Blessed are (III) those who mourn, for they shall be comforted

People ask “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Well for a start, nobody but God is good (Mark 10:18). And knowing that we are not good is part of being poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3). But certainly, and this is what lies behind the question, not everything that happens to a person is a consequence of something that person has done. Nevertheless, since the default is to blame, it makes sense in these seasons, to ask if there is something I have done to cause, or contribute, to this difficulty, or if there is something I can either do or stop doing, that will make the situation better. The other thing to say, before we look more closely at this verse, is to ask ourselves if we have grieved our losses in a way that brings us through our grief. The word “mourn” means to allow ourselves to experience deep grief. And many of us do not grieve properly, either suppressing it, or getting stuck in one of the five various stages that have been identified denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. There is much to say about these things.

But the context of this morning's verse (mourning's verse :), Matthew 5:4), has to do with the spiritual side of it all. In particular the primary application is about grieving over our sin. And again we can get this wrong. I see it all the time in the prison ministry (but also in the church), that people can grieve either that our wrong choices have bad consequences, wishing it was not so, or that they are sorry that they got caught. On the other hand, the Scripture talks about godly sorrow, godly grief that leads to repentance not to be regretted of (2 Corinthians 7:10). This is not “sorry I got caught,” it is deep sorrow that I could do, or not do such a thing. And it leads to no regret, because, because of His mercy I have turned to Him, and I have received forgiveness and cleansing. But it is also that He use even my sin to draw me ever closer to Him in gratitude and love, for all that He has done, and continues to do, in my life.

C.S. Lewis once said that God shouts to us in our pain, calling out to us to draw close to Him. And this is whether it is our sin that we are mourning, or that we are mourning some happenstance of life or some loss. The Bible tells us that God is the God of all comfort, and so in the end, all comfort comes from Him. And we are blessed in and by this comfort, and it extends the Kingdom, since we can share with people who are suffering both the God of all comfort, and also about the comfort He beings

Father, thank You for Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin righteousness and judgement. I want to get out of the way every thing in me that displeases You before we meet face to face on that Day. Thank You that You are far more willing to lead us in this that we are to sit still before You the Master potter. Let me be as workable clay in Your hand Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

Blessed are the ... (II) Poor in spirit , for theirs is the kingdom of God

You might think that it is he who is spiritually rich, the one who has spent so much time with Jesus that all of His treasures of wisdom and knowledge have rubbed rubbed off on him, who the Lord would call blessed. This is likely true, but what Jesus is saying here, is that the one who is spiritually poor is blessed. It sounds like nonsense, but as Paul would say, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, but not the wisdom of the age (1 Corinthians 2:6 ,7). Jesus speaks in mystery and in parables so that those who are willing to seek to ask, to knock etc., will find, receive, and have it opened for them (Matthew 7:7,8). And all of this is exactly what the religious leaders of the time were not willing to do. It's all part of the upside down Kingdom, and he who says “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” it is this one who is truly poor not knowing that he is in fact “wretched and miserable and poor and blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17).

You see when you know that without Him you are indeed all of these things, then you can put into practice the next verse in Revelation 3, and you can buy “gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see” (verse 18). It is when you know that without Him you are spiritually poor, and can do nothing without Him, it is then when you call out to Him and receive His salvation. As Proverbs puts it “There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches” (Proverbs 13:7).

It is a similar thing to Paul saying when I am weak, then I am strong. Again is sounds like nonsense, but in fact when we come to the end of ourselves and cry out to Him for help, then He comes and does what only He can do, and His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:10. 9). When we acknowledge our poverty without Him, we become grateful and teachable and humble, and willing to meditate on His Word day and night, and willing to obey. And then I will “have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on Your statutes. And I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts (Psalm 119:99). So when I am poor is spirit, then I am actually rich, because the Kingdom is mine!

Father, help me neither to think more highly of myself, nor less of myself that You would have me think. Thank You that You call me Your son and that in me You are well pleased. Help me to understand my spiritual poverty without You and to stay close in Jesus Name Amen

Blessed are .... (I) The upside down Kingdom

The reference is to the beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12), and someone has said the beatitudes are the attitudes we are to be, or rather display as Christians. And they are so contrary to the attitudes of the world which is all about me. Another way to put it, is that what we are called to be as Christians is upside down to the way the world thinks. The first shall be last and the last first, he who would gain his life must loose it (Matthew 20:6; 16:25). The amplified Bible expands “blessed” to include “happy, fortunate and to be envied,” but think about it “happy are those who are persecuted ...” (verse 10)! The kingdoms of this world do not think about happiness in these terms! Verses 10 and 11 qualify what kind of persecution brings blessing. I mean I can be persecuted because I am obnoxious! Verse 10 adds “for righteousness’ sake,” and verse 11 “for my sake” (because you are living for me). Verse 12 then tells us why we are blessed “for great is your reward in heaven.”

But we can also think of this in terms of maturity of character. In particular to ability we can choose to have to put off instant gratification, or to endure hardships today for greater rewards in the future. I recently learned of a marshmallow experiment on three to five year old children. They were each shown one marshmallow and told they could have that now, but if they waited ten minutes they could have two! Some were simply unable to resist, others would try to distract themselves singing or other activities to make the time pass more quickly.

We want what we want, and when do we want it? Now! The Christian however, is called to maturity, and the beatitudes, if we meditate on them will show us where we are falling down and where with His help we can put them into practice. It's all about being more like Jesus. Again being willing to examine myself asking God if there be any wicked way in me, is not the worlds way, but I have learned that in the end any of the ways I am not like Jesus produces bad fruit (Galatians 6:7), and so I welcome His searching my heart, and being lead in the paths of life (Psalm 139:23).

Lord Jesus, I come to You this morning, asking you to change my heart, my attitudes and my desires. Lord when I am in danger of allowing my passions and desires to lead me down the wrong path, interrupt me and lead me back to You, my Shepherd and friend and saviour and Lord. In Your precious Name I pray Amen

I will both lie down in peace, and sleep

The cause of David's confidence that he will lie down in peace and sleep (Psalm 4:8) is not that all things were going his way. He was in fact being humiliated (v. 2a), lies were being spoken against him (v. 2b), there were provocations to anger (v. 4), and he was getting negativity and discouragement from many (v.6). David's first response to all this, is to cry out to the Lord (v.1a). We don't know the occasion of the Psalm, but we do know that David had lots of troubles, and this is not likely the first of them (v 1b). There were times when his soul was overwhelmed within him, and on such occasions he would pour out his complaint to the Lord (Psalm 142:2, 3). And as here, he is confident the Lord will hear him, comfort him, and deliver him (vv. 3b, 1b, 8b).

But David knows he has a part to play in all of this, and he instructs himself and us in what to do at such times. In particular, though we may be angry, we must not sin in our anger (v. 4b). He sees this as offering a sacrifice of righteousness (v. 5a). The scriptures know us well, when we are angry our immediate desire is to retaliate. Resentment rises, and the evil one whispers to us that if we let go of the resentment, they will get away with it. So it is indeed a sacrifice (a putting to death of the resentment) to respond righteously, and to leave it to the Lord to whom vengeance belongs (v. 5b; Romans 12:19). We must replace the anger by meditating, and by being still and knowing that He is God (v. 4b; 46:10).

Not saying that this is immediate or easy, but when, with His help, we have wrestled though these things, we will be able to say with David "You have put gladness in my heart" (v. 7a). And we will also be able to "both lie down in peace, and sleep" knowing that "You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety" (v. 8).

Father, we need Your help Lord. Thank You that Your grace is enough. Thank You for peace,  and that You give Your beloved sleep (Psalm 127:2) in Jesus Name Amen

Blows that hurt cleans away evil

I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that I was somewhat opinionated and provocative before I became a Christian, all those years ago. It was a major cause of the breakup of my first marriage. What I had not realized, was that in the aftermath of reaping what I had sown (Galatians 6:7), I became a conflict avoider. And I am not sure what is more destructive of relationships. I am not saying in my conflict avoidance that I did not have overwhelming feelings when I was the recipient of injustice. It simply turned inward to obsessive thinking. I eventually learned to deal with this by journaling, writing letter after letter, that I did not send.

Of those I would send, I learnt the hard way to wait, and not send them off immediately even if, or especially if, I was feeling strongly about the subject. My habit now is also to bounce them off someone I trust. And one of the questions I ask myself is “Do I want to send it?” You know “I would like to give them a piece of my mind!” But I can't afford to give any part of my mind away, I need it all! What I am saying is that more often than not, when I want to send it, I have not sufficiently dealt with my anger. My prayer partner is good at sensing the tone of my letters, even if I am in denial about it.

This morning's verse is “Blows that hurt cleanse away evil, As do stripes the inner depths of the heart” (Proverbs 20:30). When I am at the place where I can have compassion because the truth can be hard to hear, and I don't want to send it, because I don't want to hurt the person, then I know at least that my attitude is correct. I was wrestling with this very issue this morning, and the Lord gave me this morning's verse together with “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Proverbs 27:6).

Father, Your word tells us that we are to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But sometimes Lord, not speaking the truth in love is harmful in and of itself. Give us wisdom Father, and Grace to be the men and women You call us to be, in Jesus Name Amen

Kiss the Son lest He be angry

I am not one to see everything in terms of black and white, but what I am seeing is a lot of compromise, a lot of rationalization of things that are displeasing to the Lord. And what I am also seeing this morning is the Lord's command to love Him with all our heart, soul mind and strength and our neighbour as ourselves. When we are lukewarm He wants to spit us out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16).

There is a saying in twelve-step-programs that half measures profited us nothing. If total commitment is necessary for our recovery, how much more should we give our all to Him who at incredible cost gave Himself to rescue us from eternal separation from Himself. There are times when the Lord needs to say things to us to shake us out of our complacency,  and out of half measures. This morning's verse from Psalm 2 is one of them. The full verse (verse 12) reads “Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.”

We need to stop lying to ourselves and take sin seriously. There is coming a day when we will have to give account of every idle word (Matthew 12:36). The saying is true that “if He is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all” (Luke 6:46). We need to re-commit again this morning (I do) to present our minds souls and bodies as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1).

Father, thank You for reminding me this morning that if I am to be Your disciple indeed then I need to obey from the heart. Thank You for Your mercies that are new every morning. Romans 12:2 in the NKJV tells me that this is the only reasonable thing to do. So I surrender again this morning Lord, and commit again to never say “no” to You in Jesus Name Amen

New every morning is the love ...

... our wakening and uprising prove; through sleep and darkness safely brought, restored to life and power and thought. It's an ancient hymn, but it came to mind at the beginning of the New Year. It speaks of God's faithfulness through the night and I am stretching that to the past year. I can't say the Lord has always given me what I wanted in the past year, but He has always supplied my needs.

I have said before at the beginning  a new year that I am not into New Year's revolutions – yes I did say rev - olutions not resolutions. Christian growth is not one giant leap for mankind after another, it is line upon line precept upon precept (Isaiah 28:10). It is steady as she goes. And it is better, for example, to have a regular ten minute quiet time rather than staring off with two hours in the morning and it lasting only a few days.

Father, thank You that Your mercies are new every morning. Lead us Lord in the way way everlasting as we commit to You one moment at time, in Jesus Name Amen