Sunday: The Merciful — Matthew 5:7
While God’s grace is applied to people in their sins, God’s mercy is applied to people who are suffering as a consequence of their sin. Mercy incorporates sympathy for sin’s victims with the action needed to bring healing and restoration. The true Christian will not rejoice when they see others suffering due to their sinful nature and behaviors but will be filled with anxiety to relieve that suffering. This does not mean to adopt a lackadaisical or permissive attitude about sin, but indeed to hate it and all that it causes. We love the sinner, not because of their sin, but in spite of it.
Monday: The Pure in Heart — Matthew 5:8
To “see” God was regarded by Moses as the pinnacle experience of his life (Exodus 33:12-23). What marvelous act would we need to perform to be allowed this same privilege? Jesus says that the pure in heart are blessed, for they shall see God. So, it isn’t a great act of faith that has moved a mountain, nor some crowning achievement of charity or personal sacrifice, that earns us the right to see God. Rather, it is an inner cleansing and a life lived daily in spiritual purity that grants this blessing. Psalm 24:3-5 declares, “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”
Tuesday: The Peacemakers — Matthew 5:9
Peacemakers make peace inwardly, meaning they are kindly affectioned to others. They aren’t quarrelsome, but respect and honor others’ views and feelings. They are also peacemakers outwardly, meaning they strive to produce peace and bring reconciliation between man and man, group and group, nation and nation, and between men and God. Due to the angry, war-torn, broken-hearted world in which we live, peacemakers are essential. But no one is a true peacemaker unless the Prince of Peace, the only source of peace, rules in the heart.
Wednesday: Persecuted for Righteousness — Matthew 5:10
Many Christians live foolishly, and thereby bring persecution upon themselves. This teaching means to be persecuted because we are like Jesus. At spiritual rebirth, we become light, and the darkness always hates the light (See John 3:20; 15:18-20 and 2 Timothy 3:12). A Christian can also be persecuted for being a fanatic and acting religiously obnoxious, or because of his radical politics, or because he promotes a social cause. This isn’t the same. Jesus was hated, and we should be also, because of godliness.
Thursday: The Reviled & Reproached — Matthew5:11-12; Luke 6:22-23
Pain and rejection aren’t what blesses the Christian, but the wondrous fact that we have assured promises. The hatred heaped on us shows we belong to Christ, and that our lives have become like His! We rejoice because we live expectantly for the reward of eternal life in God’s kingdom. This sinful world will be dissolved, and we will live forever in the transcendent paradise of Christ!
Friday: Woe to the Happy & Prosperous — Luke 6:24-25
The Beatitudes presented in Luke show the sacrifices involved in living for Jesus. We appreciate our own salvation more when we go without certain things so that others may know Christ. However; if we live for selfish gain and momentary happiness, the joy of our salvation is diminished. We are not sinning by enjoying prosperity and luxury, unless we do so at the expense of God’s work. Do we place higher value on the temporal or on the eternal?
Saturday: Woe to the Admired — Luke 6:26
Applause is often as dangerous as scorn. While the Bible teaches that it is noble to have a good name and be well spoken of, a life lived for worldly acclaim is a misdirected life. It is not a sin to be honored by others, but it is a sin when the type of honor we receive brings shame to Jesus Christ. Do we present the truth in love, or are we only trying to make the truth more palatable to the world? In essence, a sugar-coated gospel is a perverted gospel