Here I am in Day 5 of my #DailyMatthew journey, and wow, Matthew 5 is a long chapter with a lot to think about!
What strikes me as interesting is that the most common word (other that minor words such as “the”, “and”, “since”, etc) is “heaven“. Heaven is referred to ten times: “kingdom of heaven” 5x, “Father in heaven” 2x, “reward in heaven” 1x, “heaven and earth” 1x, and “heaven is God’s throne” 1x. So what does it all mean?
While we need to read the entire Bible in order to get a full picture of heaven, in this chapter at least, we see that heaven is a destination, a reward, and a place where human hierarchy is not in effect. In heaven, the poor in spirit will be blessed and the oppressed (because of their righteousness and faith in Jesus) will be rewarded.
If I am honest, I don’t spend as much time thinking about heaven as I used to. I’m sure a large part of that is because I do not have an immediate physical need for heaven. My life (probably like the lives of 99% of you who read this) is comfortable. I have never been persecuted or oppressed for my faith in Jesus. Sure, I’ve have experienced social discomfort, but that is not even close to persecution.
However, many Christians around the world are currently experiencing persecution, even as I type (and you read) this posting. At a minimum, you and I need to pray for persecuted Christians. Which means we need to be aware of persecuted Christians. Hopefully, you and I will do more than pray, but to get started, here are some resources:
Please pray.
Mark
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