15 May 2016
Two-Minute Features | 22 May 2016 | 08 May 2016

Beatitude #6- The Pure in Heart, Part 4 (TMF:410)

Friday, May 20, 2016
Peace to Live By: Beatitude #6- The Pure in Heart, Part 4 (TMF:410) - Daniel Litton
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       Personal purity also includes sexual purity, of course. The Apostle Paul noted the following in 1 Thessalonians: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, ESV). It’s no mystery that here in the United States sexual immorality runs rampant in our society and culture. As believers, we are not to be like those who aren’t in personal relationship with Jesus when it comes to our personal purity. We are not be promiscuous, following the desires and feelings we have inside of us with no regard to God and what he says on this matter.

Beatitude #6- The Pure in Heart, Part 3 (TMF:409)

Thursday, May 19, 2016
Peace to Live By: Beatitude #6- The Pure in Heart, Part 3 (TMF:409) - Daniel Litton
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       But there is also a sense where we, as Christians, are to have personal purity in general. The Apostle Peter stated in his first epistle, “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:22-23, ESV). So this teaching from Peter reinforces what Jesus taught us about loving our neighbors as ourselves, though Peter is focusing on specifically those within the church. Here, purity equals “obedience to the truth.” It all comes back to knowing God’s Word. We have to be familiar with our Bibles if we want to have any chance at doing what is right in our lives. God has given us the Bible so that we can live our lives to the fullest extent, doing what’s best for us and what is pleasing to him. Paul told Timothy, “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22, ESV).

Beatitude #6- The Pure in Heart, Part 2 (TMF:408)

Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Peace to Live By: Beatitude #6- The Pure in Heart, Part 2 (TMF:408) - Daniel Litton
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       So God didn’t just want the gift, he wanted it to come from the ‘heart’ of people. And I think the same can be said for other things in the Christian life, whether it be service in helping others or spending time with God. God doesn’t want us to be compulsively, grudgingly helping others because we think it’s the right thing to do. For starters, it probably wont even help the person your trying to help that much. God wants us to act from the heart. We shouldn’t spend a certain amount of time with God everyday because we feel we ‘have to,’ but rather we should do it because we love him and want to. But someone might say, “Didn’t Jesus say to perfect as God is perfect?” Sure he did. But the idea here is that our hearts be right and we do the best we can, not that we legalistically follow a load of rules in order to try to be pleasing to God or to gain God’s acceptance. We have already been perfectly accepted by God by trusting in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for us. We should not be like the Pharisees, of which Jesus spoke, “For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others” (Matthew 23:3-5, ESV).

Beatitude #6- The Pure in Heart, Part 1 (TMF:407)

Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Peace to Live By: Beatitude #6- The Pure in Heart, Part 1 (TMF:407) - Daniel Litton
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       The next Beatitudes states, ““Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” God definitely values purity of heart among his saints. He wants us, as believers, to be righteous, to do the best we can in following his rules as outlined in the Bible. God is not looking for legalistic perfectionists, but he wants people to have honest, sincere hearts in being obedient to and serving him. Remember what the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians about giving money? He said, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7, ESV). The same idea is conveyed in Exodus chapter 25 in the Old Testament. It says, “The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me” (Exodus 25:1-3 ESV). So God didn’t just want the gift, he wanted it to come from the ‘heart’ of people.

Beatitude #5- The Merciful, Part 3 (TMF:406)

Monday, May 16, 2016
Peace to Live By: Beatitude #5- The Merciful, Part 3 (TMF:406) - Daniel Litton
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       On a more serious note, Jesus wanted to make it clear to his followers, and everybody really, that mercy is not only needed but also is required and necessary. Last time we talked a little bit about unforgiveness, and I want to touch again on this subject today. God wants the Christian to have mercy on others—whether the offender be a Christian or non-Christian. As a matter of fact, God demands it and warns anyone who does not take heed to his Words. Let’s look at Mark 11:25. Jesus said, “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses” (Mark 11:25, ESV). That’s a pretty startling verse because it tells us that if we are unwilling to forgive someone else of an offense committed against us, God will not forgive us our offense. In other words, God wont hear our prayer to him until our heart is right to the best of our knowledge. God isn’t interested in listening to a half-hearted Christian’s prayer. He wants us to be honest with him, and even if it’s really hard to forgive, we must because Jesus forgave everyone of us all our offenses by dying in our place for us.