Blessed Are the Merciful (Pt 1 of 2)

friendly connection

Remarkably, one can be despised by the world yet feel such joy. God’s joy is not merely the absence of hardship. God’s Joy is the presence of Jesus. Moreover, God’s joy might be the most reliable indicator of Jesus’ presence in the life of a born-again believer.

Are you willing to approach God feeling poor in spirit? Are you willing to acknowledge emptiness? I have nothing. I recognize who I truly am. I’m a destitute sinner in the eyes of God, and I lament over that. I feel sorrowful. All I want is for God to forgive me and to show me His mercy. That is the way to enter the kingdom. That’s how you arrive there. Being poor in spirit and mourning—He will welcome you. God will place within you a joy that cannot be found anywhere else.

Key points

1. Jesus Gives Us Mercy: Now, we find ourselves at this next beatitude of mercy, where Jesus addresses us, saying, “My children, I cherish you with an everlasting love and have shown you a form of mercy that surpasses anything you can fathom. You cannot fully comprehend how much you have offended Me or how serious your sins have been against My Father, yet I have completely erased your sins from your record—past, present, and future; I have treated you as if they no longer exist.

2. God Desires Us to Give What We Are Given: Peter asks Jesus, if he should I only forgive my brother seven times? Jesus said that He expected Peter to forgive as often as Peter himself had been forgiven by Jesus—endlessly.

3. What Will You Do with God’s Mercy: God gave David two separate opportunities to kill Saul on different occasions. Both times, David chose to show Saul great mercy. We will consider the second occasion found in 1 Samuel 26:23-24.

Main Text

Matthew 5:1-12 (ESV)