Matthew 5:9

Hello All,
What a gorgeous day the Lord has given us. The sky is so brilliantly blue. We are so blessed. Have you counted your blessings today? I did a few. It's good to count blessings each day to help keep our equilibrium in this crazy upside down world we live in.
Today's blog is on Matthew 5:9: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." I like this one because I live with a peace maker. I've seen how the Lord uses Chuck through the years to help keep peace in our home.
Our daughter is so much like Chuck that it's scary. But, it's also a wonderful blessing. But, because she's like Chuck, she's not like me and we would often collide in many ways. Chuck, thankfully, would be the peacemaker between us. He was always encouraging us to keep communications open, even if there was anger on either/or both sides.
I think that being a peacemaker is a gift from the Lord to help keep things from getting out of proportion, especially emotionally. Another name for peacemaker is mediator. Christ and the Holy Spirit are mediators between us and God.
So, how to do you act as a peacemaker? Do you need a peacemaker to help in your life? Why do you think that Jesus said that peacemakers will be called the sons of God?
I think that those who cause trouble are living in a sinful state. When we come to Christ, we have His peace in our lives. If we are not being peaceful in our every day lives, we are not manifesting Christ to others. If a person is NOT saved, they certainly aren't going to be peacemakers, are they?
God blesses us when we are peacemakers. He gives us His peace and the assurance that we are doing His will when we manifest His peace and help others achieve peace in their lives. Strive to be a peace keeper.

Striving,
Sandy

Matthew 5:8

Hello,
What a cold blustery day! Where is our fall? Of course, our spring was spectacular, wasn't it? Did you enjoy the revival meetings? The Lord blessed us with good attendance every night. I enjoyed going through the old testament looking at examples of revival and obedience to the Lord.
I enjoyed the worship that Chris and Vanilda brought us too.
Today we're going to look at Matthew 5:8. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." This is such a wonderful verse. Do you know of anyone that you could say is 'pure in heart'? I do. Her name is Retha and when I'm in her presence, I sense the Lord's presence more fully. When she prays, I feel like the Lord Himself sits down beside her, waiting to answer her prayers.
Retha has cerebral palsy. She's older then me and has difficulty getting around. Her speech is difficult to understand sometimes, even though she speaks slowly to help us understand her. She loves the Lord so much and has been a prayer warrior for me through the years since I met her back in 1982.
What does it take to be 'pure in heart'? I think it means to walk in obedience with our Lord in such a way that the purity oozes out. This 'heart' is kind, gentle, loving, patient, prayerful, etc. I have too much fire in me to be pure of heart, but it's something wonderful to aim for, isn't it?
So, what changes can you make in your life to become 'pure in heart' so that you fulfill this blessing? I'm thinking of ways and seeking the Lord for His help. How about you?

Seeking,
Sandy

Genesis 3

Hello,
I've finally decided on Genesis 3 to use with our resident tree frog. I named him Froggie, but Chuck calls him Herbie. Anyway, I think he's hiding in the dirt and until I re pot the plant, we have a new addition to our menagerie.
Froggie/Herbie likes to croak at really weird times. If I speak to him, he shuts up for about 5 minutes. Now, we're assuming that Froggie is a boy, but he could be a she. I guess I'm not ready to call her Frogette. Anyway, Froggie hides from us and that brings me to the reason for this topic.
Hiding. We hide or try to hide from God. We hide our sins, thinking that He doesn't see them. We hide from doing service because we don't want to get involved. We hide from listening to Him when He wants to spend time with us.
Adam and Eve tried to hide from God also. After reading Genesis 3, come and join me......
After the pair had eaten from the tree it tells us starting in verse 8, that they could hear God walking in the garden. God calls to them: "Where are you?" Because God is all-knowing, He knew where they were and what had happened. They didn't understand this because the Bible had not been written yet to tell them. But, they had an advantage over us: they walked with God.
Adam answered that he was naked and hid from God. He knew his sin, didn't he? Then, he tried to pass the buck of responsibility to Eve, telling God: 'the woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.'
So here's the list of sins: defied God's order to not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Believing Satan's lies instead of God's truth. Hiding from God when no one can hide from Him, ever. Then, blaming Eve for his own sin. Also, as head of the family, he was responsible for Eve's being led astray and him not correcting the situation.
Adam's sin didn't just affect him, did it? Eve, and all generations to come have paid the price for not listening to God. That's a great example for us, in that our sins affect those around us, even to further generations.
So, what decisions are you going to make so that you don't hide from God? How can you lead the way in your family to help others not hide from God so that their sins don't grow?
Don't be a Froggie. Hiding from our Lord is Satan's way of deceiving us. God's way is truth. Remember: He is the truth, the way and the life.

Trying not to hide,
Sandy

Mathew 5:7

Hey Everyone,
I'm not doing well in blogging every day. Sorry. Life happens. Prayer, for everything. We need prayer for our revival at church. Betty and Debbie are going to have surgery. I learned a couple of days ago that a very dear friend, Diana Rea has Mezophilioma cancer. That's the cancer from Asbestos. She's a mom with 8 children and a pastor's wife. Her lungs keep collapsing. There isn't any cure for this and the standard chemotherapy won't touch it. She's about 50 and a wonderful Christian woman. Please, keep her in your prayers too. Thanks!
On a funnier side, we have a tree frog in the spider plant in our living room. I took the plant back outside to try and get rid of it, but it won't go. Needless to say that when we're not expecting it to 'croak' it does. Even Tucker looks up to see what's going on. I have named it Froggie and Chuck is calling it Herbie; go figure! Not sure how long it will last, but for now we have an additional pet in our home. I've been trying to find a verse so I can do a blog on Froggie, but haven't come up with anything, yet.
Our verse today is from Matthew 5:7: "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Because I like what Warren Weirsbe teaches in his commentary, I'm going to quote it: We experience God's mercy when we trust Christ (Eph. 2:4-7), and He gives us a clean heart (Acts 15:9) and peace within (Romans 5:1). But having received His mercy, we then share His mercy with others. We seek to keep our hearts pure that we might see God in our lives today. We become peacemakers in a troubled world and channels for God's mercy, purity, and peace."
That says it all, doesn't it? Do you share His mercy with others? Those of you who have the gift of mercy, you do it better than people like me who don't have the gift. But, we're all to give mercy because we've received mercy. I like what Warren said at the end: we are channels for God's mercy, purity, and peace. What an opportunity to be those very things to our families and others.
What things hinder our being merciful? Perhaps selfishness? Or busyness? Not thinking about others at all?
I'm married to a giver of mercy and I've watched him through the years and learned a lot of things. I've told people before that Chuck got all the mercy in our family; none leftover for me. I have to work at being merciful. I have care and concern for people, but I don't always show it. That's the difference between Chuck and me.
So, watch those with mercy and study them. Then, using God's Word as your guide, emulate what they do in their service to the Lord with His wonderful gift of mercy.

Working to display His mercy,
Sandy

Matthew 5:6

Hello,
I hope your week has gone well. The cooler temps are ushering fall in and I don't think I'm ready. The prospect of winter doesn't sit well with me. I like warm weather better than cold. It's too bad we won't have beautiful fall leaves. Our lack of rain has played havoc with the system.
The verse for today is one that I really like: Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." I hunger and thirst for righteousness, do you? When I seek God and His precepts in His Word, I am filled, full to overflowing.
Do you remember the song with the line: 'you fill up my senses, like a walk in the sleepy blue ocean'? God fills our senses with Him when we study His Word. When I was a new believer, I didn't know anything about the Bible. I thought I would never be able to learn anything. As a stay at home mom, I felt that my brain had gone to mush. But, as I studied His Word, I did learn. I found things in the Bible that I had never known. It showed me how I should live a righteous life before God.
Have you found that as you study His Word, that you find nuggets of gold? Do you want to find more? Does the information meet a need in your life? What do you do with the information after you've read it? Do you apply it? Remember, studying His Word is called hermeneutics, applying is called exegesis.
What would you think if after sending your children to school, then off to college that when they got out they didn't know anything? A waste of time andmoney right? Well, when we become Christians, it's our responsibility to learn from God's Word what He wants us to know. Then, we need to apply it.
Hunger and thirst for righteousness, for you will be filled; God guarantees it.

Hungering and thirsting,
Sandy

Jeremiah 35

Hi,
Praise the Lord, that even in the midst of many difficulties all around us, He is Sovereign. With many friends going through trials, every time I open His Word, I'm reminded that He is with us, carrying us and walking with us through these trial and tribulations. So many people to pray for and with revival coming to our church, Satan is working overtime.
The chapter I gave you to look at today is long, but worth the reading. It really speaks toward revival. The Jews were being 'stiff necked people' and not listening to the Lord as He was calling them into obedience. Verse 17b says:"I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to them, but they did not answer."
That's where we are as a church, as a country and world. God is calling, and we're not listening. Daily as I pray for revival, I have to ask myself: Do I need to be revived? No matter how close we walk with the Lord, I do believe that we all need to be revived.
In some cases, people have walked away from the Lord, their first love. Others, are walking with Him, but not as closely as He desires. Still others are walking close and delighting in the fellowship, but just long for more of Him and less of them. Where are you?
Because Chuck is gone for his job, our time on the weekends is catchup time. Not just to get work done, but to spend time together. When we don't get that time because of family or other obligations, we both end our weekend knowing that even though we've been together, we've missed out on something precious.
Revival comes in all shapes and sizes. What is your shape or size? What is your need or want in your walk with the Lord? As you read this chapter, see that the Lord blesses the descendants of Jonadab, because of their obedience to Him. God rewards our obedience. Come to the alter and be revived.

Seeking Him,
Sandy

Matthew 5:5

Hi,
I see that it's been awhile since I've blogged. Sorry; my days are jumbled I guess. I hope that you're all doing well. The evil world is working overtime with our church preparing for revival. We need it badly. Too many people are not loving God like they should, or each other. Thank you for all who pray.
When I was preparing this portion today, I tried to think of a word picture. The story that I'm going to share comes from just before we moved to the Czech Republic in 1993. Chuck had gone over to be a part of an Evangelistic English Language Camp in Northern Czech, near the Polish and Slovak border. Sitting on top of a mountain has its rewards, for the beauty, but also its trials.
Chuck had a young man in one of his classes that proclaimed he was an atheist and was quite vocal about it. Chuck just kept loving the guy even through his persecution.
The pump for the well gave out and before they could get another one and get it hauled up the mountain, some one had to get the water drawn so the cooks and people could have the much needed liquid.
Early in the mornings, before anyone was up, Chuck would go up to the well and start the process of running the generator to draw the water. It was quite a process with the generator being fussy.
One morning, much to Chuck surprise, the young atheist joined him. Slowly Chuck built a re pore with him and was able to share Christ. By the end of the camp the guy said that he finally believed that there was a God. Not a Christian yet, but at least the first major step.
Our verse from Matthew 5:5 teaches: "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." This young man was on his way to meekness. By acknowledging that God exists, he was surrendering his idea about God; that's meekness.
Secondly, Chuck was meek to not force the issue of God being God. He just calmly shared his heart with this young man and God used Chuck's meekness to draw that young man to Him.
The point of this verse is two fold. One, we are to be meek and this brings Heavenly rewards. Meekness is basically 'power under control' and we are to be meek toward others. Secondly, we are to be meek toward God, thereby being submissive to His power.

Trying to be meek,
Sandy

Matthew 5:4

Greetings,
The Lord has been pouring out His blessings with the fine weather we've been having. It's so pleasant to sit outside and enjoy. Tucker likes when I sit on the deck, then she can keep the squirrels from reaching ground and going about their day. There has to be a blog in that somewhere! I know, Satan prowling around like a roaring lion, waiting to attack us. Thankfully, the Lord is bigger and stronger and can protect us.
Matthew 5:4 tells us: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Have you ever looked at this verse as mourning our sin instead of mourning the loss of a loved one? Because, that's what it's talking about. Do you mourn over your sins? Does it motivate you to do better?
In what ways can you do better, as in not sinning, or perpetuating a particular sin in your life? I think the best way is to repent. To turn away and not do the sin. What does the Word teach about your particular sin? Have you studied it? What does the Word say as to how you're supposed to live a victorious life?
The last part of the verse gives us the fruit: for they will be comforted. I know that when I'm sorry for my sin, truly repent, then the Lord brings the comfort that I'm forgiven and cleansed. He also gives me help to not continue in the old way, but to forge ahead into a new way of living.
So, confess your sins and be comforted, knowing that you are right with our wonderful Heavenly Father in your obedience. Revival is on the heels of confession, you know.

Comforted,
Sandy