Thought for July 29

 History:

• 1773: First schoolhouse west of the Allegheny mountains completed--Ohio
• 1847: Cumberland School of Law founded in Lebanon TN--one of 15 in the US
• 1899: First motorcycle race--Manhattan Beach NY
• 1907: Boy Scouts formed by Robert Baden-Powell
• 1927: First iron lung installed
• 1933: Shoot out with Bonnie and Clyde kills Clyde's brother Buck
• 1938: Olympia National Park established
• 1952: First non-stop transpacific flight by a jet
• 1954: Fellowship of the Ring published
• 1974: Episcopal Church in Philadelphia ordains 11 female priests in violation of church rules
• 2001: The Princess Diaries premiers
• 2015: Microsoft launches Windows 10
• 2016: Hillary Clinton becomes Democratic nominee for President
• Born: Walter Hunt [invented the safety pin], Alex de Tocqueville, Armauer Hansen [first to identify leprosy as bacteria--Hansen's disease], Benito Mussolini, Dag Hammarskjold [UN Secretary General], Melvin Belli, Charles Schwab, Peter Jennings, Ken Burns, Martina McBride, Dak Prescott
• Died: William Wilberforce [probably the most important abolitionist in England], Robert Schumann [Humoresque], Vincent van Gogh, Mama Cass Elliot [Mamas & Papas], David Niven, Tom Snyder, 

Thought:

Yesterday we thought about the blessings promised in the beatitudes of Matthew 5. I sure want those blessings in my life. Now look at the characteristics of the people to whom those blessings apply:

• Poor in spirit. [5:3] Recognize my spiritual poverty before a holy God. My ego and pride melt away in the light of His glory and grace. Reminds me that pride goes before a fall. Teaches me that when I exalt myself, God will humble me. Makes me acknowledge that I have no right to His mercy and grace and that He alone can pay the price for my sin. C.S. Lewis said that when we are in the presence of God we either forget about ourselves totally or see ourselves as a tiny dirty object. Poor in spirit means I recognize who He is and who I am.
• Mourners [5:4] Luke's account of this verse is that blessed are those that weep now for we shall laugh. [Luke 6:21] Here I mourn over my condition which forces me to think about God's gift--Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Those thoughts comfort me because God has considered my helpless situation and sent the Son to die in my place and the Spirit to give me the strength and wisdom to walk with God daily.
• Gentle [5:5] Your translation may say "meek". The word is "praus" which can be translated as domesticated, under control by the master. Barclay said this meant the person who was always angry at the right time and never angry at the wrong time. This verse is said to come from Psalm 37:11 and when you read 37:7-11 you get the sense of the meaning--
• Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him
• Don't fret because of others who seem to prosper
• Cease from anger and forsake wrath
• Those that are hungry and thirsty for righteousness [5:6]. This goes with the passage that says, seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added. I should always be seeking righteousness, not blessings. If I seek blessings first, I have my life in the wrong order. Seek righteousness and the blessings then follow.
• Merciful [5:7]. We have received mercy, now we show mercy. I give others not what I think they deserve, but what they need. Mercy is not saying, "well you got yourself into that mess, get yourself out." Why? Because Jesus did not say that to me. 
• Pure in heart [5:8]. This means my motives are pure. I don't do mercy with ulterior motives--to get something.  I don't give compliments to get compliments. I don't praise so that someone will praise me. 
• Peacemakers [5:9] Here I see two aspects. First if I have the peace of God and peace with God, I want others to have that peace as well. Second, in so far as it relies on me, I want to be at peace with all men. 
• Persecuted for righteousness sake [5:10] I often feel persecuted--but most of the time I deserve it.  Here we are talking about being persecuted, harassed because of doing the right thing. No good deed goes unpunished. 
• Insulted, persecuted and slanderer for Jesus' sake [5:12] I think the picture is that if I am doing the other things mentioned in the beatitudes, I will be living like Jesus. And when I do that, the world may reject, criticize, slander, or persecute me. When they do, I am blessed because I know I am walking with Him. 

I see the problem. I want all those blessings we listed yesterday, but I don't have the characteristics of the blessed. I am not humble, repentant, thirsty for righteousness, merciful, pure, peaceful and peace seeking. And because I don't look like Jesus, I am not persecuted or insulted for being His. Lord, change my heart, transform my thoughts, so that I look so much like You that the world treats me the same way it treated you. 

Blessings

Larry