Matthew 5:14-15 The Beatitudes
14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Have you ever hidden under your covers at night to read a book? I know I'm weird, and I may be the only one, but I can distinctly remember trying to convince my parents that I was sleeping, all the while slipping under my blankets with a flashlight. I was hiding because I didn't want my parents to know that I wasn't sleeping. Why do we hide as Christians? God has placed His light inside of us! God has allowed us to shine His light, and yet we try to cover it up.
Peak your head out from your bed and let your light shine a little today.
-Jeff-
Matthew 5:13 The Beatitudes
13"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
In the French fry of life, are you the potato or the salt? I'm afraid that too many of us try too hard to fit in, and therefore lose all effectiveness. God has called us to stand out from the world, and to provide flavor for it. If you've ever had a french fry without salt you know exactly what I'm talking about! But there's another thing that I hate even more than a bland french fry, and that's when you go to McDonalds and get the cold fries from the bottom of the tray, when every employee has walked by and thrown salt on it! I can feel it in the back of my throat right now! Ugh.
We need to be different enough to provide flavor for the world, but not so different that we're just obnoxious!
-Jeff-
Matthew 5:10-12 The Beatitudes
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Recently I was driving around town and happened to see a guy dressed as the statue of liberty selling something, auto insurance I think. What possesses someone to do that? First off, why do companies think this is a good idea? I think the reasoning is that if they humiliate one of their employees long enough, people will take pity on that person and go buy something from their store. And let's be serious now, don't you feel a little bad for them? I mean, I spent so much time feeling bad that I can't even remember what he was selling!
Obviously this person is doing this because he lost a bet of some sort. Or maybe for a paycheck, but if that's true it better be a good one.
My point is, what does the reward need to be in order for you to humiliate yourself? If I gave you a million dollars, would you tell people about Jesus? What about $10,000? $1,000? What about if I gave you Heaven? Would that be enough to endure persecution? Something to think about.
-Jeff-
Matthew 5:9 The Beatitudes
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
You want to be a child of God? Jesus said that everyone would know that we are His disciples because of our love for each other. James says that we can't even know God unless we love our brother. I can imagine that seeing Christians fight is a HUGE turnoff to non-believers. One of the ways we shine God's love is by loving others, even at the expense of ourselves. In order to be a peacemaker, we need to be willing to compromise and let others be right, that's what God has called us to do.
Let your light shine, find someone you've been fighting with and forgive them.
-Jeff-
Matthew 5:8 The Beatitudes
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Oh man, I want to see Him. I think this is one of the greatest promises in the whole Bible, because I can't think of anything better than to be able to stand before God one day. It gives me hope that all of that time that I've spent taking my thoughts captive will eventually pay off. It encourages me that everytime I've turned off a movie or skipped through a sex scene is going to lead me a little closer to the day when I'll be able to look upon Him face to face. And how glorious will that day be!!!
Keep your eyes on the prize, and don't let yourself get distracted by the world.
-Jeff-
Matthew 5:7 The Beatitudes
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
One of the sayings of Jesus day went like this: "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." That meant that if someone did something bad to you, you had the right to get even. Interestingly, the reason that was put in place was to limit the amount of payback you could get. So if someone stole your cow, you couldn't go kill them, you just took a cow back. But that's not the point of this verse. Mercy is defined as compassionate treatment of those under your power. According to the law, you have the right to take revenge, you have the power over them. But according to mercy, you're going to give them a pass. If you do that, the Bible says that you will be shown mercy. And let's be honest, before God all of us have messed up waaaayyyyy more than we'd like to admit.
Find someone who's wronged you today, and give them a little of the mercy that you've received.
-Jeff-
Matthew 5:4 The Beatitudes
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Grief isn't a bad thing. Especially for us guys out there, we've been taught to cover up our emotions and act tough around people, because that's how men are! However, the Bible teaches us that we're blessed when we mourn. Why? Because God wants to comfort us! He wants us to pour out our hearts to Him, to experience His love and the way that only He can take care of us.
If you choose to bottle things up, eventually it's going to come out. But if you allow God to walk with you through your grief, you will come out stronger on the other side.
-Jeff-
Matthew 5:3 The Beatitudes
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
It's important to know what you don't know. In working with students, you meet a lot of people who are pretty sure they have life figured out. Of course, I'm not talking about YOU!!! But your friends and classmates have this problem where they think they know it all, don't they? As I'm getting older, I'm realizing more and more that there are gaps in my knowledge, and I'm okay with that. When Jesus talks about being poor in spirit, He's not saying that you have to be emo and cut yourself, but he is saying that you need to recognize your shortcomings, and make yourself lower than the person next to you. Remember when He said that the first would be last, and that in order to be the greatest in the kingdom you have to be the least? Find a way to serve someone today. And I'll throw this out for free, you don't need to look any further than your parents.
-Jeff-
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