My friend Doug Cooper who truly depends on God for His strength.
Matthew 5:5 reads,
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
When I imagine the earth belonging to someone in a worldly sense, I picture people like Alexander the Great or Attila the Hun conquering countries as their own. I envision strong powerful people with armies and weapons harshly attacking others.
Yet Jesus said the meek will inherit the earth. Meekness gives me a picture completely different than conquerors such as Napoleon, I see a person of submission and weakness, a person who doesn’t fight back when he is injured. But that isn’t exactly what the Greek word for meek means. The Greek word praus is translated to meek in English, but it is more than meekness. It means exercising God's power under His control. (Strong's). Praus means the strength it takes to turn the other cheek. It is gentleness. It is letting God be strong instead of you.
You do not have to fight on your own. There is no way to overcome the world without Jesus. Jesus died and resurrected and He beat the enemy. You do not win the world, Jesus did that. You will inherit the earth. It will be given to you as an heir of Christ. It is yours because God bequeathed it to you. Jesus did what we cannot do. Romans 8:1-4 says,
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
The battle is in the future and the battle is now, but Jesus already won it. Instead of beating the air and making a weak and useless effort fighting the enemy yourself, let Jesus victory be yours.
John 16:33 reads,
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
Deuteronomy 20:4 says,
“For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory."
You are in the fight! You are in the battle, but it is not your strength, weapons or abilities that are effective. It is God. Ephesians 6:10-11 reads,
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”
When you let God be your strength you are already a victor. When you rely on what God has done for you and the gift of His never-ending grace you are a conqueror. Revelation 3:12 reads,
“The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.”
God is giving you a whole new earth. It is all yours, you’ve inherited it already. Revelation 21:1-3 reads,
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God”
What an amazing reason to celebrate because we are weak. It is in genuine and biblical meekness of complete reliance on God that we have victory. Jesus lived, died and resurrected for you. Vengeance is God’s. He has already written the last battle and the enemy loses. But those who are meek enough to rely on God are covered by Jesus’ blood and we are conquerors with Christ! Nothing can change that! Nothing can take the love of God from you. It may look like weakness to the world. It may look like the world is winning. But it isn’t true. Christ wins. Romans 8:35-39 reads,
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
References:
Strong's. (n.d.). 4239. praus. Retrieved from Strong's Concordance: http://biblehub.com/greek/4239.htm
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
When I imagine the earth belonging to someone in a worldly sense, I picture people like Alexander the Great or Attila the Hun conquering countries as their own. I envision strong powerful people with armies and weapons harshly attacking others.
Yet Jesus said the meek will inherit the earth. Meekness gives me a picture completely different than conquerors such as Napoleon, I see a person of submission and weakness, a person who doesn’t fight back when he is injured. But that isn’t exactly what the Greek word for meek means. The Greek word praus is translated to meek in English, but it is more than meekness. It means exercising God's power under His control. (Strong's). Praus means the strength it takes to turn the other cheek. It is gentleness. It is letting God be strong instead of you.
You do not have to fight on your own. There is no way to overcome the world without Jesus. Jesus died and resurrected and He beat the enemy. You do not win the world, Jesus did that. You will inherit the earth. It will be given to you as an heir of Christ. It is yours because God bequeathed it to you. Jesus did what we cannot do. Romans 8:1-4 says,
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
The battle is in the future and the battle is now, but Jesus already won it. Instead of beating the air and making a weak and useless effort fighting the enemy yourself, let Jesus victory be yours.
John 16:33 reads,
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
Deuteronomy 20:4 says,
“For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory."
You are in the fight! You are in the battle, but it is not your strength, weapons or abilities that are effective. It is God. Ephesians 6:10-11 reads,
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”
When you let God be your strength you are already a victor. When you rely on what God has done for you and the gift of His never-ending grace you are a conqueror. Revelation 3:12 reads,
“The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.”
God is giving you a whole new earth. It is all yours, you’ve inherited it already. Revelation 21:1-3 reads,
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God”
What an amazing reason to celebrate because we are weak. It is in genuine and biblical meekness of complete reliance on God that we have victory. Jesus lived, died and resurrected for you. Vengeance is God’s. He has already written the last battle and the enemy loses. But those who are meek enough to rely on God are covered by Jesus’ blood and we are conquerors with Christ! Nothing can change that! Nothing can take the love of God from you. It may look like weakness to the world. It may look like the world is winning. But it isn’t true. Christ wins. Romans 8:35-39 reads,
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
References:
Strong's. (n.d.). 4239. praus. Retrieved from Strong's Concordance: http://biblehub.com/greek/4239.htm
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