Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Matthew 5:8 (NKJV)
^“Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.”

To be pure in heart is to be filled with honorable, godly thoughts and emotions.  It is to think positive thoughts toward ourselves and toward others.  It is to have the heart of God that is expressed through the prophet Jeremiah:  ^“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV)

To be pure in heart is to follow Paul’s advice to the Philippians:  “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.  The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9 NKJV)

In purity of heart, we will see God.  In the Greek, the word translated as “see” means to gaze “with wide-open eyes, as at something remarkable.” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)

In purity of hearts, we will see the wonder, the power and the glory of God.  In purity of heart, we will rest in His promises. In purity of heart, we will abide in hope and in peace.  

Remember: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7 NKJV) God’s desire is that we be pure in heart so that we will be pure in deed, and in that purity we may gaze on His glory.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart today,
Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.

“I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;
Fulfill Thy word and make me pure within;
Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame;
Grant my desire to magnify Thy name.”

---James E. Orr

Blessed Are the Merciful

Blessed Are the Merciful

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Matthew 5:7 (NKJV)
  ^"Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy."

Translated from the Greek, “merciful” means actively compassionate.  Just as God actively bestows mercy on us, we are actively to give mercy to others.  We are to demonstrate God’s consideration, caring and benevolence to the world. 

However, in order to be truly merciful, we must be able to discern the fine line that exists between compassion and negative enabling.  God is merciful, but He does not enable our sin, our doubt, our unbelief.  God, through the Holy Spirit who lives within each believer, enables us to be over comers.

Paul admonished the Galatians to be merciful and, yet, to encourage others to do their share. Galatians 6:1-5 (NKJV) ^“Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.  But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load.” 

If we do not allow and encourage others to grow and do the work of the Lord in caring for themselves and others, they will be unable to rejoice when examining their own work.  If we do not encourage others to “bear their own load,” they may come to believe that they are unworthy and/or unable.  In our mercy, we must encourage others to depend on the Lord and who they are in Jesus Christ and not on us.  It is not merciful to promote low self-esteem and dependence on man. 

Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians expresses the same thought:  2 Thessalonians 3:10-13 (NKJV) “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread. But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.”

To give someone a fish is to be merciful for a moment.  To teach him to fish is to be merciful for his life time.  One of the greatest mercies we can extend to others is to teach them to steward their time and their resources.  Even people who must legitimately rely on the mercy of others will prosper more if they spend both their time and their money more wisely.

We are, likewise, merciful when we encourage others to use their abilities, no matter how limited, in service to themselves and to others.  When we encourage their stewardship and their abilities, we are doing the Lord’s work in delivering them from the bondage of low self-esteem.

In our country, the welfare system, meant to be compassionate, has become a political program that discourages the work ethic and promotes low self-esteem and dependence on the government. For numerous families, dependence on the welfare system has become a generational curse.  Many politicians foster the program to insure their own reelection.  

We pray that the Church will, in mercy, encourage God’s people to be merciful indeed.  May we be compassionate enablers for a positive change in the lives of others. 

Sukkot: The Feast of Tabernacles

Sukkot: The Feast of Tabernacles

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Lev. 23:33-43

September 18, at sundown, marks the beginning of the feast of Sukkot or Tabernacles. During this feast the Jewish people build tabernacles or huts because Sukkot is a memorial of the forty years that Israel spent wandering in the desert and God’s provision for them. According to Nehemiah, during the forty years in the desert, their clothes did not wear out.  God provided for all the people’s needs.

The dedication of Solomon's' Temple also took place during this feast (I Kings 8:2).  It was after Solomon’s prayer of dedication that the Lord spoke the following from the heavenly throne room. (2 Chronicles 7:14) “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”  Sukkot reminds us that if God’s people, the Body of Christ, if we will humble ourselves and repent of the wickedness within God’s tabernacle (that’s us again), He will hear from heaven and heal our land. 

 

After the return from the Babylonian Captivity, Ezra read the law and led the Israelites in repentance during the Feast of Tabernacles (Nehemiah 8:13-18).  

Jesus fulfills this feast as he does all the others. He provides for us, if we seek the kingdom, and He will protect us. Matthew 6:31-33 (NKJV) “Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the unbelievers seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Another scripture of provision:  Philippians 4:19 (NKJV)  “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

The Feast of Tabernacles is a celebration of the harvest of the fruit of the land.  In that regard, it looks forward to the final harvest, the greatest gathering of God’s people, that time when all believers come together, and God tabernacles with us. Revelation 21:1-4 (NKJV)  “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." 

Psalm 118:15-17 (NKJV) “The voice of rejoicing and salvation Is in the tents (tabernacles) of the righteous; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. The right hand of the LORD is exalted; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. I shall not die, but live, And declare the works of the LORD.”

During the eight day celebration of Sukkot, let’s praise God for His provision, His protection, His desire to tabernacle with us and in us through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.   Because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ, we, literally, “live, move and have our being in Him” (Acts 17:28).  Sukkot celebrates that relationship.

Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah)--Updated

Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah)--2013

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

     Leviticus 23:23-24 "Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, "In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation."

The Feast of Trumpets begins at sunset on September 4 because the biblical day goes from sunset to sunset.  The Jewish name for this holy convocation is Rosh Hashanah which is usually translated "the beginning or head of the year." Actually the Hebrew word “shana” means to change.  Rosh Hashanah implies that something in the spiritual is changing. It is the beginning of a new season in our walk with the Lord.  God works in seasons. “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)

     According to Jewish tradition, Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of Adam and Eve and the fall into sin.  It is a reminder of the covenant relationship between God and mankind.  It is a time of new beginnings.

      Rosh Hashanah is observed with the sounding of the trumpet.  The traditional trumpet is the shofar, the ram’s horn, which also represents the trumpet blast of the coronation of the king. The sounding of the shofar is a call to repentance because Rosh Hashanah is also a reminder of man’s first sin and repentance for that sin.  As Christians, we should also be reminded of God’s provision for our sin. Rosh Hashanah begins the "Days of Awe" which end with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  

      The shofar also commemorates the sacrifice of Isaac which occurred on the day that God later established as Rosh Hashanah. The sounding of the shofar reminds us that a ram took Isaac’s place as an offering to God.  Abraham named the place, "Jehovah-Jirah", God is our provision.  Abraham understood that in ages to come God would provide the means of our salvation, His Son, Jesus Christ.  

        Because Rosh Hashanah is the Feast of Trumpets, we should remember the importance of trumpets in our relationship with God.  In Exodus 19, people were to wait for the sounding of trumpet before going near Mt. Sinai where God spoke to Moses. (Exodus 19:3b) "When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain."  (Exodus 20:18) "Now all the people witnessed the thundering, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off."  God was beginning a new season as He molded a band of ex-slaves into a mighty army.

        It was with the shouting of the people and the sound of the trumpets that God brought down the walls of Jericho and gave the Israelites their first victory in the Promised Land.  The defeat of Jericho was a new beginning for the people of God.

       The Lord will again bring a new thing with the sound of the trumpet when Jesus returns. (Matthew 24:29-31) “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 

(1 Corinthians 15:52)  "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

            Remember the Feasts of Trumpets by sounding the trumpet, blowing a horn, ringing a bell.  With joy in our hearts, we remember the trumpet soundings of the past and look forward to the sounding of the trumpet when Jesus returns.

            Rosh Hashanah is a time for speaking blessings for the season to come.  A simple blessing is "Shana Tovah", which literally means "Happy Change” or “Happy New Season " in Hebrew.

Celebrating the Feast Days is not required, but a powerful blessing can come to us when we more fully understand what has been accomplished in our lives and in the Kingdom of Heaven because of the atoning, redemptive ministry of Jesus, our Messiah. Whether our celebration is elaborate or simple, our remembrance should include thanksgiving, worship and joy. God is giving a party and He has invited us.

Shana Tovah! Shana Tovah! Because of Jesus, our new season is blessed.  Because of Jesus, we are changed; we are renewed.