Monday, November 19, 2012

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

Monday, November 19, 2012       The Beatitudes       

Page 94        Matthew 5:1-12; Luke 6:20-26

Not long ago a friend commented to me that the Beatitudes were great prose, but not a realistic expectation for our way of life. I immediately remembered something I heard Stephen Covey say. (Covey is the author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.) While Covey was discussing Habit Number Four, have a Win/Win attitude, a businessman said to him that such an attitude was totally unrealistic in business. Covey responded by asking the man a question: “How long do you think you would stay in business if you were a winner but your customers felt like losers? Or, how long do you think you would stay in business if your customers were winners, but you were the loser in your business deals?”

I responded in a similar manner to my friend. I asked, “What kind of life would you have if it were dominated by the opposite of the Beatitudes? What follows a person with a haughty attitude? What happens when people are demanding, divisive, or critical?” Seeking to live out the Beatitudes is setting a very high expectation for life, but it is so much better than the alternatives which Jesus listed:

“What sorrow awaits you who are rich,

    for you have your only happiness now.

What sorrow awaits you who are fat and prosperous now,

    for a time of awful hunger awaits you.

What sorrow awaits you who laugh now,

    for your laughing will turn to mourning and sorrow.

What sorrow awaits you who are praised by the crowds,

    for their ancestors also praised false prophets.

Luke 6:24-26

As we ponder these high expectations Jesus has for his followers, it is important to remember Jesus is not teaching us to work harder. He is calling us to re-orient our lives to him. We are poor in spirit when we recognize we can’t save ourselves, no matter how hard we try. We mourn as we repent of our self-sufficiency. We’re meek when we surrender control to God. We hunger and thirst for righteousness when we are no longer satisfied living as the center of our universe. We are merciful when we realize how exceedingly merciful God is with us. We have a pure heart when we recognize that nothing surpasses knowing God. We become peacemakers because we want to share the wonder of living in peace with God our Creator. We endure persecution because we eagerly await the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to us on the day of his return. (See 2 Timothy 4:8 and Hebrews 12:2)

Sē’lah

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What word or phrase in today’s reading attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

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The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

Tuesday, November 20, 2012      I Taught About the Kingdom       

Page 94-97   Matthew 5:13 - 6:4; Luke 6:27-36