Category Archives: Lent

Blessed By – The Beatitudes

Posted on March 13, 2016 | Leave a comment

I began this Lenten journal on Ash Wednesday with what seemed like the bitter end: Judas betrayal of Jesus. The reality of his story is a reminder of the beginning he missed. Repentance is a “who” to repent to instead of a “what” to repent of. Isn’t that just what Easter is all about? Out of the Ashes of what we “were,” we are being Blessed…

• Blessed By knowing it’s not our spirit that sustains us. Self has Fallen Through the Cracks of life and in the process caught a glimpse of a promised new kingdom of heaven.

• Blessed By realizing that in the Unfamiliar Reality of the emotions of mourning God is replacing the need to cope in unbearable circumstances with the release of comfort.

• Blessed By an undeserved and unearned inheritance and an eternity to explore and understand what submissive, yielding and obedient is. Meek is the mystery of God moving us into position to fulfill his plans as we learn the difference between Be-ing vs Choosing.

• Blessed By Jesus using something as basic and daily as our body’s craveing for nourishment to remind us there’s Another Kind of Life to crave: long for, yearn, desire, want, wish or need – a life of righteousness.

• Blessed By the mercy of Jesus and The Perfected Golden Rule: “Do unto others…as I have done unto you.”

• Blessed By the power God and the life of Jesus to create pure hearts by chiseling away stony pieces to bring us One Pebble Closer to being able to see God.

• Blessed By peacemakers who go Beyond Just Fixing to create opportunity for those in conflict to explore the reality of truth as God means it to be: a path to unity not separation.

• Blessed By a new perspective on Jesus words and the fullness of one Greek word. What once seemed focused on “persecuted” now includes “blessed because they “pursue” righteousness.” In Each Case theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

It’s not over yet!

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In Each Case – The Eighth Beatitude

Posted on March 9, 2016 | Leave a comment

Matthew 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Ponderings:
Recognizing that people could be persecuted because they pursue righteousness is hard to bring to a daily level for me. I need some definition.
• pur·sue seems pretty positive – to follow (someone or something)…: follow, run after, chase…
• per·se·cute seems pretty negative – to subject (someone) to hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of…religious beliefs; oppress, abuse, victimize…torment, torture; martyr…

Those are dictionary definitions but here’s a third word I checked too. The surprise for me was that the Greek word the Bible translates as persecuted [#1377 diṓkō] included both those definitions I looked up. Strong’s Greek Concordance says:
• used positively (“earnestly pursue”)
• used negatively(“zealously persecute, hunt down”).
• In each case, 1377 (diṓkō) means “pursue with all haste (“chasing” after), earnestly desiring to overtake (apprehend).”

It was that word diṓkō and that last point, that brought the fullness of Jesus words into perspective for me. Life is both positive and negative.

…When the negative side is circumstances, events and people that “pursue with all haste (“chasing” after), earnestly desiring to overtake (apprehend)” and persecute you…
OR
…When the positive side is that you continue to “pursue with all haste (“chasing” after), earnestly desiring to overtake (apprehend)” righteousness.

In Each Case there is a promised blessing – the kingdom of heaven.

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Beyond Just Fixing – The Seventh Beatitude

Posted on March 6, 2016 | Leave a comment

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Ponderings:
Wanting everything to be fixed is not the same as being a peacemaker. I wish that were all it took.

Jesus is acknowledging there are some of his children who are gifted Beyond Just Fixing. They are peacemakers. They are able to create a unique connection between God and a world where separating one person’s truth from another’s has become the essence of conflict.

The peacemaker’s gift is not the ability to provide therapy, preaching or give good advice. They are able to create an opportunity for those in conflict to explore the reality of truth as God means it to be: a path to unity not separation.

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One Pebble Closer – The Sixth Beatitude

Posted on March 2, 2016 | Leave a comment

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Ponderings:
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about hearts and how God changes them. That’s what led me again to Ezekiel 36:26 & 27 – “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.Pebble jar

I think Ezekiel’s words are what Jesus is honoring with this Beatitude. Purity of heart is a slow but sure promise of the power God and the life of Jesus to chisel away at a stoney heart, pebble by pebble, and replace it with life and his Spirit.

Consider this idea. Find a lovely glass jar you’d be comfortable to have in a prominent place in your home. Either buy or gather a supply of small pebbles to have on hand. Every time you feel God tug at your heart, put another pebble in that jar. It may or may not be a big event but it’s an important one to remember; another pebble has fallen loose.

God is at work changing your heart from stone to flesh and you’re One Pebble Closer to purity and the blessing of seeing the reality of God.

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The Perfected Golden Rule – The Fifth Beatitude

Posted on February 28, 2016 | Leave a comment

Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Ponderings:
Mer·cy – noun
• compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.
• synonyms: leniency, clemency, compassion, grace, pity, charity, forgiveness, forbearance, quarter, humanity.

This be-attitude made me think first of the Golden rule. Then it dawned on me the Golden rule is more about personally controlling behavior. Do unto others…as you would have them do unto you. Certainly a good thing to practice.

The order of this blessing for these people of mercy is about behavior controlled by The Perfected Golden Rule. It has become “Do unto others…what has been done unto you.”

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Another Kind of Life – The Fourth Beatitude

Posted on February 24, 2016 | Leave a comment

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Ponderings:
It’s a fact of be-ing that food and water are real physical needs of life the body craves. Our bodies make us very aware of those needs. It was that word “craves” that connected my mind to this blessing this morning. It means to long for, yearn, desire, want, wish or need.

This is Jesus at his best using something as basic and daily as hunger and thirst as images to remind us there’s Another Kind of Life to long for, yearn, desire, want, wish or need – a life of righteousness.

The blessing is two-fold: to crave and to be filled.

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Posted in Lent, Matthew, Object Lesson, Wednesday

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Unfamiliar Reality

Posted on February 17, 2016 | Leave a comment

The Second Beatitude
Matthew 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Ponderings:
Mourning exposes a depth of emotions associated with loss that are an Unfamiliar Reality to us. Loss forces us to experience those emotions and at same time admit our coping skills will not comfort us.

This is the reality that Jesus simple words address: mourning releases us from our need to cope with those unbearable circumstances so we are ready for the blessing of comfort.

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Posted in Blessing, Lent, Matthew, Wednesday

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Out of the Ashes

Posted on February 10, 2016 | Leave a comment

John 12:4 & 5
But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.

Ponderings:
Judas—The betrayer who is politically correct…and corrupt. Maybe that’s a new term, “politically corrupt.” Judas—the master of diverting attention away from himself while appearing to be concerned for others. Why would Jesus have chosen him? I started to ask how Judas could have done what he did but came to my senses. Why would Jesus have chosen me? How many times have I said something I thought was truth only to find my ethics were more situational than real?

Judas wasn’t the only disciple confronted with his bad choices and really he was no worse than the others who turned away when the circumstances were tough. But…there is one BIG difference that is the essence of this Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.  When reality interrupted the corrupted, the others knew where to turn for restoration. Judas’ faith was in his actions and his choices. He is a sad reminder of the reality sin forces us to deal with: repentance. Even that has critical choices [1] WHAT you repent of…not merely being sorry you were stupid or caught and [2] WHO you repent to.  There is only one who has the power to pick you Out of the Ashes of sin and restore you…Jesus.

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