So Blessed - Part 6

Hello, you know everyone wants to be blessed, people say blessings over their food, over their sleep or may God Bless you, and we know that all blessings are from God, as in James 1:17, ASV "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast in turning,". If we think about how much God loves us, we will see that we are So Blessed. Today I want to look at a verse from Matthew 5:8 that tells us specifically how we can be blessed today. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." In otherwords if your heart is pure as in James 4:8 (ESV)8 "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." and like in Psalm 24:3–4 (ESV)3 "Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully." then you will be blessed! So what does a pure heart mean? How do you get a pure heart? Well, in these verses above it says "Draw near to God...", "Cleanse your hands you sinners..." So if you and I will spend time thinking, talking and listening to God, and then we will ask his forgiveness for the things that we do that is displeasing to God, then we will have a pure heart.

So Blessed - Part 5

Hello, as I was thinking about today's devotion I thought about how so blessed I am to be forgiven! You see I have this thing in me that wants to repay meaness for meaness or stay away from those that are hard to love when I know God's word tells me to love my neighbor; as in Romans 13:8-10 “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We can also look at Leviticus 19:17-19 “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD." Today's verse is from Matthew 5:7 It's about specific things in the Bible that God says he blesses us for today. 7 "God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy." After studying this word "mercy" a little bit I find that the biblical meaning of mercy goes way beyond just showing kindness or compassion, it is taking the time to listen to and understand why they are hard to love or why they are being mean to me. Then show the same unconditional kindness, compassion, and forgiveness that God has shown you.