January Matthew 5:1
January 1 On the Mountain
Matthew. 5:1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.
Jesus wants to show us how to live happy lives. That is why He came to us.
His disciples and other people come to listen to His words and to see how He lives a life of peace and happiness. They are students who come to learn. Today, we are also students come to learn.
Jesus sits on the top of a big hill. The people standing below can see and hear Him well. They know He has something for them, something that will make their lives better.
Like those people so long ago who came to listen to Jesus, we also will hear His words and know the things in life that lead to us being happy or, in the word that Jesus uses, leads us to know that we are blessed.
How does it feel to have Jesus tell you about how to live a blessed life?
**
Jesus has been teaching, preaching, and healing in Galilee for a while now. He does not yet have all twelve of the disciples, but He is gathering disciples and followers as He moves through the countryside.
He goes upon a mountain to speak to the people. His words are about how to live the life that God intended for us from Creation.
This scene is reminiscent of God giving the Law to Moses on the mountain in the Sinai Desert. Here on this mountain, Jesus is describing life in the kingdom of heaven, beginning with the Beatitudes, the character of the citizen of the kingdom of heaven.
His actions are a living parable of life in the kingdom of heaven. His words describe His character, the character of the citizen of the Kingdom of heaven, and His actions provide a pattern for our lives.
January 2 Blessed
Matthew 5:2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus uses the word blessed a lot. We ought to understand what Jesus meant when He said someone is blessed.
Blessed means happy, or fortunate, or having what we need.
We are blessed because we receive God’s favor, receive His love and attention. To know the truth about God’s love for us is a blessing, because we know we have received His greatest gift.
Jesus says that those who know they are “poor in spirit” are blessed. They recognize that they have very little of the Spirit within them, and they want the Holy Spirit to guide them even more.
When we want more of God’s Spirit within us, we will be blessed with more Spirit.
We cannot keep bad things from happening in the world. The Holy Spirit does not change what happens. His job is to be with us, to guide us through the difficult times in the best way.
Even in difficult times the Holy Spirit can help us to realize that we are blessed with God’s love in the many good people and things around us.
Have you ever felt you it would be nice to have someone show you the way to be happy?
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Strong’s Concordance shows the Hebrew word translated as “bless” (H1288) as being from the word meaning “to kneel.” In addition to bless, the word means to “congratulate,…, praise, salute, thank.” In other words, we have been given things worthy of praising Him, kneeling before Him, thanking Him.
Christ is the example of the servant king.
He kneels in front of us to come down to our level. He encourages us to kneel with Him to raise us up to His level.
The blessing comes from rising to His expectations while in the posture of submission to God’s intentions for us.
January 3 The Poor in Spirit
Matthew 5:2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Remember the story of Creation, that God breathed life into Adam? The breath that Adam received from God is what we call Spirit.
This Spirit, or spiritual life, gave Adam everything he needed to live the life that God had in mind for him and all people.
The Garden of Eden was a part of heaven here on earth. Eden was a place to be happy in God’s love for us, and our love for Him.
But Adam and Eve did not continue to listen to the Holy Spirit. They thought they could be even happier by disobeying God. They ate the forbidden fruit.
When they disobeyed God, they found they were no longer happy, no longer did they feel blessed.
They did not recognize they were poor in God’s Spirit until the Garden was gone. The Garden of Eden disappeared because they let their human spirit replace God’s Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is always in us in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus reminds us of how we can live in the kingdom of heaven again today with the Holy Spirit in us.
What sounds good to you about living in the kingdom of heaven?
**
People have been trying to make their own happiness, their own blessedness, from the human spirit ever since the Garden. With God’s Spirit missing, all of our efforts have failed.
In the days of Jesus, Rome ruled Israel with high taxation and a strong military force.
The Pharisees ruled the religion of Israel with high religious taxes – tithe, plus alms for the poor, plus a poll tax (Matt. 17:24-27), plus high prices for acceptable sacrifices, and more. Many unnecessary laws regulating life in order to earn the kingdom of heaven (legalism) made life burdensome.
The point is that happiness is not something we associate with the circumstances of Israel in Jesus’ time period.
Jesus shows us through His ministry how to be happy and blessed, even in hard times. When we do not realize that we are poor in Spirit, we do not realize why we do not feel blessed.
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January 4 Knowing We Have the Holy Spirit
Matthew 5:2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
How do we know if we have the Holy Spirit?
First, we know we always have the Holy Spirit near us. We only have to listen for His voice.
Second, no one can see the Holy Spirit. There is no sign, “Holy Spirit at work here!” Other people only know when we are letting the Holy Spirit guide us when they see the fruit, the results, of the Holy Spirit’s work.
But what does the result of the Holy Spirit working inside us look like?
Galatians 5:22-3 (BBE) tells us, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, a quiet mind, kind acts, well-doing, faith, gentle behavior, control over desires.”
These are all things on the inside of us, but other people can see them from the outside.
How does it feel having this fruit of the Spirit?
**
The Pharisees worked hard at letting people know that they had God’s Spirit, but all they could show was the work of the human spirit.
This often is still true today, among Christians as well as agnostics and atheists.
Until the work of the Holy Spirit replaces our man-made spirit, we will fall far short of the abundant harvest produced by the Holy Spirit.
January 5 The Spirit of Love
Matthew 5:2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
All people have been given the Spirit from God. Some of us do not know how to listen to the Spirit that is from God. This is sometimes thought to be a hard thing to do.
When we are poor in Spirit like Jesus says, we are not listening to God speak through the Spirit to show us what is right and what is wrong.
We know to do good things for other people and to love them, but we sometimes forget. We decide to do what we think rather than what the Spirit tells us.
When we hurt someone or take something that does not belong to us, we are not being the person God wants us to be.
Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit want us to love one another as They love us. That is why the Holy Spirit is always here.
You are always loved, no matter what happens. How do you feel knowing of this love?
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Paul reminds us in 1 Cor. 11:31, For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
We have the ability to correct our course, align it with the Spirit. To make the correction, we must examine ourselves and see if we are following the Spirit.
Haggai 1:5 speaks to this:
Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways!
6 “You have sown much, and bring in little;
You eat, but do not have enough;
You drink, but you are not filled with drink;
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
And he who earns wages,
Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”
When we are not living in the Spirit but are in the flesh, no amount of “things” will satisfy our need.
January 6 The Kingdom of Heaven
Matthew 5:2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, (who confess their spiritual bankruptcy and their need for redemption)
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Some people believe that the kingdom of heaven is only a place that our spirit goes after we die. This heaven is a safe place where everyone is in God’s presence.
Jesus taught that the kingdom of heaven is open to us here and now. All we have to do is to choose to be in His kingdom by allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us.
When we look around us as a person on this earth, it may not look like we are in God’s kingdom of heaven.
But when we look around us as a person in the kingdom of heaven with the Holy Spirit working within us, we see that we are in God’s kingdom. Having the fruit of the Spirit – including love, joy, and peace – is evidence of the presence of the kingdom.
We know that God and the Holy Spirit are here. And we know that Jesus showed us how to live here in the kingdom of heaven with the fruit of the Holy Spirit within us.
Would you please draw a picture of what the kingdom of heaven looks like?
**
As we have grown older, probably we have seen the world looks less and less like we imagine the kingdom of heaven to look.
We must remember that God’s kingdom is a place of freedom. People can choose how to act, what they will do, and whose they will be. They may be like the prodigal son and choose not to be a son or daughter of God.
God could have chosen to make obedient machines, or to merely make another animal with our physiology.
But He chose to make us free to choose our identity, our character. We are allowed to choose to be His…or not.
January 7 Mourning
Matt. 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.”
To mourn is to feel great sadness or sorrow over the loss of something precious to you.
When someone dies, those who knew and loved the person mourn. They are sad and sorrowful, and show their grief.
We also can mourn the loss of a friend, like when they move away.
But Jesus says that they who mourn are blessed. Let’s figure out how someone can lose someone important to them but still be blessed.
Remember how we have been talking about the poor in Spirit being blessed?
Those who are poor in Spirit realize they have turned away from the Spirit. They mourn that they no longer feel close to the Holy Spirit.
They have a feeling of having lost a friendship, and they are sad.
Remember that God loves us all of the time, even if we move away from Him.
Do you still love someone even if they move away out of your sight?
**
There are many reasons why we might mourn in this world. All things are subject to change, to loss.
We mourn the loss of a loved one or a friend, the loss of employment, the loss of a sense of purpose.
Perhaps not ALL things are subject to change….God and His character are unchangeable. There is this one constant truth upon which all else is anchored.
We mourn when we realize that we have lost connection with the touchstone of existence. All of our man-centered improvements on Creation come at a cost, and we realize that the debt must be paid.
There is a peaceful reassurance in a heavenly Father. We mourn His seeming absence.
January 8 God with Us
Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn,”
(Who weep because they have turned away from their Creator)
“For they shall be comforted.”
If God never leaves us and He always loves us, how can it be that He does not seem to be there?
We cannot see God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit with our eyes. We cannot touch them with our hands. We can forget they are there when we only pay attention to ourselves and what we see and touch around us.
God is always above us, and Jesus is always beside us, and the Holy Spirit is always in us. They will not leave us lonely for them.
That was Jesus’ promise when He was telling the disciples that He must go away. His promise is still there, to always be with us in Spirit.
Do you have to see something to believe it is real? What about love, and friendship, and goodness?
**
Any separation between ourselves and God comes from us leaving Him. He will follow, but it is hard to be aware of Him when my back is turned to Him.
Zechariah 1:3 and Malachi 3:7 both quote God as saying, “Return to Me and I will return to you.” There is no other stipulation than for us to re-turn to Him.
The distance to Him is the distance of an about-face, a turning away from our direction and turning toward His direction.
There is no distance for God to travel to return to us.
January 9 Comforted
Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn,”
(Who weep because they have turned away from their Creator)
“For they shall be comforted.”
Jesus promised that when He left His followers, He would send them the Holy Spirit. Jesus called the Holy Spirit by other names. He called the Holy Spirit the Comforter, and also called Him the Helper.
Jesus’ followers felt a great loss when Jesus left them. Although Jesus was gone, the Holy Spirit was there to give them comfort, assurance that the He would help them to spread the Good News about Jesus and God.
This is the blessing for those who mourn leaving God. The good gift, the blessing given to Jesus’ followers and to all of the people of the world when Jesus left, is the Holy Spirit.
We might picture a gift as a package in nice wrapping with something that we want inside.
The Holy Spirit working within you is a gift to you and a gift to others who see the fruit of the Spirit come from inside you.
What is it that comforts you about having the blessing of the Holy Spirit within you?
**
There may seem to be some irony in the fact that the One who we have rejected is the One who offers us comfort.
This is the father of the prodigal son welcoming home his son after the son has come to his senses (Luke 15:11-32).
That the falsely accused gives a party for the repentant accuser is not irony. It is love.
We see the character of the citizen of the kingdom of heaven being re-formed in the image of God’s character, as intended from the Beginning.
There is difficulty in the process, but there is comfort in the end.
January 10 The Meek
Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.”
What does it mean to be meek? Some translations use the words humble, or gentle, or without pride.
Maybe the best way to understand meek in this verse is to say that we recognize God’s authority over us, that He knows what is best for us, and we allow Him to lead us.
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden thought that they knew better what to do than God did. When they disobeyed, they realized that God had been right. Their pride left them and they became meek, obedient to God again.
Sometimes what God wants us to do is not what we want to do.
Perhaps we do not want to share a toy or to help someone who needs help. The Spirit in us may encourage us to share or to help.
When we listen to the Holy Spirit who brings love, joy, and peace, and do what He says, we are being meek, obedient to God’s leading.
Have you had an experience when the Holy Spirit was telling you to share what you have or to help someone to feel better?
**
The words meek, humble, and gentle are often looked upon as not being complimentary. Our culture – like most others – values the ability to control others more than the ability to control self.
Physical (or emotional) force is often used in the secular world to make others do things against their will. This force is often confused with power, the ability to motivate others to accomplish goals willingly of their own accord.
God allows our actions to have their inevitable consequences, for good or for bad. He then offers submission to His authority as the more excellent way to peace, joy, and love.
January 11 Inheritance
Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.”
The word inherit means to receive something because you are a child of the person who owned it.
You may have the eye color and hair color of your mother or father (or maybe a grandparent!). You inherited this because you are their child. You did not have to earn it or even ask for it.
God created Adam and Eve. He was their Father, and He is our Father. We all can trace our parents’ parents and their parents all the way back to Adam and Eve. This is how we can say that God is our Father.
Jesus talked a lot about our Father in heaven and how He loves each of His children. There is never a child that the Father does not love.
We are meek, that is, obedient and respectful of our earthly parents, our mother and our father. We are also meek, obedient and respectful, to our heavenly Father.
What does it feel like to have parents AND a heavenly Father who love you?
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We all have “work” to do: labor that gives us what we need to live and provides purpose for ourselves. We often confuse labor and inheritance when we speak of spiritual matters.
As children of God, we have an inheritance passed through the generations to us. We each receive it regardless of who has been in our genealogy since the beginning of time.
There is nothing one must DO to inherit. Inheritance is automatic.
We see this error in understanding in Mark 10:17-22, the story of the rich young ruler who asks Jesus, “What shall I DO that I may INHERIT eternal life?”
Jesus wants the man to enter the kingdom of heaven now. Jesus asks the man to give up his wealth, but that is too much and the man walks away. He makes a choice.
January 12 The Earth
Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek,
(who say “Not my will be done, but yours, Oh, Lord”
For they shall inherit the earth.”
To inherit the earth sounds like a very large responsibility! How can we do it?
God told Adam and Eve and their descendants through the centuries to tend and keep the world given to them. They were to help all of the plants and animals to be the best that they could be.
When they left the Garden, the job of caring for the plants and animals did not stop. The whole world was their new garden, and it needed a lot of work!
To tend and keep a place as large as the earth with so many plants and animals would mean following God’s directions as more and more people were born.
As we follow God’s instructions for our lives, He guides us in helping each other to tend and keep our inheritance, the earth.
Do you have some ways that you know to take care of the plants and animals of the earth?
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The words “tend and keep” also can be translated as “serve and protect.”
As stewards of the world that God has created, these words will give us a better understanding of our relationship with the natural world we inhabit.
We also remember that we were formed from the earth. God molded us from the earth and breathed the spirit of life into us.
When we “inherit the earth,” we also understand that the solid piece of earth that is our physical body is the inheritance from our Father.
When we put this body back under His dominion with ourselves as its caretaker under His guidance, we return as prodigal sons and daughters to our rightful position as His children.
January 13 Hunger and Thirst
Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.”
Have there been times when you felt hungry or thirsty? You were ready to eat a meal or to drink some water weren’t you?
Food and water are necessary for us to live. We also need air, and sleep, and exercise, and loving people. We can be hungry and thirsty for those things, too.
In this verse, Jesus says we can be hungry and thirsty for something else that isn’t food or drink. We can be hungry and thirsty to have the character that God gave to us in the Beginning.
What is this character that God gave us as a part of our identity?
Many answers have been given to this question, but the one answer to this question is whether we are filled inside with love for God and other people like God loves us.
When we know we are loved, we see how to love others. The more we love others, the more we can see the good things that come from love.
What good things do you see that come from one person loving another person?
**
So far, the Beatitudes have returned us to a foundation, relationship with God. We return to the person He created in the Beginning.
The image in which we were created is His character.
Having recognized our poverty of Spirit, we have a void where our man-centered spirit once resided. Our earthly vessel has a gnawing need to be filled with its intended cargo.
We desire the character of love.
This is the key to restoration in the kingdom of heaven, the earthly Eden that had been our intended home.
Love is the framework that supports the physical piece of earth that we call self.
January 14 Righteousness
Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,”
(Who desire to possess the character of God)
“For they shall be filled.”
Righteousness is a big word used often in the Bible, so we must understand what it means.
Righteousness is the character of God.
We need to remember that character is inside of us, like the Holy Spirit. When we have the Holy Spirit within us, people will see the fruit of the Holy Spirit on the outside.
When we do not have the Holy Spirit within us, we may try to act like we have the Spirit. What we do may look righteous, like the fruit of the Spirit at first, but our real character, what guides us on the inside that is not the Holy Spirit, will show itself.
We hunger and thirst for the character of God, for righteousness, so that what we do and say will show our love for other people.
When we do not have this love on the inside, the love that we try to show on the outside will not look like real love for very long.
What does it feel like on the inside when you truly love someone?
**
Perhaps it is like looking backwards through a fog at earlier American history when we see that the character of men and women was highly rated.
More recent history, perhaps the last hundred years or so, there appears to be more emphasis on personality.
“Great” things may be accomplished by both types of people, those with character and those with a “persona” (mask). The enduring values of their accomplishments may prove deeper and more positive for the world for people of character than the works of people of personality.
Each person chooses their character and is filled with their choice.
Our inner character creates our outer self. Our outer self can never create our inner character.
January 15 Mercy
Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.”
The word mercy is in the Bible a lot. God’s law of love is often hard to keep. We make mistakes that show we are not obeying the law of love.
When people break a law, like a law against speeding or stealing, the person who breaks the law is brought before a judge. A speeding offense might require paying a fine. Stealing might require going to jail for a while.
When we break God’s law, He is the judge. Because He loves us, He shows mercy and does not give punishment. He reminds us to be His good child.
But God does not protect us from the effects the sin causes. We may have an accident while speeding, or lose friends because we were stealing. The more we break the law, the less comfortable people will feel when they are near us. And we feel less good about ourselves.
Disobedience has its own consequences.
God and people like our parents still love us when we make a wrong decision. We are to continue to love others who make a wrong decision. We help them to have God’s character, and when we do wrong, they have mercy and continue to love us and to help us, too.
Like love, we give mercy and it comes back to us from God and other people.
Will you please draw a picture of someone showing mercy?
**
As with love, understanding God’s mercy given to us is vital to be able to extend mercy to others.
Mercy is itself an act of love. When we withhold mercy, we withhold love. When we withhold love, we fall from the likeness of God, His character. This fall, like the first Fall, creates a darker world for us. The kingdom of heaven at hand disappears like Eden.
Let us look more deeply into mercy.
January 16 Being Merciful
Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful,”
(Who know we are to be conduits of mercy to others)
“For they shall obtain mercy.”
We learned earlier about the righteousness of God, that love is part of His character. It is His nature to love.
Mercy given to someone is a part of loving them. We understand they have made a mistake and, even if they do not realize it, they would be happier if they made the right choice.
When someone loves you, isn’t it easy to love them back When they have patience and explain things to you, isn’t it easy to love them back?
Sometimes, we make wrong choices, like taking a toy from someone else, or saying something unkind to someone or about someone.
Would we like for other people to take away our things or say bad things to us or about us?
No, of course we wouldn’t.
We are kind to others, we love and show them mercy.
Most often, they will return the love and mercy.
How do you feel when people show love and mercy to you?
**
The times when mercy must be withheld for the protection of the society are more difficult instances. As with loving our neighbor, let us learn to forgive the small things first. There will be time to learn the mercy of God’s character on the hardest questions as we grow in His character.
We begin as acorns in faith and love and mercy. Coming into greater oneness with God requires the patience of the oak. Then we become steadfast in His love and our loving, His mercy and our mercy.
January 17 Pure in Heart
Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.”
To be pure in heart is to love God and people.
To love God is to want to please Him. He is our Father. He wants us to be joyful, so He has told us how to have love, peace, mercy, and the other fruit of the Spirit.
As we share the fruit of the Spirit with others, they can become joyful, also.
We do not want our hearts to hold onto hate, anger, unforgiveness, or the other emotions that keep us from being happy. These uncomfortable feelings steal our joy, and they can steal other people’s joy, also.
The pure in heart realize when they have these bad feelings and ask themselves what has caused the feeling. When we see the cause of the bad feeling, we look at the cause through the eyes of the Holy Spirit and can see it in a new way.
We are blessed, happy, when we feel the fruit of the Spirit guiding us through our day.
How does the Spirit guide you?
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The fruit of the flesh – hate, anger, envy, etc. (Gal. 5:19-21) – pull us down. They are like weights holding us earthbound rather than in the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus wants to correct a major misconception with a new understanding: circumstances are not to change our character. Circumstances need not control our feelings of happiness, of blessedness. Being happy and blessed result from internal conditions rather than external conditions, as Jesus demonstrated to us.
When the other person is acting from his own incorrect teaching, we demonstrate a better way.
When the other person has a vested interest in not acknowledging the truth, we call out the source of conflict, expose it to light.`
Some will refuse to see the light. Shaking the dust from our sandals and letting the Spirit guide us restores us to being pure in heart.
January 18 Seeing God
Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart,”
Whose focus is not on self)
“For they shall see God.”
How can we see God? We talked before about not being able to see God or to see the Holy Spirit, but people did see Jesus.
People saw the goodness of Jesus. They saw Him heal people and teach them about God’s love. They saw the fruit of the Spirit come from Him
The fruit of the Spirit, the things that Jesus said and did, made people’s lives better. The people saw God using the Holy Spirit to work through Jesus.
Seeing the fruit of the Spirit is seeing God at work in people.
Have you see the fruit of the Spirit in people? Was it their love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, or gentleness that you saw?
**
So often, we are what we see.
When we look for the good in people, when we encourage the good in people, we are more likely to find the Spirit in them and in us.
We must use our nearsightedness to see who we are compared with who God created us to be. Our focus begins to transition outward as we see the Spirit in others. Increasingly, we are aware of the Holy Spirit.
In those moments of spiritual clarity, we become aware of the presence of God.
In those moments, the self disappears in the light. Our struggle can cease. He will finish the work in us as we allow it.
January 19 The Peaceable
Matthew 5:9 “Blessed (are) the peaceable,
for they shall be called the sons of God.” (Wycliff)
To be peaceable means to be at peace. But what does that mean?
When things are going our way and we are happy, it is easy to be at peace, to accept things the way they are.
Sometimes it is hard to be at peace when things are not going our way.
Jesus always saw things as they were. He accepted that the Pharisees did not believe Him, and that some people did not like Him.
Jesus could not make other people be happy, to be at peace with their circumstances. But He could tell them the truth in love and help them to see the character of God shining throughout all Creation.
We cannot change what people feel on the inside. All we can do is show them how to be peaceful, accepting of others as they are, even when the others are not being nice.
Peace is what we feel inside because of the love of God the Father, even when other people are trying to make us feel unhappy.
What is this peace like to you?
**
People cannot make peace. They can only be peace.
When we stop an argument or a war with a truce, or when one side defeats the other, the result is not peace. Both sides are still at war in their hearts even though the fighting has stopped.
Peace is more than not fighting.
Peace is loving your enemy. Peace is seeing brother and sister rather than seeing “those people” as “the other.”
The prodigal son returned to his father “when he came to his senses” (Luke 15:17 NIV).
Sometimes, we help others to come to their senses. Sometimes, they help us to come to our senses.
No one can force another to be peaceable. Peace must come from within.
January 20 The Sons (and Daughters) of God
Matthew 5:9 “Blessed (are) the peaceable,”
(Who know men cannot force peace but can only be peace)
“for they shall be called the sons of God.” (Wycliff)
Each of us is a son or daughter of God.
Each of us can call God “Father.” This is what Jesus did. He spoke of “Abba,” a word meaning “father” where Jesus lived. We can call God,”Father,” also.
Think about it and feel what it is like to have God as our Father.
Each of us was born to a father and a mother. And each father and mother was born to their own father and mother. This goes back as long as there have been people on earth, that we all had fathers and mothers, their parents.
In the Beginning, God created everything. He created the first man, and He created the first woman. The first people, Adam and Eve, could both call God “Father.”
As the Creator of all things, including people, God is Father to all. He would not have made us if He did not love us. He made us so that He could love us and we could love Him.
Open your heart and receive the Father’s love. What does that look like?
**
Regardless of our age, we are children of God. As children, the parental figure of God always guides us with His superior wisdom as to what is in our best interest.
Yes, we are sometimes rebellious youth, asserting our own way. We find we are like the prodigal son if we are willing to examine ourselves.
As we experience peace in the arms of the Father, we increasingly become aware of the relationship between knowing our identity as His son or daughter and experiencing the peace that passes all understanding.
January 21 Stop and Remember
Every now and again, remembering what we have just learned is a good thing. Let’s remember what we learned from the seven Beatitudes:
First, blessed are those who realize that they need to have more of the Holy Spirit.
Second, Blessed are those who are sorry that they have forgotten God. God always welcomes them back.
Third, blessed are those who let God lead through the Holy Spirit rather than try to do things their own way.
Fourth. Blessed are those who want to be like God created us, having His love for others.
Fifth, blessed are those who show mercy, help others rather than judge them.
Sixth, blessed are those who do not focus only on themselves, but see God as their Father and other people as brothers and sisters.
Seventh, blessed are those who are peaceful, who show the fruit of the Spirit, including love, joy, and peace.
Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of these blessings. We can forget some or all of them, and we must remember them. Then the Holy Spirit can not only be in us, but we allow Him to lead us.
These seven blessings are inside us. We will now see how we are to share them outside of us.
**
Review is necessary to ingrain what we have learned.
Practice is necessary to move learning from the brain to the heart.
January 22 The Persecuted
Matthew 5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,”
(those who seek first the kingdom of heaven)
“for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
To persecute someone is to treat them badly, to punish them for the way they are or for what they say or do.
Righteousness is allowing the Spirit to work through you. When people see the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control – usually they are happy.
Some people do not believe that being righteous is the way to be happy. They see someone who shows the fruit of the Spirit as putting on an act.
The only way to show that being righteous is both real and good is to continue to show the fruit of the Spirit even when you are mistreated.
When we are mean back to them, we have lost the fruit of the Spirit. We are not allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us, and we show that the person who persecuted us was right, we are not really acting as God wants His children to do.
How should we act if someone talks badly about us or calls us names? What do you think?
**
The first seven Beatitudes describe the character of the follower of Christ. This is the character of the citizen of the kingdom of heaven, here and now.
The eighth Beatitude tests the character of the Christian. When confronted with persecution, the Christian is forced to choose between acceptance by these other people or maintaining faith in God and His character.
The blessings of the kingdom of heaven are lost if we choose in its place the culture around us. This is an exchange for enduring peace within our souls for the fleeting peace with people around us.
Even when we drift away and lose the blessedness that comes from allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us, we do not lose God’s love. He always calls to us with open arms.
January 23 Yes, Persecuted
Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
In this verse, Jesus is telling us in a little more detail what persecution looks like. He wants us to be aware of what can happen, but also to reassure us that heaven can be here and now.
We remember that heaven is where everyone accepts God as their king. When we accept God as our king, and have Jesus beside us and the Holy Spirit within us, we are in the kingdom of heaven.
People may say mean things to you, or say bad things about you to other people. They may try to get you into trouble and see that you re punished.
This is because they do not believe in God’s love for them. They may not even believe that God exists. They do not understand the kingdom of heaven.
If they will not listen to your words, what can you show them about the kingdom of heaven? (Perhaps peace, and love, and the other fruit of the Spirit?)
**
Each Beatitude had a blessing attached to the character trait represented. The eighth Beatitude speaks of persecution, and its reward, the kingdom of heaven, is the same reward as the first Beatitude.
We lose the reward only when we make a different choice. This is why Jesus later says to choose first His kingdom and righteousness (Matt. 6:33). There is no choosing these things second.
January 24 Persecuted and Blessed
Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Jesus reminds us that there have always been people treated like this. In the time before Jesus, the prophets who spoke God’s words were often persecuted.
The prophets spoke about the true nature of God, of His love for His people. And the prophets told the people that they were not showing love back to God.
The prophets did not fight. They just told the truth about God.
Jesus also taught the truth about God’s character, about who God is.
Jesus loves each of us, and we each love Him in return. This love for Him is what He asks for you and me to give to others, and for them to give to you and me.
We do not stop loving because someone else does not love.
How can we show our love when other people are not showing their love?
**
Having completed the educational course on the character of the citizen of the kingdom of heaven, we emerge a new person in an old world.
Eight is the number of new beginnings. The eighth day of Creation was the first day of a new week. Eight people emerged from Noah’s ark to start a new world. Jesus’ resurrection is the eighth miracle in the Gospel of John.
This segment of our training is complete. We begin to put it into practice.
We will need refresher courses in the Beatitudes until the lessons are indelibly engraved upon our hearts rather than printed or spoken words.
We ingrain fruit-bearing into our hearts as we follow Jesus.
January 25 Being Salt
Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
Jesus says that His followers are to be the salt of the earth. Jesus is good at using metaphors, where something we understand well represents something about which we want to learn more.
Let’s look at salt as if it is the fruit of the Spirit.
Salt was very important in Jesus’ time and had many uses. It not only made food taste better, but salt was used to keep food fresh longer since there were no refrigerators. Salt was good for cleaning wounds. Salt was valuable, and it was even used as a sign of friendship.
Think about how the followers of Jesus are to have the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. With the fruit of the Spirit, we have many things that are valuable to life, also.
When salt loses the good qualities that it has, like flavor, preservation, and healing, it is just like ordinary very small rocks. The uses for “saltless” salt are much fewer.
What salt, or fruit of the Spirit, do you think other people need for us to share with them?
**
Perhaps the imagery of salt as being the fruit of the Spirit is something on which we should dwell.
What is the flavor of your life, or of the person across from you, the person on the other side. When you cross over to their side, do you have something to offer that will give them a more joyful and peaceful life?
Do you have something to heal the unseen wounds of the spirit – and the emotions?
Do you have a truly meaningful gift symbolizing lasting friendship?
The gift of the fruit of the Spirit is the most valuable gift one person can give to another. And the inventory from which we draw this gift is never depleted by giving it away.
January 26 Jesus Is Light
Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.”
Have you ever been in a dark room with no light? The room is so dark you cannot even see where you are. And if you take a step, you cannot see where you are going.
You get the idea of darkness. There is no light to see.
Jesus came to the world to give us light. When you hear that the world was in darkness before Jesus came, this means that they did not know that God is love.
Jesus showed the people what God’s love looks like. God’s love looks a lot like the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
When we say that God is love, the first thing mentioned in the fruit of the Spirit, we are saying that this love makes all of the other fruit of the Spirit possible.
Knowing of God’s love for us, the world looks so much brighter!
Can you please draw a picture of this?
**
Light is a miracle in itself. Not only foes it illuminate – make things clearly seen – but it grows plants, warms the earth, brings out the beauty of color, and so much more!
Light is a miracle in that it is both a physical particle and a wave of energy at the same time.
When we test to see if it is a wave of energy, it is only a wave and not a particle. When we test to see if it is a particle, it is only a particle.
How can this be? Yet we accept the unity of light as both wave and particle while only being able to prove it is one or the other. We cannot prove it is both at the same time.
Perhaps we can have as much faith in the Trinity of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
January 27 Being Light
Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.”
People still need to know that God is love and that He loves each one of us. This truth is easy to forget when we just look at the bad things that can happen in the world.
Jesus says that we can each be a light to the world when we let the Holy Spirit work through us. The light is not just the person, but the Holy Spirit shining through them.
This is what having the fruit of the Spirit looks like: light.
We follow the light of the Holy Spirit, joyful and peaceful in God’s love. Other people see the love, joy, and peace of the Spirit in us, and it is like a light for their own path.
As they allow the Holy Spirit to work in them, they also experience love, joy, and peace.
A town that is full of lights on top of a hill can be seen from far away in the night. For someone in darkness, the light draws them near.
What does your light look like?
**
A town on a hill radiates its light outward and into the darkness of night.
Light is an energetic wave that flows through the air. Some energetic waves are not in the visible spectrum that the eye can see. Think of a sound, or a cellular phone signal, or an X-ray.
There are other invisible light waves that we send out. We might call the generator of these invisible waves our thoughts…or our emotions…or the nature of our character. All of these and so much more throb with each heartbeat, emanating out into the space around us.
The Holy Spirit within transforms this energy into oneness with the intention for us that existed in the Beginning. This is light banishing darkness, and the darkness cannot comprehend or overcome it.
January 28 Light for Our Path
Matthew 5:15 “Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Jesus has just said that we should be like a town on a hill, a city that shines its light to remove the darkness.
This is important, so He uses other words to tell us the same thing so that we will be sure to understand it.
Can you imagine turning on the lamp on a table, and then putting a big bowl over it so that no light could be seen?
That sounds rather silly doesn’t it? No one benefits from a light that is hidden.
When Jesus says that we are to be the light of the world, He is reminding us that the work of the Holy Spirit is not just inside us, but is to shine outside to everyone. The love, joy, and peace of the Holy Spirit inside us will shine out of us and be shared with others.
How can you let your light - the love, joy, and peace that come from God – shine out to other people?
**
Light is required to see clearly. This is elementary. Correct perception of what we see is possible only with adequate light.
When the light of truth is dim, distorted, or missing, our perspective will be wrong. We will act in accordance with what we think we see rather than what is real.
When we see God only dimly, or in a distorted fashion, or do not see Him at all, we do not see reality clearly. We act based on incorrect information, and we make choices whose outcomes are not in line with reality.
The Holy Spirit within helps us to see clearly. This is not just our personal secret of being blessed. This is the truth we must share with others.
January 29 The Law and the Prophets
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
The leaders of religion in Jesus’ time did not understand what God had told His people when He gave them the Law in the desert at Mount Sinai or what God had spoken through the prophets.
Since they did not understand what God had told them, the leaders of religion gave the people a different idea of what God had said through the Law and the Prophets.
In other words, they had destroyed God’s Law and His words through the prophets by changing what God had said.
God wanted people to love Him and to love one another. He taught that we should be loving people.
But the leaders gave the people a long list of works that people must do to earn God’s love, to earn heaven.
Jesus says that He did not come to destroy God’s words, but to teach them correctly. He was teaching by obeying the words from God.
Do you think it is better to have a list of things to do, or to know the good things God wants us to do because we have love in our hearts?
**
The Beatitudes seem as mystifying as all the Law and the Prophets when we look at them with human eyes.
A change occurs when we understand that God loves us. Then we see the Law and the Prophets through the lens of God’s love, from the perspective that He wants the best for us.
This is what Jesus taught and showed us. All that has been passed down to us about God is summarized in the word “love.”
This is the Law and the Prophets, and they are all joined in Jesus.
January 30 Love and God’s Kingdom
Matthew 5:18 “Truly I say to you, Till heaven and earth come to an end, not the smallest letter or part of a letter will in any way be taken from the law, till all things are done.
19 Whoever then goes against the smallest of these laws, teaching men to do the same, will be named least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who keeps the laws, teaching others to keep them, will be named great in the kingdom of heaven.” (BBE)
Sometimes it is good for a teacher to say the same thing in another way to be sure that people understand what is being taught.
Jesus uses different words here to make sure we know that He is not destroying the Law and the Prophets, and He does not want anyone else to destroy them, to teach them incorrectly.
If anyone changes the law of God’s love or the love intended to come through the prophets, they will miss the point of God’s words. God’s message is to love Him and to love one another, just as He loves us. This is true forever.
When we forget that we are loved, we do not feel like we are in the kingdom of heaven, God’s kingdom.
What is a good thing to you about being in God’s kingdom?
**
The walls of the kingdom of heaven are no more physical than the line between light and dark.
We cross over into the light of His kingdom with the law of love. We fall back into darkness when we realize that we have violated this law.
We do not need to be taught this law so much as to be reminded of it.
January 31 Love from the Heart.
Matthew 5:20 “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus tells us that the Pharisees taught God’s law incorrectly. Because they did not understand God’s love, they did not realize that they had the good things of the kingdom of heaven. They did not let the Spirit guide them, and so they missed blessings like love, joy, and peace.
The teachers of the law, called scribes, were careful to copy every single word given by God correctly, but they did not understand that the words really meant that God loves us.
These Pharisees and scribes believed that you only had to do exactly what the law said. They only did the works of the law. They did not show love, but only did the things required.
Suppose someone says to you, “I love you, because God orders me to love you.” Would you feel loved by the person?
No, of course not. Love comes from the heart, not from the law.
What does it feel like when someone says, “I love you,” but the things they do seem like they don’t love you?
**
What does it tell you when someone tells you to live your life the way that they do, but you can see that they are not loving or happy or peaceful?
The Pharisees were not experiencing the kingdom of heaven on earth.
When they looked at Jesus, they saw love and joy and peace. He was not working hard at obedience like they were! Rather than imitate Him, they became angry and desired to destroy Jesus.
What is wrong with this picture?
Next day
January 1 On the Mountain
Matthew. 5:1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.
Jesus wants to show us how to live happy lives. That is why He came to us.
His disciples and other people come to listen to His words and to see how He lives a life of peace and happiness. They are students who come to learn. Today, we are also students come to learn.
Jesus sits on the top of a big hill. The people standing below can see and hear Him well. They know He has something for them, something that will make their lives better.
Like those people so long ago who came to listen to Jesus, we also will hear His words and know the things in life that lead to us being happy or, in the word that Jesus uses, leads us to know that we are blessed.
How does it feel to have Jesus tell you about how to live a blessed life?
**
Jesus has been teaching, preaching, and healing in Galilee for a while now. He does not yet have all twelve of the disciples, but He is gathering disciples and followers as He moves through the countryside.
He goes upon a mountain to speak to the people. His words are about how to live the life that God intended for us from Creation.
This scene is reminiscent of God giving the Law to Moses on the mountain in the Sinai Desert. Here on this mountain, Jesus is describing life in the kingdom of heaven, beginning with the Beatitudes, the character of the citizen of the kingdom of heaven.
His actions are a living parable of life in the kingdom of heaven. His words describe His character, the character of the citizen of the Kingdom of heaven, and His actions provide a pattern for our lives.
January 2 Blessed
Matthew 5:2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus uses the word blessed a lot. We ought to understand what Jesus meant when He said someone is blessed.
Blessed means happy, or fortunate, or having what we need.
We are blessed because we receive God’s favor, receive His love and attention. To know the truth about God’s love for us is a blessing, because we know we have received His greatest gift.
Jesus says that those who know they are “poor in spirit” are blessed. They recognize that they have very little of the Spirit within them, and they want the Holy Spirit to guide them even more.
When we want more of God’s Spirit within us, we will be blessed with more Spirit.
We cannot keep bad things from happening in the world. The Holy Spirit does not change what happens. His job is to be with us, to guide us through the difficult times in the best way.
Even in difficult times the Holy Spirit can help us to realize that we are blessed with God’s love in the many good people and things around us.
Have you ever felt you it would be nice to have someone show you the way to be happy?
**
Strong’s Concordance shows the Hebrew word translated as “bless” (H1288) as being from the word meaning “to kneel.” In addition to bless, the word means to “congratulate,…, praise, salute, thank.” In other words, we have been given things worthy of praising Him, kneeling before Him, thanking Him.
Christ is the example of the servant king.
He kneels in front of us to come down to our level. He encourages us to kneel with Him to raise us up to His level.
The blessing comes from rising to His expectations while in the posture of submission to God’s intentions for us.
January 3 The Poor in Spirit
Matthew 5:2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Remember the story of Creation, that God breathed life into Adam? The breath that Adam received from God is what we call Spirit.
This Spirit, or spiritual life, gave Adam everything he needed to live the life that God had in mind for him and all people.
The Garden of Eden was a part of heaven here on earth. Eden was a place to be happy in God’s love for us, and our love for Him.
But Adam and Eve did not continue to listen to the Holy Spirit. They thought they could be even happier by disobeying God. They ate the forbidden fruit.
When they disobeyed God, they found they were no longer happy, no longer did they feel blessed.
They did not recognize they were poor in God’s Spirit until the Garden was gone. The Garden of Eden disappeared because they let their human spirit replace God’s Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is always in us in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus reminds us of how we can live in the kingdom of heaven again today with the Holy Spirit in us.
What sounds good to you about living in the kingdom of heaven?
**
People have been trying to make their own happiness, their own blessedness, from the human spirit ever since the Garden. With God’s Spirit missing, all of our efforts have failed.
In the days of Jesus, Rome ruled Israel with high taxation and a strong military force.
The Pharisees ruled the religion of Israel with high religious taxes – tithe, plus alms for the poor, plus a poll tax (Matt. 17:24-27), plus high prices for acceptable sacrifices, and more. Many unnecessary laws regulating life in order to earn the kingdom of heaven (legalism) made life burdensome.
The point is that happiness is not something we associate with the circumstances of Israel in Jesus’ time period.
Jesus shows us through His ministry how to be happy and blessed, even in hard times. When we do not realize that we are poor in Spirit, we do not realize why we do not feel blessed.
**
January 4 Knowing We Have the Holy Spirit
Matthew 5:2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
How do we know if we have the Holy Spirit?
First, we know we always have the Holy Spirit near us. We only have to listen for His voice.
Second, no one can see the Holy Spirit. There is no sign, “Holy Spirit at work here!” Other people only know when we are letting the Holy Spirit guide us when they see the fruit, the results, of the Holy Spirit’s work.
But what does the result of the Holy Spirit working inside us look like?
Galatians 5:22-3 (BBE) tells us, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, a quiet mind, kind acts, well-doing, faith, gentle behavior, control over desires.”
These are all things on the inside of us, but other people can see them from the outside.
How does it feel having this fruit of the Spirit?
**
The Pharisees worked hard at letting people know that they had God’s Spirit, but all they could show was the work of the human spirit.
This often is still true today, among Christians as well as agnostics and atheists.
Until the work of the Holy Spirit replaces our man-made spirit, we will fall far short of the abundant harvest produced by the Holy Spirit.
January 5 The Spirit of Love
Matthew 5:2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
All people have been given the Spirit from God. Some of us do not know how to listen to the Spirit that is from God. This is sometimes thought to be a hard thing to do.
When we are poor in Spirit like Jesus says, we are not listening to God speak through the Spirit to show us what is right and what is wrong.
We know to do good things for other people and to love them, but we sometimes forget. We decide to do what we think rather than what the Spirit tells us.
When we hurt someone or take something that does not belong to us, we are not being the person God wants us to be.
Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit want us to love one another as They love us. That is why the Holy Spirit is always here.
You are always loved, no matter what happens. How do you feel knowing of this love?
**
Paul reminds us in 1 Cor. 11:31, For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
We have the ability to correct our course, align it with the Spirit. To make the correction, we must examine ourselves and see if we are following the Spirit.
Haggai 1:5 speaks to this:
Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways!
6 “You have sown much, and bring in little;
You eat, but do not have enough;
You drink, but you are not filled with drink;
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
And he who earns wages,
Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”
When we are not living in the Spirit but are in the flesh, no amount of “things” will satisfy our need.
January 6 The Kingdom of Heaven
Matthew 5:2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, (who confess their spiritual bankruptcy and their need for redemption)
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Some people believe that the kingdom of heaven is only a place that our spirit goes after we die. This heaven is a safe place where everyone is in God’s presence.
Jesus taught that the kingdom of heaven is open to us here and now. All we have to do is to choose to be in His kingdom by allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us.
When we look around us as a person on this earth, it may not look like we are in God’s kingdom of heaven.
But when we look around us as a person in the kingdom of heaven with the Holy Spirit working within us, we see that we are in God’s kingdom. Having the fruit of the Spirit – including love, joy, and peace – is evidence of the presence of the kingdom.
We know that God and the Holy Spirit are here. And we know that Jesus showed us how to live here in the kingdom of heaven with the fruit of the Holy Spirit within us.
Would you please draw a picture of what the kingdom of heaven looks like?
**
As we have grown older, probably we have seen the world looks less and less like we imagine the kingdom of heaven to look.
We must remember that God’s kingdom is a place of freedom. People can choose how to act, what they will do, and whose they will be. They may be like the prodigal son and choose not to be a son or daughter of God.
God could have chosen to make obedient machines, or to merely make another animal with our physiology.
But He chose to make us free to choose our identity, our character. We are allowed to choose to be His…or not.
January 7 Mourning
Matt. 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.”
To mourn is to feel great sadness or sorrow over the loss of something precious to you.
When someone dies, those who knew and loved the person mourn. They are sad and sorrowful, and show their grief.
We also can mourn the loss of a friend, like when they move away.
But Jesus says that they who mourn are blessed. Let’s figure out how someone can lose someone important to them but still be blessed.
Remember how we have been talking about the poor in Spirit being blessed?
Those who are poor in Spirit realize they have turned away from the Spirit. They mourn that they no longer feel close to the Holy Spirit.
They have a feeling of having lost a friendship, and they are sad.
Remember that God loves us all of the time, even if we move away from Him.
Do you still love someone even if they move away out of your sight?
**
There are many reasons why we might mourn in this world. All things are subject to change, to loss.
We mourn the loss of a loved one or a friend, the loss of employment, the loss of a sense of purpose.
Perhaps not ALL things are subject to change….God and His character are unchangeable. There is this one constant truth upon which all else is anchored.
We mourn when we realize that we have lost connection with the touchstone of existence. All of our man-centered improvements on Creation come at a cost, and we realize that the debt must be paid.
There is a peaceful reassurance in a heavenly Father. We mourn His seeming absence.
January 8 God with Us
Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn,”
(Who weep because they have turned away from their Creator)
“For they shall be comforted.”
If God never leaves us and He always loves us, how can it be that He does not seem to be there?
We cannot see God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit with our eyes. We cannot touch them with our hands. We can forget they are there when we only pay attention to ourselves and what we see and touch around us.
God is always above us, and Jesus is always beside us, and the Holy Spirit is always in us. They will not leave us lonely for them.
That was Jesus’ promise when He was telling the disciples that He must go away. His promise is still there, to always be with us in Spirit.
Do you have to see something to believe it is real? What about love, and friendship, and goodness?
**
Any separation between ourselves and God comes from us leaving Him. He will follow, but it is hard to be aware of Him when my back is turned to Him.
Zechariah 1:3 and Malachi 3:7 both quote God as saying, “Return to Me and I will return to you.” There is no other stipulation than for us to re-turn to Him.
The distance to Him is the distance of an about-face, a turning away from our direction and turning toward His direction.
There is no distance for God to travel to return to us.
January 9 Comforted
Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn,”
(Who weep because they have turned away from their Creator)
“For they shall be comforted.”
Jesus promised that when He left His followers, He would send them the Holy Spirit. Jesus called the Holy Spirit by other names. He called the Holy Spirit the Comforter, and also called Him the Helper.
Jesus’ followers felt a great loss when Jesus left them. Although Jesus was gone, the Holy Spirit was there to give them comfort, assurance that the He would help them to spread the Good News about Jesus and God.
This is the blessing for those who mourn leaving God. The good gift, the blessing given to Jesus’ followers and to all of the people of the world when Jesus left, is the Holy Spirit.
We might picture a gift as a package in nice wrapping with something that we want inside.
The Holy Spirit working within you is a gift to you and a gift to others who see the fruit of the Spirit come from inside you.
What is it that comforts you about having the blessing of the Holy Spirit within you?
**
There may seem to be some irony in the fact that the One who we have rejected is the One who offers us comfort.
This is the father of the prodigal son welcoming home his son after the son has come to his senses (Luke 15:11-32).
That the falsely accused gives a party for the repentant accuser is not irony. It is love.
We see the character of the citizen of the kingdom of heaven being re-formed in the image of God’s character, as intended from the Beginning.
There is difficulty in the process, but there is comfort in the end.
January 10 The Meek
Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.”
What does it mean to be meek? Some translations use the words humble, or gentle, or without pride.
Maybe the best way to understand meek in this verse is to say that we recognize God’s authority over us, that He knows what is best for us, and we allow Him to lead us.
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden thought that they knew better what to do than God did. When they disobeyed, they realized that God had been right. Their pride left them and they became meek, obedient to God again.
Sometimes what God wants us to do is not what we want to do.
Perhaps we do not want to share a toy or to help someone who needs help. The Spirit in us may encourage us to share or to help.
When we listen to the Holy Spirit who brings love, joy, and peace, and do what He says, we are being meek, obedient to God’s leading.
Have you had an experience when the Holy Spirit was telling you to share what you have or to help someone to feel better?
**
The words meek, humble, and gentle are often looked upon as not being complimentary. Our culture – like most others – values the ability to control others more than the ability to control self.
Physical (or emotional) force is often used in the secular world to make others do things against their will. This force is often confused with power, the ability to motivate others to accomplish goals willingly of their own accord.
God allows our actions to have their inevitable consequences, for good or for bad. He then offers submission to His authority as the more excellent way to peace, joy, and love.
January 11 Inheritance
Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.”
The word inherit means to receive something because you are a child of the person who owned it.
You may have the eye color and hair color of your mother or father (or maybe a grandparent!). You inherited this because you are their child. You did not have to earn it or even ask for it.
God created Adam and Eve. He was their Father, and He is our Father. We all can trace our parents’ parents and their parents all the way back to Adam and Eve. This is how we can say that God is our Father.
Jesus talked a lot about our Father in heaven and how He loves each of His children. There is never a child that the Father does not love.
We are meek, that is, obedient and respectful of our earthly parents, our mother and our father. We are also meek, obedient and respectful, to our heavenly Father.
What does it feel like to have parents AND a heavenly Father who love you?
**
We all have “work” to do: labor that gives us what we need to live and provides purpose for ourselves. We often confuse labor and inheritance when we speak of spiritual matters.
As children of God, we have an inheritance passed through the generations to us. We each receive it regardless of who has been in our genealogy since the beginning of time.
There is nothing one must DO to inherit. Inheritance is automatic.
We see this error in understanding in Mark 10:17-22, the story of the rich young ruler who asks Jesus, “What shall I DO that I may INHERIT eternal life?”
Jesus wants the man to enter the kingdom of heaven now. Jesus asks the man to give up his wealth, but that is too much and the man walks away. He makes a choice.
January 12 The Earth
Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek,
(who say “Not my will be done, but yours, Oh, Lord”
For they shall inherit the earth.”
To inherit the earth sounds like a very large responsibility! How can we do it?
God told Adam and Eve and their descendants through the centuries to tend and keep the world given to them. They were to help all of the plants and animals to be the best that they could be.
When they left the Garden, the job of caring for the plants and animals did not stop. The whole world was their new garden, and it needed a lot of work!
To tend and keep a place as large as the earth with so many plants and animals would mean following God’s directions as more and more people were born.
As we follow God’s instructions for our lives, He guides us in helping each other to tend and keep our inheritance, the earth.
Do you have some ways that you know to take care of the plants and animals of the earth?
**
The words “tend and keep” also can be translated as “serve and protect.”
As stewards of the world that God has created, these words will give us a better understanding of our relationship with the natural world we inhabit.
We also remember that we were formed from the earth. God molded us from the earth and breathed the spirit of life into us.
When we “inherit the earth,” we also understand that the solid piece of earth that is our physical body is the inheritance from our Father.
When we put this body back under His dominion with ourselves as its caretaker under His guidance, we return as prodigal sons and daughters to our rightful position as His children.
January 13 Hunger and Thirst
Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.”
Have there been times when you felt hungry or thirsty? You were ready to eat a meal or to drink some water weren’t you?
Food and water are necessary for us to live. We also need air, and sleep, and exercise, and loving people. We can be hungry and thirsty for those things, too.
In this verse, Jesus says we can be hungry and thirsty for something else that isn’t food or drink. We can be hungry and thirsty to have the character that God gave to us in the Beginning.
What is this character that God gave us as a part of our identity?
Many answers have been given to this question, but the one answer to this question is whether we are filled inside with love for God and other people like God loves us.
When we know we are loved, we see how to love others. The more we love others, the more we can see the good things that come from love.
What good things do you see that come from one person loving another person?
**
So far, the Beatitudes have returned us to a foundation, relationship with God. We return to the person He created in the Beginning.
The image in which we were created is His character.
Having recognized our poverty of Spirit, we have a void where our man-centered spirit once resided. Our earthly vessel has a gnawing need to be filled with its intended cargo.
We desire the character of love.
This is the key to restoration in the kingdom of heaven, the earthly Eden that had been our intended home.
Love is the framework that supports the physical piece of earth that we call self.
January 14 Righteousness
Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,”
(Who desire to possess the character of God)
“For they shall be filled.”
Righteousness is a big word used often in the Bible, so we must understand what it means.
Righteousness is the character of God.
We need to remember that character is inside of us, like the Holy Spirit. When we have the Holy Spirit within us, people will see the fruit of the Holy Spirit on the outside.
When we do not have the Holy Spirit within us, we may try to act like we have the Spirit. What we do may look righteous, like the fruit of the Spirit at first, but our real character, what guides us on the inside that is not the Holy Spirit, will show itself.
We hunger and thirst for the character of God, for righteousness, so that what we do and say will show our love for other people.
When we do not have this love on the inside, the love that we try to show on the outside will not look like real love for very long.
What does it feel like on the inside when you truly love someone?
**
Perhaps it is like looking backwards through a fog at earlier American history when we see that the character of men and women was highly rated.
More recent history, perhaps the last hundred years or so, there appears to be more emphasis on personality.
“Great” things may be accomplished by both types of people, those with character and those with a “persona” (mask). The enduring values of their accomplishments may prove deeper and more positive for the world for people of character than the works of people of personality.
Each person chooses their character and is filled with their choice.
Our inner character creates our outer self. Our outer self can never create our inner character.
January 15 Mercy
Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.”
The word mercy is in the Bible a lot. God’s law of love is often hard to keep. We make mistakes that show we are not obeying the law of love.
When people break a law, like a law against speeding or stealing, the person who breaks the law is brought before a judge. A speeding offense might require paying a fine. Stealing might require going to jail for a while.
When we break God’s law, He is the judge. Because He loves us, He shows mercy and does not give punishment. He reminds us to be His good child.
But God does not protect us from the effects the sin causes. We may have an accident while speeding, or lose friends because we were stealing. The more we break the law, the less comfortable people will feel when they are near us. And we feel less good about ourselves.
Disobedience has its own consequences.
God and people like our parents still love us when we make a wrong decision. We are to continue to love others who make a wrong decision. We help them to have God’s character, and when we do wrong, they have mercy and continue to love us and to help us, too.
Like love, we give mercy and it comes back to us from God and other people.
Will you please draw a picture of someone showing mercy?
**
As with love, understanding God’s mercy given to us is vital to be able to extend mercy to others.
Mercy is itself an act of love. When we withhold mercy, we withhold love. When we withhold love, we fall from the likeness of God, His character. This fall, like the first Fall, creates a darker world for us. The kingdom of heaven at hand disappears like Eden.
Let us look more deeply into mercy.
January 16 Being Merciful
Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful,”
(Who know we are to be conduits of mercy to others)
“For they shall obtain mercy.”
We learned earlier about the righteousness of God, that love is part of His character. It is His nature to love.
Mercy given to someone is a part of loving them. We understand they have made a mistake and, even if they do not realize it, they would be happier if they made the right choice.
When someone loves you, isn’t it easy to love them back When they have patience and explain things to you, isn’t it easy to love them back?
Sometimes, we make wrong choices, like taking a toy from someone else, or saying something unkind to someone or about someone.
Would we like for other people to take away our things or say bad things to us or about us?
No, of course we wouldn’t.
We are kind to others, we love and show them mercy.
Most often, they will return the love and mercy.
How do you feel when people show love and mercy to you?
**
The times when mercy must be withheld for the protection of the society are more difficult instances. As with loving our neighbor, let us learn to forgive the small things first. There will be time to learn the mercy of God’s character on the hardest questions as we grow in His character.
We begin as acorns in faith and love and mercy. Coming into greater oneness with God requires the patience of the oak. Then we become steadfast in His love and our loving, His mercy and our mercy.
January 17 Pure in Heart
Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.”
To be pure in heart is to love God and people.
To love God is to want to please Him. He is our Father. He wants us to be joyful, so He has told us how to have love, peace, mercy, and the other fruit of the Spirit.
As we share the fruit of the Spirit with others, they can become joyful, also.
We do not want our hearts to hold onto hate, anger, unforgiveness, or the other emotions that keep us from being happy. These uncomfortable feelings steal our joy, and they can steal other people’s joy, also.
The pure in heart realize when they have these bad feelings and ask themselves what has caused the feeling. When we see the cause of the bad feeling, we look at the cause through the eyes of the Holy Spirit and can see it in a new way.
We are blessed, happy, when we feel the fruit of the Spirit guiding us through our day.
How does the Spirit guide you?
**
The fruit of the flesh – hate, anger, envy, etc. (Gal. 5:19-21) – pull us down. They are like weights holding us earthbound rather than in the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus wants to correct a major misconception with a new understanding: circumstances are not to change our character. Circumstances need not control our feelings of happiness, of blessedness. Being happy and blessed result from internal conditions rather than external conditions, as Jesus demonstrated to us.
When the other person is acting from his own incorrect teaching, we demonstrate a better way.
When the other person has a vested interest in not acknowledging the truth, we call out the source of conflict, expose it to light.`
Some will refuse to see the light. Shaking the dust from our sandals and letting the Spirit guide us restores us to being pure in heart.
January 18 Seeing God
Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart,”
Whose focus is not on self)
“For they shall see God.”
How can we see God? We talked before about not being able to see God or to see the Holy Spirit, but people did see Jesus.
People saw the goodness of Jesus. They saw Him heal people and teach them about God’s love. They saw the fruit of the Spirit come from Him
The fruit of the Spirit, the things that Jesus said and did, made people’s lives better. The people saw God using the Holy Spirit to work through Jesus.
Seeing the fruit of the Spirit is seeing God at work in people.
Have you see the fruit of the Spirit in people? Was it their love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, or gentleness that you saw?
**
So often, we are what we see.
When we look for the good in people, when we encourage the good in people, we are more likely to find the Spirit in them and in us.
We must use our nearsightedness to see who we are compared with who God created us to be. Our focus begins to transition outward as we see the Spirit in others. Increasingly, we are aware of the Holy Spirit.
In those moments of spiritual clarity, we become aware of the presence of God.
In those moments, the self disappears in the light. Our struggle can cease. He will finish the work in us as we allow it.
January 19 The Peaceable
Matthew 5:9 “Blessed (are) the peaceable,
for they shall be called the sons of God.” (Wycliff)
To be peaceable means to be at peace. But what does that mean?
When things are going our way and we are happy, it is easy to be at peace, to accept things the way they are.
Sometimes it is hard to be at peace when things are not going our way.
Jesus always saw things as they were. He accepted that the Pharisees did not believe Him, and that some people did not like Him.
Jesus could not make other people be happy, to be at peace with their circumstances. But He could tell them the truth in love and help them to see the character of God shining throughout all Creation.
We cannot change what people feel on the inside. All we can do is show them how to be peaceful, accepting of others as they are, even when the others are not being nice.
Peace is what we feel inside because of the love of God the Father, even when other people are trying to make us feel unhappy.
What is this peace like to you?
**
People cannot make peace. They can only be peace.
When we stop an argument or a war with a truce, or when one side defeats the other, the result is not peace. Both sides are still at war in their hearts even though the fighting has stopped.
Peace is more than not fighting.
Peace is loving your enemy. Peace is seeing brother and sister rather than seeing “those people” as “the other.”
The prodigal son returned to his father “when he came to his senses” (Luke 15:17 NIV).
Sometimes, we help others to come to their senses. Sometimes, they help us to come to our senses.
No one can force another to be peaceable. Peace must come from within.
January 20 The Sons (and Daughters) of God
Matthew 5:9 “Blessed (are) the peaceable,”
(Who know men cannot force peace but can only be peace)
“for they shall be called the sons of God.” (Wycliff)
Each of us is a son or daughter of God.
Each of us can call God “Father.” This is what Jesus did. He spoke of “Abba,” a word meaning “father” where Jesus lived. We can call God,”Father,” also.
Think about it and feel what it is like to have God as our Father.
Each of us was born to a father and a mother. And each father and mother was born to their own father and mother. This goes back as long as there have been people on earth, that we all had fathers and mothers, their parents.
In the Beginning, God created everything. He created the first man, and He created the first woman. The first people, Adam and Eve, could both call God “Father.”
As the Creator of all things, including people, God is Father to all. He would not have made us if He did not love us. He made us so that He could love us and we could love Him.
Open your heart and receive the Father’s love. What does that look like?
**
Regardless of our age, we are children of God. As children, the parental figure of God always guides us with His superior wisdom as to what is in our best interest.
Yes, we are sometimes rebellious youth, asserting our own way. We find we are like the prodigal son if we are willing to examine ourselves.
As we experience peace in the arms of the Father, we increasingly become aware of the relationship between knowing our identity as His son or daughter and experiencing the peace that passes all understanding.
January 21 Stop and Remember
Every now and again, remembering what we have just learned is a good thing. Let’s remember what we learned from the seven Beatitudes:
First, blessed are those who realize that they need to have more of the Holy Spirit.
Second, Blessed are those who are sorry that they have forgotten God. God always welcomes them back.
Third, blessed are those who let God lead through the Holy Spirit rather than try to do things their own way.
Fourth. Blessed are those who want to be like God created us, having His love for others.
Fifth, blessed are those who show mercy, help others rather than judge them.
Sixth, blessed are those who do not focus only on themselves, but see God as their Father and other people as brothers and sisters.
Seventh, blessed are those who are peaceful, who show the fruit of the Spirit, including love, joy, and peace.
Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of these blessings. We can forget some or all of them, and we must remember them. Then the Holy Spirit can not only be in us, but we allow Him to lead us.
These seven blessings are inside us. We will now see how we are to share them outside of us.
**
Review is necessary to ingrain what we have learned.
Practice is necessary to move learning from the brain to the heart.
January 22 The Persecuted
Matthew 5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,”
(those who seek first the kingdom of heaven)
“for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
To persecute someone is to treat them badly, to punish them for the way they are or for what they say or do.
Righteousness is allowing the Spirit to work through you. When people see the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control – usually they are happy.
Some people do not believe that being righteous is the way to be happy. They see someone who shows the fruit of the Spirit as putting on an act.
The only way to show that being righteous is both real and good is to continue to show the fruit of the Spirit even when you are mistreated.
When we are mean back to them, we have lost the fruit of the Spirit. We are not allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us, and we show that the person who persecuted us was right, we are not really acting as God wants His children to do.
How should we act if someone talks badly about us or calls us names? What do you think?
**
The first seven Beatitudes describe the character of the follower of Christ. This is the character of the citizen of the kingdom of heaven, here and now.
The eighth Beatitude tests the character of the Christian. When confronted with persecution, the Christian is forced to choose between acceptance by these other people or maintaining faith in God and His character.
The blessings of the kingdom of heaven are lost if we choose in its place the culture around us. This is an exchange for enduring peace within our souls for the fleeting peace with people around us.
Even when we drift away and lose the blessedness that comes from allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us, we do not lose God’s love. He always calls to us with open arms.
January 23 Yes, Persecuted
Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
In this verse, Jesus is telling us in a little more detail what persecution looks like. He wants us to be aware of what can happen, but also to reassure us that heaven can be here and now.
We remember that heaven is where everyone accepts God as their king. When we accept God as our king, and have Jesus beside us and the Holy Spirit within us, we are in the kingdom of heaven.
People may say mean things to you, or say bad things about you to other people. They may try to get you into trouble and see that you re punished.
This is because they do not believe in God’s love for them. They may not even believe that God exists. They do not understand the kingdom of heaven.
If they will not listen to your words, what can you show them about the kingdom of heaven? (Perhaps peace, and love, and the other fruit of the Spirit?)
**
Each Beatitude had a blessing attached to the character trait represented. The eighth Beatitude speaks of persecution, and its reward, the kingdom of heaven, is the same reward as the first Beatitude.
We lose the reward only when we make a different choice. This is why Jesus later says to choose first His kingdom and righteousness (Matt. 6:33). There is no choosing these things second.
January 24 Persecuted and Blessed
Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Jesus reminds us that there have always been people treated like this. In the time before Jesus, the prophets who spoke God’s words were often persecuted.
The prophets spoke about the true nature of God, of His love for His people. And the prophets told the people that they were not showing love back to God.
The prophets did not fight. They just told the truth about God.
Jesus also taught the truth about God’s character, about who God is.
Jesus loves each of us, and we each love Him in return. This love for Him is what He asks for you and me to give to others, and for them to give to you and me.
We do not stop loving because someone else does not love.
How can we show our love when other people are not showing their love?
**
Having completed the educational course on the character of the citizen of the kingdom of heaven, we emerge a new person in an old world.
Eight is the number of new beginnings. The eighth day of Creation was the first day of a new week. Eight people emerged from Noah’s ark to start a new world. Jesus’ resurrection is the eighth miracle in the Gospel of John.
This segment of our training is complete. We begin to put it into practice.
We will need refresher courses in the Beatitudes until the lessons are indelibly engraved upon our hearts rather than printed or spoken words.
We ingrain fruit-bearing into our hearts as we follow Jesus.
January 25 Being Salt
Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
Jesus says that His followers are to be the salt of the earth. Jesus is good at using metaphors, where something we understand well represents something about which we want to learn more.
Let’s look at salt as if it is the fruit of the Spirit.
Salt was very important in Jesus’ time and had many uses. It not only made food taste better, but salt was used to keep food fresh longer since there were no refrigerators. Salt was good for cleaning wounds. Salt was valuable, and it was even used as a sign of friendship.
Think about how the followers of Jesus are to have the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. With the fruit of the Spirit, we have many things that are valuable to life, also.
When salt loses the good qualities that it has, like flavor, preservation, and healing, it is just like ordinary very small rocks. The uses for “saltless” salt are much fewer.
What salt, or fruit of the Spirit, do you think other people need for us to share with them?
**
Perhaps the imagery of salt as being the fruit of the Spirit is something on which we should dwell.
What is the flavor of your life, or of the person across from you, the person on the other side. When you cross over to their side, do you have something to offer that will give them a more joyful and peaceful life?
Do you have something to heal the unseen wounds of the spirit – and the emotions?
Do you have a truly meaningful gift symbolizing lasting friendship?
The gift of the fruit of the Spirit is the most valuable gift one person can give to another. And the inventory from which we draw this gift is never depleted by giving it away.
January 26 Jesus Is Light
Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.”
Have you ever been in a dark room with no light? The room is so dark you cannot even see where you are. And if you take a step, you cannot see where you are going.
You get the idea of darkness. There is no light to see.
Jesus came to the world to give us light. When you hear that the world was in darkness before Jesus came, this means that they did not know that God is love.
Jesus showed the people what God’s love looks like. God’s love looks a lot like the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
When we say that God is love, the first thing mentioned in the fruit of the Spirit, we are saying that this love makes all of the other fruit of the Spirit possible.
Knowing of God’s love for us, the world looks so much brighter!
Can you please draw a picture of this?
**
Light is a miracle in itself. Not only foes it illuminate – make things clearly seen – but it grows plants, warms the earth, brings out the beauty of color, and so much more!
Light is a miracle in that it is both a physical particle and a wave of energy at the same time.
When we test to see if it is a wave of energy, it is only a wave and not a particle. When we test to see if it is a particle, it is only a particle.
How can this be? Yet we accept the unity of light as both wave and particle while only being able to prove it is one or the other. We cannot prove it is both at the same time.
Perhaps we can have as much faith in the Trinity of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
January 27 Being Light
Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.”
People still need to know that God is love and that He loves each one of us. This truth is easy to forget when we just look at the bad things that can happen in the world.
Jesus says that we can each be a light to the world when we let the Holy Spirit work through us. The light is not just the person, but the Holy Spirit shining through them.
This is what having the fruit of the Spirit looks like: light.
We follow the light of the Holy Spirit, joyful and peaceful in God’s love. Other people see the love, joy, and peace of the Spirit in us, and it is like a light for their own path.
As they allow the Holy Spirit to work in them, they also experience love, joy, and peace.
A town that is full of lights on top of a hill can be seen from far away in the night. For someone in darkness, the light draws them near.
What does your light look like?
**
A town on a hill radiates its light outward and into the darkness of night.
Light is an energetic wave that flows through the air. Some energetic waves are not in the visible spectrum that the eye can see. Think of a sound, or a cellular phone signal, or an X-ray.
There are other invisible light waves that we send out. We might call the generator of these invisible waves our thoughts…or our emotions…or the nature of our character. All of these and so much more throb with each heartbeat, emanating out into the space around us.
The Holy Spirit within transforms this energy into oneness with the intention for us that existed in the Beginning. This is light banishing darkness, and the darkness cannot comprehend or overcome it.
January 28 Light for Our Path
Matthew 5:15 “Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Jesus has just said that we should be like a town on a hill, a city that shines its light to remove the darkness.
This is important, so He uses other words to tell us the same thing so that we will be sure to understand it.
Can you imagine turning on the lamp on a table, and then putting a big bowl over it so that no light could be seen?
That sounds rather silly doesn’t it? No one benefits from a light that is hidden.
When Jesus says that we are to be the light of the world, He is reminding us that the work of the Holy Spirit is not just inside us, but is to shine outside to everyone. The love, joy, and peace of the Holy Spirit inside us will shine out of us and be shared with others.
How can you let your light - the love, joy, and peace that come from God – shine out to other people?
**
Light is required to see clearly. This is elementary. Correct perception of what we see is possible only with adequate light.
When the light of truth is dim, distorted, or missing, our perspective will be wrong. We will act in accordance with what we think we see rather than what is real.
When we see God only dimly, or in a distorted fashion, or do not see Him at all, we do not see reality clearly. We act based on incorrect information, and we make choices whose outcomes are not in line with reality.
The Holy Spirit within helps us to see clearly. This is not just our personal secret of being blessed. This is the truth we must share with others.
January 29 The Law and the Prophets
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
The leaders of religion in Jesus’ time did not understand what God had told His people when He gave them the Law in the desert at Mount Sinai or what God had spoken through the prophets.
Since they did not understand what God had told them, the leaders of religion gave the people a different idea of what God had said through the Law and the Prophets.
In other words, they had destroyed God’s Law and His words through the prophets by changing what God had said.
God wanted people to love Him and to love one another. He taught that we should be loving people.
But the leaders gave the people a long list of works that people must do to earn God’s love, to earn heaven.
Jesus says that He did not come to destroy God’s words, but to teach them correctly. He was teaching by obeying the words from God.
Do you think it is better to have a list of things to do, or to know the good things God wants us to do because we have love in our hearts?
**
The Beatitudes seem as mystifying as all the Law and the Prophets when we look at them with human eyes.
A change occurs when we understand that God loves us. Then we see the Law and the Prophets through the lens of God’s love, from the perspective that He wants the best for us.
This is what Jesus taught and showed us. All that has been passed down to us about God is summarized in the word “love.”
This is the Law and the Prophets, and they are all joined in Jesus.
January 30 Love and God’s Kingdom
Matthew 5:18 “Truly I say to you, Till heaven and earth come to an end, not the smallest letter or part of a letter will in any way be taken from the law, till all things are done.
19 Whoever then goes against the smallest of these laws, teaching men to do the same, will be named least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who keeps the laws, teaching others to keep them, will be named great in the kingdom of heaven.” (BBE)
Sometimes it is good for a teacher to say the same thing in another way to be sure that people understand what is being taught.
Jesus uses different words here to make sure we know that He is not destroying the Law and the Prophets, and He does not want anyone else to destroy them, to teach them incorrectly.
If anyone changes the law of God’s love or the love intended to come through the prophets, they will miss the point of God’s words. God’s message is to love Him and to love one another, just as He loves us. This is true forever.
When we forget that we are loved, we do not feel like we are in the kingdom of heaven, God’s kingdom.
What is a good thing to you about being in God’s kingdom?
**
The walls of the kingdom of heaven are no more physical than the line between light and dark.
We cross over into the light of His kingdom with the law of love. We fall back into darkness when we realize that we have violated this law.
We do not need to be taught this law so much as to be reminded of it.
January 31 Love from the Heart.
Matthew 5:20 “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus tells us that the Pharisees taught God’s law incorrectly. Because they did not understand God’s love, they did not realize that they had the good things of the kingdom of heaven. They did not let the Spirit guide them, and so they missed blessings like love, joy, and peace.
The teachers of the law, called scribes, were careful to copy every single word given by God correctly, but they did not understand that the words really meant that God loves us.
These Pharisees and scribes believed that you only had to do exactly what the law said. They only did the works of the law. They did not show love, but only did the things required.
Suppose someone says to you, “I love you, because God orders me to love you.” Would you feel loved by the person?
No, of course not. Love comes from the heart, not from the law.
What does it feel like when someone says, “I love you,” but the things they do seem like they don’t love you?
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What does it tell you when someone tells you to live your life the way that they do, but you can see that they are not loving or happy or peaceful?
The Pharisees were not experiencing the kingdom of heaven on earth.
When they looked at Jesus, they saw love and joy and peace. He was not working hard at obedience like they were! Rather than imitate Him, they became angry and desired to destroy Jesus.
What is wrong with this picture?
Next day
