[Jesus continued:] “God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.” —Matthew 5:9 NLT Key Thought “Wage Peace.” That’s a fairly popular bumper sticker around our neck of the woods. At first, it may sound similar to the old Hippie song, “All we are saying is give peace …
[Jesus continued:] “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” —Matthew 5:8 NLT Key Thought “Purer in heart, O God, help me to be …” That’s a powerful line of Fannie Davison’s old hymn. Being pure in heart is also an amazingly pervasive theme in Scripture, whether articulated by the prophets, …
[Jesus continued:] “God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” —Matthew 5:7 NLT Key Thought God treats us much, much better than we deserve. That fundamental, undergirding spiritual truth is the reality of grace. He has seen us in our sin and had mercy on us because of his great love …
[Jesus continued:] “God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.” —Matthew 5:6 NLT Key Thought Other translations use the wording, “hunger and thirst for righteousness,” where this translation refers to those who “hunger and thirst for justice.”* Except for a voluntary fast, most of us who spend our time …
[Jesus continued:] “God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.” —Matthew 5:5 NLT Key Thought Everything in our culture and experience says the meek and the humble will get run over and will be targets for bullies. But God says these are the very ones to receive the earth as …
[Jesus continued:] “God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” —Matthew 5:4 NLT Key Thought Paul told Christians in Rome, “Weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). Disciples face sadness for many reasons. Discipleship is not about always being happy. It’s about following the path of Jesus who was “a man of sorrows, …
[Jesus taught:] “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” —Matthew 5:3 NLT Key Thought The Kingdom family is made up of people who know they have deep spiritual needs. When we come into the presence of God, we are awed into a profound …
One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him, and he began to teach them. —Matthew 5:1-2 NLT Key Thought A certain characteristic can define a family. Many members of the family can be distinguished by this special characteristic. It may be …
Large crowds followed [Jesus] wherever he went — people from Galilee, the Ten Towns, Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from east of the Jordan River. —Matthew 4:25 NLT Key Thought In many of our minds, this list of towns is just a collection of Jewish hamlets. However, this list of towns — along with …
News about [Jesus] spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed — he healed them all. —Matthew 4:24 NLT Key Thought Jesus healed them all! He could handle any kind of …