A Christian Life

"Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." Matthew 5:4 Again we have a paradox, mourning and blessing seem so far from each other at opposite ends of the spectrum, it hopefully gets us to start asking questions what is the Lord saying to us? Maybe a good question is do we mourn enough? Have we ever mourned? The words of Christ come on the heals of poorness of spirit it follows then that this verse is referring to our sinful state, which we should be mourning, not because it is something we long for as people mourn for those who have died but rather because of how terrible a state we are in. The Gospel however is one of hope and of peace with God and so our Lord starts by saying we are blessed if we are unhappy about the state of our souls, sorry for what we have done, having a truly repentant heart, for in the midst of this type of sorrow we will be comforted. This comfort is not of the sort of worldly comforts but that which renews the relationship with Go...

Matt 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." John has been imprisoned his voice now silenced but Jesus shows complete agreement with John's message and a continuation "Repent" turn for the kingdom of heaven is near, Jesus is calling those who hear to turn to God to turn toward the kingdom of heaven which is where God is. The word repent here means - to change one's mind or purpose - I repent, change my mind, change the inner man (particularly with reference to acceptance of the will of God). - Jesus is calling people to think on Godly/heavenly things and to turn toward those things. The call is still the same today as it was then to make the things of the Lord important to keep them sacred and to follow the Godly way to turn away from the worldly activities which reap only worldly benefits. BUT then our Lord says "for the kingdom of heaven is near" this could be an encouragement to some or sc...

"It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test'" Matt 4:7 Recently I saw a debate between some Christians and some Atheists the one Atheist was quite unhinged he even brought a bottle of anti-freeze and taunted the Christians to test their belief, I was reminded of this passage. How often do you test God in your unbelief, I know I have at times, but Jesus is here being tempted, taken to a very high place and told, hey God says he'll keep you safe so just jump, Jesus says no need to place myself in danger just so I can test God, nor does God stop being God just because he may or may not perform as we wish. Jesus trusted the Father completely knowing that the Father will save when it is truly necessary, So don't get yourself into a pickle and them complain that God doesn't remove the consequences of your actions, don't blame Him for your action, just simply trust Him no matter what the circumstances. Paul writes "6 Do not be...

“Joy is the serious business of heaven.” C.S. Lewis - “Letters to Malcolm” (1964)