Woooo! Audio Bible, Healing, and Yummy Food, Oh My!

Today was a happy day. God showed up in a lot of cool ways. It was very exciting. My day started pretty early - earlier than expected at least. I was all happy and in deep sleep when Sara called me at 8:00am and wanted to talk about the crazy stuff God was showing her. I was really tired, but I got out of bed and went and picked her up. She was really excited telling me all this stuff in the car, and I was still really tired haha. She told me how she really wanted to buy the audio Bible from the Christian bookstore because she really felt led by God to get through the Bible. The program cost $125, but she was determined to get it.

So we went to my house and looked how much the program was on Barnes and Nobles. The original price was $125, but since she was a member she got a discount so it was $89. I had a gift card so it ended up being a lot cheaper. But for some reason we knew that God wanted to bless us with an even cheaper price so we looked up some coupons and stuff, and after all that the price ended up being only $45! It might not sound that exciting or impressive at face value. But when you consider the circumstances, God totally provided. Sara felt really convicted to about reading the Word and wanted to buy it. She felt led to and was willing to dish out the cash, but God totally made a way and gave her a sweet deal.

As I was on my computer completing the order and everything, I remember seeing the final price and having a jolt of excitement come over me. I remember like my heart beating really fast, and it was like I totally felt the Holy Spirit come upon me. It's hard to explain, but my heart was just beating really fast and it wasn't like I was doing anything vigorous or anything. Both Sara and I were really excited. And understandably, Sara was totally obedient to God by going and trying to get the audio Bible, and God made a way. It was a God moment!

But it didn't end there! Like I said, in that moment I felt like something crazy was happening. Next thing, I remembered we needed to pray for Sara's foot because it was really sore from an injury she had a week ago or so. I prayed for her foot the day before at the prayer room in my church but nothing happened. Her foot was still sore. But today was different. I prayed for her foot one time and asked God to heal it. As soon as I finished praying for her, she tried stepping on her foot, and it was totally healed! She had partial healing in it from before, but today she had complete healing of her foot! Wow! God was totally working! We were really excited! For me, it was especially exciting because during my fasting, I had been praying to God for breakthrough in spiritual gifts like healing. So to experience a healing on my first day after a fast with one of my really good friends was so awesome and encouraging! God was just pouring out blessings today - first a sweet audio Bible, healing, and then there was the food.

My mom made some awesome Filipino food for us today - lumpia, pancit bihon, chicken bihon, and banana lumpia. mmmmmm. So Goood! I also got all the shopping I needed to get done for my trip to Japan! Yay for that!

Sara and I also had some pretty sweet conversations today. One of the things we talked about was the disciples and the difference between the disciples before and after the Pentecost. One of things that I realized is that the disciples were completely changed after the coming of the Holy Spirit. What strikes me is that it wasn't like the disciples hadn't themselves performed miracles and cast out demons before the Pentecost. Luke 10 talks about how demons submitted to them and stuff. But even after all that stuff, Peter still denied Christ. The disciples still scattered and were ashamed. But it's amazing to think about how the Holy Spirit radically transformed the disciples in looking at their behavior and attitude before and after the Pentecost.

When thinking about it, I think that it really was that time of waiting together as body for the Holy Spirit to come that made a difference. And so I was thinking, maybe that is what the 24-7 prayer movement is really all about - gathering together and waiting on God. Yet we need all of our nation to gather and wait on God for this revival to break out all across our land. So it just makes me think right now, what stage of following God am I in right not? Am I still like the disciples who were with Jesus but still had their doubts, fears, and even denials of their Lord, or am I like the disciples after the coming of the Holy Spirit who passionately were willing to die for Christ and walk in the signs and wonders through the full power that Jesus offers to us all?

I don't know. It's amazing to think about what God is doing in each and everyone of our lives. It's crazy to think that coming into college my freshman year I was longing to find people who were passionately on fire for Christ. When I first started looking, I couldn't really find them. But God totally has transformed my life to become the kind of person I was looking for. I pray that I will be able to be an example and resource to those coming after me looking for what I was looking for my freshman year. I pray that I may be able to passionately pursue Christ and be an approved workman before God who is not ashamed - someone others can look up to as an example. I pray that I will help be able to lay a foundation of passion for Jesus that others will catch on to. I pray that this generation will the generation that sets our nations on fire for Jesus. I pray that this generation will be the ones who will set the example of passionate pursuit for our bridegroom Jesus Christ!

God, I pray that this generation would be firebrands for you - lovesick worshippers who passionately seek your face. Raise up a faceless generation who will show our lost and dying generation what it means to be fervently in love with you! Thank you for the leaders, the harvesters you are raising up. May we be faithful and obedient to our calling. God we don't want to miss out on the Promise Land. We will fight violently for your kingdom and take it by force. May we be a generation like Joshua who refuse to leave your presence (Ex. 33:11). May we be a generation humbled to your will and not our own. Change our hearts from the inside out O God! Your renown is the desire of our hearts! In Jesus Name, Amen!

The end of chapter, the start of a new!

Wow! What a summer it's been so far! God is truly amazing and is doing some awesome things in my life and in the people around me. I'm especially excited today because I officially ended my extended fast! Yay! I made it. God has definitely been with me throughout this process. 40 days later and many pounds lighter, I am glad to have been able to embark on such an exciting adventure that God invited me to do with him. Fasting use to be something that was kind of foreign to me and seemed so difficult at first, but having just completed my first 40 day fast, I am amazed by what God has revealed to me and is still revealing. By human and physical standards, I am grossly underweight and look physically weak and twig-like, but the reality is that although I haven't slept much late or ate at all, I feel great!

I know that it has truly been God who has sustained me during this time. There is no way that by my own strength or will I would be sitting here happy and excited to see what God's next adventure might be. It has definitely been a tough road there were days that I wanted to quit; there were days I would be so dizzy I felt like falling every time I stood up. But God was in control and with Him in every situation and circumstance. I myself have a hard time thinking I made it this far. It seems like its was just yesterday when I started.

At times, I have been really hard on myself because I didn't feel like I met all the expectations that I was hoping for or looking for. I feel like maybe I could have done better or prayed more; and in reality, maybe I could have. But what God really showed me is stop living up to my own plans and expectations and start looking at God's master plan. God's plan is so huge; it's hard to fathom what he might be doing. Though I have been kind of hard on myself at times, I came to the realization that if God wasn't really with me during this time, I probably would be physically ill and in the hospital or something. I lost about 20 pounds. That's definitely not healthy. But physically and spiritually, I feel that there has been breakthrough in ways that I am not able to see or even yet realize.

Oftentimes, I feel like I compare myself to others and their experiences. I was expecting some crazy revelation or Holy Spirit moment. I wanted to feel something crazy. But God was really showing me that it's not about the feeling, it's about my faith. It's not about my plans and expectations. It's about his greater plan.

Today, my friend Sara and I were talking and just wondering about what must be going on in the spiritual realm right now. I mean physically we are not always able to see the fruits of our efforts, our fasts right away in a tangible sense. But what is going on in the spiritual realm right now? How is our mere presence affecting those around us because of the presence of God that is with us? Who's lives could be possibly be influencing by just being in a random place where God takes us? It's crazy to think about the impact that our lives could be having on other people and strangers through our presence in a place. What is this spiritual warfare we have been doing through prayer and fasting done for us in the spiritual realm? What will be it's affect when we go to Japan?

I can only sit and speculate about these questions. But if there is one thing that I am beginning to better understand and see is the crazy ways that God's answers our prayers, and just the power of prayer in general. Every time, I have prayed for spiritual breakthrough whether for church camp or prayer meetings, God has showed up in a mighty way. Some of the reasons that I fasted these past 40 days is for personal spiritual breakthrough, breaking through barriers, and spiritual preparation for Japan. I just wonder what God is going to do in the days that are to come.

Like, I said it was easy to get discouraged at times because wasn't showing up in the ways that I initially expected. But I realized today talking to Sara that maybe it's not about the results and expectations during the fast; maybe it is about the lasting benefits that will happen afterwards. I know that 's true. And on the other hand, I know that I could have fasted "better," and been more intentional and persistent in certain areas. But I know that I can't beat myself over it and be discouraged. This time has definitely been a learning experience, and huge stepping stone in growing in my intimacy with God.

Having completed this 40 day fast, my eyes have been opened in a lot of ways. I was more sensitive to the Holy Spirit and saw a lot of new things. But one of the biggest things that I realized is that I can truly do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can look back at this experience and remember God's faithfulness to me in my weakness and my failures. It's puts a whole new perspective on things because I can see that if through God's strength I can go without food for 40 days, I can handle whatever circumstance that is placed in my life by putting my trust in God.

Ultimately, I have realized that though this is a monumental experience in my life, it is only the beginning. I have made huge strides, but I see that there is still more progress needed. I am still a work in progress. It's a long journey ahead. But I'm excited about what's next. If God is for me, who can be against me?

Today, even started difficult. I slept really late just praying because God was leading me to pray. Then I woke up really early because my brother didn't finish packing his stuff for church camp and what not. And through all these circumstances, God was revealing to me faults. I had failed to do some of the things he asked me to do, especially in discipleship and accountability with my brother. That morning I also heard heart-breaking stories about difficult circumstances for some of my youth. I was truly heart-broken and devastated in a lot of ways. I felt like I had failed God and just wanted to seek his forgiveness. It wasn't how I envisioned the last day of my fast. But God, again was showing me the areas that still needed work on. There's been much progress, but still a lot of work.

But the journey doesn't seem as daunting anymore. I mean it still does in a lot of ways, but looking back, it puts everything back in perspective. So as I end one chapter of my life and begin another, I am excited to see what God has in store next. I am really excited to see what happens in Japan. I am really excited to see what happens this week. I am really glad that my friend Sara is here. She has really encouraged me in finishing my fast and helped pick me up when I was down. It was awesome to be able to eat with her for the first time as I broke my fast. I was really happy and encouraged by her being able to celebrate that moment with me.

Oh, God your are good. Today, Sara and I also talked about what the future might look like in our personal ministries. I think it is interesting that she has a heart for 24 hour prayer, went to prayer internship in Kansas, and just finished reading Pete Greig's book Red Moon Rising. I, on the other hand, have a heart for simple churches, am going to a simple church conference in August, and just finished reading Jaeson Ma's book the Blueprint. The 24 hour prayer movement and the simple church movement are closely connected and need each other to move forward in God's greater plan. It's crazy to see how God is raising up different student leaders all across the nations who have similar passions and pursuits that God alone has placed on their hearts.

It's truly a mystery as to what God's greater picture looks like. It's definitely bigger than our wildest imagination. But it's awesome to think that I get to play a small part in God's greater plan, yet the parts we will all play will be entirely significant. It's exciting. Let's seize the day, and pray for God to continue you to raise up laborers to carry out His will for our world! Yay Jesus! Yay Revival! Such big plans and things in store for us, but right now we take it one step at a time. It's the closing of a chapter, and the beginning of a new one. Each day let's grow intimately closer with our Creator as we petition to bring heaven onto earth and hasten the day of the overflow of His presence in our campuses, cities, nations.

God, you are God of love, creativity, of joy. In our failures and our successes, you remain faithful and steadfast. Thank you for your mercy, for you love, for you grace. Thank you for raising up a generation of students, of revolutionaries, of lovesick worshippers who will passionately pursue your kingdom to the point of death.

Lord, may our actions and behavior not merely an act or a show, but may it be a true heartfelt indicator of the desires of our heart. May we learn to be satisfied in you, and you alone. May we fall deeper in love with you each and every moment. May our heart's desire be to delight in you and you alone. May we never forget our first love. May our pursuits never be motivated by structure or vision in and of itself. May our pursuit be solely this: to know your presence and make your presence known. We desire to know your love and make your love known to our generation and the generations who come beyond us. We want to know your heart - to know what you love; to hate what you hate.

May we never lose intimacy with you. May you give us a heart of compassion, a genuine heart of love. May we cry passionately and confess on behalf of the sins of ourselves, our families, our churches, our nations - our generation. We want to see heaven on earth. Fill this earth your glory. Raise up your worshippers, your intercessors. We want to see your apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers. We want to see a generation who is so in love with. They would willingly give up their lives for the sake of their brothers and sisters - the sake of making your love known. I want to be in your presence, be your child, be your lover.

On this father's day, may we forever know of the father's love for us. Make us keenly aware of the passion you have for us. May you raise up a generation of men who will be faithful and obedient to you. May I be a man of external and internal integrity. May my outward behavior be a genuine reflection of my heart. Change me from the inside out. I am tired of worrying and seeking my own plans and expectations. Lord, I desire complete surrender - complete satisfaction you and you alone. Use me to be a fireseed for this generation.

Raise up the laborers Lord. We humble ourselves before you and we cry, HERE WE ARE SEND US! We will be your Nameless, Faceless generation. WE will be the passionate, lovesick worshippers. We desire to have a heart of David. Make us to be people who have hearts after your own hearts. God this generation is yours. Abortion cannot stop us. The economy will not bring us down. We are more than conquerors in you, and through your love we will change the world for your name. Teach us to desire your presence - to commit to our priorities. We want to love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. All praise, glory, and honor belongs to you and you alone! In Jesus mighty name, Amen!

Back on track

Yo yo yo.... Wow, so it's been a while since I've really taken the time to write. My apologies. I have lots to catch up on. Since I've been gone from my week with God last week, lots of crazy stuff has happened. It's been a rough week trying to get back into the swing of things, and in a lot of ways, I still haven't gotten back into my routine. But then again, I never really had one to begin with, which I guess is part of my problem at this point. Haha, but anyhoo, I need to get everyone back up to speed on my crazy little life starting with the craziness of tonight.

So my church has a prayer meeting every Wednesday night, and so tonight my pastor had asked me to share with everyone since he was just coming back from a conference and didn't really have time to prepare. He asked me last Sunday, and of course I agreed. I actually wanted to share some vision and stuff that God was giving me while I was away for the last week. But when today came along, I had no idea what I was going to talk about. The last couple of days for me have been really hard. I have been going through withdrawals, I guess you could call it, from my week alone. I really wanted to spend time with God, but I was too week and my flesh kept taking over in the sense that I kept getting distracted.

So for the past couple of days, I wasn't really able to spend the quiet time I was used to or what I longed for like I had when I was by myself for a week. But today, I decided to really dig in and seek God for direction for tonight's prayer meeting. I read my Bible and actually fell asleep while I was trying to pray....ya, pretty bad right. I then went downstairs and talked to my mom a bit, and we ended up talking about church. After the conversation with her, my heart was really broken for the church upon hearing some of the things that our church was going through. I went up to my room and just prayed on behalf of our church. After praying for a while, I spent some quiet time with God just basking in His presence and seeking direction for tonight.

God gave me some insight into what He wanted me to talk about, but I honestly really had no clue how it would turn out. When we went to the prayer meeting, my dad and I were kinda late. Everyone was worshippping, and wow, it was pretty powerful. You could really feel the people pouring out their hearts in praise. After a little more singing, my pastor announced I would be sharing with everyone. I still really was not sure what I was going to say. I had never been in our church prayer meetings before because I am always with the youth. I knew I wanted to talk about my experiences during my week with God, but wasn't really sure where to go with it.

So I just prayed and asked God to be with us and to speak to our hearts. Then, I started opening my mouth, and God did the rest. I ended up talking about this crazy dream I had on the first day of my time with God. It was probably one of the craziest dreams I have ever had. Maybe, I can share more about it later. But in summary it had to do with my need to slow down. God was showing me that I was so consumed in work and ministry that I had lost sight of caring for my family and especially for my brother.

From this point, I transitioned by showing how the relevance of my dream to the church as a whole. I explained that as a church we must be careful not lose sight of God. Oftentimes we get so caught up in our ministry and in our programs that we forget the people in our community, we forget about the needs of our own families and members, but most significantly, we forget about our intimacy with God. So often, our lives become about the next program and structure that we forget that our first and foremost calling is to seek God first. I talked about how we must delight in God first and He will give us the desires of our heart (Ps. 34:7). We must learn to find satisfaction in God alone and not the gifts he gives us.

I really don't know exactly what I said or how it came out; all I know is that God was with us in that room. I talked a little about my vision for the youth as well, and our need for accountability and discipleship. People were really touched by what God spoke through me. But this was only the beginning. After I spoke, I just kinda ended, and afterwards, my pastor than asked me to kind of pray in closing I guess. So I prayed, and wow the Holy Spirit totally showed up. Again as I prayed, I don't even know what I said, but the Words just came out of my mouth. As I passionately gave my hear to God, people were responding, they were agreeing. While I prayed, the Holy Spirit totally began touching the hearts of the people even more. People all over the room began weeping and crying out to God. When I ended, I remember being able to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit so strongly. I was even shaking a little bit. My pastor told us to continue to remain silent and seek the Holy Spirit.

He then read a passage in Revelation talking about how the church of Ephesus had forsaken its first love. He repented on behalf of our church, and it was just an intense moment. God definitely showed up today at our prayer meeting and convicted all of our hearts of our need for greater intimacy with Him. We must fulfill the Great Commission by first fulfilling the Great Commandment. We must love God and neighbors first because lovers always outwork workers.

I don't know how to explain what happened. It seems like it all happened so fast. People were blessed and came up to me afterwards to thank me. But all the glory goes to God. I know that He spoke through me and used me today. But it all began in prayer. The last couple days have been pretty hard trying to spend time with God, but I know that God heard my prayers as I cried out for my church this afternoon. He showed up in a big way.

Later, I found out that one of the leaders in my church started fasting and was seeking God for what to do for the prayer meeting and how to write up the prayer list. She wanted to say a lot of things, but she didn't know how to convey it her in prayer list. But she told me that God totally answered her prayer and all the things I said reflected the things on her heart. Praise be to God. I know God worked on each and everyone of the people's hearts tonight. We must pray, and we must seek his face. We must grow closer to God in our intimacy with Him each day.

God is good!

So wow! Here's a brief recap of the rest of the week.

Monday and Tuesday were really hard. Didn't get much done. Felt really isolated and closed off from God. Tuesday night was pretty crazy. As I was in my room about to go to bed, I saw some shadows on my wall that shouldn't have been there. I discerned that they may have been some evil spirits. Earlier that morning, I saw a figurine in my trophy case from China that I thought might be cursed or something, but I didn't do anything about it. When I saw those shadows, I went through my house and threw out all things that were associated with other religions and other symbols and figurines that may have been cursed. I found a calendar, two creepy looking Native American figures, and two Chinese figurines. I destroyed them and prayed over my house and my room, and the shadows that I saw before were no longer there. It was pretty intense.

The weekend was pretty crazy. Friday was my first day back from my personal retreat. That day, our youth group got together and we had evangelism training because the next day was Filipino Independence Day. It was cool because we worshipped and prayed for about an hour and we practiced a skit that they would perform at Independence Day. They did the human video for the song "Everything" by Lifehouse. Man every time they went through it, I started tearing up a little bit, that song is so powerful! So I trained them in sharing their story and in the Knowing God Personally booklet and stuff. It was cool. They were so receptive and respectful. Afterwards, we just hung out together and had fun. It was great getting to know my youth group better, especially the newer ones since I have been gone so long while in school and stuff.

Saturday was Filipino Independence Day at ASU West. We had a pretty cool table set up, we did some sharing, and we performed a song and the human video to "Everything." Earlier that morning, I prayer walked around the building we were in a few times and just asked God to show up. There were a lot of Filipinos from all around the community. The highlight for me was going up to share with a guy sitting alone by himself. A friend and I talked to him for a while and we actually found out that some our youth talked to him and did a survey earlier with him. So I just talked to him and got to know him better. He was so open, and he shared a lot of pain and brokenness he had experienced. He had just moved to Arizona a week before, so he was new to everything. We ended up praying for him, and we asked him to hang out with us. We ended up meeting his mom and everything as well. Later, he complained of a headache, and I had the chance to pray for that as well. After I prayed for him, he said he was feeling a lot better!

So he hung out together with us at our table, and we ended up inviting him to go tubing down the salt river with our youth group, and to come to church. He ended up doing both! He came to church with us on Sunday, and he went with our youth group to watch Kung Fu Panda - phenomenal movie by the way. And today, he went tubing down the salt river with us! Praise God! Thank you for opening up an opportunity to talk to this friend! Thank you for giving me boldness to go to talk to Him. God, bless His life, and may he continue to closer to you as he spends time with our church and youth group.

So ya, that leaves Sunday. Sunday was cool too. That night, we had a family devotion with my parents and brother. It was really really good! There was so much healing and restoration that took place there. My family was able to confess and be really honest and open with each other. We were able to pray together and basically we were talking til almost 3 in the morning. It kind of ended on an awkward note as we prayed. Believe it or not, after such a good experience, I was kind of in a bad mood.

I didn't really know why. But this bad mood from Sunday really carried on to my not so good days on Monday and Tuesday. I realized that I had a lot of bitterness and resentment towards my family devotions of the past because growing up they were bad experiences. Satan was trying to use the past against me to affect the present - even though the present was really good. God really convicted my heart of a lot of things, and spending more time with God has really helped me to get on the right track.

So ya, the week before that was my time alone with God. So much happened there. I wish I could fully explain everything that happened. But God showed up for me in by really convicting my heart of my need to slow down and my need to love. I had dreams every night I was there, which is crazy because I normally don't remember dreams. But God has really been working on my heart and convicting me of my need to love.

I thank God for the experiences He has put me through. It has definitely been an interesting last couple of weeks, but God has been sovereign in all circumstances. I have learned so much in the last few weeks that I don't think I would have been able to learn unless I had really slowed down and stopped to listen to God's voice. He has truly been good to me!

Thank you Lord for you love. Thank you for your presence. I give to you my whole heart and all that I am. Use me for your glory. Humble my heart and rid me of my pride. All of my earthly rewards and honor are from you and they all pale in comparison to your matchless glory and fame. God give me the heart of Paul where I can consider everything of this earth to be loss as I seek to find satisfaction of knowing and delighting in you alone. God you are my first love. I love you because you first loved me. May I never forget your matchless love. My desire is to know your heart and make your love known to my generation. I want to know the things you love and hate the things you hate. May I be a man of God that is first a lover and then a worker. May I strive to fulfill the Great Commission only in first seeking to fulfill the Great Commandment. Intimacy with you - that is what my heart thirsts for.

The Beatitudes

Hey everyone!

I'm back! I just completed a week of solitude, and wow, I have a lot to share about that. But you will have to wait to hear about that. I'm still processing through it, and I'm really tired right now. But I wanted to share some stuff that I just wrote up. I'm doing an online Bible Study with some of the guys in Epic Movement. We are talking about the beatitudes. I started working on it, but I got really tired so haven't gotten completely through it. I will try to finish it, but I wanted to share what I had so far....

Matthew chapters 5-7 encompass Jesus’ entire Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5:1-12 are the known as the Beatitudes. One definition of beatitudes according to my Bible is “declarations of blessedness.” Basically, Jesus goes up to a mountain and teaches his disciples. According to a commentary I was reading, it said that it was custom for Rabbis to sit down while they taught. So in saying that Jesus went up the mountain and sat down, verse 1 indicates that Jesus was going to teach. Jesus was teaching his disciples which as Josh attributed to, didn’t necessarily mean only his twelve disciples. Disciples probably broadly meant the people who were following Him and perhaps even the crowd that had gathered. Overall the theme of this passage is that Jesus is showing his disciples what it means to be a true follower of Christ by listing specific qualities that a true disciple should possess.

I think that to the original audience, the Beatitudes were focused towards those who claimed to be followers of God and even to those who were interested in finding out how to become a disciple, or follower of Christ. In a modern context, the Beatitudes speaks directly to all those who profess to be Christians, or followers of Christ. The Beatitudes represents the qualities and way of life that true follower of Christ should possess. In one commentary I read, it states, “This message [the beatitudes] doesn’t tell one how to be saved. It explains the quality of life of the life changed by the saving grace of God.” So basically, the Beatitudes are not a formula of works for what a person must do to be saved and a have a relationship with Christ, they merely demonstrate the radical life that a true believer should have which are only possible through the grace of God. This is significant because Jesus is basically showing that all the qualities that he lists are impossible for any human on his own will to accomplish.

So in other words, on one’s own strength, one will never be able to be completely humble, righteous, meek, merciful, pure in heart, a peacemaker, etc. - more on what all these means in a little bit. But, Christ was showing the radical lives that all followers of Christ would have looked like in the past, should look like now, and need to look like in the future. Jesus is showing us that as followers of God and through God’s grace, we can have the quality and character of Christ.

God says Blessed at the beginning of each verse to indicate “happiness” on the part of the believer. But Blessed means much more than just happy – happy refers to an emotion based on an outward action. You do something, and thus you feel happy. But the “happiness” here refers to a spiritual happiness – a level of satisfaction that only comes when we learn to find satisfaction in Christ alone. I think I used to read the Beatitudes and think, “okay, so I will be happy and blessed if I do these things.” And I think that this thought process is valid, but I think that it goes even deeper than that. Christ is showing us that a truly devoted follower of Christ has completely surrendered his will to God. Because if you think about it, if we are merely striving to be humble or merciful so that we would get rewarded with happiness– wouldn’t we be missing the point? The point is not that we are working or doing some kind of action to receive blessing – if we were to work to receive blessing that would negate the whole idea of God’s grace in saving us from our sins.

I think more significantly, Christ is telling us you will be truly satisfied when you possess these qualities, and the only way that you can possess these qualities is being a true follower of Christ, and the only way you can be a true follower of Christ is by surrendering your will completely to God. What does surrendering your will completely to God look like? I think that it means we have come to a point where we completely are satisfied with having God and God alone. When we daily come to a point in our lives that we seek intimacy with God, we will possess these qualities. We don’t strive by our human actions to have these qualities in and of themselves; we strive to delight in God while at the same desiring to have His qualities. In doing so, we will begin to exhibit these characteristics.

So in essence, what I think I’m trying to say is that we don’t necessarily work on our own human endeavors to attempt to possess the qualities that Christ lists in the Beatitudes. Instead, when our sole purpose is to be a true follower of Christ, our primary desire will be to delight in God. When we delight in God and seek Him first, we will begin to look more like the character of Christ. When we have the the character of Christ as exhibited by the beatitudes, then we will be fully satisfied. We will not be fully satisfied because we have one of the traits; we will be satisfied because we delight in God and in turn he has blessed us with His character. I think Psalms 37:4 sums it up pretty nicely, “Delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Everything that is fresh, new, and from God is birthed out of intimacy or delighting in Him. When we first set our hearts on the delighting in Christ – being a lover of Christ and being His follower - then we will have the kind of blessed life that Christ explains through the beatitudes.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t attempt to be humble or peaceable or any of those things. I think that it is important to strive and ask God to make us in the mold of His qualities. But I think that when we both delight in God and seek His character, we will be blessed, or satisfied. In the end, seeking the qualities of the beatitudes should be a subset of delighting in God. If we truly love God, we will want to be more like Him. And when we are more like him, then we will experience the abundance of blessings Christ describing through the Beatitudes.

So all that to get to the question of what do all of these beatitudes mean. I think I tried to lay an overall understanding I had of the beatitudes, but now I will look at them specifically to see what they are saying. I think there is more to the beatitudes than everything I mentioned above (which I will try to get into explaining some in this next section), but those are just the overall impressions I get that Christ is instructing us in general about our Christ walk.

Well, the first one, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” I read this and I really saw it in two ways. I think that first Jesus is saying that a follower of Christ will be humble, or poor in spirit, and he/she will, in turn, have satisfaction or blessing by being given, not awarded or earned, the kingdom of heaven. I think Christ is really showing the importance of humility and how God really looks favorably on those who surrender their will and whole heartedly seek God. Isaiah 66:2 says, “But this is one to whom I will look; he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” I think God is showing us that a key quality of every believer is humility. One must understand that we don’t deserve anything from God and that nothing we do can earn our salvation. We are broken and depraved people, but God extended His grace to us; therefore, because of this, we must be humble and contrite in recognizing the power of God in our lives and our own weakness.

On another level, I think Christ is showing the compassion that He has and what all believers should have towards the poor, or the afflicted and oppressed. In Isaiah 61:1, the prophet Isaiah states, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring the good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives…” Jesus actually quotes this passage in one of his first official appearances in the synagogue upon beginning His formal ministry, which you can find in Luke 4:18-19. Jesus was basically fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy by letting the people know that He was here to bring the message to the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives. Likewise, through this beatitude, I think Christ is showing us the compassion and love that we as Christians must exemplify in loving the poor and oppressed of our society. Loving the poor and having a heart for the oppressed is ultimately an indicator of humility. Christ had great power and strength, but He left his home in heaven to minister to and eventually die for the poor, the broken, the outcasts of society. As Christians, we were all poor, broken, and outcasts at one point, but God’s grace saved us; therefore, with humility and compassion, Christ is showing us we must likewise show love and compassion to the poor and the oppressed.

So for the next beatitude, “Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.” Mourning here refers to those who mourn on behalf of their sins and the sins of others. As Christians, we must be people who confess and bring our sins to God on an individual basis and on a corporate basis. Time after time, we see in the Bible examples of people crying out to God in repentance of their sin, and in turn, God holds back his wrath and judgment. Likewise, as followers of Christ, we must cry out and sincerely be repentant of our sins. We must also be a people who cry out to God on behalf of the sins of our generation. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people who are called by my name, humble themselves, pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven forgive their sins and heal their land.” God is telling his people that even though they turn their backs on Him, He will forgive the people and bring them comfort from His wrath and judgment if they cry out to God on behalf of their sins as an individual and as a people.

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” This verse is taken from Psalms 37:11 which states, “But the meek will inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.” According to a Bible dictionary I was looking in meekness “describes a person who humbly submits himself to God and is gentle in dealing with others.” I think the idea of gentleness is something significant. I remember hearing the definition of gentleness being explained as having great power and strength but not using it in wrath or anger. Basically, being gentle, and in the broader picture meekness, is having great power and strength to wipe people out or rebuke them, but restraining that power in order to show love, humility, and compassion. Moses and Jesus are very good examples of what being meek looks like. In Numbers 12:3, it states, “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were o the face of the earth.” In the context of this passage, Moses’ brother Aaron and sister Miriam were nit-picking at Moses’ life and questioning his authority as a prophet. God responds to Aaron and Miriam by basically telling them that God usually speaks to prophets through visions and dreams, but God spoke to Moses “mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles (Numbers 12:8).” So in saying that Moses was meek, the passage is showing that Moses had great power and favor from God. Yet he did not abuse that power by lashing out back at his brothers or sisters or tormenting the people for their stubbornness. Throughout His leading of the Israelites, Moses showed himself to be gentle and loving by interceding to God on behalf of the Israelites so that God would not destroy them for their stubbornness and cold-hearts.

Similarly, in Matthew 11:29-30, Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Here, Jesus portrays his gentleness, or meekness, in providing to use his strength to compensate for our weakness. Even in our sin and short-coming and hardships, Christ shows Himself to be willing to carry our loads and give us rest even though our actions don’t merit his gentleness. Thus, I think Jesus is saying that believers are those who are meek and gentle in showing compassion and restraining wrath, and in result, they will gain abundance and peace in inheriting the kingdom of God here on earth. Again it comes back to humility – we realize the power and the blessings we have in Christ, but instead of using that knowledge and power to persecute the church like say, Saul who used to kill Christians and torment the church, we offer the strength we have in Christ to those who are in need love and compassion.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” I really like this one because it shows that a true follower of Christ will hunger and thirst for righteousness. I think this is personal righteousness and also a hunger and thirst to see righteousness in our society. I think that Christ is showing that true followers of Christ will show an unwavering desire to personal purity and holiness. Also, they will dream and tirelessly work to seek revival in our society – breaking free from the depravity and brokenness of our society. Thus, Christ is showing that to those who hunger and thirst for Christ, God will bless them through filling them up. They will be filled not with the physical bread or water. But like the Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well in John 4, He will offer everlasting water and bread. Jesus is the bread of life, and He is our everlasting water. So, believers are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, and in return they will be filled by the one who gives and sustenance- Jesus himself – again this shows, that it’s all about intimacy.

When we desire intimacy with Christ and hunger for more of him, we will be rewarded for more of him. Psalm 42:1-2 speaks of this longing for Christ, “As the deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” Here, David, who was known as a man after God’s own heart, desires even greater intimacy with God. Psalm 42 describes the turmoil that David faced, but even in the midst of that all, he had a fervent desire to hunger and thirst for more of God . No wonder David was considered to have a heart after God’s heart – David tirelessly pursued more of God’s presence whether in times of turmoil of joy (it says that David danced with all his might before the Lord when the ark was returned – he said that he would be even more undignified than this – 2 Samuel 6:22). So, true followers of God are satisfied and filled because they hunger and thirst after hungering and thirsting to know God’s presence and making His presence known.

I’m tired now….so I’ll try to finish up the rest of the beatitudes if I can later. So much good stuff to say. Sorry for being so long. God was just showing me a lot of cool stuff as I read and typed and stuff.

But basically, the application that I see Christ is trying to tell us this: If we are to be called true followers of Christ, we must have the character and qualities of God. These qualities cannot be worked towards or attained by the merit of man. We grow in the character of God only through His grace and His strength. We must not merely strive to have these characteristics, we must first and foremost strive to delight in God and love Him with all our heart, soul, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5). When we delight in God and learn to love Him whole heartedly, we will naturally grow in the character of God and possess the qualities that Jesus speaks of in the beatitudes. Ultimately, I think Christ is showing us that when we are truly followers of Christ and are sold out for Him, we will truly be happy and satisfied because we realize all we need is God. Through listing the specific qualities and the subsequent promises that are attached to them, Christ is showing us that following Jesus is a radical life of joy and fulfillment – it is living a supernatural, power-filled, and abundant life.