Wednesday, May 22, 2019

The Blessing of Giving

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.  Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Matthew 5:7-8

Matthew 7:2 says, “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” You have to give to receive, in order to have something put in your hand you must first remove what already exist in it… The bible says that the merciful are blessed not only because of their kind acts, but also because true mercy calls for one to be humble and solely focused upon the Lord… Mercy is withholding or forgiving someone who has wronged you and/or caused pain and strife within you… Mercy is something that we all naturally do not extend to our fellowman; when I was a little boy I was instructed that when someone hit me I should hit them back; however Jesus tells us that we must turn the other cheek… A merciful person is indeed blessed because they are walking in the will of God and therefore protected under His mighty hand… Matthew records that those who are merciful shall obtain mercy; we have all fallen short, we have all made bad choices and decisions, but as a child of God we cannot allow those things to be a stumble block which hinders our growth and future aspirations! 

We must learn from our mistakes and seek the forgiveness of God as well as our fellow man… More importantly, we must be able to extend forgiveness to one another in pure and unconditional love so that our sins and poor choices may be forgiven by our Lord and Savior! Jesus informs us in the 18th chapter of Matthew that the forgiveness of our sins are made possible by the forgiveness (mercy) that we extend to others… "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” If you want to obtain mercy from above, you must first extend mercy on earth… So many of us walk around holding grudges, we are so bitter inside that we are of no value to God… We must release the anger, resentment and malice that we have in our hearts if we want God to reside within us, transform us and use us… The bible also teaches us about forgiveness even when praying unto the Lord… We are told that we should go to our brother and clear matters up before we even go before the Lord… God sees all that happens upon this earth and we must show Him what we desire of Him by doing the things that are pleasing to His sight… You will obtain when you give; however you will see God when you are pure in heart… Matthew states that the pure in heart will see God! A pure heart isn’t a perfect heart, but it is a heart that is opened unto the Lord… When gold reaches its highest value after the impurities have been burned from it… Your pure heart is developed through the trials you face and the obstacles you overcome… A pure heart is a heart that learns from its mistakes and has a clear focus toward doing the will of the Father… As we have talked about several times before, the heart is the foundation that all things are built upon… Jesus taught His disciples that every action taken or every move someone makes comes from the heart… 

David messed up several times, he ran from God when the heat became to much, he committed adultery and killed a (n) innocent man; yet God called David a man after His own heart… This passage doesn’t say the perfect in heart, it says the pure… So many of us forget that we are not perfect, and that is not what Christ desires, He desires a sincere approach to His thrown, a humbleness in your walk, and a faith that will move mountains! David was placed on the throne because God knew what the driving force was within David’s heart… In Psalm 51 (after David has killed Uriah) he pens these words, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” God knows that we enter this world as sinners and his desire is to change the desires of our heart so that we can become pure in the divine will that He has for us… We all make mistakes, but it is the desire that we have within that God looks at… What is the intent of your move, what was the purpose for your decision, who are you trying to please... People will judge you, people will criticize your every move, but you must make sure that your heart aligns with the will of God… To be pure in heart means that you are genuine in your love for Christ and trying to walk in His will…Yes there will be stumbles along the way, you will make mistakes, but remember that your heart is what matters and your sincere approach towards God and your fellow man is what counts! Be sincere, be forgiving, be faithful, then you will be aligning yourself for Christ return!

ALL FOR HIS GLORY!

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