Devo for 09/22/2024 service- Message by Pastor Jeff Collene

This past weekend Pastor Jeff continued in the series “The Way That Leads to Life.”  He made several points that encouraged me and provided a Kingdom perspective.  When talking of Matthew 5:7, Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy”.    He made the point that it glorifies God when we show compassion to those we feel we have the “right” to crush. As we know from the series we are in, obedience to the Beatitudes will bring us blessings and a reward.  So as we show mercy, mercy will be given to us.  The opposite of this would be: we will not receive mercy if we choose not to show mercy.  The parable of the unforgiving slave is one worth the read if we struggle with this, Matthew 18:23-35.

His message brought a fresh perspective on the power of all of the Beatitudes (actually would apply to all of the commands of God, we obey and then recieve the blessings He has for us).  We know that Beatitudes can be defined in its simplest way as “The Blessings”.  David Guzik points out they could also be understood as “giving the believer his be-attitude, the attitudes he should be”.  In other words, the Beatitudes should be goals we as Christ Followers desire our character traits to be.  

This is our responsibility: to live our lives with a burning desire to make sure all of those around us see each of the Beatitudes in all of our words and actions.

Pastor Jeff also pointed out that the opposite of the Beatitudes is what the world believes we should be.  The black or white of this statement instills in me the importance of self reflection, to make sure I am reacting as Christ would, and wants us to, rather than how the world says we should.

So, how are you doing?  I encourage you to take some time and go through all of the Beatitudes and let God tell how you are doing!

Don’t forget to invite God into your day!

Matthew 5:3-11

Galations 5:22-23