February 24, 2021: The Joy and Inward Contentment We Have in The Lord If We Are Truly Broken in Him.

I heard a message yesterday on the radio from Pastor Chuck Swindoll while I was sitting in my truck. The message was on the "Beatitudes", the Sermon on the Mount given to the people by Jesus. The message addressed how "blessed" one can be if we truly live our life in full contentment focused on our Savior, Jesus Christ.

The word "blessed" is stated nine times by Jesus, (Matthew 5: 1-12) but I loved how Pastor Swindoll defined what "blessed" means: "The lasting joy and/or peace of full dependence on the Lord". I want to address just the first two beatitudes, "The Poor in Spirit" and "Those who Mourn".

Matthew 5: 3-4 (NKJV)

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn,

For they shall be comforted.

The reason these "two beatitudes" stood out for me is because to be "poor in spirit" means that we must come before the Lord admitting to our self that we have nothing good in our life to give to our Lord. We must come "empty-handed". When we are poor in spirit, we must live our "life in total dependence on the Lord".

The world we live in today tells us that we must life for ourselves..."it is all about me". When we live in total dependence on the Lord, we are fully happy to be able to give everything to Him. We no longer worry about the outcome and eternity of our lives. It has been fully determined by our Lord...eternity with Him in heaven.

The second beatitude, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted". Those who mourn, are those who mourn over their sinful life, past and present. In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul speaks about, "Oh wretched man that I am". It is the sorrow of a "broken heart", the grieving over one's own sins. But at the same time, we have the deep, deep joy of the forgiveness from God for what He did for us by sending His Son to die on the cross for our sins. We sense a forgiveness from God and know that we can to go on with our lives because of His forgiveness.

PERSONNAL COMMENT:

To be able to live out these "beatitudes" in our lives, we must come to God "fully broken" and "absolutely surrender" before Him. We must come to realize our utter helplessness without Him. It is then and only then will we come to complete joy and inward contentment in our lives. My prayer for all is that you too find the inward joy and peace with God you are earnestly seeking for.