Sermon on the Mount-Part 1

For the last week, the Lord has kept me in Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount. I first got here by coming accross it in my regular devotions, normally I would read it and then continue on, but this time Holy Spirit has gotten me to dig in further. Here's a sample of what I have recieved.

Matt 5:1a
When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a mountain. Those who were committed climbed with him.

The first verse in this 3 chapter series emphasises that those with a burning hunger for knowledge and teaching are the only ones who are going to recieve it. The lazy and uncommited who are not willing to saccrifice time and energy will not receive the rich teachings of Jesus Christ.

"Im climbing up the mountain of the LORD, towards his holy place, and every step is grace"

Matt. 5:1b
Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down.

The second part of the first verse shows the need for stillness...something the LORD has been showing me for the last 9 months (hmmm, thats scary!) yet I have still been stubbern and unwilling to submitt to the concept of being still.

The Beattitudes

I have heard teaching on these many a times before, yet they are so rich I must go threw some of them.

Blessed=makarios (greek) which means so much more then blessed, it means supremely blest, fortunate, well off, happy to name a few.

There are 8 beattitudes, yet after studying them, I came to the sobering realization that I am only exercising 7 of them.

Beatitude #6 "Blessed are those whos hearts are pure for they will see God."

Pure=hagios (greek) which means-sacred, pure, morally blameless, consecrated, most holy, saint, innocent, perfect, clean.

Ouch! Im not there yet. Fair enough Im crawling at a slow pace up a small incline towards holiness, but regardless Im not there yet, and at this point I wont see God. Sobering. However this has motivated me to stop crawling, stand up and run towards the goal. Yet, in doing so ememy attacks have been tougher and rougher, Oh Lord, may I be given grace to acheive this!

"Im climbing up the mountain of the LORD, towards His holy place, and every step is grace"

I have also found it interesting that even though I have been promised 7 other rewards, I am not and will not be satisfied untill the fullness of all 8 are acheieved. Similarily, could I suggest that the beatitudes are an all or nothing deal?

Well thats it for part 1. There are 111 verses in the sermon on the mount...and I have only done 11 of them. (notice the amount of 1's I have just mentioned, not planned!) And if I was reading this I would be getting bored right about now, so I will stop for now, but do not worry, for there is more to come! Bless You