"Wonder-Working Power" -2

"With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever." (Psalms 136:12)

  The other message, whether it was God's way of making it happen, just so happen, it spoke a powerful word into my heart. The center of the message was Matthew 5:11-12, which in the KJV reads, "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you." This statement was given right after the series of eight other, "Blessed," things that Jesus listed, commonly referred to as the "Beatitudes." It is surprising to me, if you search for the word Beatitudes, the top of the list mentions "The eight beatitudes of Jesus," but there are nine, if you include the one quoted above. Immediately after this, Jesus spoke about that which I shared the other day, about salt that loses it flavor. It is pretty clear that there is something important that connects the attitude of the believer, in whatever situation they might find themselves, whether it is in sickness, in health, in poverty, or in riches; or whether they are being falsely persecuted, for righteousness sake, the attitude is to be one of being Blessed! The way I see it, there is nothing more important than the fact that we have been saved and given eternal life with Jesus in heaven; absolutely nothing! So, as far a blessings go, that one is the do-all of all end-alls! Nothing else matters compared to that! You can try and prove me wrong, but there is nothing you can say that will change my mind, it has already been settled! This is what Jesus did on the cross, with arms stretched out, He paid the price for my sins and made the way for me to have eternal life with Him! Sure, you could say that I have some things to complain about, but what are my futile complaints compared to what Jesus came and did for me? Nothing compares to the sacrifice that was made on the cross, for both Father and Son! This is why Isaiah writes, "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?" (Isaiah 53:1) Believe it or not, this is the most powerful thing that God has ever done! Even the making of the heavens falls short of the redemption that Jesus won for us; once you see that gift, you cannot turn back...

"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." (Galatians 6:14)