According to Galatians 5:22-23 the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self-control. For me, joy is not always easily found or expressed. But the fruit is meant to be expressed. So often I hear Christians tell one another they recognized them by the joy they convey, a joy that is not often seen outside of Christ. True joy cannot be found outside of God. Job 20:5 says, “that the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment?”  Joy is not happiness. It is not contingent on circumstances; it relies on who we are and how we perceive the world and our circumstances.
The fruit or results of having the Holy Spirit within us, of walking and acting in the Spirit is transformation to the image of Christ. The characteristics listed in Galatians 5:22-23 are characteristics of Christ. The verse goes on to say that “against these things, there is no law.” When our response is one of choosing to operate in Him, we will not sin. The law is not something we have to consider as we walk in the Spirit. We are freed from the law. Romans 8:1-2 reads, “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.” How awesome is that? How amazing? What a wonderful reason to rejoice! It seems so difficult for so many to give up the hold of the law though. They want the rules, as long as the rules fit their worldview. They want to know what they should do or shouldn’t do and they judge anyone who doesn’t go along with those rules, even when they, themselves often do not. But following Christ is not about rules, laws, or traditions, it is about seeking God and following Jesus which means walking in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit means having the Spirit indwell you. It means choosing to do what He leads you to do rather than what your natural self, often called “the flesh” would choose to do. Romans 8:5-10 in The Living Bible says,
Those who let themselves be controlled by their lower natures live only to please themselves, but those who follow after the Holy Spirit find themselves doing those things that please God. 6 Following after the Holy Spirit leads to life and peace, but following after the old nature leads to death 7 because the old sinful nature within us is against God. It never did obey God’s laws and it never will. 8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their old sinful selves, bent on following their old evil desires, can never please God.
9 But you are not like that. You are controlled by your new nature if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that if anyone doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ living in him, he is not a Christian at all.)
In the ESV verses 6-7 read this way,
For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.
To set one’s mind on the Spirit is a choice. We take part in whether we will think about the Spirit and what He wants for us or on our flesh or our basal desires and pride want. Are we choosing to be hostile to God or submissive to God? To choose to follow laws can still be hostility toward God. To follow laws without the Spirit is to feed one’s pride and that does not yield to God’s will for us. To set our minds on the Spirit and respond in the image of Christ is pleasing to God, glorifies God, and results in demonstrable  and demonstrated love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self-control, the fruit or results of the Holy Spirit in our lives and hearts.
We want happiness and mistakenly think joyful expression is the result of being happy. That is backward, happiness can be the result of joy but rarely if ever will mere happiness result in true lasting joy. Happiness is transitory since it is based on conditions, events, or situations. In fact, we can have joy even when we are going through difficulties. Psalm 27:5-7 reads,
For he will hide me in his shelter
    in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
    he will lift me high upon a rock.
6 And now my head shall be lifted up
    above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
    sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
    be gracious to me and answer me!
You see David was in a day of trouble, yet he was praying and so he was able to worship, shout joyfully, and sing to God because as he sought God, God lifted David’s head. David understood that the Lord was his salvation through everything, that gave him joy. Believer, does that give you joy? No matter what is happening around you, God is your salvation.
Where is joy? Where do we find it? The answer is somewhat obvious but, obvious doesn’t always mean easily understood or accepted. We find joy in The Lord. In 1 Chronicles 16:27 when David is singing a song of praise to God, he says, “Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place.”
Once again, David was praising, he was seeking God. David was in God’s dwelling place and that is where he found strength and joy. The dwelling place of God was His Tabernacle and then the Temple, not a people but a tent and then a building. Now, the dwelling place of God is His church, it is His believers. Ephesians 2:18-22 tells us,
 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
We are joined together into a holy temple in the Lord, a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. The church is God’s dwelling place. Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20). If you can’t find joy, maybe you need to ask yourself when the last time you were with the church, praising and worshipping, fellowshipping and learning. Perhaps you need to consider if you are seeking God or finding yourself. I mean if Jesus is right there with us when only two or three are gathered, how can we not rejoice? If He is there when just a few of us gather, how much more will His presence be encountered, experienced and expressed when there are twenty or one hundred and twenty gathered in His name?
Joy is found in God’s presence. Joy is expressed through praising him and worshipping Him.  We know joy because we know God loves us and cares what happens to us. Psalm 35:27 says, “Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, “Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of his servant!”
Joy is found in courageous obedience to Jesus, serving Him and His glory, and being a good steward over what He gives us. In The Parable of the Talents, Jesus tells the story of three servants who were entrusted with money from their master. The first was given five talents, the second was given two talents, and the third was given one talent. Upon the master’s return, he found that the first and second servant had traded and doubled the master’s money. The third merely buried the money in the ground. The master took the talent from the third servant. He then told each of the first two servants, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:14-46).
Other kinds of obedience result in joy as well. Spreading the good news about Jesus and helping them by demonstrating His love gives us joy. But the greater joy, the best joy is knowing we are chosen and known by God; we are saved. When Jesus sent out seventy-two disciples, they came back rejoicing over the great things they had done in Jesus name. Luke 10:17-20 reads,
The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
Just after this Jesus prayed in the Holy Spirit. The Bible refers to this as rejoicing! Consider that when we pray in the Spirit, we are rejoicing. Also think about this, in this passage (Luke 10:21-24), as Jesus prays in the Spirit to the Father, God’s triunity is shown so gloriously to us and He invites us into that unity with Him.
In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 22 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
We rejoice over our salvation and Jesus’ revelation to us and to those He allows us to show Jesus to. We rejoice because we know Him and because we are known by Him! Do you understand this is The LORD, God Almighty, Creator, Lord of Hosts? He is God and He knows us, and He wants us to know Him! Praise God! That is a magnificent reason to be filled with joy.
There is so much more to say on this topic! Joy is a gift from God, it is a choice we are able make in the Holy Spirit. It is a blessing that we can and should openly express. I leave you with this benediction today.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13

Deuteronomy 33:24 29
Today we will finish reading the blessings of Moses with the blessing of Asher and his final words to Israel. Moses’ prophetic words have taught us so much about our identity in Christ. Today is no different. We have learned how blessed with are, but today we will learn that we are deeply blessed, that we have so much reason to be happy that it is a wonder we don’t go through life dancing and singing. Verse 24 reads,
And of Asher he said,
“Most blessed of sons be Asher;
    let him be the favorite of his brothers,
    and let him dip his foot in oil.”
Most blessed of sons be Asher, he is the happiest of Jacob’s sons and that trait passed on to his descendants. That happiness, that joy made him a favorite of his brothers. Joseph was Jacob’s favorite, but Asher was the favorite of his brothers. He was well loved by people because of his disposition. Even his name means happy. Leah, his mother’s maid was so overjoyed at his birth that she named him for it.
People are attracted to happy people, to joyful people who wear their blessings naturally, not flaunted but enjoyed. Joyfulness praises the Lord throughout the day through the acknowledgment that there is something to be happy about. Some people, myself included don’t tend toward a natural state of joy but joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The believer should have a supernatural joy about her.
I confess when my flesh is overcoming my spirit (when I am letting my natural tendencies toward sin and selfishness overtake the supernatural tendencies of the Spirit to express Jesus Christ’s nature instead of my own) I am disposed to be visibly and outwardly melancholy. When I am under attack, I wear my suffering like a badge, whatever illness, depression, and wounds I have are obvious to the world. I may as well paint them on a banner and parade them. But that is not what my Lord means for me nor for you. He tells us to be blessed, to be happy. He tells us to show our praise and joy to the world. He did after all come to give us gladness and praise instead of mourning and weakness. Isaiah 61:2-3 reads,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
    and the day of vengeance of our God;
    to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion--
    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
People showed their joy by dressing appropriately, by anointing their heads with oil, wearing clothes without holes and generally taking the time to care about their appearance. If one were in mourning he would tear his clothes, wear ashes on his head and until he was done mourning he wouldn’t bother with caring about how he looked. Asher’s joy meant not only did he anoint his head with oil, he dipped his feet in oil as well. Even his feet, lowly dirty things that they are, are anointed with oil because he is so happy. His life is a life of joy and it shows.
 The Bible tells us of two different occasions Jesus’ feet were anointed with oil, once by Lazarus’ sister Mary (John 12:1-8) and once by a sinful woman (Luke 7:36-50). Both were prophetic expressions of deep gratitude symbolizing Jesus as the Bridegroom of the church who would lay down His life for His bride. Jesus looked at His crucifixion as joyful, even though He fully knew how horrible it would be. He endured knowing it would happen, He persevered through His tortuous death because He kept in mind the hope of the Resurrection, the conquering of sin, and the joy of our eternal life (Hebrews 12:1-2). We will suffer too. Yet we are called to endure it, we are even called to consider it all joy (James 1:2-4). We can do that because we know it has a purpose and we know that we have hope.
How will anyone else ever know the joy we have, if we don’t live joyfully? If we whine and moan through life, no one will ever question our difference because who would want to moan and whine through life? Isn’t that what too many people do already? Peter told us to always have an answer ready to defend our hope (1 Peter 3:15). That means we should be living life in a hopeful manner, with apparent joy regardless of the circumstances of life.
Deep joy like that gives us strength. If we build our happiness on the Truth of God, the basis for our joy cannot be shaken, we cannot be shaken because we know God cannot be shaken. Verse 25 reads,
“Your bars shall be iron and bronze,
    and as your days, so shall your strength be.”
We mourn when we realize we are sinners in need of repentance. We become broken hearted at the recollection of our sin, but God forgives! Jesus is our Salvation! What a wonderful reason to rejoice. He has called us to be glad, to celebrate the grace not wallow in the sin. When the people of Israel had gathered and heard the reading of the scripture they realized their sin and they mourned, but Ezra spoke to them and said,
“This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep. Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:9-10).
Our joy is praise to God. Our exultation (expressed joy and celebration) is an ongoing prayer and song of thanksgiving to the Lord. Psalm 28:6-9 says it this way,
 Blessed be the Lord!
    For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
    in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults,
    and with my song I give thanks to him.
8 The Lord is the strength of his people;
    he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
9 Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!
    Be their shepherd and carry them forever.
Why do we have joy in the Lord? Because of who He is and what He has done and is doing for us. Verses 26-28 read,
“There is none like God, O Jeshurun,
    who rides through the heavens to your help,
    through the skies in his majesty.
27 The eternal God is your dwelling place,
    and underneath are the everlasting arms.
And he thrust out the enemy before you
    and said, ‘Destroy.’
28 So Israel lived in safety,
    Jacob lived alone,
in a land of grain and wine,
    whose heavens drop down dew.”
Jeshurun is another name for Israel, a term of affection for them. There is none like The LORD God. He rescues us. He will ride His white horse as King of kings through the clouds for our salvation. Revelation 19:11-16 reads,
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”
We can rejoice because as Great and Mighty as He is, The Lord is our dwelling place. We rest in Him. He is never-ending power, ceaseless strength, and unending protection. He holds us in His arms and He defeats the enemy with those same arms. God is good and we can celebrate. God is great and we can be happy. Verse 29 reads,
“Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,
    a people saved by the Lord,
the shield of your help,
    and the sword of your triumph!
Your enemies shall come fawning to you,
    and you shall tread upon their backs.”
We are unique, no people are like us because no god is like God. We are called to live in joy, shining with happiness and glorifying the Lord. How will people ever want to know who He is if they do not see our distinctive joy celebrate Him? We don’t have to go through life in ashes of mourning, anxiety, or fear. We have Jesus Christ. We exemplify Him through joy. We are blessed, happy because He is The LORD our God.

Psalm 69

Although Jesus promised us we would be hated for His sake, (Matthew 10:21-25) He didn’t say we wouldn’t feel the sting of that animosity. Suffering for Jesus is not called suffering because it’s enjoyable. David felt overwhelmed with the enmity and hostility of his enemies. Verses 1-5 read,

“Save me, O God!
    For the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in deep mire,
    where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
    and the flood sweeps over me.
3 I am weary with my crying out;
    my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
    with waiting for my God.

4 More in number than the hairs of my head
    are those who hate me without cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
    those who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
    must I now restore?
5 O God, you know my folly;
    the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.”

We know God is with us, yet sometimes at the height of suffering we can wonder if we will ever reach the end of it. We can wonder if The Lord will ever deliver and avenge us. If faith we easy or automatic everyone would have faith. The enemy lies to us and about us. The world of haters finds false reasons and flawed assumptions to hate us. But we know we do not need to hide our wrongs from The Lord and we couldn’t if we wanted to. It is futile to hide our shortcomings from the world. If they think we haven’t ever fallen as they do, then they wouldn’t see how God has saved us and how He can save them too.

That doesn’t give license to sin. We are citizens of Heaven, representatives of God, and ambassadors of the church. We live and walk in obedience to Christ. We don’t hide our sin, but we also live in a manner that honors our Father’s name and doesn’t shame our Brothers and Sisters. Verses 6-12 say,

“Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me,
    O Lord God of hosts;
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,
    O God of Israel.
7 For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
    that dishonor has covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my brothers,
    an alien to my mother's sons.

9 For zeal for your house has consumed me,
    and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting,
    it became my reproach.
11 When I made sackcloth my clothing,
    I became a byword to them.
12 I am the talk of those who sit in the gate,
    and the drunkards make songs about me.”

The deeper our passion for Jesus, our fervor for The Father, and our zest for The Spirit the more the world will despise us and be repulsed by us. They will call us fools, the will shake their heads and think we are ridiculous. Even our blood families will talk about us with derision. They see our behavior and it is peculiar. It makes no sense to them that we would submit to God, one another, or them. It makes no sense that instead of fighting back we would offer ourselves for more beatings. But we are meant to stand out from the world.

We are meant to look, act, and sound like Jesus. It isn’t always easy to be the butt of the joke but we know the Truth. We just can’t be like the world imprisoned to lies and ignorant of the chains and oppression they are under. For us, suffering is temporary. It is knowing that which allows us to make it through. For the believer, suffering for righteousness’ sake has purpose and that purpose is great. We can rejoice and continue to live as Jesus lived with love and virtue. We do not earn salvation through our uprightness, we are saved because we have faith in Jesus. Romans 5:1-6 says,

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”

We know that suffering is necessary and good. We know that The Holy Spirit uses it to conform us to Christ’s image. And in Him we can tell the world about how wonderful He is, how He saved us and can save them too. Those awesome purposes mean that there are times when we may suffer longer than we would like. But faith reminds us that misery and affliction will end at the perfect time. Verses 13-18 read,

“But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
    At an acceptable time, O God,
    in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
14 Deliver me
    from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
    and from the deep waters.
15 Let not the flood sweep over me,
    or the deep swallow me up,
    or the pit close its mouth over me.

16 Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
    according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
17 Hide not your face from your servant;
    for I am in distress; make haste to answer me.
18 Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
    ransom me because of my enemies!”

The lost are headed toward the eternal pit. They are not aware of why they might suffer. But The Lord uses their suffering to bring them to a place where they realize they can only call out to Jesus to be saved. He uses us, our entire lives including our suffering and our response to suffering to demonstrate His saving power to the world.

When we suffer, we call out to The Lord, we don’t try to numb or relieve the pain by our own strength. We do not seek the answers or provisions of the world. We seek the Kingdom of God, His will, provision, strength, healing, and joy. When we seek God first, everything else falls into place and worry about our distress becomes foreign to us, the children of Almighty God. (Matthew 6:25-34).

We can’t look to the world for compassion, provision, or anything we should be receiving from The Lord. They hate us because they hate Jesus. They hated Him so completely and utterly that they wanted to murder Him in the most horrific and tortuous way a person could be killed. But they didn’t take Jesus’ life, He gave it. We like Jesus must be ready to do the same. We must be willing to suffer for Jesus’ sake which is the sake of the whole world. Verses 19-21 read,

“You know my reproach,
    and my shame and my dishonor;
    my foes are all known to you.
20 Reproaches have broken my heart,
    so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none,
    and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me poison for food,
    and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.”

Verse 21 presages Jesus’ agony on the cross. He endured that torture for us. When He cried out that He was thirsty they gave him sour wine, vinegar instead of wine. First mixed with gall and myrrh to decrease his pain, but Jesus refused it. (Matthew 27:34). Then later he accepted sour wine without the gall to prolong his suffering. (Matthew 27:48). Neither was to slake his thirst. The world may offer us money, power, and revelry, but none of it is for our true benefit. Let them seek their profit from the world, eventually all their wealth, all their rich foods, and all their false power will be a stumbling block. They will either fall on their knees before Jesus or be thrown into the pits of Hell. We cannot be like them and therefore send them to Hell ourselves. Verses 22-28 describe it.

“Let their own table before them become a snare;
    and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.
23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
    and make their loins tremble continually.
24 Pour out your indignation upon them,
    and let your burning anger overtake them.
25 May their camp be a desolation;
    let no one dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute him whom you have struck down,
    and they recount the pain of those you have wounded.
27 Add to them punishment upon punishment;
    may they have no acquittal from you.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
    let them not be enrolled among the righteous.”

The sinner will never be counted with the righteous. Only those made good and holy by Jesus’ blood will be in the Book of Life. Everyone starts out with the opportunity to be saved. God, our Father has chosen that all can be saved by Jesus. But many will not listen to the urgings of The Holy Spirit. Many will close their ears and harden their hearts against Him and so they will be blotted out of the Book of Life and instead die eternally.

For us who humble ourselves before The Lord, admit our sin, and let God be our God, He saves us. He keeps us and carries us through the suffering. He won’t save someone who won’t admit they need saving. He helps those who ask for His help and rescue. Verses 29-33 read,

“But I am afflicted and in pain;
    let your salvation, O God, set me on high!

30 I will praise the name of God with a song;
    I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 This will please the Lord more than an ox
    or a bull with horns and hoofs.
32 When the humble see it they will be glad;
    you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
33 For the Lord hears the needy
    and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.”

So Believer, do not be afraid to suffer. Do not be afraid to call out to The Lord for deliverance. Call out to Him and praise Him for His Salvation. Let the world know how great our Lord is. Let the church know how good The Lord is. Verses 34-36 read,

“Let heaven and earth praise him,
    the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For God will save Zion
    and build up the cities of Judah,
and people shall dwell there and possess it;
36     the offspring of his servants shall inherit it,
    and those who love his name shall dwell in it.”

Psalm 43

This Psalm was likely written at the same time as Psalm 42. Its theme is similar and verse 5 of this psalm is the same as the refrain of verses 5 and 11 of the previous psalm. The aforementioned psalm is about feeling far away from the Lord and this one is about being persecuted. In Countries like the America and Great Britain we do not face much persecution for our faith. But we do face some and it is getting worse. Until The Day of Judgement there will be people who hate us, people who try to hurt us and hurt our testimony. Jesus promised us that. (John 15:18-25). The author of this Psalm knew where to look during his persecution. He trusted the Lord to take care of Him and left retribution to Him as well. Verse 1 reads,

“Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
    against an ungodly people,
from the deceitful and unjust man
    deliver me!”

His enemies wanted to get him. They wanted nothing more than his destruction. And the author cried out to God for rescue. But the Lord didn’t rescue him immediately. God does that for us sometimes. He holds back, he waits, always with a reason, and always for our benefit. Perhaps the author needed to be strengthened, perhaps he needed his faith tested and proved, or maybe the Lord used his enemies to discipline him. God waits sometimes. And we think we will never get through the situation intact. And maybe God doesn’t want us intact. He allows us to go through the fires to purify us. 1 Peter 1:5-9 say,

“who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

The writer understood this, but persistent in his prayer regardless. Even Jesus repeated His prayers through His suffering. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed three times, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”  (Matthew 26:38-44). Prayer allows us to maintain our dependence on God. It allows us to communicate with Him. We speak our hearts and God speaks His. In that communion He leads, teaches, comforts, encourages and exhorts. Verses 2-3 continue the prayer,

“For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
    why have you rejected me?
Why do I go about mourning
    because of the oppression of the enemy?

3 Send out your light and your truth;
    let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
    and to your dwelling!”

While the author longed for the comfort and safety of God to remove his trial, he still asked for God’s light and truth to lead him. He didn’t want to depend on his emotions to lead him, or his faulty wisdom to guide his decisions. He wanted God to show Him the way. Prayer, meditation on God’s Word, and reflection of our communion with God brings us nearer to Him. As we contemplate God’s Word, He comforts us. He lets us know Him more deeply and we know that even while we are persecuted and suffering that God has us, we are safe in His hands, and our future is secure in Him.

James 1:2-8 reflects on the benefits of the trials we suffer and the communion with God as we depend on Him to teach us, guide us through them, and come out looking more like Jesus with the Fruit of the Spirit.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Although we suffer God is always with us. And we can know it well and completely. If we know God well, we know He will make us wise, conform us to His image and bring us through. We can without a doubt praise Him and thank Him, even before the manifestation of our hope and prayers. The psalmist looked forward to praising God for the answer to his prayer. Verses 4-5 read,

“Then I will go to the altar of God,
    to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
    O God, my God.

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my salvation and my God.”

No matter how low we feel, regardless of the depth of our grief or the intensity of our suffering we can rejoice, we can praise, and we can thank the Lord. He is with us. He has a purpose for all He allows us to go through. He loves us so deeply and knows us so well that we are free to trust Him with our lives, our salvation, and our hearts.

1 Peter Chapter 1 Verses 1-12

Peter wrote this letter to Christians scattered across Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, modern Turkey. He calls the believers elect exiles of the Dispersion. Just as in the days of the Old Covenant when Israel was exiled to places that were not the Promised Land, their home, today during the New Covenant  believers are exiles because our Promised Land is Heaven, our home is New Jerusalem and we are exiles among the world. But we are not hopeless. We know where our home is, we know who our family and fellow pilgrims are, and we know who our Lord is. He keeps our citizenship for us. Verse 2 describes believers.

“according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you.”

Our Father knew us and chose us from the beginning. The Spirit consecrates and purifies us. He makes it possible for us to walk in obedience to Jesus Christ who saved us by His blood. That is wonderful news. And because of that we have hope. Not some distant fantasy, but confidence we live in and with, in the everyday. Because God is with us. He loves us, sanctifies us, and saves us. That is a living hope.

Peter describes that hope beautifully in verses 3-5.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Jesus is alive! His life gives us life. Peter describes eternal life as an inheritance, the legacy or bequest we receive from our Father. Normally to leave an inheritance the father would die, but in this case God rose from the dead and it is through His life that we live and receive eternal life. We died to our previous life, to sin and eternal death and live as new creations, sons of God eternally. Romans 6:8-11 reads,

“Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Our salvation, our eternal life is kept safe for us by God. Peter describes it as imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us.  Imperishable means permanent, eternal, and enduring. It cannot be destroyed. Undefiled means pure spotless and unpolluted. It remains perfect. It can’t be corrupted. And unfading means it can’t even lose a little of its richness or vibrancy. And it is being kept in Heaven for us. Not far from us, not for one day but for us now, since we live in the Kingdom of Heaven. It is protected and will remain safe until Jesus is fully revealed in us on The Day when we are in New Jerusalem face to face with Jesus.

That awesome hope, our eternal life, which we live now and it is guarded and protected by The Lord Almighty is what gives us reason to rejoice. Life is messy, hard, and difficult. Tragedy and calamity happen. But because we have Jesus Christ our hope, we can celebrate and be glad though all of it.

Do you realize that the precious treasure of eternal life can actually become more pure, more vibrant, and stronger? It does. It does when we go through the fires of life clinging to our Hope, rejoicing in our Peace, and remaining faithful to our Lord. Can you imagine what the world sees when you go through some awful experience and rather than break and curse God, rather than grumble and whine, you praise the Lord and allow the Spirit to build you, strengthen you, and make you more like Jesus? They see Jesus revealed in you. They hear about the awesome power of God’s Spirit. They see the proof of El Shaddai. And so do you. He becomes more concrete to you. Verses 6-9 say it this way,

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Think about what an awesome gift salvation is. There is no earning it. There is no buying it. The only way to get it is by the grace of our Father, the blood of Jesus, and the power of the Spirit. It is eternal, guaranteed, and perfect. Eternal life is a wonderful legacy. It is ours now. It can only get better, stronger, and bigger. It is an inheritance that we receive not through our Father’s death but because Jesus lives and brings us out of death. May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Bless the Lord! Praise Him forever. He is the Author and Perfecter of our faith. He is keeping it safe for us with Him, imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.

James Chapter 1 Verses 1-8

Today we begin reading the letter written by James to the church dispersed by persecution. His greeting is very short and rather than give qualifiers for himself such as “Apostle” or “Elder” he called himself simply, “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Verse 1). It is this role that he encouraged us to take, active humble enduring doers of the word.

Verses 2-4 read,

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

James immediately got to the meat in his letter. He started with a deep and difficult statement. “Count it all joy…when you meet trials.” He didn’t say suffer through it. He didn’t say lament, groan, and complain. He said to count it all joy. He wasn’t talking to people who had barely faced a hard time in their lives. He was talking to people who had left their homes and moved to other countries because of the persecution they had faced. They had seen brothers and sisters jailed, beaten, and killed. They had very likely lost loved ones, careers, and reputations for Jesus. Even after all that they would continue to face trials of various kinds. It is par for the course of Christianity, not if you face trials, but when you do.

How is it that we can count it all joy? How can we embrace the pain or be joyful even through the tears? Because we know that this bad stuff has good results. Because when we exercise our faith it produces steadfastness which is persistence, stability, dedication, loyalty and faith. And when that persistence has its full effect and we are fully devoted and faithful we will lack nothing. James said, “that you may be perfect and complete.”

I know many people in today’s culture consider our spiritual walk to be one of never-ending search, but James said that our trials faced in a godly manner result in completion, that we will lack nothing. We will lack nothing because we will have the faith to ask God to give us whatever we ask for. If we need wisdom, we ask God and He gives it. If we lack joy, mercy, or whichever of Christ’s characteristics it might be, we ask and God will give it to us. He will conform us to the image of Christ. Verses 5-8 read,

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

God gives generously. James says though the child of God doing the asking needs to ask with faith. He didn’t refer here to healings and such. He referred to asking God for our spiritual needs. We have to ask with faith because the way God gives us wisdom, patience, and joy is usually through trials. When we go through those trials with faith, knowing there is a good purpose for us, knowing there is a lesson to learn, and maturity to be gained, we can go through it looking to learn the lesson, develop the trait, and become more Christ-like. But if we go through it without faith, we won’t see the lessons, we won’t receive any of the blessings, gifts, or growth the Father has for us. That is an unstable man, not a steadfast one. He hasn’t yet gained the faith in order to develop the endurance. He doesn’t have the wisdom or discernment to see the goodness that can come out of suffering.

Remember this God allows you to suffer for a reason. He is sovereign. He loves you. He works it all together for good for those who love Him. And that good is your completion, your maturation to be like Jesus. Romans 8:28-29 say it like this,

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

The trials we suffer bring about the traits of Christ in us. James said we are to count it all joy. Paul also said we are to rejoice in our suffering and in the hope of the glory of God. Not only does our suffering produce wholeness in us, but it glorifies God! Romans 5:1-5 says,

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

So Brothers and Sisters, not if you suffer, but when you do, rejoice! Celebrate and be glad because good things are happening. You are being conformed to Christ’s image, you are being made faithful, perseverant, patient, and wise. The joyful manner you live your life and endure your troubles brings glory to God. Pay attention be wise, have faith, and grow through your hardships, and always always praise God and thank Him for being there with you.

The Beatitudes: Reasons to be happy I have decided to choose happiness. With prayer, the Holy Spirit led me to study the Beatitudes. According to Strong’s Concordance, blessed is translated from the word makarios which is defined as happy, blessed, and to be envied. The further explanation of the word is “properly, when God extends His benefits, the advantages He confers; blessed.” (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011).

The Beatitudes begin the discourse known as The Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew. Jesus’ teachings were groundbreaking and shook the foundations of religious establishment. The beatitudes spoke to people who were struggling, living in poverty under a tyrannical government and a religious system that catered to ritual in order to honor God, but had left God out of the equation. Jesus told them that even in those positions they could be envied and considered fortunate and that they could be happy.

That was not the common view then, and it is not the popular opinion now. Let’s read them and you will see that it doesn’t seem a happy or good thing to be in any of the situations Jesus says are advantageous. Matthew 5:1-12 reads,

“Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

This is an example of the difference between the world and the Kingdom of God. It is very different in the Kingdom of God, those outside consider us foolish, crazy, and even evil. But they don’t understand, and cannot understand until they have the Holy Spirit to help them.

How is it good to be poor in spirit, mourn, or meek? Those qualities are not desired by the world. In fact they are disdained. These traits are only possible with the Holy Spirit as He conforms to the image of Christ. It is not an easy task to want righteousness so badly that it is akin to deep hunger and desperate thirst, a need. Being merciful is, for me something I have to work hard for. Being pure in heart in a foul and sinful world is a struggle analogous to climbing a mountain. Being a peacemaker means that somehow in the middle of strife, turmoil, and conflict that one cannot only maintain his peace but bring it to others. Being persecuted for righteousness? Well we all know that is no fun.

But Jesus says these are all reasons to be happy! He says these are good things and we are blessed even to be envied for those qualities. Believer, remember Jesus words, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.”

Blessed are poor in spirit “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” –Matthew 5:3

Remember that blessed is translated from the word makarios which is defined as happy, blessed, and to be envied. (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011).

This is the first of the Beatitudes. The word for poor in this verse is translated from the Greek word ptochos. The word is defined, "to crouch or cower like a beggar – properly, bent over; figuratively, deeply destitute, completely lacking resources.” (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011). It is not merely poor but absolutely in need. In a position where one has no choice but to beg because he cannot fill his need on his own.

The word spirit is translated from pneuma which means spirit, wind, or breath. (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011). It is our life force. It is ourselves as we relate to God. It is in fact the same word that is used to denote the Holy Spirit when the word is preceded by the adjective holy.

Therefore, poor in spirit means destitute of spirit, begging in humility for spiritual needs to be met. Romans 5:23-25 tells us that we are all in spiritual poverty and that Jesus provides the way to meet those needs. It reads,

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”

Although all have sinned and consequently every person needs Jesus, only some ever acknowledge the need. It is for those who concede it that the Kingdom of Heaven is given. Those people who recognize they are dependent on Jesus to meet their need, not just once but every moment of every day, who are given the joy of salvation, the joy of living in the Kingdom of Heaven even now while we walk on earth.

The more we understand how much we have sinned and how there is nothing we can do on our own, the more we admit our necessity and reliance on Jesus the more we are able to celebrate and be overjoyed at His grace and mercy. Romans 5:19-21 reads,

“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Genuine happiness is not gained by pretending to be good. Authentic bliss is not achieved by justifying or ignoring one’s corruption. True joy is reached when we are able to recognize our sinfulness and ask Jesus, the only one who can to forgive us and make us righteous.

Choose happiness. Don’t close your eyes to your depravity, recognize it. Submit yourself to Jesus as the beggar you are and let Him freely give you the richness of His grace. Jesus turns the tears of mourning over your sin to gladness and praise for His salvation. Jesus quoted Isaiah 61 about Himself. Read verses 1-3 and see that Jesus will do it for you too.

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
    and the day of vengeance of our God;
    to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion--
    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified”

Let Jesus turn your mourning to gladness, let Him give you a garment of praise instead of a faint spirit.

Blessed are those who mourn Matthew 5:4 reads,

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

The second beatitude seems almost backwardly confusing. How can someone who mourns be happy? Mourning is expressing sorrow and grief. The Greek word translated to mourn in this verse is pentheó. Strong’s concordance defines it as “to grieve over a death or a personal hope that comes to divine closure. It is manifested grief so severe it takes possession of a person and cannot be hid.” (Helps Ministries Inc, 2011). Blessed means happy and to be envied. (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011).

How can lamenting that intense be something that give you happiness or a reason to be envied? Because they will be comforted. They won’t be comforted with clichés or empty words. They will be comforted by truth and love. They are comforted by God Himself.

What was your reaction when you realized the depth of your sin compared to God’s holiness? What was your response when you grasped what Jesus had done for you? If you are like me, even now, when you consider your sin there is a deep heaviness of your soul for a moment, a sadness so deep that it should overwhelm you. But the Comforter reminds you that Jesus loves you so completely that your sinful soul was healed by the wounds of His crucifixion and that because of that you are called a Friend of God and a child of our Awesome Father. He repeats to you, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1). He tells you again who Jesus is and what He has done. Isaiah 61:1-4 reads,

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
    and the day of vengeance of our God;
    to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion--
    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins;
    they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
    the devastations of many generations.”

That is not only a reason to be happy but to be overjoyed, jubilant, and celebrate. It is reason enough to praise God for eternity.

And though we sometimes feel like all hope is gone, though we ache and strain for those we’ve lost and miss, though we sometimes think we cannot endure one more struggle, He reminds us of we do have hope. Eternity is waiting for us and with us now. Some of our loved ones have died and we miss them horribly, but this life on earth is not the end. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 reads,

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

The lost cannot be comforted by that truth. They do not have the hope of Jesus. There are no words that can comfort them. Only Jesus can bring them the consolation and succor they desperately need. But until they acknowledge it, feel it and express it, He will wait.

Blessed are the meek 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. (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011). 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 with 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.”

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness

Matthew 5:6 reads,

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

The Greek word translated hunger is peina and it means to be hungry, needy, and desire earnestly. (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011).  The Greek word for thirst is dipsaó and it likewise means to thirst and desire earnestly. (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011). Imagine desiring righteousness as much as you want a glass of water when your mouth is parched, not just when it would be nice to have a drink but when you are thirsty, when you long for the cool water to slide down your hot throat and satisfy your need only the way water can. That is the way we should seek righteousness. Not just wanting it or thinking it would be nice, but needing it, craving it, not able to live without it as the sustenance of our souls.

Righteousness or dikaiosuné is defined as justice, justness, righteousness of which God is the source or author, God's judicial approval. (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011). Do you want God’s approval that desperately? Well, there is great news for you if you do.

Jesus said you can be happy because you will be satisfied. The Greek word for satisfy, chortazó means to feed, satisfy and fatten. (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011). You may be starving for righteousness, but Jesus will give you so much, you will be fat with it! You won’t have to be meager with goodness because Jesus will give you plenty to exercise.

Your yearning for righteousness will be fulfilled. He is the source of life, He is the source of eternal life and the only way to the Father. (John 14:6). Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that He was the source of living water and anyone who drank from Him would never thirst again. (John 4:14-15). Your longing for righteousness will be satisfied much deeper than you could imagine. 2 Corinthians 5:21 reads,

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

In Jesus, you are righteous! In Jesus, you are righteousness! Yes, God approves of you! God loves you and Jesus made the way for you to be reconciled to the Father and be righteousness. You aren’t that old self anymore who craved self-satisfaction or worldly things. You are a new creation, you are righteous. You are blameless in the eyes of God. He doesn’t see your sin anymore, He sees your righteousness. (2 Corinthians 5:16-21).

All you have to do is ask Jesus and it is yours. Free! Done! If you sincerely want it, Jesus gives it to you. Then you will find other things happening. You will want that righteousness to be evident in your life. You will want to demonstrate your love for God by wanting to be as good as He says you are. And you will want it for other people too. And as deeply as you want it, Jesus will continue to satisfy your desire for righteousness. You will seek it out. You will pursue that need, the way you go after food and water, not as a luxury but a need. And then you will strive for it above and beyond food or water, but that is okay because Jesus also promised that if you chase God and His righteousness above all else, the rest of the stuff would fall into place. Matthew 6:31-34 reads,

“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Do you want God’s approval? Do you want Him to say you are good? He will if you simply ask Jesus to make you right. Jesus promised to satisfy your want for goodness. In fact not just meet the need to make you rich with it.

Blessed are the merciful Matthew 5:7 reads,

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

What is it to be merciful? The Greek word used here is eleéō. It means to have pity or show mercy as it aligns with God’s truth. It is to act on God’s terms in His covenant. (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011). Merriam-Webster’s defines merciful as treating people with kindness and forgiveness, not cruel or harsh, and giving relief from suffering.

Compassion for another person in such a way that you are able to forgive their flaws and be kind to them is what being merciful is. And being merciful is not always so easy. It is something we must choose to do deliberately. It is not a natural trait, but it is a characteristic of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23). It is one we can exercise because God is in us and we are operating in His covenant. It is also a quality Jesus expects us to implement. In Matthew chapter 6:14-15 Jesus said,

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

And what right do we have not to forgive people? What right do we have not to be merciful? Ephesians 4:30-32 says,

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Consider that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23). And the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23). We deserve death. In fact before we came to Christ, we were dead. Ephesians 2:4-5 reads,

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—“

We deserve death. We deserve not to have a relationship with God. But He is rich in mercy. He chose to forgive us and not give us death. By His grace, He gave us new life and a relationship with Him.

When you elect to forgive others and show them kindness you are opting happiness. You are forgiven, God decided not to make you pay for your sins. He paid for them instead. He chooses not to bring to mind your sin any longer. He asks the same of you. God was merciful to you. He has a never-ending supply of mercy. Be merciful and God shows you mercy. All those mistakes you make, God forgives them.

Deciding to forgive others, showing them kindness and compassion, letting go of the bitterness and anger over the wrongs done to you allows you to be happy. Emptying yourself of the right to hold onto the injuries inflicted on you makes room for the Spirit. He makes it possible for you to be joyful, peaceful, and merciful.

Blessed are the pure in heart Matthew 5:8 reads,

 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

The Greek word translated as pure is katharos. It means without admixture, separated, purged and therefore clean. (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011). Heart is translated from the word kardia which is defined as the affective center of our being, the inner-self, the intention that establishes who we are. (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011). So pure of heart means that our inner-self, our true self has been flushed out of everything that would make it unclean. A pure heart is forgiven, cleansed by Jesus’ blood and intends to follow Him. It is not an outward ritualistic cleanliness. God doesn’t want the outward show of looking religious. He wants the heart, the desire to follow Him in love.

In Psalm 51, David asked God for a clean heart. He knew the way to that end was the forgiveness of his sins. Verses 1-2 say,

“Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
    blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin!”

It is only Jesus who can cleanse your heart. It is only His blood that can forgive sins. Hebrews 10:19-22 reads,

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

What is it to see God? 1 John 3:2 says that one day we will see God as He is. It reads,

“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

And 1 Corinthians 13:12 reads,

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

So it is a promise of our future hope as we live in New Jerusalem in the presence of Jesus. But there is more to the promise. Every promise of eternity is also shadowed for us now in this life. One day we will see God clearly and fully, but right now we know Him incompletely. But we still seek Him. We still want to know Him and we strive know Him more deeply every day.  God wants us to know Him. He said so in Hosea 6:6

“For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
    the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

Knowing God, having a deep relationship with Him was the reason He saved us. (John 17:3). Knowing the Father is done by knowing Jesus Christ. (Colossians 1:15, John 14:6).

So how do we know God more deeply?

I’ve already established that you must have a relationship with Jesus first in order to have a relationship with God. That is done by making Jesus the Master of your life and acknowledging that only He can forgive your sins and reconcile you to God.

God will enter into you as the Holy Spirit when you ask Jesus to save you. The Holy Spirit then begins teaching you and transforming you. He shows you who He without barriers. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says,

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

And 1 Corinthians 2:6-13 reads,

“Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”--

10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.”

The Holy Spirit is God. He reveals His nature to us, He transforms us so that we reveal Him as well. That is one reason we need other Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Each one is indwelled with God and we speak to each other, teach, encourage, exhort, and edify one another through the Spirit.

We read the Bible, His word and learn more about Him. Psalm 119:105 says,

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

The Word of God will do work on us to purify our hearts and help us know Him more. Hebrews 4:12 says,

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

One day, we will see God wholly, but for now we seek Him and get to know Him as best we can in our flesh. If we seek and ask, He will reveal and answer. Deuteronomy 4:29 says,

“But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

And Matthew 7:7-8 reads,

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

Is it the desire of your inner core to know God? Then you will know Him. Has your heart been cleansed by the blood of Jesus? Then you will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers Matthew 5:9 says,

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

Peacemaker is from the Greek word eirénopoios. It is defined as pacific, loving peace, a peace-maker. A peacemaker, bravely declares God's terms which makes someone whole. The only time this word is used is in Matthew 5:9. (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011).

Eiréné the “peace” portion of peacemaker is defined as peace or peace of mind. Properly peace is wholeness, i.e. when all essential parts are joined together; God's gift of wholeness. It was common and still is a common Jewish farewell to invoke the peace and sense of the health of an individual. (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011).

When we look at the word that way, we see the peacemaker as one who proclaims God’s message, the gift of Jesus’ grace and salvation to the lost in order to reconcile them to the Father and bring them peace with God.

Sons of God is another term I wanted to look at more closely. The Greek word huios means son, or descendent but it means more than that too. It is defined properly, as a son by birth or adoption and figuratively anyone sharing the same nature as their Father. (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011).

It is the nature of the Father to love. Love is more than God’s nature, it is who He is. 1 John 4:8 says,

“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

Because God is love, and He loves us so deeply He desires a relationship with every person. He wants us to be whole, healed in Him, no longer under the burden of sin that separates us from Him. He is patient and has withheld the final judgment so that more people will know Him. 2 Peter 3:9 says,

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

1 Timothy 2:1-7 reads,

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

 God wants everyone to be saved. He wants us to want what He wants. He wants us to do something about it. He wants us to proclaim Jesus to the lost. He wants us to bring them the good news that they can be made whole in God.

When we act on the love of the Father, loving people as Jesus loves us, we glorify God. We are being conformed to His image and more and more we reflect His nature by displaying the outcome of that transformation that is called the fruit of the Spirit. Displaying the fruit of the Spirit, loving people as Jesus loves entails us wanting what the Father wants. It requires us affirming and proclaiming Jesus to the world so that they too can be made whole and called sons of God. Eternal life comes from glorifying God. John 17:1-4 says,

“When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.”

Glorifying God means reflecting His image. When people see you, do they see Jesus? Do they recognize God in you? That is being called a son of God. When they interact with you, they should be interacting with the Son of God and therefore even if they don’t exactly who it is they are dealing with they will at least know you are not like the world. You share God’s nature. His nature, His being is Love. Without that love, people can’t recognize you as having the spirit of God because without that love you can’t have the Spirit of God. Remember who God is. 1 John 4:8 says,

“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

 

Blessed are those who are persecuted, reviled, and maligned The final two beatitudes are similar. Matthew 5:10-12 says,

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Really a person has to ask, how can we be envied or happy if we are persecuted, slandered and hated? Most true followers of Christ have dealt with vilification and loathing from people. Too many, mostly in other countries have been persecuted and even martyred for Jesus. And the problem grows. There will come a time soon when even in countries like the USA persecution will become more common and even more widely accepted than it already is.

Jesus described the end times. John, Paul, and Peter all described the end times. We can see signs of it now. But the fact is that persecution and revulsion of Christians has gone on since the church began. If you haven’t faced the hate of the world, perhaps you haven’t truly followed Christ.

Jesus told us people would hate us. John 15:18-19 says,

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

So let’s look at the fact that Jesus says we can be happy and envied for the persecution we will face as His followers. The word persecute in all three verses is the word diókó. Diókó is defined as to pursue, to earnestly desire to overtake, to aggressively hunt down. It is interestingly enough the same word used to describe Israel’s pursuit and passion for the Law in Romans, to describe the way we are supposed to pursue hospitality toward one another also in Romans, and the word Paul uses in Philippians chapter 3 to describe his pressing on toward the goal. But most often the word is translated with the negative connotation of persecution. (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011).

Righteousness is the same word from Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” The word dikaiosuné is defined as justice, righteousness of which God is the author. It is God’s approval. (Help's Ministries Inc, 2011).

So people who are persecuted, aggressively hunted down for God’s justice and approval are blessed because the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. The Kingdom of Heaven is described in the gospel of Matthew by Jesus through parables. Jesus mentions it in Matthew 13:11 in answer to the disciples’ question of His use of parables. “And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.”

Those who believe in Christ are the ones who are able to have the faith and discernment to see the Kingdom of Heaven around us. A little further on in Matthew chapter 13 Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a farmer sowing good seed while his enemy secretly sows weeds in the farmer’s field. Rather than gather the weeds and risk hurting the good seed, the farmer says to wait until harvest time when the weeds will be revealed, gathered and burned. As followers of Christ we understand the secrets of the story, that false followers, false prophets, and false teachers will receive their punishment when we receive our reward.

Jesus also compared the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed, a tiny seed which when planted grows into a plant so large it is like a tree and birds can rest in its branches. He also said it is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened. (Matthew 13:31-33). The Kingdom of Heaven looks small yet it grows into something much bigger than imagined, something that does good for others, something that provides sustenance for many.

The kingdom of heaven can’t be perceived by those who don’t accept Jesus. But it is good, amazing, and it grows. It doesn’t stay small and inert. The Kingdom of Heaven doesn’t stay secret. It is revealed to people who are willing to hear it. And it holds great promises for believers. When Jesus was teaching us to pray in Matthew 6:9-10 He said,

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.”

The Father’s will is done on earth just as it is in Heaven when we ask it. Heaven is not our future destination, a place we go after we die. It is where God dwells. It is here and now, all around us. And it is within us. Believers live in the Kingdom of Heaven right now and God lives in us! 1 John 4:7-16 says,

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

When you live out love as Jesus commanded and the Spirit enables, when you seek righteousness you manifest God. You glorify Him and people will see Him. You are living in the kingdom of Heaven and offering it to others. But so many have hard blind/deaf hearts and those people will hate you and persecute you.

The last beatitude is in Matthew 5:11-12

 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

When you are hated because you testify that Jesus is Christ, you can be happy because you have the hope of eternity and that reward is great! In Heaven, our treasures are stored and will be bestowed on us one day when God makes a New Heaven and a New Earth and we will rejoice with God in perfection.

God tells us He saves our real treasures for us in Heaven with Him while we live on earth. In Matthew 6:1 Jesus says,

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”

He tells us not to stockpile treasures on earth because all that is just temporary. He says in verses 20-21 of the same chapter, “but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Eternity is described for us in Revelation 21 where God will give us our reward, the treasure of crowns God has for us. (2 Timothy 4:8. James 1:12, 1 Peter 5:4).

Revelation 21: 3-4 says,

“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. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

In that New Heaven and New Earth where we will spend forever, we will be whole, sinless, completed. Hebrews 22-23 tells us we will be able to be with God without fear.

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,”

So even though we are persecuted, hated, and slandered we can be happy. We should be happy. We have the Kingdom of Heaven now and we have the promise of Heaven for eternity. Persecution for righteousness, hatred for Jesus sake is proof of God’s love in you, of the Spirit of God in you, and the promise of eternity. You may cry tears of sadness and pain now, but one day God Himself will wipe those tears away and you will live forever with Him as yours and you as His.

Rejoice and be glad Believer, you have so much reason to rejoice. Celebrate and be happy! Though you are poor in spirit in desperate need of grace, you have all the riches of the kingdom of Heaven. While you mourn and grieve, you are comforted by the hope of eternity and forgiveness. Although you are meek and depend on God’s strength the world is yours. Because you hunger and thirst for righteousness, you are overflowing with it. Since you are merciful you are given mercy. Because you have a pure heart you will see God. As you are a peacemaker, you are a son of God. And even while you are persecuted and hated for righteousness and Christ, you’re reward is great. Believer, delight, cheer, and dance, you have Jesus. Jesus is all you need. No matter how weak, poor, faint, or desperate you are, Jesus is enough. No matter what you go through or how difficult your circumstances, Jesus is all you need. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 reads,

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Be blessed. Rejoice and be glad.

References:

Help's Ministries Inc. (2011). 1343. dikaiosuné. Retrieved from Biblehub; Strong's exhaustive concordance: http://biblehub.com/greek/1343.htm

Help's Ministries Inc. (2011). 1372. dipsaó. Retrieved from Biblehub; Strong's exhaustive concordance: http://biblehub.com/greek/1372.htm

Help's Ministries Inc. (2011). 1377. diókó. Retrieved from Biblehub; Strong's exhaustive concordance: http://biblehub.com/greek/1377.htm

Help's Ministries Inc. (2011). 1515. eiréné. Retrieved from Biblehub; Strong's exhaustive concordance: http://biblehub.com/greek/1515.htm

Help's Ministries Inc. (2011). 1518. eirénopoios. Retrieved from Biblehub; Strong's exhaustive concordance: http://biblehub.com/greek/1518.htm

Help's Ministries Inc. (2011). 1653. eleeó. Retrieved from Biblehub; Strong's exhaustive concordance: http://biblehub.com/greek/1653.htm

Help's Ministries Inc. (2011). 2513. katharos. Retrieved from Biblehub; Strong's exhaustive concordance: http://biblehub.com/greek/2513.htm

Help's Ministries Inc. (2011). 2588. kardia. Retrieved from Biblehub; Strong's exhaustive concordance: http://biblehub.com/greek/2588.htm

Help's Ministries Inc. (2011). 3701. makarios. Retrieved from Biblehub; Strong's exhaustive concordance: http://biblehub.com/greek/3107.htm

Help's Ministries Inc. (2011). 3983. peinaó. Retrieved from Biblehub; Strong's exhaustive concordance: http://biblehub.com/greek/3983.htm

Helps Ministries Inc. (2011). 3996. pentheó. Retrieved from Biblehub; Strong's exhaustive concordance: http://biblehub.com/greek/3996.htm

Help's Ministries Inc. (2011). 4151. pneuma. Retrieved from Biblehub; Strong's exhaustive concordance: http://biblehub.com/greek/4151.htm

Help's Ministries Inc. (2011). 4239. praus. Retrieved from Biblehub; Strong's exhaustive concordance: http://biblehub.com/greek/4239.htm

Help's Ministries Inc. (2011). 4434. ptóchos. Retrieved from Biblehub; Strong's exhaustive concordance: http://biblehub.com/greek/4434.htm

Help's Ministries Inc. (2011). 5207. huios. Retrieved from Biblehub; Strong's exhaustive concordance: http://biblehub.com/greek/5207.htm

Help's Ministries Inc. (2011). 5526. chortazó. Retrieved from Strong's Concordance: http://biblehub.com/greek/5526.htm

John Chapter 16 Verses 16-22

Jesus continued teaching the disciples before His arrest and crucifixion. Although it was He would go through an ersatz trial, beatings, and torturous execution, His words were for His friends so that when they went through the grief of it, they would remember and have comfort. Verse 16 reads,

“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”

The disciples didn’t know what Jesus meant. They asked one another and wanted to ask Him. I think by now they knew that Jesus said things the way He did for a reason and they trusted Him to clarify it in His way rather than interrupt Him and ask for explanations. And Jesus did, but not by saying, “Remember, I told you I was going to die and rise from the dead three days later.” They would remember that when the time was right. He instead talked about the anguish and heartache they would experience. Verses 20-22 reads,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”

They were about to go through deep pain and they would react in that pain. Although of the eleven men there, only John stayed with his Lord throughout the trial and crucifixion, all of them wept bitter tears and felt the intense distress of losing Him. They cried from their homes or other places they hid. But Jesus said the world will rejoice.

I believe He meant it two ways. On one hand the immediate majority of people overcome by the mob mentality cheered and celebrated Jesus’ crucifixion. They didn’t think they had to deal with His rabble rousing trouble making ways anymore. But in the truest way, the world rejoiced because Jesus’ death and resurrection meant hope and salvation, it brought forgiveness and reconciliation with God. His sacrifice gave us life.

The disciples would most certainly hurt and grieve but that sorrow would absolutely turn into joy. The joy of Jesus death and resurrection is deeper, truer, and greater than any joy that exists. It is perfect and it is ours because of what Jesus did. Jesus used the analogy of childbirth to explain it. I’ve been told and I can imagine that the pain of childbirth is horrendous. But after the pain there is a new life, a child filled with potential and the love the mother has for that child turns her excruciating pain into exquisite joy.

When Jesus suffered and died on the cross, His pain was intense but He faced it with joy because He knew the purpose He served. The disciples’ misery was also intense, most of them had abandoned Jesus and they felt guilt, loss of hope, loss of a true friend, and loss of a leader. But then Jesus rose from the dead and their sorrow became joy. They knew then more clearly than ever before that Jesus was the Son of God, Messiah, and Savior. He forgave them for their desertion and betrayals. They were overjoyed. But then He ascended and gave them the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit came into them their joy was complete it was a joy that was in their very cores, they understood the beauty and mystery of the Gospel, they were able to reflect Christ, think like Him, and act like Him. And Jesus told them that joy could never be taken from them. It is was theirs forever, regardless of the suffering they experienced.

Isaiah 31:1-3 describes it like this,

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
    and the day of vengeance of our God;
    to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion--
    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.”

And Psalm 30:11-12 says,

“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
    you have loosed my sackcloth
    and clothed me with gladness,
12 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
    O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!”

The pain in life is still there. God makes good come out of it, He turns your mourning into dancing, and gives you reason to praise. That same joy is yours, Believer. No matter what you go through you have God with you. He is in you making it possible for you to go through it, learn through it, and become more like Jesus through it. He saved you and gave you the ability to pass that good testimony on to others and share His joy with a world that needs Him.

Ephesians 3 14-21

This amazing section consists of two sentences in eight verses, but they are intense. There is so much depth I imagine I could spend days or weeks on them and not extract all the treasure they hold. I encourage to read the section for yourself and see that you may mine different gold than I have. I will spend a little time on each verse today and quarry a nugget or two to encourage us through the day and give us even more reason to praise the Lord.

Verses 14-15 read,

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,”

We worship and submit to God because of the salvation He gave us and is offering to anyone who asks. He is our Father. We are named for God, Jesus. We are in His Family, adopted to be His heirs. Because we are named for Him, we represent Him and our family throughout our lives. What we do and how we react is reflected on our brothers and sisters all over the world. It is reflected on God. We are Christians, we are Children of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and we have a name in Heaven that we don’t know yet. (Revelation 2:17). Names have meaning. In the Bible, people’s names said something about them, their personality, their purpose, or their relationship with God. So our names also have meaning, the name we will receive in Heaven, the name that identifies us as Believers, and the name that denotes us as belonging to God. These names are an honor and we should reflect that honor.

Verse 16 reads,

“that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,”

God has an endless depth of triumph, brilliance, and beauty and from that glory He strengthens us through His Spirit. Whatever we go through, no matter how weak we feel, He is with us and His power gives us the strength to endure. His presence is the power that allows us to persevere and overcome every obstacle and further glorifies God. He is not glorified when we depend on our own limited strength. He is glorified when we let Him be our strength and our power. His strength is immeasurable. It never ends. It never gives in. He gives that might to us. It is God who makes us potent.

Verse 17 reads,

“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,”

Because we submitted to the Father and He gave us a new name and identity and the Spirit indwelled us with strength and faith, Christ abides in the essence of our being, our hearts. Jesus who is the personification of perfect love lives in us and gives us a new foundation. Our Cornerstone, our Rock gives us the base and substance of love. We are able to love like He loves because of His love. We can love because He loved us first.

Verses 18-19 say,

“may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

It takes that power, it requires the Spirit to even begin to grasp the vastness and completeness of Christ’s love. Because we have the Holy Spirit we can realize it, but without Him, no one can know it. And we can never completely know it in the present. So we always seek it more and first. Dioko Agape.

In seeking His perfect, abundant, and infinite love God fills us with His fullness. We are filled with His Spirit, with His glory, with His desires and joys. We share in His nature, gifts, and power. We are filled with His richness, completeness, and abundance. We are not simply given a portion or shadow but are stuffed to overflowing with the fullness of God.

Verses 20-21 read,

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

The lives we live glorify God forever and through every generation after us. His power is infinite. He can do more than we can ever dream and more than we can consider asking for. Nothing is outside the realm of possibilities with God. We don’t even know what to ask for, but God knows what is best for us and what will bring about our transformation and His glory. So He works within us and that work is huge. Look back at your salvation. Consider your transformation. Think about the miracles, provision, and protection over your life and your heart. The power that did that is incalculable. The authority and force that accomplished that is within you. God, the Holy Spirit in your spirit, God, the Son, Jesus Christ in your core has done that.

What more does He have in store for you? I encourage you to continue pursuing to know Him more, to carry on seeking to love Him more and love others with His love, and to take joy in His fullness by making use of it and glorifying God everywhere and every moment.

Read Ephesians Chapter 1 Verses 15-23

Believers, we have so much to be thankful for. Our Salvation is not fire insurance. In fact it ensures we will go through fires on this present Earth. But it also holds the promise of so much more. Paul told the faithful at Ephesus how he prayed for them and how he wanted them to know and experience what the hope of Jesus Christ entails. It encompasses more blessings than any of us can express. As difficult as the hard times get, the blessings make them easier.

Verse 17-18 reads,

“that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,”

First of all I love when God is represented triunally in a passage. Here is such a case, God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit are in one verse. Because we have Jesus Christ as our Lord we can ask for the Spirit to reveal God to us through wisdom and knowledge. We have the privilege of getting to know God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He reveals Himself to us and the more we seek and pursue Him, the more He will reveal Himself to us.

The Spirit also reveals to us the hope He gives us. Our hope is vast. It is more than Heaven. It is not about walking streets of gold and eating from an endless buffet. It is about completion, perfection, and being with God face to face and knowing Him fully, absolutely, and wholly. Our inheritance is for eternity and it is also for the here and now.

We will be perfected one day soon but we were made righteous already. Every sin was forgiven. Every transgression was wiped out. We may still sin, and we may still fight to overcome our worldliness every single day, but the fact is that our completion has already been achieved. We got credit for Jesus’ perfection already. That gives us all the more reason to continue endeavoring to know God more, to keep striving toward working toward righteousness, and to persist in our transformation through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.

Verses 19-23 read,

“and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. “

In other words, that same power that raised Christ from the dead and gave Him authority over everything is at work in you. That same capacity and force transformed you from death to life, from errant to righteous. You can’t ever make yourself good enough, but The Holy Spirit, God Himself is at work in you. In one moment He made you blameless and now He is changing you, giving you the ultimate makeover and each day He is making you more like Jesus.

The trials we experience, the suffering we face, and the pain we endure all help shape us. God is our potter, we are His vessel. We can actually take joy in the ordeals because we have God with us and in us and because we know that He is using those difficulties to sculpt and mold us for His glory. Romans 5:1-5 describes it like this,

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

So thank God through your tears. Appreciate the tribulations. Remember your hope, not just for eternity but now, right where you are. Ask God to reveal Himself to you through the pain. Take the opportunity to get to know Him deeper. Dioko Agape.