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The Bible declares \u201cfor the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost\u201d, Romans 14:17.\u00a0 It is said often that \u201cthe Kingdom is a prepared place for a prepared people\u201d.\u00a0 The implication of this is that the kingdom lifestyle actually begins on earth.\u00a0 Preparation as understood in scripture is in terms of holy living and conduct, that is, manifestation of a lifestyle different from that encouraged by the world and its system.\u00a0 The emphasis therefore, ought to be on a life of holy conduct, indicative of a people who have separated themselves from the demands of the flesh, the kingdom of the world; it should not be on the popular and much trumped up prosperity messages that seem to be motivated by greed and covetousness.<\/p>\n
Believers are therefore expected to prepare and keep preparing for the kingdom of God.\u00a0 There are some attitudes that the Lord expects of those who belong to His kingdom.\u00a0 Some of these attitudes commonly referred to as \u201cThe Beatitudes\u201d, are written in the gospels.\u00a0 In this study we will examine some of them with a sincere desire to have them manifested in our lives.<\/p>\n
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Poverty of spirit has to do with submission of the inner person or being, to the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 The \u201cpoor in spirit\u201d in the context of scripture is one that is broken, contrite, and humble and is willing to yield to the demand and direction of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 David demonstrated this when he repented and turned to God for mercy and forgiveness when he erred from God\u2019s way, 2 Samuel 12:1-13; Psalm 51.<\/p>\n
The blessing that awaits the believer who is \u201cpoor in spirit\u201d is that he or she will possess the kingdom of heaven.\u00a0 The amplified translation puts it this way, \u201cBlessed (happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous with life, joy and satisfaction in God\u2019s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the poor in spirit (the humble, who rate themselves insignificant) for theirs is the kingdom of heaven\u201d.\u00a0 There is no blessing on earth that can be compared to being partaker in the kingdom of heaven.\u00a0 Indeed it profits nothing to gain the whole world and lose the soul, Mark 8:36.<\/p>\n
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Those who morn in this context refers to the penitent. These are the people who genuinely acknowledge their sin and sincerely repent of them.\u00a0 Peter demonstrated this when he wept bitterly on realizing that he had denied his Master tree time, Matthew 26:69-75.\u00a0 \u201cThey that morn\u201d also include those believers who are concerned about the evils, sins prevailing in today\u2019s world.\u00a0 They are bothered about the great departure of church and society from the standards of God.\u00a0 They morn and their souls are vexed daily by what they see and hear.\u00a0 This was the situation of Lot\u2019s mind as he stayed in Sodom and Gomorrah.\u00a0 It is written of Lot in 2 Peter 2:8, \u201cfor that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds\u201d.<\/p>\n
The blessing is that they will be comforted.\u00a0 They will be forgiven their sins and delivered from every hold of the enemy.\u00a0 Also when God brings His judgment upon the world, they will be delivered, 2 Peter 2:5-10.\u00a0 Surely the Lord promises comfort and deliverance to everyone who morns, Isaiah 51:3, 57:18, 61:2; Hebrews 8:12.<\/p>\n
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The meek include those who are mild-tempered and gentle in spirit.\u00a0 It has to do with a disposition to be gentle, kind, even balanced in tempers, passions and patient in suffering injuries without feeling a spirit of revenge.\u00a0 The Lord Jesus demonstrated this and He remains our perfect example in the issues of life, Matthew 11:29; Isaiah 53:7, Philippians 2:5-8.\u00a0 Moses demonstrated meekness, Numbers 12:3.\u00a0 Peter also showed meekness when he was rebuked by Paul, Galatians 2:11-14, 2 Peter 3:15-16.\u00a0 The church is in dire need of leaders who are meek.<\/p>\n
The blessing for the meek is that they will inherit the earth.\u00a0 They will have joy, satisfaction, peace, blessings, long life etc., as they live in this world.\u00a0 The amplified translation puts it like this, \u201cBlessed (happy, blithesome, joyous, spiritually prosperous with life joy and satisfaction in God\u2019s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the meek (the mild, patient, longsuffering), for they shall inherit the earth!\u201d<\/p>\n
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This exemplifies a typical hungering and thirsting spirit for righteousness.\u00a0 The mindset of the believer who \u201chungers and thirsts after righteousness\u201d is that of waking up in the morning with an uppermost desire of pleasing God, retaining that desire throughout the day and going to bed at night with the same desire.\u00a0 A believer who hungers and thirsts after righteousness is mindful of the company he keeps, where he goes to, what he sees, what he says and hears, etc.<\/p>\n
The blessing and reward is that they will be filled.\u00a0 They will be satisfied.\u00a0 They will experience the great gain that results from godliness with contentment, 1 Timothy 6:6.\u00a0 The believer will be filled with the presence of God and enjoy grace, peace, satisfaction, etc.\u00a0 Again the amplified translation renders Matthew 5:6: \u201cBlessed (and) fortunate (and) happy (and) spiritually prosperous (in that state in which the born again child of God enjoys His favor and salvation) are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God), for they shall be completely satisfied!\u201d<\/p>\n
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Those who are merciful and compassionate include those who show mercy, succors others, help provide relief from suffering.\u00a0 Such believers willingly forgive others when they offend them.\u00a0 Invariably believers who are merciful also exhibit a lot of love.\u00a0 Examples of people who showed mercy, compassion and forgiveness in their relationship with others abound in scripture.\u00a0 David, Dorcas, and the Good Samaritan showed acts of mercy in the Bible, 1 Samuel 26:1-12; Luke 10:30-37; Acts 9:36-43.<\/p>\n
The blessing and reward in being merciful and compassionate is that the individual will also obtain mercy.\u00a0 The lord will put His mercy upon that person.\u00a0 In your need, God will avail for you.\u00a0 You will enjoy God\u2019s security and protection.\u00a0 The Lord says when we (believers) show acts of mercy to fellow believers we are actually doing them for and to Him and that He will reward us in His kingdom, Matthew 25:34-40; 1 Timothy 1:16; Hebrews 4:16, 6:10; Proverbs 3:3-4, 20:28<\/p>\n
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The Christian life is a practical life; a life lived out for people to see wherever we are.\u00a0 Let us manifest the attitudes highlighted in today\u2019s lesson.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit will help us if we yield our hearts to Him.<\/p>\n
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Matthew 5:6 \u2013 \u201cBlessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Demands of the Kingdom, Part 1 Central thought: Believers in Christ are to live by the kingdom principles and not by the dictates of the world\u2019s system. Text: Matthew 5:1-12 The Bible declares \u201cfor the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sundayschool"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=458"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":462,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458\/revisions\/462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}