Purpose

Thinking about our purpose 

“The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God.” They looked to God for that freedom with hope, they desired it in their heart and as humans, surely reasoned it out in their mind. But when Moses came to lead them out, even by the direction of God, at times they were ready to change their mind. Some preferred to go back to Egypt. Why … because this freedom wouldn’t come the way they had pictured it.  The journey itself was not milk and honey. A certain amount of relational faith would be necessary, it would also require sacrifices they had not considered. To get to the Promised Land, circumstances would be allowed in their life they didn’t want. Those circumstances were allowed to draw them closer to God.

-~Each of us as Christians share an ultimate goal~- 

Every journey has a destination. A goal. Maybe we could use the word purpose. What about our journey through life, as we’re trying to reach our destination ?

What about all the things we don’t want to face, with all of our individual struggles, trials & hardships ? Could all of these unwanted things actually be part of our purpose ?

We naturally look at unwanted circumstances as hardships. What if we embraced the idea that God allows these things in our walk through the wilderness, so we will learn how to DEPEND on Him. Those opportunities become relationship building blocks.

To learn about Him, to see and remember how He works on a personal level, teaching us to ‘KNOW HIM’ Could we say our purpose here is to develop a relationship with God and learn how to let him direct our path ? When we look back at how we handled diversity in our life, will we see times our relationship with God grew, because we took his hand and let him lead ?

Who am I - Casting Crowns

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt?
Who am I, that the bright and morning star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wondering heart?

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are . . . 

by Scott Knox

Blessed are the Peacemakers

Matthew 5:9 - Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Notice He doesn’t say peace lovers – everyone loves peace but peace making is hard.

A peacemaker is a person who is willing to admit that they were wrong - a person who is willing to give up their right to be right for the sake of a relationship.

It’s also a person who is willing to confront people and hold people accountable. God needs peacemakers – people who stop gossipers & complainers.

He needs people who will encourage and build up others. 

Jesus goes on to explain why peacemaking will be hard for His followers:

Matthew 5:10 - Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Then He makes it personal:

Matthew 5:11-12 - 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.

People endure hardship and difficulty in life for so much less. 

Is heaven worth the sacrifice? God thought so, that’s why he sent Jesus.

God thought that saving us for heaven was worth sacrificing his only son on the cross.

What are we willing to endure – what are we willing to sacrifice for Him?

God Bless,

Tim

  

Blessed Are The Pure in Heart

Matthew 5:8 - Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

This demands that we stop and take a look at ourselves.

The Greek word for “pure” had several interesting facets.  It was used for soiled clothes that had been washed clean.  It was used to describe grain and flour that had been carefully sifted.  And it was used to describe wine or milk that hadn’t been mixed.

Translated – Blessed is the man who is authentic, who is not a phony, such a man will see God

It doesn’t mean that you’ll live a perfect Christian life or never have another bad thought.  Bad thought will come and you’ll still make plenty of mistakes but we can come to God & say – Here I am with all my imperfections – I’m not perfect but I want to be real.  The promise is that God can work with that.

So, if you want to see God or experience His presence take off your mask.  Quit being phony.  Blessed are the pure in Spirit.

God Bless,

Tim

Blessed are the Merciful

To be merciful is to show forgiveness and compassion to those in need. Jesus talked about this often. He said, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12).

In Matthew 9:13 Jesus tells the Pharisees, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

We are blessed if we are merciful because mercy is something God Himself displays. God’s mercy is the withholding of just punishment; it is His compassion on the miserable. 

Deuteronomy 30:3 says, “The LORD your God will restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you”.

The psalmist writes, “Praise be to the LORD, for he has heard my cry for mercy” (Psalm 28:6).

Jesus Himself often showed mercy, as we see in His healing of the man freed from demons: “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you” (Mark 5:19).

We have received God’s mercy. Romans 11:30 notes, “You who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy.”

Paul shared that his ministry was given to him by God’s mercy (2 Corinthians 4:1). He also saw his salvation as an act of God’s mercy: “I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief” (1 Timothy 1:13).

Our salvation is also called an act of God’s mercy: “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (Titus 3:5).

As Peter expressed it, “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).

God’s children reflect His mercy and are therefore merciful themselves. The merciful in this world are blessed in the sense that they know God’s joy. The person who is merciful will be eternally happy because he knows God’s mercy.

God Bless,

Tim

Blessed Are Those Who Hunger & Thirst For Righteousness

Matthew 5:6 - Blessed are those who hunger & thirst for righteousness, they will be filled.

Few of us know what it’s really like to be hungry or thirsty. In ancient world it was different – many were never far from starvation. For many food was scarce & water was a precious commodity. This helps us to have a better understanding of what Jesus is saying.

Let me phrase it as a question. How much do you want to be right with God – how much do you want to please Him? As much as a starving man wants food or man dying of thirst wants a drink?

Many don’t know what it’s like to be blessed because they’ve never hungered after the things of God. God promises that He will fill us if we hunger for Him. God Himself is the only thing that can satisfy the deepest desires of your heart.

God Bless,

Tim

Blessed Are The Meek

Matthew 5:5 - Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Most people associate meekness w/ weakness but not at all what it means.

The word “meek” was used to describe the taming of a wild animal. So meekness is really power under control. It’s a person whose life has been brought under control of the Holy Spirit.

The first 3 beatitudes correspond to the steps we take in becoming a Christian? We recognize that we are “poor in spirit” – that we are spiritually bankrupt.

Then our sin begins breaking our hearts – we mourn over the sin in our lives.

Finally submit to God. Living in submission to God is the key to experiencing His greatest blessings in our lives.

God Bless,

Tim

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Matthew 5:4 - Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

After Jesus says that we will be blessed if we are poor in spirit or blessed when we realize how hopeless we are without Him.  He tells us another way the be blessed:

When you understand what Jesus is saying here you can see why it’s next on the list.  He’s saying – When you finally realize that you’re spiritually broke and that God is your only hope then your sin breaks your heart and you mourn.

So, here’s a question for you.  How long has it been since you mourned because of the sin in your life?  When your sin becomes repulsive to you and you turn from it – that’s when God promises to comfort you

The Bible calls this Godly sorrow. It’s the kind of deep sorrow that David had because of his sin.  He expresses his sorrow to God in the 51^st Psalm as an example to us all.

Psalm 51:1-4 - ¹ Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. ² Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. ⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.

This is such a great example of the kind of sorrow that God looks for because David doesn’t try to minimize his sin.  He doesn’t try to justify his sin. Instead he owns it. He doesn’t make excuses because God knows the truth anyway.

So, Jesus is saying to us that if you want to be blessed then you need to be honest about your mistakes. You cannot receive the forgiveness that sets you free and the comfort that only He can give you until you get this right.

God Bless,

Tim