More than just words…


More Than Just Words: Living Out the Sermon on the Mount Today

  • Focus: The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) contains some of Jesus’ most profound teachings on how to live. This post will have one specific beatitude or commands (e.g., “blessed are the peacemakers,” “love your enemies,” “do not worry”) and discuss the application of it in your life.

One of the Beatitudes is “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”  Who are the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness? They are the people who are reading this or maybe someone who you know. The thirsty ones are the ones looking for a Savior and He can only be found by putting your faith in Jesus Christ and believing in Him for your Salvation. Your thirst…your hunger for fulfillment in something or Someone can only be filled by giving your heart to Jesus Christ.

He came to be the Savior of the world, to be a Savior to every person in the world. He didn’t come for fame or accolades from Presidents or monarchs, He came because God loves everyone no matter where you live or the color of your skin. God came in the Person of Jesus Christ to pay the price for the sins of the whole world. He paid that price, but He didn’t go to hell and preach to those who were lost. He didn’t go to hell to experience the hell that we deserve. He did go to Paradise to lead the captives free and take them to Heaven.

God’s love is so complete toward each of us but we can’t imagine a love like His. The only love from a human perspective that could come close is the love that parents have for their children. God considers us His children, whether we have accepted Jesus as our Savior or not. He had a part in our creation before we were born, so He is our Father. When you give your heart and your life to Jesus you are adopted into His family and your name is written in the Lamb’s book of Life.

We have been reconciled


God is our salvation


I say to the Lord, You are my God; give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord! O Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle. Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked; do not further their evil plot, or they will be exalted! Selah As for the head of those who surround me, let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them! Let burning coals fall upon them! Let them be cast into fire, into miry pits, no more to rise! Let not the slanderer be established in the land; let evil hunt down the violent man speedily! I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy. Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name; the upright shall dwell in your presence. Psalm 140:6‭-‬13 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.140.6-13.ESV

Seek Joy in Jesus


The magnificence of the Lord!


O LORD, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast, thou made them all: The earth is full of thy riches. So is this great and wide sea, Wherein is things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the ships: There is that leviathan, Whom thou hast made to play therein. These wait for all upon thee; That thou mayest give them their meat in due season. That thou givest them they gather: Thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good. Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: Thou takest away their breath, they die and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: And thou renewest the face of the earth. The glory of the LORD shall endure forever: The LORD shall rejoice in his works. He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: He toucheth the hills, and they smoke. I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD. Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD. Psalm 104:24‭-‬35 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.104.24-35.KJV

The Creation all around us is enough to see His majesty and love toward all of us. But many don’t want to recognize it that way. God loves us and all of His Creation, and it grieves Him to see how we treat each other.

Do you believe in Him?


There are times that I notice people who say they believe in His power to save and His power to heal but it seems to be more of a “head knowledge” kind of belief rather than a deep, heartfelt conviction. The way I look at the Bible and God and Jesus and all of their abilities is based solely on what He has done in the past and what He will do now…if we will have the conviction to follow through. Remember, a conviction in this sense is a strong belief and is deeply held. It is not swayed by the opinions of others.

It was conviction that began the church after Jesus was resurrected and then taken up to prepare a place for His people. Ideas and a belief that is only knowledge of a fact or a memory is not the same. Peter and the other disciples would never have started the beginnings of a church or a movement without a true conviction that their Savior lives and in all of the promises that they heard from Him. A deeply held conviction cannot be shaken even when everything around you is not going according to your plan. God is still behind the scenes, moving the pieces so that “all things will work for your good“.

Prayer and reading His Word daily will strengthen your faith and your convictions about Him. Although many of us who claim to be walking with Him only do so when we are at church. We don’t practice our beliefs when we are at the doctor’s office or when we are traveling or at work. That is not the part of our life that we allow God to invade unless we need Him to. We need to remember that “God came and walked in the garden“, He wanted to be near and with His Creation, Adam. The only time we read this is after they have eaten of the fruit that they were not supposed to eat, but I believe that God walked with them to teach them every day. How else would they learn?

Belief and conviction are different sides of the same coin. One is just an intellectual knowledge where you have read about God’s miracles and you know that He has done this in the past. The other is based on that but it is deeper meaning that He is still doing those things today. God didn’t stop performing miracles in the first century, He is still doing it even now somewhere in the world. Take that into your heart and believe it with enough conviction that those problems that you are having or going through are being fixed by the Creator as you pray. Just believe it in faith.

Be prepared…


When God invites you into an adventure it’s a special moment, a divine moment . . . an eternal moment. You won’t get many. So, be prepared. Be ready with a quick, “Yeah, dad. Totally.”

If you have ever felt that God was calling you to do something…do it. Don’t argue with Him like so many children do with their parents and grandparents today. Sometimes what He calls us to do for His Kingdom doesn’t feel like a “safe” thing to do. Consider what Moses did or what David did. One had left Egypt because he had committed a murder of an Egyptian. One came to bring his brothers some food from home and found a giant of a man mocking the army of Israel and their God. Both of them felt the Spirit calling them to do something that was dangerous and outside of their comfort zones. In David’s case, the need was apparent and immediate. He did something about Goliath with God’s strength and help the stone that he sent toward Goliath’s head killed the giant.

Moses had lived away from Egypt and the plight of his people for many years before God called him to go and free the Jews from captivity. He didn’t want to do what God asked and he argued with God about his ability to do it but eventually, he did go and God freed the Jewish people from bondage that had lasted for four hundred years.

What does their example tell us today?

Both of them were chosen by God for their purposes and we are as well. Our purpose…your purpose may not be so grand as theirs but to God, it is still important. Each of us has a purpose and sometimes it takes a while for us to be ready for it even if God called us many years ago. Sometimes we run from God the way Jonah did. Sometimes…we just ignore the call and hope that God will choose someone else. But God knows our strengths and our abilities and our calling may be to live our life before someone else so that they will hear Him one day. Our example of living our Christian life every day could be our calling and it could be yours.

Each of us has someone in our circle that might only listen to or pay attention to our example. We might not know who it is but one day in eternity we will. Your calling may be for a large ministry but you don’t think you have the ability. God can take your ability and your resources and multiply them in ways that you can’t imagine. I never imagined that my website would draw as many readers as it has and I pray that it will continue to grow until Jesus comes to set up His Kingdom on Earth. Look around on my site and see if you could do this. If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, please seek Him out soon because none of us is guaranteed another day.

God holds all things together!


His Words will not go away


Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Matthew 24:35 KJV https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/mat.24.35/1007

God is our Refuge


16 But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. Psalm 59:16 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.59.16.KJV

Amen