Persecution is promised for those who seriously follow Jesus. Not comforting. Not reassuring. But real. Jesus never sugar-coated his message to his followers. We do sometimes. But know this, following Jesus will put you in direct opposition to this culture…it should. He was in direct opposition to his, and they killed him.
A real peacemaker never looks to avoid conflict, but rather they run into the mess to bring hope to a broken situation. The ultimate peacemakers are the ones that partner with God in accomplishing His mission. Happy are the ones who are making an eternal impact because they’re the ones in the Family of God.
I first read these words of Jesus and wondered…How do we strive for something that seems so out of reach? A pure heart?? What does that mean? How can I develop that kind of a heart? Fortunately, while Jesus says this one important statement about our pure heart, the Bible is packed with more details of what God is looking for…and how we get there.
In our culture and throughout the world, there is a notion that "if I am nice to someone, they are going to be nice to me," but this is not the kind of mercy Jesus talks about. The mercy Jesus describes is one which demands deliberate effort to meet someone’s need, out of love, without considering whether they deserve it.
God created us with a hunger that only he could fulfill. We’ve all experienced that hunger, but those Jesus promised to fill were those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, not the momentary pleasures this world offers. Our physical life depends on food and water, but our spiritual life depends on God and His righteousness.
The meek are not necessarily weak. They can have the power, but willingly surrender the use or abuse of that power for the benefit of others. God gravitates toward the meek because they are ready to let Him fulfill His purpose through them.
We’ve all had heartbreaking moments. We’ve all experienced pain. But Jesus words aren’t just for those who are hurting in general. He’s saying that when we mourn and our hearts break for the things that break God’s heart, then God will come and comfort us.
We don’t enter the kingdom of heaven on our own merit, but only when we admit that we need His help. Those who recognize that they are spiritually bankrupt are actually the ones who are on their way to a “blessed” life!
