So many of us have filled our hearts with the junk food of the world. No wonder we are so unhappy. No wonder we jump from one job to another and from relationship to another. We have full stomachs and empty hearts! Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? If you are, you can be filled. This is the promise of God to hungry hearts and thirsty souls.
Text: Matthew 5:6We have all we need and then some. And a never-ending banquet spread by our heavenly Father in the kingdom. We have the best of both worlds. We are forgotten, yet we reign. We are despised yet blessed. We are reviled yet defended by God. As Christians we have nothing yet possess everything. And the best is yet to come. Do you want to go to heaven? You can, but you must enter through the door marked “meek only.” Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Text: Matthew 5:5“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” This is one of the strangest statements in the Bible. It is a paradox and a mystery. “Blessed are those who mourn,” said Jesus. Happy are the sad! What do these strange words mean? Who are the mourners, why are they sad, and how are they comforted?
Text: Matthew 5:4Some of us have worked all week for the approval of men and we still don’t have it. And when we get it, we can’t keep it. When will we ever learn that nothing in this world can ever fill the God-shaped hole in our hearts. Only you can satisfy. Empty us, O Lord, so that you can fill us with yourself. Wean us from the things of the world so that your smile will be the only thing that matters. Build the character of the kingdom in us so that you can call us Blessed and we may hear the applause of heaven.
Text: Matthew 5:1-3The Virgin Birth was never meant to stand alone. It is not a random truth plucked from thin air. God never says, “Pick and choose what you want to believe.” The story of Jesus is a seamless garment woven by the Holy Spirit. Take out his miraculous birth and you have ripped the whole garment to shreds.
Text: Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23Warren Bennis is an educator, a philosopher, an author, a scholar and a keen observer of the American scene. These […]
Text: VariousYou might call this text “The forgotten chapter of the Christmas story.” It is a genealogy—a list of names, most […]
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Text: Matthew 6:19-21It started on a Friday night 17 years ago in Lansing, Michigan when a young sophomore came off the bench […]
Text: Matthew 5:3-12It was Helen Keller who said, “Life is either a daring adventure, or it is nothing at all.” Those words […]
Text: Matthew 4:22-32