Category: Weekly Word of Encouragement

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (Matt. 5:7 ESV). God promises to bless us and have mercy on us if we are merciful to others. Jesus told a parable about an unforgiving servant who had a debtor thrown in jail even though he himself had been a debtor to a king who forgave his debts. The king heard about it and told the unforgiving servant “Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?” (Matt. 18:33 NLT). It isn’t always easy to have mercy on those who offend us. Sometimes they do not even appreciate our mercy when we give it to them. Yet, whether they respond or not, God wants us to have mercy on others (in other words, forgive them, release them) because he had mercy on us. By definition, mercy is not earned it is just given when Continue Reading →

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” Matt. 5:6 (ESV). God is pleased when we hunger and thirst for righteousness. This isn’t just judicial righteousness that we receive when we first believe; it is also lived righteousness, that is, living a godly life, a life that is truly good. And this is something that Jesus wants us to passionately pursue, that we would actually be hungry to be good. Our throats would be parched and dry because we do not have the full spring of God’s righteousness. This means that we zealously pursue honesty in all we say and do. It means we love holiness and seek to be pure in every area of our lives, including what we watch. It means we crucify pride, embrace humility and plead with God to expose our pride. This is what it means to thirst for Continue Reading →

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Mt. 5:3 (ESV) This is the first of the famous beatitudes which are the beginning of the famous Sermon on the Mount which is considered the core of Christian living taught by Jesus. The poor in spirit are those who recognize that they are spiritually destitute on their own,. Since this sermon is spoken to Jesus’ disciples (Mt. 5:1), Jesus is implying that when we recognize we are not self-sufficient, come to him and follow him, then the kingdom of heaven belongs to us! Even though we are spiritually rich (Eph. 1:3) our posture before God should be one of humility, like one in poverty depending on the generosity of another. This is a matter of our interior life, not our external actions, although later in the Sermon, Jesus makes it clear that without external actions, we Continue Reading →

“I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” Acts 20:32 (ESV). This quote is from Paul’s speech to the elders of the Ephesian church, and he emphasizes how important the “word of his grace” is for our spiritual growth. If we devote ourselves honestly and wholly to God’s words, absorbing Scripture, then his words will definitely build us up. This means meditating on them; chewing them until they because part of us. Then, we will be assured of gaining an inheritance with the rest of the saints of God, which reminds us of Jesus words to “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Mt. 6:20).  Below is an effective pattern for absorbing Scripture (meditation): Activational Scripture Reading. Use the four headings to remind yourself to practice absorbing Continue Reading →

“The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne” Rev. 3:21 (ESV). God wants us to “conquer” this life by overcoming the sin in ourselves and living a Christformed life. This includes being faithful in the midst of trials and suffering. No matter what happens “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37). In the end we will reign with Jesus. If we will persevere and be faithful to the end, then we will actually have the privilege of sitting with Jesus on his throne. This means that we will reign with Jesus! This seems too good to be true but it is an important biblical theme; God promises a reign of the saints in Rev. 2:26-28 and we see it fulfilled in Rev. 22:5. Jesus reigns Continue Reading →