Category: Weekly Word of Encouragement

“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 actual be hungry to be good. That our throats would be parched and dry because we do not have the water of God’s righteousness. And the encouragement is that if we adopt that passion then God will satisfy us, He will wine and dine us with his goodness so that we do live righteous lives. Jesus said ““If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37 ESV). He will do this both in this age and in Continue Reading →

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Mt. 5:5 ESV). A meek person is someone who is gentle and not argumentative or aggressive. When Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey he described his coming by saying “your king is coming to you, [meek} and mounted on a donkey” (Mt. 21:5 ESV). The irony is that the one is not warlike is the one who will inherit leadership over the earth. In other words, ultimate political victory will not come by the strategies that humans usually use. Rather, God will bring a time when his followers, the ones who do not conquer their home or town or the world by force, will be the ones who will be in control of the world and those who are not meek will be absent. This is a tremendous promise for us when we choose to be meek instead of adversarial Continue Reading →

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” Matt. 5:4 (ESV). This is the second beatitude from the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus continues his technique of reversing the natural order. He promises his followers that the ones who mourn will not be remain empty from their loss. Instead, the ones who mourn will be blessed by God because He will comfort them. We all have times of mourning, whether it is a loss of a friend, a loss of opportunity, a loss of health, or a loss of something else important to us. In such times it is healthy to mourn. Remember that Jesus did not say his disciples shouldn’t mourn. Sometimes teachers give the impression that we should always be joyful and thanking God without times of mourning. But this is not biblical. Romans 12:15 teaches us to “mourn with those who mourn” (NIV). So not 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 is 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 that we are not self-sufficient and come to Jesus and follow him then the kingdom of heaven belongs to us! This is a matter of our interior life not our external actions, although later in the Sermon Jesus makes is clear that without external actions we are not his disciples. But the encouragement is that it is good to find ourselves in spiritual poverty and then come to Jesus that way, 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 which we have in Scripture then his words will definitely build us up. Even more we will gain 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 God’s words: Activational Scripture Reading. Read a passage of scripture, for example the verse in this post. What is this passage saying? Take at least 2 minutes Continue Reading →