A poem I wrote my mom for mothers day. Happy mother's day!


Mom,

Word’s can’t describe just what you mean to me,
But here it goes, with this poem, I’ll try you see
From the beginning you’ve put my life before your own,
Sacrificing everything to provide a perfect home.
Giving me principals upon which to stand,
Showing the way, leading me, holding my hand.
Guiding me through the storms of life,
As my wisdom, my strength, my comfort in strife.
Unfailing love, pure and true
God, no doubt displays His love for me, through you.
No matter my works you love me the same,
Even when I was young and pitched a bad game.
My biggest cheerleader and #1 fan,
You’re the greatest support, that’s given a man.
I wish I could say, “I’ve never done wrong!”.
But you know better… you’ve been by my side all along.
You’ve the seen the good, the bad, and how ugly I can be,
Yet none of that matter, you’re still here for me.
Now I’m a man, no longer a young boy,
But you’re still my mommy, my heart’s greatest joy.
You’re the glue of my life, you keep me in check,
When I foolishly think, I hold every card in life’s deck.
To raise a devil like me, It took an angel like you.
And God knew only you, could do what you do.
I close by saying; Mom, you’re better than the rest.
I love you and thank you for doing your best.                        Love,
                    Your Son

The Perfect Heart Transplant

Glory in God's Righteousness that is Free, but costly.

Romans 1:18    “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”
                
   I pray that this study be an encouragement rather than a discouragement....


--“Ungodliness”, quoted from John MacArthur, is ‘a lack of reverence for, devotion to, and worship of the true God.’ (wickedness). We glorify ourselves rather than the creator. We “make the incorruptible God, into image like corruptible man” (1:23). We worship money, sex, alcohol, and things of this world more than God. Where does your money go? Does your money, our most “valuable” possession on this earth, go to God? Does it go to alcohol? Does it go to drugs? Where does it go? Where our time and money are invested is where our loyalties lie. (Matt. 6:19-21...  “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on Earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break and in steal;  but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”)Our investment, as Christians, are not in things of this world. Our investments are in Heaven. Our investment is in Christ. Its an investment of the soul, not of the flesh. The ungodly “suppress the truth”, and invest in things of this world.
(Titus 2:12 “instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age”;

-- “Unrighteousness", is the result of Ungodliness. This is not conforming in thought, speech, or in works, to the character and Law of God. Our Ungodliness will inevitably cause “self-righteousness”. The ungodly will inevitably look for hope. Human’s desire hope. We desire a cause for life or a purpose. Where does our hope lie? When we are not worshiping God, or being ungodly, we are worshiping ourselves, or something that is of this world. We serve “the creature rather than the creator”(1:25).  Whether good fortune or bad fortune, God has ordained it. He is not the author of Evil, as that title belongs to Satan, but just as with Job, God uses evil to serve His purpose and will. God allows Satan to be the “king of this world" and allows satan free roaming to prey on souls on this Earth. He is the author, sustainer, and murderer of this world. He seeks to destroy the kingdom of God with his own glory. BUT he is not all-knowing. He is not the creator of the Universe. He is a fallen angel. He seeks his own righteousness, which he passes on to us in the form of pride. We seek our own glory in everything we do through the flesh. We are selfish people, which explains why its so hard to trust and “invisible" God. (I say invisible because we cant physically see him like other human). We have to submit to a higher power?! People DO NOT WANT TO SUBMIT. We don’t want to. Not because we don’t want to do good in the world, but because we are after our own righteousness. We answer to no one but ourselves. But!!!! “...Being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God."(Rom. 9:30). Do you think it coincidence that Ungodliness (defective relationship with God), will lead to unrighteousness (pride in ourselves, rather than pride in God)?? The reason I ask is because we need to be aware of the unrighteousness that comes up in us, even as we become saved. We are still sinful in flesh. We still have sinful tendencies.  Satan will try to distort even our good works into sin by attempting to “puff us up" with our own glory. Our pride will be attacked. Our pride should only be in God. “But he who boasts, boast only in the Lord" (2 Cor. 10:17)
God allows the devil to test us, as He did with Jesus, Job, and every other person in history. But boast in God, rely on God, not in ourselves to protect us from the father of lies. Do not simply ask to have God get you through a trial. Pray that you SEE GOD through a trial. That you see God in whatever situation may be and Glorify Him. Boast in Him. Be thankful for whatever your circumstance may be, as God has ordained it to be that way... and He has ordained for a reason that we may not know for minutes, months, years, or until eternity. “...but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hop. Now HOPE DOES NOT DISAPPOINT, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was GIVEN TO US.” (Romans 5:3-5) That quite possibly might be favorite passage of Scripture. What else needs to be said?!  “tribulations” is used to describe pressure. The pressures that come with being a child of God. Including the pressure from Satan to attempt to distort truth, fill our minds with our own glory, and his attempt to steal our faith. Our trials and tribulations, or pressure, will develop perseverance, or patience. Our ability to stand underneath immense pressure of Sin and remain calm cool and collected. The ability to remain calm, cool collected, and in prayer/thankfulness to God even through troubles will produce our character. It is the proof of our faith. It is the fruits of the inner workings of our salvation. Our character is not our salvation, nor is our works, but it is the “proof” of the salvation. with character becomes hope. Our hope in Christ will not disappoint. Our hope through these trails lies in Christ, in the freely given spirit. Our hope becomes a reality when we become saved and is evident as we show the character of Jesus through our trials, attained by perseverance. We do not do this on our own accord. We do this in obeying God.  In trusting God.
-- “Suppressing the Truth”  Is to hold down or deny God. False teachers are suppressors of the truth.The Truth being there is a Creator, He is one God. His Son is Jesus Christ, the Messiah, promised in the Old testament; sent from Heaven to be a perfect sacrifice so that we would be granted perfection in the Father’s eyes, through the free gift of His Spirit, to be spared of His eternal wrath.
-- The wrath of God is  not a sudden outburst of anger. It is a warranted, justified response to Sin. It is revealed either 1)directly (His divine intervention; fire and brimstone in Sodom, flood, etc.)... Or 2) Indirectly (natural results of violating His moral law).
5 forms of God's wrath:
1)Eternal Wrath (HELL)
2)Eschatological (final day of the lord)
3)Cataclysmic (Flood, fire and brimstone at sodom and gomorrah)-- connect the weather today with God's judgment.. verses.
4)Consequential sowing and reaping
5) Wrath of abandonment removing restraint, letting people go to their sins. (PS. 81:11,12; Proverbs 1:23-31; Hos. 4:17)

Romans 1:19   “..because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.”
         - God has planted evidence in everything we see, since God has “created the world..”( Acts 17:24).. We have reason, law, understanding of right and wrong are set apart and different than any other creation. We are the keepers of the universe. No other species, insect, animal, alligator, or anything can impact this world more than human beings.  We are made to have “dominion" over everything else. (Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, “ Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the seas, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the Earth.")We are set apart and above anything else. We are chosen. Notice how; from the beginning, we were chosen by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. “Our" image, “Our" likeness, “Spirit of God"(Gen1:2), ..... Chosen to die for. As God was making creation, Jesus knew that He was going to have to die for us. God is All-Knowing.I think It would take more faith to believe that we all came from 1 cell and “EVOLVED” into what we are today. The same cell that became a species of trees, became the source of my life as a human?? Or the same 1 cell somehow became 2 completely different being in a human and a coffee bean?  It is harder to believe that than the theory that an everlasting, eternal being in God the Father designed this way. A bound book of parchment written so long ago still resides in humans possessions around this world. A set of parchment that has remained the same. A set of scriptures that is the spoken Word of God in the form of our Holy Bible. God speaking to us. Only something created by the Creator could be as fluid, impelling, life altering, spirit breaking, and spirit building in the same form written through various forms. Some may say, “its contradictory”... Well yes it is, if you don’t look at the context of the words you read.  But if you look underneath the surface, you find a fluidity between texts that span thousands of years, unlike anything else you’ll read. You will find God speaking to you through a verse. Your conscience speaks to you, your morality speaks to you....your Creator speaks to you. He is evident. ....  I know that’s a little off topic, but it’s important to understand what is being suppressed and what the Truth is.
 --Romans 2:5  “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”
-- The English word “sclerosis” (arteriosclerosis, a hardening of the arteries), comes from this Greek word for hardness of heart. Our hearts are hardened to Christ. Our hearts are set on our benefit, and Christ leaves us to worship, not ourselves, but a “Creator”. That scares some people. That though of trusting somebody you cant even see face to face is tough. Any why not, everything that we see is corrupted. This is the Father of Lies world. Men cannot be counted on. We have proven it time and time again throughout history. Some of us can say we actively display our depravity daily. To refuse the remedy of this, is to refuse God’s mercy. To refuse God’s mercy and grace, is build up more wrath for yourself in the day of judgment before God.  The “impenitent heart”, refuses to repent and holds tight to Sin. The flesh. It suppresses the truth of God. How then are we ever supposed to be rid of that heart and to have salvation and true worship of God?!
Well, do you think it’s a coincidence that:
                        1) -- Our hearts are the lifeline of our lives. They are the vessel that pumps blood through our veins and gives us physical life.
                         2) The bible refers to salvation as a “change of the heart”
                                            **  Romans 2:28,29     “ For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh, (29)    but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men but from God.” Yes, if you are a Christian, your are an extension of Jews. We are Jewish in reality. Christianity is the fulfillment of the Jewish religion. Christianity is a new “religion”, I don’t like calling it just a religion because its not.. but... Christianity is formed from the Jewish Messiah. Our Old testament is the same Bible(minus New Testament) they have.
                                            ** Deuteronomy 10:16  “Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart and be stiff necked no longer,..” Circumcise, cut away, the flesh from your heart(metaphorically), as in cut the sin out of your life. As to have a clean relationship with God with a renewed heart.
                                              ** Jeremiah 4:4    ‘Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, And take away the foreskins of your hearts, You mend of Judah and inhabitants of Jersualem, Lest my fury come forth like fire, And burn so that no one can quench it, Because of the evil of your doings”
                        3) We die with Christ on the Cross, which means our heart stops beating.                                             **  Galatians 2:20,21    “ I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (21) I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through law, then Christ died in vain.”
                Dead in sin. Alive in Christ. And unchanged heart is evil in nature, until we have a heart transplant. Our heart is circumcised (Cut away of the old life filled with sin with no remorse or guilt). We admit that we are wrong and we die to sin, our heart has been circumcised or cut away. Then from Heaven, “...a sound from Heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind..... they were all filled with the Holy Spirit”(Acts 2:2-4). The heart is exchanged for a new heart and we are resurrected with the Holy Spirit Indwelling. A new life. A life redeemed, justified, not perfect..but forgiven. A new process of sanctification to bring the believer to a closer walk with God.With a new heart, a salvation for eternity.

      Salvation being and inward working of change by the Spirit through the direction of God.  Our salvation through faith in Christ is displayed, NOT attained,  by our words, deeds, fruits. We become a light for God. Our fruits are a product of our salvation. There is no way we are going to earn our way to Heaven. If we could, then Christ served no purpose with His life, death, resurrection. Jesus came to be our perfect sacrifice. so that we could have “faith apart from deeds of the law” (Rom 3:28), because we could not be saved by works/keeping the law “for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, god did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin. He condemned Sin in the flesh.” (Roman 8:3). Jesus willingly and obediently served. He fulfilled God’s will and became an example of a perfect obedient life. He became our joy, hope, and salvation. He died for our mistakes. For our sin... Jesus took on every temptation tenfold. As our obedience to God grows, our temptations increase. The devil has to work harder to study us, to find holes in the “armor of God”. (Matthew 4, the temptations display the increasing temptation with resistance. ) So imagine Christ, being perfect... The temptations are still there. The mind starts to wander....but not Christ’s. He stayed perfect through the worst temptations possible. Direct temptations from the Father of Lies.

Thank God that He would send His Son, so that we could dwell in Eternity with Him. We are depraved in our very nature. We are lost while looking for God. I don’t know many men or women that were saved without being broken first. Whether that brokenness be a 9 year old trying to figure out life, a 16 year old with the rejection of Christ that our schools have, or a 33 year old recovering alcoholic adjusting to the freedom of Christ and the conviction of the Spirit.... No matter what walk of life, you are broken to receive Christ. You can’t receive Christ without “circumcising the foreskin of your heart”.... Without a heart transplant. And Christ’s obedience leading to his suffering, death and resurrection have made the new heart available. Our donor is Christ Jesus who we give thanks by bringing glory to His name. Our purpose on life is to glorify God.
 If you ever wonder if what you are doing is right and your having trouble discerning the Spirit. Ask yourself if it glorifies God. If it is, then you are obeying. If it does NOT  glorify the Father you have a change to make. We do not earn Christ’s love. We do not earn favor with God by our works. We earn favor in God by complete brokenness over our sin, leading to our repentance. The Repentance made available by God’s sacrifice, Christ Jesus. Faith justifies (makes righteous) because Christ’s life is imputed (given) to us. The Gospel saves. We receive the Spirit, which is the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us. Our heart is changed, we are clean in God’s eyes. We are justified (righteous) and being continually sanctified by the Spirit that dwells in our new heart. We have hope in Christ. We are here to serve the Eternal living God. To bring glory to His name. We are here to be tested in this faith to prepare for the next life. John Piper calls it being a "sage". Through Christ, the direction of the Holy Spirit, in accordance with God's will; we are being sanctified. We are progressing to perfection that will be attained in Heaven. We are founded on the Word, built up in the Word.Our wisdom is from the Spirit that discerns God's word. We want to be the person that people go to for advice because the advice we have is from our lips, but if we are willing, will be from the Spirit... from God. Allow ourselves to be tools for God to show the hope that He has given us.. in His Son, Christ Jesus.

Perfected in Christ

I wish I could say I was perfect. I wish that I could say that I practice everything that I preach on a regular basis and without failing. I wish I could tell you that I could keep the rules in every aspect of my life and never fail at anything I tried. I wish I could say that.. but I can’t. I can’t say that because I am human. I am flesh, bone, blood, and sin. We all are. There’s no escaping it. Becoming saved won’t make you live a perfect life. Becoming saved won’t make you financially secured for life. Asking for God’s forgiveness and believing in His Son won’t make your problems go away. BUT being saved will:
1)make you perfect in God’s eyes....:
      Matt.19:21  --Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
       John 17:23     --  (Jesus praying)     ...I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
2)Give you wealth for eternity.......:
         Proverbs 3:13-15    -  Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold 15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
         Matt 6:19-21      --  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:  21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

  There’s no way that I can keep all of God’s laws, God is perfect, His law is perfect, and His Judgement is perfect. I am flawed, fallen, and corruptible in the flesh. But in Christ I am Justified, crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20,21), and Incorruptible in Spirit, as the Holy Spirit dwells in me. No matter what I have done, will do, am doing....God has forgiven me. Although I, and the rest called to Christ, could not keep the law... Jesus could. His perfect sacrifice made all who are reconciled to Christ, Justifiable in God’s eyes. His law is written on our hearts in the form of the indwelling Spirit who convicts, leads, and interpret’s God’s word to us. Thank God for His mercy. Without His mercy we would still be sacrificing livestock every year as an offering for forgiveness. We would still be without the Spirit and have to live without the same guidance. But by God’s grace, a savior was sent to be perfect for us. To be our everlasting sacrifice of the only perfectly obedient messiah in the flesh. To be tempted, tested, and tormented by the devil. But with complete power over Sin...
           So, you might be thinking.. “Well we have forgiveness, we’re already counted perfect because we believe in Christ and trust Him as our lord in savior and want to give all the glory to God, BUT... if we are already saved and counted righteous by God... then I can just continue to Sin and just ask forgiveness?!   Answer is quite frankly NO. And I'm not contradicting myself. When your saved, the Spirit is our dwelling guidance. Our link to God. The Spirit guides us in prayer, life, and conviction. When you are saved, you strive to be like Jesus. You strive to not sin. When you do sin, the conviction of the Spirit will hit you like a middle linebacker on Sunday. There’s sincere mourning over Sin (The Beatitudes). There’s a guilt unlike any other guilt you could experience. Our faith will show itself by “fruits”.. or works.. Not saying that works save, because obviously, through the necessity of Christ,  can not outwork our bad deeds. We “earn”salvation through Christ, and the result is the desire to produce “fruit”, or be a light/witness for God. Christ overcame sin with his cry   “It is finished!”. We overcome sin with the sword of Christ... The Word of God, translated by the indwelling Spirit, made possible by the love of God manifested in His Son’s crucifixion.

Catholics.. Most of you are wrong.

Catholics:
   
     I wanted to say something tha'ts semi-short and to the point.
     God is the ONLY forgiver of Sin. Popes and priests have no power to forgive sins. They are just as fallable as anybody else(besides Jesus).
      We are saved by faith in Jesus, through God's Grace. There is no way to earn, or work, your way to Heaven. (Galatians 3; Romans 1:16-18; Romans 3:21-26; ETC.....)
      Mary is not holy. She is not a divine figure by any stretch of imagination. She is a tool, just as any Christian is to be used. Her use was just recorded in the Bible and she was the flesh of Jesus. If Mary was divine, then Jesus sacrifice and the ENTIRE New Testament is void. Because the reason for JEsus sacrifice being a perfect sacrifice and sufficient to cover sins is because he was fully human and fully divine. If he wasn't fully human, Jesus would have not been able to die. He had to die, according to God's will, So that we had a perfect sacrifice. He was perfect,fully human, fully divine, and becuase of His earthly death, we receive his righteousness as our own in eternity.
       Sacrament is sacreligious.
Jesus death was sufficient to cover sins. There's no longer a need for sacrament or offerings, or rituals. That was why we have a new covenant....because those rituals were never good enough to earn salvation. Our Good will NEVER outweigh our sin.
        There is no intermediary between us and God. We receive the Holy Spirit when saved. Jesus righteousness at that moment of salvation is imputed to us. We have direct access to the Father through the Spirit and the Son... Notice the Bible never refers to popes.. notice the Bible never refers to Paul, Peter, or anybody but Jesus being able to forgive Sins....

Stop hailing Mary, Stop asking the priest for forgiveness, and Stop thinking there is anything you, or any of us, can do to earn God's Salvation.. Instead:
Hail Jesus, Ask the High Priest, in Heaven, for forgiveness, and be joyful that through God's Grace, We are Justified by Faith alone.

No Questions asked..

Our human instinct, (sinful nature), leads us to question everything. It leads us to
need an absolute answer that “makes sense” to our feeble human minds. Most of us,
including myself have that see it to believe it mentality. We need physical evidence,
proof! Do you think that’s a coincidence? You think Satan is going to allow our faith to
go untested…more importantly, do we feel that GOD would allow our faith to go
untested? There is an ongoing state of spiritual warfare that Satan engages in. He twists
our thoughts, he flips scripture on it’s head. He helps us justify sin because after all,
God’s already forgiven our trespasses, He will forgive another small sin, right?.... these
are the thoughts that aren’t generated by God. They are allowed by God, just as Job was
tested. God allowed Satan to test Job’s faith. Satan had to ask permission of God, to test
us. Job is the same as any believer. Job is you, me, our friends, our family… any child of
God can relate to Job. We are all tempted, tested, tried. God allows satan to find weak
points in our “armor of God”. God uses the temptation of satan as part of our
sanctification. Our sanctification is an ongoing process where we are formed to the
image of God. This process does not end until our saved soul is reunited with our perfect,
holy, blameless body in Heaven. If you are alive, your sanctification is not complete…
But God uses evil for good. It is a theme in scripture. (look-up scripture verses relating to
evil for good). Only the Creator of the universe could possibly use satan for good. He
makes the father of lies look like a fool, for although he may temporarily win a battle or
two here and there because we are unable to keep the perfect law, satan loses the war for
our soul. He has already been defeated in that war. God’s elect are “…Now (not
condemned) In Christ…” (Rom. 8:1). Christ is our perfect obedience to the law. In
Christ, we are incapable of losing the war. The Spirit will not allow it. God will not allow
it, and Jesus, who died for us, will certainly not allow it. We are His, and therefore we
belong to God.. because He chose us… A Perfect God, choosing us among all people,
before we were born to belong to Him… as the most beautiful song that I have ever heard
says…
‘Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound…That saved a wretch like me. ‘

How sweet God’s grace really is. No matter what we have done/ will do, He has already
chosen us. Jesus has already made us His. He is our intercession before the Father. If we
are Christ’s we are God’s. The reality is,(as much as you may not want to hear this), God
hasn’t chosen everybody. God desires that all hear the gospel, but God knows not
everybody will accept Him. Jesus did not die to save everybody. He died to save those
who would accept Him, and those who God foresaw would have faith. We do not seek
God. Our sinful nature does not allow that. We only seek God, when God first seeks us.
Just as with the Pharaoh and Moses. God softens hearts and hardens hearts according to
His will. This does not take away our responsibility because we are still held fully
accountable. We still have a choice. We ca continue to be disobedient. We can deny the
gospel. We can keep on sinning in our ways and continue to live for ourselves. BUT once
God calls you, there is no turning back. You cannot deny the Grace of God.
(1 Corinthians 1:18)
‘For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.’

Faith seems silly to those who have no faith. If you do not believe in Christ, then His
message seems farfetched because what in our human lives have we experienced that
would lead us to have faith??? What in humanity can we have faith. Humanity is fallen and corrupt. We can have no faith in humanity. If we could, then we could rely on
ourselves to do the right things. We could rely on ourselves to earn oru way to Heaven. If
we could rely on humanity, then Jesus is unnecessary. God is unnecessary… But thank
God that His Son came so that we don’t have to rely on humanity. We don’t have to rely
on ourselves to earn our way to Heaven. We can rely on the perfect sacrifice. On the Son
who is our faith. He’s our hope. Mankind will fail you time and time again. Jesus has a
perfect record. He hasn’t failed a single soul that trusted in Him. Not one. Not ever.

The Beatitudes: Matt. 5:1-12

Bible study from Matthew 5:1-12...  " Beatitudes"
Matthew is written by a direct witness of Christ. Levi the tax collector (Matthew) was a disciple of Christ. Matthew is a first hand account of the life of Jesus.

(5:1)"..He was seated.."-  Sitting was the customary position while teaching. Jesus sat to teach, we stand to preach?
(5:2)  ".. He opened his mouth...taught"-  Can you imagine the Lord of ALL creation sitting directly in front of you, teaching?! How remarkable is that? The Son of the Living God teaching you the most important lessons to learn to prepare for Heaven. No worries of false teaching. The most precious lessons ever taught in the history of the world being spoken to you from the Creator. How hard is that to fathom being a witness to that? The best part?? We have the Word of God. We can read His words and be taught by Him. Cherish this.
(5:3)   " Blessed"- this word literally means "Happy, fortunate, blissful". Not a surface emotion, but an eternal peace. Being Blessed is having an everlasting joy. You can't obtain this through a work, you obtain this through Faith in Christ. There is an eternal peace about every situation, whether you realize it or not. The Spirit gives us comfort during times of trials and tribulations because our suffering on this Earth is temporary and with faith, God brings us out of the most dire of situations. We may not get what WE want, but we get what we need.
                "... poor in Spirit.. Heaven.." -- This refers to the faithful who recognize their Brokenness and need for Christ. These are the humble. (This is not to say it is a constant humbleness because Men's pride will constantly get the best of them) Proverbs 16:19 speaks to this: "Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud."... The 'spoils' of the proud, refers to the gifts of this world given by the "god of this world", Satan. (2 Corinthians 4:14). Though the spoils of this world may lead to wealth, fame, etc... it leads to an eternal flame in Hell. Wealth is not essential, God will bless us with what we need and with faith what we desire. These "poor in spirit" recognize that we have nothing to be 'proud' of. The spoils of this world lead to pride. God is the only perfect being, we fall short of His glory. If we had the capability of earning our way to Heaven then Jesus had no way to die. We cannot earn God's favor through any works, except a 'work' of faith in Christ. God looks to "dwell in a humble heart" (Isaiah 66:2), because only a broken heart and soul can accept Jesus. There is no place for pride in God's Kingdom. We humble ourselves before Almighty God and accept His grace through Faith.
(5:4)---   "...Who mourn.."-- The brokenness of the faithful continued. This is a reference to the mourning over our sin. Its as a child disobeys his father. We are mournful over our condition as we disobey our Father. His disappointment is felt through the Spirit that dwells in us. A reconciled soul longs to be free of of sin. The Spirit that dwells in us won't allow for habitual sin. The guilt is too much to bear. BUT:  "... They shall be comforted."-  We will be comforted and relieved of all sin. How amazing is that? We are not perfect, but we will be perfect. God already counts us as perfect. He has counted us as perfect since before time. We are reconciled to Christ, not because of what we do, but because of what Jesus has done, and God ordained. God desires a relationship with us. A perfect God, desires imperfect man. This does not say that our sin is ok because we are saved, but since we are saved, we are comforted by the forgiveness that comes witht eh free gift of salvation.
(5:5)--  "... the meek..." ---  'supreme self-control'. this self-control is not a human attribute, it is a gift given by the indwelling Spirit of God. Many people have self control, but the supreme self control that the Spirit offers changes everything. This is not automatic and overnight. Its not completed on this Earth. It is a progress in our Sanctification. Meekness if a gentle attitude. The meek have no desire for retaliation against another because we have experienced the most extreme case of forgiveness. We have experienced God's mercy. Not to show the same mercy towards others is impossible with genuine saving grace. This is described in the "fruits of the Spirit" in Galatians 5:22-25:
                      " But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. and those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with it's passions and desires. IF WE LIVE IN THE SPIRIT, LET US WALK BY THE SPIRIT. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another."
      We are servants of Christ and are being conformed to the image of Him. There is no place for retaliation in God's kingdom.
(5:6)-- "... hunger and thirst for righteousness.." -- The unfaithful seek a self-righteousness. They seek the  "pleasures of this world." Satan being the God of this world will grant the pleasures of this world to all because he seeks to lie, cheat and steal. He is active and well in this world and if you dont believe me just look around you. Its evident everywhere we look.  Sex sells, corruption runs rampant, hypocrisy is at its heights. God is the only righteous one. We are made righteous through Jesus. That is the only way to satisfy. God blesses those who thirst for the righteousness only He provides. The pleasures of this world satisfy only temporarily. That's why when we drink, we always need more. When we eat, we will need to eat again to satisfy our hunger. When your saved, your satisfied eternally. There is no need to be saved again. If you seek God's righteousness, then His righteousness, imputed to us by Christ, will satisfy us eternally.   .."for they will be filled."
(5:7) --   "...Merciful..mercy.."-- A redeemed heart has experienced diving grace. There is no turning from divine grace. The justified man shows mercy to others the same way God has displayed His mercy towards us.
(5:8)-- "...pure heart..."-- genuine faith/saving grace results in the indwelling Spirit. The Spirit is pure. Our flesh (fallen man, sinful nature) is what leads us to sin. But being genuinely saved, we have a pure heart in the Spirit. thus, ".. they shall see God.."
(5:9)--  "peacemakers.."  We are to show the same grace God has showed us. To be peacemakers in this world, knowing in this world, peace can never fully be attained, but by allowing ourselves to be tools for God, we can bring a peace to those around us by giving them the everlasting peace that comes from a relationship with God. 
     ** as a side note, in reference to grace:
                      Grace= God's goodness to those who deserve punishment.  
                           1)Common Grace-  The Grace of God by which he gives innumerable blessings to all, that are not a part of salvation. (Wayne Grudem: "Systematic Theology")
                           2) Saving Grace -- God's redemptive mercy to compensate for the shortcomings of man. resulting in our 'sanctification'."
(5:10)--   "...Peresucted..sake.."- It is counted a blessing to suffer for Christ. God has divine grace and His divine grace gives us comfort even when being persecuted that our eternal future is secure and the time/suffering on this earth is temporary. Paul referenced suffering for Christ on numerous occasion in the NT.
(philippians 1:27-30; 3:10; 1 pet 2:19; 2 Cor 7:9,10)
(5:11,12)--  "... There have been many persecuted for God in history. However, we can rejoice because the persecution is temporary. Our persecution will glorify God. It is better to suffer temporarily for Christ on this Earth than to denounce Christ, follow ourselves, glorify this world and spend eternity in Hell.

Counted Righteous through Christ

Romans 3:23-26
We serve an All-knowing, All-Powerful, All-Righteous God. His knowledge is beyond human comprehension and His love beyond comparison. How else could you explain a Father sending his Son to die for people that do not deserve it? I'm talking about us sinners of course. We created the need for a sacrifice in our place so that we could Glorify God and spend eternity in Heaven rather than Hell, where He would be justified in sending us. Sin had to be paid for. From the time Eve ate the forbidden fruit until Jesus Christ, God had "overlooked" sins and his wrath on mankind. He did this because foresaw the sacrifice of his Son to come. His Son would pay the penalty for those sins and our sins. Without Christ we all would be condemned to Hell...."FOR ALL HAVE SINNED, and fall short of the glory of God,"(Romans 3:23)... God could have been justified in condemning all of us, because we cannot and never will be able to earn our salvation.. just as Paul says in Galatians 3:21,22 keeping God's commandments cannot give everlasting life.. you can't perform works to earn salvation because God and His law are perfect and the only way to earn salvation would consist of perfection, which we are far from... We are all "trapped" by Sin and unable to escape its bondage on our own. Humanity is totally depraved on our own. Through God's love he chose to save some. And those who he chose to save, in order to achieve favor in the sight of God, needed a perfect sacrifice.... Jesus Christ. Who had to live a perfectly obedient and sinless life to be counted perfect for our sacrifice. He has the only perfect record against sin in the history of humanity. As Wayne Grudem says in Systematic Theology(pg.571): " If Jesus had needed only sinlessness and not also a perfect obedience, he could have died for us when he was a young child..." But he didn't, he needed to be perfectly obedient because we as sinners couldn't be..." being justified freely(at no cost) by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus," (Romans3:24) Being justified is an act of God in which he forgives our sins and imputed the righteousness of Jesus on us, to be "without blemish" in his sight. When you accept Christ as your savior and repent of your sins, we are forgiven and God no longer sees us,but Christ, as the Spirit dwells in us and the Son intercede to the Father for us. Through Christ sacrificed, He freed us from the bondage of sin that we could not do on our own. Christ took the wrath of God in our place. Through faith in Christ and repentance for sins we committed (that put Jesus on the cross), we are redeemed. Holy in the eyes of God and no longer have condemnation (a guilty verdict) from our sin. The punishment that we should have received as sinners, was bore by Jesus Christ on the cross..."whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed." (Romans 3:25) It was not a surprise to God that we would need a Savior to bear the weight of our sins. God knew we wouldn't be able to earn Heaven, so He withheld His wrath to be poured out on the only "person" who could bear it (willingly at that), His Son. This wrath was not only carried out through through most painful death in crucifixion and the flogging preceeding...(crucifixion would result in asphyxiation of the victim. With the hands outstretched and a nail through the wrists, a nail through both feet. The chest cavity outstretched makes it near impossible to breathe. To get a good breath, the victim would have to force his body upward with the weight on his feet. The elbows flexed, would cause excruciating pain in the damaged nerves from the wrist and the pain the feet would be almost unbearable. That coupled with the back, being ripped and torn, rubbing up and down on the wooden cross.. the victim finally "voluntarily" gives into asphyxiation and stops breathing.)- written by a physician in 1986 in "Journal of the American Medical Association".... but also Jesus bore the wrath through bearing our sin: you see, we feel convicted and anguish when we sin, Christ, who in his very essence hated sin, took on all of our sins past, present, and future... felt the anguish for everyone at all times in his life, although He never sinned! Not once! We are natural sinners... He is the enemy if sin. The white knight against sin... he also bore the wrath through abandonment: Jesus was abandoned by his disciples when He was arrested. He also shared in glory with God through all eternity, left that to become human, and in the last moments of His life, God casts darkness and could not even look at His Son..(Matt.27:46 and John 13:1) Christ was a "propitiation" meaning, a sacrifice that bears God's wrath to the end and in doing so, turns that wrath into favor, for us, with God. He is our propitiation through faith in Him, in His crucifixion... God couldn't be righteous and not punish sin.. He was justified in substituting that punishment from us sinners to the perfect Son. We couldn't save ourselves, but Jesus (being divine yet human) was able to bear the wrath of everyones sin,(Hebrews 9:25-28) once and for all. Roman Catholics, in their mass, they must repeat the sacrifice of Christ, as to say that Christ Crucified wasn't sufficient to cover our sins once and for all... which in complete contrast with scripture( Romans 3:24,24;6:6-11;8:1;Ephesians 2; Galatians 2&3; and the most definitive being Christ's last words in John 19:30..." it is finished!") John 19:30 says it( the atonement) is complete, there is nothing else needed to cover our sins after accepting Jesus into our life. Jesus bore the wrath of our sins because we could not and cannot do anything else to earn salvation. We are saved by justification through faith in Jesus that sanctifies us and counts us righteous before Almighty God. We can rejoice and be glad that we are "Now,"( at the moment of accepting Christ) "no longer condemned in Christ"(Romans 8:1) and nothing but faith in Christ can get us to Heaven. Thank God that we are unreservedly given his grace and mercy.

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