Beatitudes Mt. 5:5

Good Morning Lord,

“Blessed [inwardly peaceful, spiritually secure, worthy of respect] are the gentle [kind-hearted, the sweet-spirited, the self-controlled], for they will  inherit the earth.” Mt. 5:5 Ps. 37:11 Amp 

Beginning my journey, I had the unique privilege of having “gentle hearts” to mentor me. I gleaned firm truth in sweet and gentle words that were laced with wisdom. Being around such peace loving giants watered my faith continually. 

Humble spirits are all around us. Many are quiet and do not need to be heard or seen. They are filled with the fruit of kindness. The presence of a gentle heart is filled with peace and through the righteousness of Christ they have earned their innate experience of fortitude, tenacity and power without a mere utterance of one single boast. These are the rocks [pillars] in the Body of Christ because they know what it is like to go through the fire and be crushed in life. We marvel to drink the water that flows from these rocks, that life has made for we desire their peace and kind-heartedness. But most of all, we desire their quiet strength.

These people have substance! This did not happen overnight. Their humble quiet hearts go through a process in their lives that gives off an exclusive sweet aroma. The fruit they have tended inside of them throughout the years is extracted through a process that presses and crushes the fruit with such power to release all the oil from within them. After the oil is extracted and blended the aging process begins. This can take months to many years for the development of a fine rare perfume. 

As Christians, we all go through this process and there are no shortcuts or substitutes. A native plant from Mexico in a laboratory in London called “Agave Franzosinii” grows for 40 years and only then blooms glorious yellow trumpet flowers and then, dies. 

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” niv Mt.11:28-30

With all that, we will inherit the earth.

Let’s pray:

Precious Heavenly Father,

When we think of the holy process your bride goes through, we are completely awed by your love. We trust in you Father and know you work everything for us, for our good and your glory. We know, there are no two things completely alike in your creation. Each of our fragrances will be unique and resemble who you have fashioned us to be in the Body of Christ. We ask Father, that your angels will continue to hold our hand during these processes. We choose to live and speak in faith instead of what we see or go through. We desire to be a gentle heart like your son. Thank you for the insight of your Holy Spirit and how everything revolves around your perfect love. Thank you for showing us such power in your love.

We ask that when we run ahead of Your Precious Holy Spirit, that He would close the door or trip us. We ask that when our feet drag, that He would put a fire under us to move! We ask that when we talk too much, our words would come back to show us the seriousness of what we have done. We ask that when we do speak that it would be graced with your salt to be flavorful to those who hear. We ask that when we know to do something that is right, let us not think; but follow it through. When we know something is wrong in our lives to throw it completely out. We ask that your Spirit would never stop housecleaning inside of us. Thank you Father and in Your Son’s name we pray. Amen.  

Beatitude Mt. 5:4

Good Morning Lord!

“Blessed [forgiven, refreshed by God’s grace] are those who mourn [over their sins and repent]. for they will be comforted [when the burden of the sin is lifted].” Matthew 5:4

We have all done things in our past that we regret. That was yesterday, today is now. When we yield our will to God’s will, our past experiences  will continue to conform us into the likeness of His Son Jesus.

It is The Holy Spirit Himself who brings us the comfort of knowing we are forgiven through Jesus Christ. When God forgives He throws our sins deep into the ocean never to be retrieved again. In God’s eyes, it is gone and forgotten. Few of us have the capability to forget the wrongs in our past.. God is faithful. Your burden has been removed. 

We need not dwell upon the past. Instead we can have God’s peace when we picture a river of blood flowing over those past sins and rest assured that there is a day coming when all our past sins will be completely erased and forgotten from our minds. As for now, our memories are there for us to remain humble and never forget the pit from where we were rescued.

I had a friend who once said: “I never trust a man who doesn’t have a limp.” Think about it if you do not understand it, as it will come.

Let’s pray:

Oh Heavenly Father,

We thank you and praise you for leaving us your word and giving us your truth. We thank you for awakening our spirits so we can see and understand what you say to us. We thank you for your son Jesus and the sacrifice upon that cross and the power of His blood. We thank you for giving us the gift of grace and the faith to believe and walk on that narrow path. Thank you for your faithfulness and that all things good come from you. Thank you for turning our mourning into joy and comfort and the realization of being loved. Forgive us our sins [name any that has not been confessed]_____________________and we make a decision to repent and turn around to do your will. Keep our eyes upon you and give us the discernment to recognize and resist all deceiving spirits in these last days. We give you all the praise Father in your son’s name Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Beatitudes 5:1-3

Good Morning Friends,

I thought it might be interesting to take one Beatitude at a time and discuss it. We begin in Matthew 5:1-3 Amp. 

“When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and when He was seated, His disciples came to Him. Then He began to teach them saying,

Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired] are the poor in spirit [those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant], for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever].” [Luke 6:20-23]

Think how overbearing the crowds were when a young Jesus in his early thirties walked the earth. They did not want to miss a single miracle. Most followers had to believe He was their Messiah! Indeed! Their Deliverer and Savior! The Holy one to come that the Prophets wrote about! Jesus went up the mountain perhaps to rest and get away from the crowds and when He was seated, his disciples came to Him.  

Picture yourself walking with the disciples and then looking around for a place to sit, maybe at His knee to listen! You are overwhelmed by His every word. While He talks, He looks around and then, into your eyes and He smiles. You think in glorious wonder, “Jesus smiled at me!” You do not realize it, but He sees your heart, your adoration and love as He talks. Your heart will never be the same again because, it belongs to Him. 

When the verse says Blessed, Jesus was talking about those who believe and trust in Him are blessed but also happy in the Lord, meaning we are spiritually prosperous. I see being spiritually prosperous as being rich in faith! 

Poor in spirit are those who remain humble and do not think themselves more highly than others. True humility puts others first and serves the flock. 

Here’s our promise: Ours is the kingdom of heaven. We are in the family of God through His son Jesus, yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Let’s Pray,

Oh Heavenly Father,

Thank you for this wonderful promise. Oh to sit at Your Son’s knee and the thoughts of looking into His eyes while He teaches us. The very thought of a smile from Him lifts up our hearts and renews our faith. Thank you for the richness of your Word. We ask that we can always be by your knee and listen  to what You say. Teach us to hear clearly and recognize your voice easily. Thank you for this walk in faith that you have chosen us to do. Show us how to be a blessing and glorify you in our thoughts, our speech and actions today. It is our desire to be pleasing in your sight and for you to smile upon us. Our will is your will. Continue to teach us to love others guided by your Spirit. Teach us to be sensitive to the needs of those around us and serve in your Spirit. We give you this day Father and honor you before everything we do. 

In Jesus we pray, amen 

What kind of words are you speaking?

Good Morning Blessings to you all!

“The good man, from his [inner] good treasure, brings out good things; and the evil man, from his [inner] evil treasure, brings out evil things. But I tell you, on the day of judgement people will have to give an accounting for every careless or useless word they speak. For by your words [reflecting your spiritual condition] you will be justified and acquitted of the guilt of sin; and by  your words [rejecting me] you will be condemned and sentenced.” Matthew 12:35-37 Amp, also read Proverbs 18:20, 13:2

There are many books written about the power of our tongues. I remember my mother admonishing me to: 

“Think before I speak!”

“Oh, how do I do that?” But it slowed me way down.

Later on, thinking about her corrections I realized I spouted out some unthinking rare commodities that I had not bothered to look up the meanings for in Webster. She always made me trudge to the dictionary instead of telling me the meanings. Today, I am grateful for all of her corrections.

I studied about this subject that took nearly a year and even then I did not cover everything. I can say this, because I’m still finding things written about the seriousness of speaking before we think. Oh, to be able to go back in time and not say some of the things I carelessly threw out into the airwaves. Some in anger and some not. So many times we would not feed contention in a relationship if we first halted and gave thought to what we were about to say and how our words will affect the receiver and ourselves;  for years ahead. A reckless mouth can be judged by it’s target through a loss of respect. Inflammable words scar a relationship. Pride breeds contempt. Pride is a spirit [haughtiness] that refuses to humble itself and say “I was wrong.” Once our words are out of our mouth, we cannot take them back. We can repent and have our regrets and we know we’ve been forgiven but we’ve still loosened our words. We draw our words from the activities and materials we decide to daily meditate upon. As we store up these thoughts in our hearts, sooner or later, like that of an artisan well the overflow will find it’s way out of our mouths. Unfortunately, we will bear the consequences of our words as we journey on earth. If we point fingers, finger will be pointed at us. If we whisper against another, whispering comes against us. We cannot get away from God’s laws of sowing and reaping. Consider words as seeds. When we plant one seed, we’ll get a whole bushel of fruit back in our garden. If God rescued us from every consequence of our sin, how would we learn from our actions? 

Our words will either serve one of two Kingdoms: The Kingdom of light [Holiness] or the Kingdom of darkness [Unholiness].   

I would just like to touch on the positive results of speaking a good word to others. Did you know that when we speak good words, they are health to our bones?

“Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.” Pr. 16:24

“A gentle answer turns away wrath.” Pr.15:1

“When we can give a good and timely answer, can bring us joy.” Pr.15:23

“Anxiety weights the heart of a man, but a good word cheers it up.” Pr. 12:25

There are many verses about the health benefits on both sides when our words are kind and gracious towards others. Look them up for yourselves and write them down. 

Let’s Pray for each other:

Oh Holy Spirit, 

We are desperate for your help. We confess, there are times when we can be such chatter’s and do not think before we speak. [Confess the sins of your words___________________] Your word plainly tells us that death and life are in the power of what we say. We ask that you would forgive us for not thinking before we speak. We ask that you would put a guard over our mouth and remind us to think and speak good things. We ask to be good salt shakers through our words. This day, we repent and will choose life giving words. Words that will lift up and give life giving encouragement to those we love. Words that will be filled with your grace and love. And when we feel we must correct, help us to give this in such a way, they will only see your love and gentleness. When we become offended, help us to be silent and give good thought, instead of fretting and complaining. When we see or hear something that is against your holiness, we choose to stand our ground and turn it off or walk out of the room! We pray in Jesus amen. We love you Lord  

If your heart is clean, your eyes will shine!

Good Morning Warriors

“No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.

The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.

Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.

If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.” 

Luke 11:33-36 KJV

Years back, when I was taking a speech class in a secular college we were asked to give a speech on any topic of our choice. I gave a speech on the importance of light and how darkness is expelled physically and then I was able to bring word pictures spiritually. I almost refused to follow through because when I stood in front of all those students, not only did I feel a weakness in my knees but felt the sting of stage fright and I started to walk back to my seat. Just as quick, a rush of faith caught me in my tracks. I stopped and turned around and went back to speak. My attitude was determinedly: “I’m not going to allow a spirit of fear to overcome me!” My desire to scatter seeds [God’s word] for the Kingdom of God was much stronger, than any fallen pride or humiliation that could possibly follow afterwards. God rewarded my obedience as I received an A+ on my paper and speech. For me, this was a huge encouragement from the Holy Spirit as I identifiy Him as my guiding light who continues to lead me where I should go. Did I mention that my teacher was a Jewish lady? I felt privileged to be in her class. 

“The spirit [conscience] of man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching and examining all the innermost parts of his being.” Amp. Proverbs 20:27

Fear comes from darkness but light delivers us.

Fear comes from darkness but light exposes.

Fear robs us of blessings but light rewards.

Fear brings lies, but light brings truth.

Medical Science has proven that our hearts have a brain and thinks for itself. It is the heart that sends signals to the brain, not the other way around. One such study even related how the brain and the heart work together for a decision. 

When our hearts are filled with God’s Spirit we have a guiding light within us and there is a brilliant illumination that scatters all darkness around us. What can we say that can honestly stand in the presence of holiness, but God’s Spirit? We seek God and we listen to His Spirit and trust in Him with the faith that has been given to us. 

Our guiding light brings us peace while our flames keep flickering inside, and He is faithful to sift out all we hear and see in the world. His peace keeps our eyes bright, single and our hearts strong. Daily we can rest in this peace while being a Warrior in Christ.

Everyone is going through a trial. Some of your trials seem like a heavy weight upon your back as you walk up that mountain. Sometimes you think no one can possibly understand the anguish and suffering you have gone through in the past and now you have found yourself presently in the fire of affliction you dare to tread through. At times it seems our trials are lengthy and long going. Challenges customized for us individually, for we know we are all unique and being conformed into the image of Christ. God uses our trials for His light to shine brighter inside of us. The stronger the trial, the brighter our beacon shines. Our flesh resists, but His Spirit persists. Never think you are alone in your battle. Mercy is love’s greatest reward and your strength is being renewed daily by the steps of your faith.

How can we possibly go into the Holy of Holies unless His light guides and directs us by the Spirit of His will.

Heavenly Father,

We want to glorify you. We speak to our souls to bless you this day!  We will bless you in our minds, our hearts, our strength and all within us. We choose obedience over mumbling and grumbling. We choose to be single eyed and that the light that you have placed inside of us would be brighter and mirror your Holy Spirit’s love. We trust in you above every decision and step we take. We depend upon you for our sleep at night because it is you who has placed us in your secret place so we can dwell in your shadow. Thank you for your never-ending mercies that are new every morning. We thank you for developing your fruit inside of us and growing us up and turning up the wick for our lights to burn brighter and stronger. We thank you for the peace that is infilling those that love you as they pray from their hearts. Bring them a renewed peace they have yet to experience. Pour your river of life throughout their whole body and bring your hope back into their lives. Lift their souls up with your arms. Embrace them with your small whispers and quicken the eyes of their hearts to discern your presence. 

Oh Father, we thank you for the patience you have given to us through these trials. We thank you for your loving Comforter. We draw closer to you and ask to know more about your goodness. 

We pray for our children and grandchildren this morning. We lift them up and ask that you would continue to draw them closer to you and for them to understand you are faithful, in the trials and see your hand of hope. For those who aren’t where they should be, we ask that you would give them a holy restlessness. Where they are playing with the world, we ask that a sour taste would develop upon their tongues and go down deep inside of their stomachs to reject everything that is not of you. Where they are procrastinating in your will and ways, we ask that you would put a fire under them and a spirit of repentance to get on in your work. Where they have not called you Lord, we ask this spirit of repentance fall upon their hearts and for them to see the very depths of how sin destroys and understand the scars of your hands and the blood that salvation has brought. We ask for an undeniable clear eyesight of knowing that your son is Lord. We ask for a boldness and an infilling of your Holy Spirit to speak the truth into other’s lives. We ask for complete deliverance where hearts are stained from wounds and filled with lies and addictions and the honesty to accept these truths and the boldness and love to follow through. Wake them and shake them Father. Bring them up and call them forth. We ask that you would send your angelic messengers to boldly proclaim what they need to hear to bring them back to your Son. We ask that you would use our children to glorify you in every way. We thank you for this Father. In Jesus we ask. Amen.

  

Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees

                         

Happy Sunshine Ladies,

Have you ever had a thought come into your mind that seems to stay there? I have not been unable to get the thoughts about the yeast of the Pharisees out of my mind.

“Be careful, Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.” Mark 8:15 niv

Let’s ask God to open our eyes to this truth.

Heavenly Father,

We want to glorify you in everything we do. We ask You to open up the eyes of our hearts so we can see with clarity the truth Your Son was giving the religious leaders of His day. We ask for a keen sense of understanding and discernment to recognize a good tree from a bad tree and see the good fruit vs the bad fruit. We ask that You would remove any self-righteous thinking inside of us and that Your Spirit would purify us during this time of learning. Help us meditate upon your word and truth. Thank You Father for sending Your Holy Spirit to teach us the wisdom of Your Son’s Words.

And it is in His name we ask this, Amen. 

Yeast in greek means teachings. We could say, “Beware of the teachings of the Pharisees.” 

In Matthew 15:1-20 niv,  The Pharisees and teachers of the law approached Jesus, asking him why his disciples did not wash their hands before they ate?  

Jesus knew their hearts and was many steps ahead of these religious people and answered them with a question, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? [vs 3]”

Their tradition was their will. Not God’s will.

Jesus quoted the Old Testament as He held these religious leaders accountable. He related [my wording and paraphrases]: “God said that when you do not honor your mother or father, and anyone who curses them must be put to death. But, you say, you cannot help them because whatever they would receive from you is a gift that is devoted or saved for God!” 

Jesus’s response to their corrupt hearts was, “Thus, you nullify [invalidate] the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 

“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 

They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.” 

Is.29:13 

These people were supposed to be living by the laws, but broke the 5th Commandment: “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”Ex.20:12

I once met a lady in church who began telling me of her unhappy story about her present marriage. Her problems were not unique. As I listened, I was reminded there are two sides to every story and I did not get to hear his side. Here was the kicker: She was convinced that God had “His” man out there for her somewhere. In other words, she knew she had to get out of her present marriage because God had “His” man, the right man” for her to marry. Her thought life had built herself a “godly” case that included breaking her past vows and leaving a troubling situation [that with God could have been remedied] and into another marriage by nullifying the Word of God. She made God’s Word of: Ex. 20:14 “You shall not commit adultery” of no effect.   She was justifying her wants by saying “this is the will of God” like the Pharisees.

Another example is when a person works in a well stocked ware house and begins to help themselves out with the overflow by taking products home. Ex. 20:15 “thou shalt not steal” does not enter their minds because they are justifying their actions by saying: “God is supplying our every need. this is the overflow, they do not need it, nor will they ever miss it.” They nullify  God’s word and replace it with their own will.

I am sure you can think of examples of the yeast of the Pharisees for yourselves. 

Because the Pharisees teachings were corrupt, they were blind to the truth. 

The truth is, that all three cases were the result of not loving God. I believe  the teachings of the Pharisees goes against Luke 10:27, 28 amp: 

“And he replied, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor, as yourself.”

“Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly; Do This habitually and you will live.” [ Le.18:5; Ez.20:11; Mt.19:17]

Quick factcheck: 

Do we go to church, just to make an appearance at times? 

And, aren’t there times when we pretend to love one another, yet the caring isn’t in our hearts?

How much do we really believe in God?

Do we realize our belief reflects our lifestyle? Especially when we are home.

God help us.

No one would do the things they do, if their love for God took first place in their lives. And, don’t we all have some of that blind self-righteous sawdust in our hearts that sometimes justifies our will over God’s will, that needs to be removed? 

Let’s Pray:

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for revealing our serious shortcomings. Thank you for showing us our needs. Heavenly Father, we ask that you would do a deep house-cleaning in our hearts, our souls, our thinking processes and anything we try to do in our own strength instead of yours. We choose to look to you for everything and see your will in our lives. Catch us from making any excuses or reasonings not to live in your will. We ask that you would remove any blinders necessary for us to understand your will.  We ask for help. Give us your discernment and will to follow through in the faith that you have given to us, making a new habit of honoring your  commandments of love. Help us to be a more loving and sensitive people who will glorify you. Sift our hearts of any wrongs and even unknowing sins that we are not aware of and expel them completely. We ask that our spirits would be a gentle and kind spirit, always reflecting your love. We repent today from any self-righteous false teaching and choose today to grow good fruit. Thank you Lord. In your son we pray. Amen. 

[I’ve been having computer problems. Thank you for your patience.]

How do you respond in Tragedy? Good? Or, does it bring out the worse of you?

https://www.franksonnenbergonline.com/blog/a-tragedy-brings-out-the-best-and-the-worst-in-people/