Blog Archives

"MERCY TRIUMPHS!"

9/19/2021

Matthew 5:7; James 2:12-13

law of reciprocity- You get what you give.
Mercy = love in action

1. The key to becoming a merciful person is to first become a broken person. (Ps. 28:6; Luke 6:36)
The good Samaritan is also a story of what God did in our behalf.
God commands us to be merciful to others because He has been merciful to us. (Eph 2:4)

We want to be the beneficiaries of mercy, but we struggle to be the dispensers of mercy.

2. You give mercy because the joy is in the giving. (Acts 20:35)

Receiving it back is just the by-product.

When we choose to withhold compassion, we are tortured by our own anger. We are choked by our own bitterness. (Matt. 6:14-15; James 2:13, Proverbs 14:10; Heb. 12:15)

Why must you learn to be merciful? You owe it to God. You owe it to others. You owe it to yourself.

"THIRST IS EVERYTHING"

9/12/2021

Matthew 5:6; Psalms 63:1-5

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11- Solomon had a restlessness and longing deep within his soul that all of the pleasures of life couldn't satisfy.
The deep hunger and thirst within us is spiritual in nature, not material.

The beautitudes show us that the root of our misery is the fact that we live such self-centered lives.

Righteousness
1. legal dimension- we are justified before God
2. moral dimension - sanctification

Loss of appetite is a tell-tale sign of diminished health.
What does your appetite for the things of God tell you about the condition of your spiritual health?

Jeremiah 2- two sins
1. “have forsaken Me”
2. “have dug their own cisterns”
Is this passage describing you? Are you pouring your life into a broken cistern?

You can only know what it is like to be filled when you have first been hungry or thirsty.

"BE MEEK, NOT WEAK!"

9/5/2021

Matthew 5:5; I Corinthians 1:27-31

Praus – soothing ointment or a gentle breeze
NT Greek- taming a wild animal

A meek person is one who has power and ability, brought under the control of the
Holy Spirit and used in constructive and redemptive ways.

Psalms 37:11 How do the meek inherit the land?
vs. 3 - trust the Lord and do good
vs. 4 - delight ourselves in the Lord
vs. 5 - commit our way to the Lord
vs. 7 – be still and wait patiently before the Lord

Questions for us
1. What is your attitude toward God's Word and God's will? (James 1:21)
2. What is your attitude toward people who stumble and fall? (Galatians 6:1)
3. What is your attitude toward people who disagree with you, criticize you, or malign you?

When God's people walk in meekness, we find great peace, freedom, and rest!

Meekness challenges us not to grasp, but to give.