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