Tag: taught them

30.p. “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

 

Matthew 5:2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 Job 42:6  therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

 Psalms 34:18    The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

 Proverbs 16:19    It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.

 Psalms 51:17    The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

 Isaiah 66:2   All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

 Proverbs 29:23   One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.

 James 2:5   Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?

Jesus had been teaching and healing every disease and demon possession. There were multitudes following Him and he goes up onto a mountain, sits down, the disciples come, and begins to teach them. We know this first part of the teaching to be the beatitudes. Someone has said that it is more like “Be – Attitudes” the attitudes every believer should “be.” It has been said if you took all the good advice for how to live ever uttered by any philosopher or psychiatrist or counselor, took out the foolishness and boiled it all down to the real essentials, you would be left with a poor imitation of this great message by Jesus. It expresses the spiritual implications of the rule of Jesus in our lives and tells us how we will live when Jesus is our Lord. All of these character traits are marks and goals of all Christians. It is not as if we can major in one to the exclusion of others. Blessings which have its secret within itself, that joy which is serene and untouchable, and self-contained, that joy which is completely independent of all the chances and changes of life.” (Barclay)  “Note, also, with delight, that the blessing is in every case in the present tense, a happiness to be now enjoyed and delighted in. It is not ‘Blessed shall be,’ but ‘Blessed are.’” (Spurgeon)

The poor in spirit recognize that they have no spiritual “assets.” They know they are spiritually bankrupt. “Not what I have, but what I have not, is the first point of contact, between my soul and God.” The call to be poor in spirit is placed first for a reason, because it puts the following commands into perspective. They cannot be fulfilled by one’s own strength, but only by a beggar’s reliance on God’s power. No one mourns until they are poor in spirit; no one is meek towards others until he has a humble view of himself. If you don’t sense your own need and poverty, you will never hunger and thirst after righteousness; and if you have too high a view of yourself, you will find it difficult to be in need of salvation through Jesus Christ. If we were to be able to examine our souls in light of the holiness of God we would find our hearts so far removed from God that our only true response would be an attitude poor in spirit. We would see the huge difference and no possible means to gain it. We would be left void of any self-reliance and worth. All of our earthly treasures would vanish away in meaningless vapors. It is when we come to this “poor in spirit” in our lives that we begin to understand the mystery of salvation and the need for redemption. 

182. How long will you limp along?

2 Kings 17:24   And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the Lord. Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.” So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord.

But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. They also feared the Lord and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. So they feared the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.

To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the Lord, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, “You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, but you shall fear the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to do. You shall not fear other gods, and you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods, but you shall fear the Lord your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner.

So these nations feared the Lord and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children’s children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day.

1 Kings 18:21    And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.

How close do we resemble “limping along between God’s word and what the world/culture/society approves”?  A heart and mind divided on how to worship, honor, follow, obey, and trust God will take paths in life that do none of these.  To honor, serve, follow, obey and trust God requires faith, an undivided faith.  It is a faith that does not look to luck, fortune, or fate but sees all things in and through God’s hands, God’s plans, and God’s purposes. Their faith is built on and continues to grow through their time in His word with seeking and desiring heart to know more and more of His holiness, grace, and mercy.

I fear we limp along in our walk with God because we share our time, thoughts, and actions with Him and what the world has to offer, committing to the one deemed most important at the time.  We can not have it both ways.  We either serve God with our whole heart, mind, and soul or we don’t.  There is no half or partial way that is recognized by God as sufficient.

Who am I to Judge

“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”

““Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;”

“Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”

John 8:2  Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst  they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.  Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”  This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.  And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”  And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.  Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”  She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

Isaiah 1:16    Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil,  learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.  “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

Ezekiel 18:30    “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin.  Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel?  For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.”

It is easy to judge others isn’t it?  We see the outward sins of others and make judgement.  Yet we to often look on the outside and make these judgements forgetting it is what is in the heart, mind and soul (the unseen) condemns or frees a person.  Scripture is clear in stating that only God knows the heart, mind, soul and intent of man and is the One who judges in truth and righteousness.