Blessed Man 9

 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." I am out of my element more here than anywhere else in the kingdom of God. If you've ever watched the television program Finding Bigfoot, you may be familiar with my predicament. The hunters are convinced Bigfoot is out there. They have seen his footprints and heard his call. However, the creature always remains just out of sight and reach of his pursuers. Purity of heart eludes my grasp in much the same way. I've seen purity; I've heard it; I've even lived alongside it, but I cannot capture it for myself.

Skeptics say that Bigfoot hunters want to prove its existence so badly that they see Bigfoot behind every tree or hear Bigfoot in every rustling of the wind. The skeptics may be right--or perhaps they are simply blind to all with which they disagree. The pure in heart are blessed with the gift of seeing God in everything and everywhere they look. The pure in heart are life's ultimate lemonade stand operators.

The pure in heart have a single true love that comes before all else, is manifested in complete obedience, and for which all else is sacrificed. Their one love is God and they see God operating in them at every turn. Don't get me wrong, I love God: I have made sacrifices for God, but I still catch myself doing stuff just for me and when I do happen to stop and think about it; it's likely I didn't consult God to start with. I regularly find myself scratching my head wondering, "Where's God in all this?" As for complete obedience--let's not talk about that.

The scripture says that to the pure all things are pure, but to the vile and the unbelieving is nothing pure. That puts me at an embarrassingly low place on the purity scale. In the normal course of a day people lie to me; try to manipulate me; threaten me; cast aspersions on my skills and generally endeavor to blow smoke up my behind. When someone tells me that there is good in everyone, I'm quick to reply that they haven't met everyone.

In keeping with their singleness of purpose, the pure in heart are congruent in thought, word, and action. Which is to say, they not only walk the talk, but their thinking agrees 100% with where they are going. In the pure of heart there is no guile; what you see is actually what you get. Purity of heart has no place for hidden agendas, or ulterior motives. The truth is their rock--whatsoever they think, that they say and do.

Most people are afraid to admit that we treat the truth more like clay to be shaped to suit our purposes or constructed to fit the need of the moment. The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is not what lawyers are after in court, but it is the way the pure in heart answer every man. " But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. "

Blessed Man 8

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." On the surface, this seems simple and self-explanatory. So, it is. However, for those who hunger and thirst, there is always more to God than what appears at the surface. His thoughts are eternally deeper and higher than ours. Regardless of your belief, disbelief or standing with God you will be blessed if you so much as pick up the Bible and look through it. If in distress you cry to God, you will be answered. If you tithe or give to God, you will be blessed. He sends rain and sunshine on both the just and the unjust. But, that is not the kind of blessing we are talking about here.

Jesus used the words "hunger" and "thirst" with specific intent. Though 

wanting to be righteous is a good thing, He is not talking about satisfying wants here. He is talking about filling a need. Men must have food and drink to live more than a few days. We may not quite understand hunger in America. 

Despite the bashing he took for it, Phil Graham was right on the mark when he said America is the only place where the poor are overweight. Most 

Americans do not know real hunger; being without food for a week is not the same thing as wanting a cheeseburger. I'm not saying it doesn't happen in 

America. I'm saying that in some parts of the world hunger is the norm.  

Jesus is talking about wanting Him; hungering and thirsting for His 

righteousness to the degree a starving man must have bread. Seek the word 

and presence of God like a man on the brink of death. Seek righteousness like you will die without it. Without the righteousness of God that comes from His word and prayer, you will die as certainly as the man with no food or water.  

Consider the starving man. He is filled with joy to receive a crust of bread. At 

the same time, he is neither full nor satisfied by one bit of food. He wants his belly and his cupboards full of good things to eat. How sad that people are so 

easily satified with one verse of scripture; one prayer; or one childhood of 

church. The storehouse of God is overflowing. Pass close by and you will be 

touched by a blessing. Hunger and thirst after God and you will be filled.  

"O, taste and see that the Lord is good." 

Blessed Man 6.1

 “ Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” What virtue is there in mourning that it should commend a person to God? Mourning seems like such a selfish act. Mourning is all about the sorrow experienced by the mourner; it is self-directed. There's nothing wrong with that. Mourning is the first stage of healing. People need to mourn, but where is the blessedness in doing so?

God is touched by the act mourning. We are designed with the capability to mourn and cursed with the necessity of it. God cares about our sorrows. However, the weight of blessedness rests in the object of our mourning; not in the act itself. What you mourn the loss of is vitally important.

Have you lost a loved one; your home; your job? God cares. All of these are traumatic losses. Behind all of these is a greater loss. We have lost the divine fellowship for which we were created. Sin has separated us from God and is behind every loss we suffer. There is no comfort from the pain of life apart from God. Without God we stumble from loss to loss until even life is lost to us.

We are the cause of our own suffering, but we are also the cure. That is, God has provided a cure; a means of reconciliation with Him. We have only to apply the balm to the wound. In salvation, there is comfort for the losses inflicted upon us by sin. They who mourn the effects of sin will be comforted with new life.

The world will not become a peaceful garden again because a man ceases to sin. The world will continue to suffer the effects of sin. The difference is that he who mourns for the sorrow inflicted by sin will be comforted in the midst of the devastation and heartache that spins around him.

“ This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. “

Blessed Man 7

 "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." This idea of meekness is the antithesis of the Saturday westerns I grew up watching. It is about as foreign a notion today as is death-do-we-part marriage, that is it gets a lot of lip service good and bad, but few practice it and fewer still believe in it. Nevertheless, the meek will endure long after the mighty have fallen. This will shock everyone, but the meek for whom the question was never in doubt. The reason this will come as a shock to so many is that they have the wrong idea of what constitutes meekness. Most people believe meekness is synonymous with weakness. Nothing could be further from the truth. The meek possess a strength greater than any weapon arrayed against them. The advance of the meek cannot be turned back by violence, persecution or the threat of death.

Submitted for your approval, a case in point. Three meek young men living in exile under a tyrant are commanded to bow down and worship the king's image every time they here music. This law is contrary to the young men's faith. The three quietly refuse to obey and they are subsequently arrested. Because the are meek there is no complaint from the three. They refuse to call for waving of flags; protest marches; or riots in retaliation for their arrest. The three are allowed to speak in their defense. They offer nothing except their faith and are condemned to death by fire. They are marched to their execution without protest or apology; still steadfast in their faith. The three young men are thrown into the fire, but they will not burn. The king orders their release from the fire and rescinds the law. Meekness triumphed over might. Now, the king in our story becomes very famous. However, his fame cannot compare to that of the three young men named: Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. You may know them by the names immortalized in the Book of Daniel: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Peter struggled to learn the quality of meekness. Perhaps that's why he described it so well when he wrote: "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God...For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously..."

The meek aren't looking for applause or admiration. Neither do they seek vengeance, speak threats, or condemn sinners. There is no need for these things while God is on the throne of heaven. The meek seek God. He is the answer to all indignities forced upon them and the answer to their sufferings.   

In My Judgment

“Hey, nice haircut. You look great,” I said.

“Don't judge me,” replied---no one ever.

Have you ever noticed that people whose use “Don't judge me” like a mantra only say it if you disagree with them? “Rap is the pinnacle of artistic achievement,” and “Rap is nothing but noise,” are both judgments. However, one is an insightful and the other judgmental. Other than a hidden racial bias, what's the difference; both are only opinions?

The rush to judgment doesn't end there. Prime time is loaded with shows that revolve around a panel of judges. American Idol, DWTS, The Voice, Chopped...the list goes on ad nauseum. Did I fail to mention the millions of judges who pay a fee to call in to support their favorites. You've got to be living way up De Nile without a paddle to think Americans are (or should be) non-judgmental.

In my experience as a parent, I snapped at the kids because I was tired, having a bad day or had a headache. But strangely, my upstanding, good looking, and talented children are a direct result of my vast store of parental patience, forbearance, and long-suffering. Yeah, right. When we're wrong it's “Don't judge me, dude.” When we're right it's, “Darn, I'm good.”

The truth is opinions, good and bad, are judgments. The only way to be non-judgmental is to be indifferent. We all need to accept the fact that we make hundreds of judgments every single day—even if it's whether to have Chinese or Italian for dinner. All you out there screaming, “Don't judge me,”join the real world.

 Here's a clue to get you started: not everybody likes you or the things you think and do. Life will be easier if you learn to live with that little nugget of reality at an early age. Let me share with you a verse of scripture my children often heard: “ Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great [is] your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. “

Blessed Man 6

Poor in Spirit

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This often quoted phrase is not a prophetic pronouncement of future bliss. It is a statement of present reality. The poor in spirit have the kingdom this every minute. They operate on a different plane; one misunderstood by the rest of the world. Being poor in spirit is the narrow entry way that leads to the door to the kingdom.

To be poor in spirit is not the same thing as spiritual poverty or moral bankruptcy. Spiritually speaking, being poor in spirit is a measure of attitude. On the other hand, spiritual poverty is a lack of resources. The poor in spirit don't lack for spiritual gifts or talents. They simply don't boast of them, nor do they trust in their own abilities. They know that, by their own efforts, they have failed at holiness.

The poor in spirit have a keen awareness of their past sin; their present weakness; and accept their future vulnerability. They rely on God for simple things; things others do everyday of their own accord. They do not see themselves as super Christians, though they might well qualify as one. They see themselves as unworthy recipients of God's grace.

Poorness of spirit is one of those paradoxical virtues common to Christianity. It is akin to losing your life in order to find it. The poor in spirit face criticism and challenges to their personal integrity without feeling the need to defend themselves. This is because the truly see themselves as unprofitable servants doing no more than their duty. They are not delusional. They are able to perform a sober self-evaluation with giving in to self-pity or self-aggrandizement.

The poor in spirit have mastered the scriptural admonishment: “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

The Pharisees were focused their spirituality on ecclesiastical position. They were obsessed with being seen by others as superior servants of God. In their own eyes they were the epitome of what it meant to be a child of God. There is no place in the kingdom of heaven for such thinking. Jesus said, ”Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The poor in spirit focus attention on God. He has more than their allegiance; He has their all. They possess nothing on their own; they hold nothing back; and that which they do have is by the grace of God. Such an attitude of selfless simplicity is foreign to modern thought. It is a narrow gate few find. Those who find it are indeed blessed.

Declaring for Faith

 "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..." Before there existed a United States, there was a radical idea for a new nation. Jefferson captured this notion of a country founded on equality, individual rights and limited government in our Declaration of Independence. As happens to all great texts, the words Jefferson wrote have been twisted, stretched and bent to suit multiple agendas until they've lost all meaning. I believe in the values the Declaration proclaims; not because I'm an American, but because they agree with the principles of scripture. If you will indulge me, I'll tell you why I believe it.

First of all, these truths are self-evident. Any man examining life can know them; indeed will know them, if he but thinks on them. These truths are an appeal for all men to enjoy the fruit of the second commandment of Christ--love your neighbor as yourself. Who among us does not wish for himself life, liberty and happiness? What a godly man wishes for himself, he dare not deny to others. No man is completely free to live until all men are free. Christ had life within Himself and poured it out for all men to share.

In a fever to secure civil, reproductive, and sexual rights we have lost sight of what equality means. All men are not equal. Some are handsome; others ugly. Some are strong; others are weak. Some are tall; others are short. Some men have five talents, another has two and some of us have only one. We are all a unique blend of differences some of which are blessings and others hinderances. While we are not all equal---we were all created equal. The intrinsic worth of each and every soul is the same. As a living soul, the Nobel prize winner is worth no more than the homeless man living under the overpass. Jefferson's vision would also have all men equal before the law. This is not always the case in our legal system, but it is exactly that way before the judgement seat of God. Before God, it is not how much we have, but what we have done with what we have.

As beings of, we have rights which God has given us and no one may rightfully take away. The first of these is a right to life. Where have we heard that phrase before? This does not mean murders don't exist. It means murders trample upon the rights of God and their fellow man to deny both that which they take for themselves. If you would live; let live.

God created man and set him free to live according to dictates of his own heart. That man failed at this does not deny to all the right to live at liberty. Every man must be free to live as he chooses. This is no less true because we disagree with his choices. However, freedom to live as we choose is not the same thing as freedom to live without consequences. There are ways that seem right to men, but the end of them is eternal death. This is why Christians feel obligated to warn others away from the pitfalls of sin. It's not judgement; it's advice--and usually from one who has been there, done that.

Hand in hand with liberty goes the pursuit of happiness. We are free to try to be happy. We are not guaranteed success, but we are promised an opportunity to try. The important thing to note is that happiness is not tied to things or the circumstances of life. Happiness is within us and we are free to look for it. Men must find a way to be happy. Paul said that in every circumstance he faced he was able to find the means to be both content and inspired to do better. I think this is what real happiness is all about.

 There are those who deny our country was founded on Christian principles. They do greatly err not knowing the scriptures, neither the power of God.