Praise God for gathering His people to worship, to pray, to learn about Jesus, and be restored in His Presence. On Sunday the entire congregation pressed in and God responded. Thank you Jesus for the privilege of life with you. Thank you Josh and the worship team, Jess in service leading, service team, prayer team, Jodie in communion, kids and youth teams, and everyone who arrived prayed up preparing the spiritual ground for Spirit and Truth worship in God’s Presence.
Words: Stand still and see God’s salvation. The enemy will no longer consume your land.
The Message: When we understand that the message of Matthew 5:3-5 echoes the prophecy of Isaiah 61 - a prophecy that Jesus declared fulfilled in Luke 4:16-21, we see that the Beatitudes are crucial to receiving Jesus as Saviour and continuing faith in Jesus as Lord.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” Matt 5:3- “He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.” (Isa 61:1)
“Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4) - “He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted” (Isa 61:1)
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5) - “to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,” (Isaiah 61:1)
Meekness is the quality of humility, being willing to be led. Captives and prisoners are led places they do not want to go.
The sad truth is that not all who are captive to sin are meek. Not all are willing to be led by Jesus; out of the sin life and into a new and living way. Are you?
Unless you are poor in spirit (dependant on God), in mourning because of the human spiritual condition, and willing to be led by Jesus, you will fail in your discipleship to Jesus. These things are crucial to denying self, taking up our cross, and following Jesus. God bless you and Holy Spirit grace you to choose Jesus every moment.
Next week Robert Harrison will bring the word as we continue in the Beatitudes.
Church let’s keep on examining the word of God and letting the word of God examine us. Let’s continue exchanging our ways for Jesus’s way. This is how we are being transformed into His image.
Love and Grace to you,
Debbie-Ann Bax