May 19 | Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is God’s kingdom. Blessed are you when they may insult you and persecute and and might say all kinds of evil against you, lying on your account. Rejoice and be glad, for great is…
May 18 | Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are those who are peacemakers, for they will be called God’s sons.” (Matthew 5:9) We live in a world at war. From the political scene to the social scene everyone is screaming at everyone else. There is no unity or tolerance as we used…
May 17 | Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8) I love M&Ms. But my favorite our peanut M&Ms. There are days when I’m not in the mood for peanut M&Ms. I want to try another kind. I don’t have to be…
May 16 | Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” (Matthew 5:7) Merciful people are often not seen as strong in the world. Many times in sports we see unhappy coaches when athletes show mercy to their opponents. And yet we all want the judge…
May 15 | Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who are hungering and are thirsting for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6) Some people in our world don’t care if the right thing is done. We have literature and movies that extol the villain instead of the hero. Some…
May 14 | Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5) Our world can’t understand meek. They think any form of power that does not have control is weak. But they’re not the same thing. They think strength must be overwhelmingly observable. A man’s…
May 13 | Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4) Funerals are awkward for me. I never know how to comfort the mourners even as a pastor. When they ask me questions like, “Why did God take him now?” I don’t know how…
May 12 | Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is God’s kingdom.” (Matthew 5:3) Bankruptcy seems to be becoming a regular practice in our country. While it’s meant to reset the person’s finances and give them an opportunity to start over, some people are unafraid to…
Summary: How do we deal with the hatred and anger in our world? We become peacemakers and allow the Holy Spirit to give us God’s strength to face persecution for Jesus’s name. Introduction In my last post, I taught on the middle three Beatitudes of hungering and thirsting for righteousness,…
Summary: When we as Jesus’s disciples show the Beatitudes of hunger and thirst for righteousness, mercy, and purity of heart, we shall be satisfied, receive mercy, and see God. Introduction In my last post, I began our miniseries on developing Christian character with the first part of the Beatitudes. In…
