“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)
There are only a few people who are not hungry: the dead, the sick, and those who just ate. When we are hungry, we look for ways to quench our hunger and thirst. Hunger is a sign that we need something. When we feel hungry or thirsty our bodies are signaling to us that it needs nourishment. Here hunger is not from food for our physical bodies but, a hunger for something else. Some people are hungry for respect, love, power, or even money. This is not the hunger that satisfies people but, instead it leaves people craving for more. This hunger pertains to our spiritual health a hunger for righteousness is a hunger for something deeper than the world cannot offer. A hunger for righteousness comes from knowing God. By knowing God, we know what he desires and what he dislikes we can look around at the world at all the injustice and develop a deep craving to do the next right thing. It does not involve just wishing that everything would be made right. This involves a deep soul-searching and understanding of seeing what is going wrong in the world from taking care of the environment, fair treatment of individuals, and education. By knowing God, we recognize our need for God’s grace and strive to live a life in a worthy manner. There are practical steps that we can take by doing the next right thing we can recycle, treat people fairly, volunteer, donate, and even raise awareness. There will be a day when our hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied. The world can feel overwhelming at times with all the injustices, evil, and pain don’t lose hope for one day there will be no more injustices. Heavenly Father, the world seems overwhelming with all the injustices that are happening help us to do the next right thing to help take care of our neighbors, friends, and those we care about. Walking with you, Stacy Watkins
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“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)
There is a great line in the Avengers when Bruce Banner reveals his ability to turn into the Hulk whenever he chooses by stating “That’s my secret, Captain; I’m always angry.” His secret is being able to keep strength under control, instead of having spikes of angry outbursts at random he learned to keep his anger at a certain point that he was in control. He took a powerful personality and properly controlled it and no longer let it control him. It is okay to be angry over things that happen. It is how we respond within our anger which is more important. Those who are meek do not seek malice or vengeance for the wrong that was done to them, nor does it mean that they just lay low and let others just walk all over them. Many have taken the word meek to be those who are weak and simply passive who are easily pushed around. This is not the case the meek are those who have been disciplined enough to be able to restrain their anger in obedience to God. They are people who can be angry and not do wrong to others or their selves nor be easily provoked by others. It can take a lot of practice not to be provoked by others over simple little things. Through prayer and guidance from the Holy Spirit we can become gentler in our spirit. We become meek when we are confident that God watches over us. Our behavior changes and we become gentle, humble, and mild in temperament. We can look to Jesus as our example as being meek for, he is gentle and humble in heart. He is not weak but kept his strength under control for he knew his identity as being the son of God. Heavenly Father, help us to become meek like your son Jesus may you help my spirit to become gentle, temper mild, and humble. Walking with you, Stacy Watkins “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.” (Matthew 5:4)
Each of us has had to mourn in our life. Whether it was over a loss of a job, dream, relationship, abuse, or even divorce we still know the pain and hurt of the situation that we had to grieve over. Many people when a friend is crying often, feel overwhelmed and tell them “Do not cry,” however, there is nothing wrong with crying over a loss and having to let go of something that they held dear to them. We tell people not to cry but, God made us with the capacity to cry and shed tears over the things that we hold dear to us. One major thing that we must grieve over is our own heart and wicked nature. Mourning in this instance here relates to inner spiritual grieving of a broken and contrite heart. When we grieve over the sorrowful state of our own evil heart we then can be comforted by the mercy and saving grace from God. When we come to realize our own brokenness and can grieve it then we can allow God to work within us. We must be vulnerable and allow God into the dark parts of our souls and work within us. True repentance and confession include an element of grief. Although we can rejoice in the promise of God’s forgiveness, we must mourn that we have done evil acts that God is not proud of. Repentance is possible when we come to mourn over our own wicked behavior. We may struggle our entire lives with a particular wicked behavior, addiction, or language but when we want to truly overcome an addiction, we must hate it in our souls. We must mourn the harm that it caused ourselves and others. Those who grieve will be comforted. God comforts his children when they turn their hearts back to him. Heavenly Father, may we recognize our own brokenness and learn to grieve the pain and hurt that you have felt when I turn away from you. Lord, may I turn my eyes to you and seek your comforting embrace. Praying for you, Stacy Watkins “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” (Matthew 5:3)
There is a verse in the song We Believe in God by Amy Grant that recognizes we all need someone else’s help because life is hard “We believe in God, and we all need Jesus cause life is hard.” When my cousin was around three, she would go around singing this song but instead say “we all need Mommy cause life is hard.” Life for three-year-olds can be difficult with people making them take a nap and playing with stuffed animals all the time. However, she recognized that there were things that she could not do for herself, and she needed help. She needed someone she could depend on to help her in her time of need. Generally, when we think of people who are blessed in their lives our minds think of the wealthy, those with good careers, and close family relationships. However, Jesus does not say these people are blessed, but those who are poor in spirit. Jesus states, that the poor in spirit inherit the kingdom of heaven. Here he is not looking at the person’s financial status but, the depth of their spirituality is broken, bankrupt, and apart from Christ. The poor in spirit recognize that they are incapable of providing by their own strength, goodness, or even righteousness they need someone else to help them along. We must realize our own spiritual emptiness and humbly approach God about our wrong doings in life and where we need help whether it is with addiction, loneliness, or even controlling our temper. The Message Bible translates the verse as “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more God and his rule.” When we exhaust all our resources and see no possible solution, we become blessed since we lean onto the one who made everything. When we get out of our own way from being prideful and recognize that we need help we allow for God to work within us. Heavenly Father, Lord, give us a heart that is humble in spirit and not dependent on my own merit. Walking with you Stacy Watkins |
AuthorPastor Matt Huff leads Portland Central Nazarene Church. He loves being in ministry and seeing lives transformed by the power of Christ. Archives
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