Sound Words (Page 28)

The Meek The Beatitudes are divine blessings pronounced on those of godly character.  These attributes are required for those who wish to enter the kingdom of heaven. The third of these blessings is prescribed for “the meek”. Matthew 5:5 (NKJV) 5 Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.  In the case of this beatitude, we have a better understanding of the attribute. However, the blessing is a bit obscure. Jesus quotes directly from Psalm 37:11, a psalm…

Those Who Mourn The Beatitudes are divine blessings pronounced on those of godly character.  These attributes are required for those who wish to enter the kingdom of heaven. The second of these blessings is prescribed for “those who mourn”. Matthew 5:4 (NKJV) 4 Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. Grief is a state none of us prefer to be in. Why are those who mourn blessed? An examination of the comfort found in Christ will reveal…

The Poor in Spirit The Beatitudes are divine blessings pronounced on those of godly character.  These attributes are required for those who wish to enter the kingdom of heaven. The first of these blessings is prescribed for the “poor in spirit”. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 5:3 NKJV) What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Poor means to be lacking, beggarly, destitute. We are familiar with poverty in the…

The Beatitudes Jesus gained a little distance from the multitudes by going into a mountain where His disciples gathered around Him. He enumerated a series of beatitudes which mark the opening of what we know as The Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5). Each beatitude is a divine blessing pronounced on those possessing certain qualities. Each blessing is followed by a reason for the blessing. The beatitudes do not describe different types of individuals. Rather, they are a composite of…

Why Do Children Cry When babies hurt or need something, when all is not the way it should be, they cry out to their parents. Even as young children acquire language, some thoughts and feelings continue to transcend the limits of their vocabularies, leaving crying as the only option to communicate what truly is transpiring within them. And if we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that we adults can still relate. As we grow, the harsh realities of…

Preparing for Parenting Sometimes, the most glorious moments can also be the most terrifying. Preparing to be a parent rightly evokes such mixed emotions. As adults who have had ample time to come to grips with our own weakness and fallibility, is there anyone among us who feels completely confident about shaping the heart of a child, training him in the ways of the Lord, demonstrating for her what it means to live a life full of faith in God?…

In Loving Memory of Lost Children Over the last two weeks, we have noted that nothing about death is good, yet God’s goodness remains, even when we are faced with death. This week, I hope we can see through the comfort of the Scriptures how much God truly cares about those plagued by the pain of loss. God hears. God sees. God understands. God Cares. When Hagar flees from Sarai, the angel of the Lord finds her in the wilderness…

June 30 In Loving Memory of Lost Children “No parent should have to bury their child.” This quote from last week summarizes what  comes to mind when we consider the death of a child. Truly, no parents should have to come to terms with the death of their children. Yet they do. I would like to continue to share some thoughts about this kind of loss, but first let me clarify a few things. I am not pretending to know…