Morning At Last

I’m still chewing on the Beatitudes.  Before I started studying them, I viewed them as something that some of us would partake of when we finally got to Heaven.  You know, if you were particularly merciful, there would be some kind of reward when you finally stood before God’s throne.  I now realize that they are character traits of those who are fully matured sons in the Kingdom of God.

This morning I got to thinking that if the Beatitudes are character traits of members of the Kingdom of Heaven, shouldn’t there be some kind of correlation between them and the Fruit of the Spirit?   The more I thought about it, the more I am convinced of it.  After all, it is the Spirit working in us that causes us to grow up into the image of God that He fashioned us to be.  How could they not correlate?

Mat 5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit! For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. (Love)

Unless you have experienced the Love of God, you remain full of yourself. If you catch a glimpse of the kind of love Jesus has that caused Him to die for the whole world even when it hated Him, you can begin to die to self.   Joh 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Mat 5:4  Blessed are they that mourn! For they shall be comforted. (Joy)

I can’t imagine anything more comforting than to know that death isn’t the end of life and that you will see your loved ones again.  It gets even better when you realize that when Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, He didn’t leave anyone out.  I don’t know how we ever got the idea that Adam could sin better than Jesus could make atonement for it.  When did Adam get bigger than Jesus?  I know our churches don’t actually say that but isn’t that the end result of most of the hell teaching you hear?  Adam sinned so we are all born in sin.  Actually, the Bible doesn’t teach that we are all born in sin but rather that we are born in mortality.  We bear the penalty of Adam’s sin which is death.  Did you have any choice in the matter? Neither did I.  Why then do we think that through Adam all sinned but Jesus work will only apply to a select few that are lucky enough to be picked by the Father?  We call that Good News?

1Jo 2:1  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
1Jo 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Rom 5:17  For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Rom 5:18  Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

Mat 5:5  Blessed are the meek! For they shall inherit the earth. (Meekness)

I covered meekness in the blog post so I won’t go into it again here.  I will however point out that it is a fruit of the Spirit that grows as you submit your life to Him.

Mat 5:6  Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness! For they shall be filled. (Faith)

Psa 17:15  As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

1Jo 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

Can you feel the hunger rising in you to be like Jesus?  It’s not about doing what He did.  It’s not about the miracles.  It’s about knowing Father God like He did.  It’s about having access to heavenly places and walking as he walked.  We can’t do that and stay as we are.  As we yield ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit in us, He is preparing a people that He can dwell in.  Since He is doing the work, go ahead and get hungry because you will be filled.

Mat 5:7  Blessed are the merciful! For they shall obtain mercy. (Kindness)

I’ve recently spent some time in a forum where people are coming together to discuss what God is doing today.  It amazes me when some of these people are so judgmental against those who don’t see things as they do.  Phi 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Unless God gives us eyes to see and ears to hear what the Spirit is saying, none of us would change.  We have got to be Thankful to God and merciful to our brothers.

Speaking of Mercy…

Psa 89:14  Justice and righteousness are Your throne’s foundation; mercy and truth go before Your face.

Isa 16:5  And in mercy the throne shall be founded; and he shall sit on it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking justice, and swift in righteousness.

I have always heard it taught that God’s judgment is tempered by mercy.  I recently read a post where someone made the statement that God’s judgments are His mercy.  That brings a little different slant to it.  At first I thought HUH?  After I thought about it for a while, I could see what they were saying.  We have always been taught the condemnation side of judgment but if you believe that God is in control of this mess we call life, and if He really does have a plan that doesn’t violate His Word and brings everyone before His throne, then His judgments are merciful.  They stop the transgressor from continuing his evil ways and bring him to repentance where he can learn God’s ways.  Only God can change men’t hearts in such a way.  We really do serve a big God.

Mat 5:8  Blessed are the pure in heart! For they shall see God. (Goodness)

Psa 24:3  Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
Psa 24:4  He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

Again, our hearts can only be pure because of the work of the Holy Spirit in us.  None of us have the power to tame our tongue much less out heart.  The farther we go in God, the more we realize how much we need Him.  He does the work in us

Tit 3:3  For we also once were senseless, disobedient, being led astray, slaving for various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.
Tit 3:4  But when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
Tit 3:5  not by works in righteousness which we had done, but according to His mercy, He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
Tit 3:6  whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior;

Mat 5:9  Blessed are the peacemakers! For they shall be called the sons of God. (Peace)

This world is in dire need of peacemakers.  Unfortunately, most of the divisive factions believe they are right and it’s the other guy that has to change.  Once in a while a “Ghandi” stands out and we proclaim them as peacemakers but there is always another faction that will rise up and destroy it.

True lasting peace will only be accomplished when the Kingdom of God becomes the acknowledged ruling system of the Earth.  Therefore, those who walk as Sons of God in the Earth, will be peacemakers for they will carry out the expansion of His Kingdom in this material realm.

Mat 5:10  Blessed are they who have been persecuted for righteousness sake! For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. (Long Suffering) Is anyone as long suffering as those who are crying out to God while they are being persecuted.  Even if you internalize this scripture and see it as dying to self so that the spirit can control your life, it’s a long process and like Jesus, you learn patience through the things you suffer.

It’s not my intention to draw this out further.  Obviously it could become an extensive study and I have other things to dig through.  I just hope my readers find something in all of this that makes them take a serious look at their own life and how much they are yielding to the Lord.  It does make a difference.

Some of my other Posts relating to this topic:

The Beatitudes Part 1

Changing Direction