Daily Bible Verses for 9/7/2016

Bible Verse
And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.”

Reading Notes
Jesus in His discussion, which we call the Beatitudes, continues to give us wisdom directly from God. Wisdom which leads to eternal life, because following it leads us back to Jesus Himself. We have to remember that His words were not only meant to comfort us, but also to give us instruction and understanding on how to draw closer to God through our faith in Him. His words also give us a better understanding of what our relationship with God is to look like in relation to our day to day lives. This is important because our relationship with God through our faith in Jesus is a matter of the heart, in other words it’s a matter of our love for God. With our faith in Jesus, we give our hearts to God, and through His redemption, we become children of God. The Beatitudes therefore, show us the character changes which occur in our hearts as a result of our salvation. Why do these changes occur? Because our salvation brings with it a new spirit sensitive to God and the things of God, as well as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who transforms our hearts and minds.

In this section of scripture, Jesus is speaking of sorrow, repentance and comfort as a result of our faith. For those of us who have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit is busy doing a work in our hearts. This work of spiritual growth carried out by God is called “sanctification.” And as we grow in our faith and love toward Jesus, we have a corresponding increase in our sensitivity to sin, as our love for Christ grows deeper. This in turn causes a sadness and repentance in us when we stumble and fall back into sin. And that’s what Jesus is talking about here in these passages. The words used to refer to “those who mourn,” convey a sense of deep sorrow or sadness as a result of sin, which is rebellion against God. A sorrow which we feel because of our love and relationship with God through Christ. A sorrow that produces repentance as we turn our hearts once again toward Jesus, whose blood shed for us has reconciled us back to God. Even though we stumble, we know we are already forgiven and as we repent, we know Jesus is waiting with arms open wide to restore us. This brings comfort to our hearts as the Holy Spirit comes along side us, turning our hearts once again toward the Lord.