failing which it has not in one way or another been guilty of.

And though it is true that the church must always disassociate itself from sin, it can never have any excuse for keeping any sinners at a distance. If the church remains self-righteously aloof from failures, irreligious and immoral people, it cannot enter justified into God’s kingdom. But if it is constantly aware of its guilt and sin, it can live in joyous awareness of forgiveness. The promise has been given to it that anyone who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Brennan Manning