Blessed (Part 7)

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.  — Matthew 5:9

Notice that the first 4 beatitudes are internal.  Being poor in spirit, mourning your old way of life, getting control of your impulses, and hungering and thirsting after righteousness are all things that happen inside of your own heart and mind.  People on the outside can’t really see what is going on inside of you.  However, when you begin to show mercy and your heart becomes pure…that can be seen.  People will begin to notice that there is something different about you:  the way you react, the way you don’t overreact, the way you seem to always have peace in your heart regardless of the situation.  There is something so attractive about a person that possesses these qualities.  People want to know what it is about you.  People want what you have.  You have now entered into seventh beatitude…you are a peacemaker.

There is absolutely nothing like getting to lead someone to Christ.  I have had the privilege of doing it a dozen or so times.  Every time I get to lead them in prayer, it’s like God allows me to be born again…again!  I love opening my eyes and feeling like I’m seeing the world for the very first time.  I love just feeling clean and brand new.  I love knowing that God has just used me to bring peace to another person’s life.  I love knowing that they are beginning a beautiful journey with the Lord that will allow them to start looking more and more like Him as the months and years go by.

Who are the people in your life that have brought peace?  I can think of maybe twenty people in my life that were instrumental in placing more of Jesus in my heart.  They brought me peace.  They were peacemakers in my life.  These are women and men that weren’t afraid to tell me hard things.  They are men and women who admit when they are wrong and make it as right as possible.  They lead by example.  They don’t just put “Christian” as their religious views on Facebook and go on living life on their own terms.  They make a deliberate effort to live life on His terms.  There is something about people like this that draws me like a magnet.  I want to be around them because I know that there will be a conversation about God, and I know I’ll leave the conversation a little bit better off than I was before. 

Here is the thing:  You can’t just decide to be a peacemaker.  It is just part of the natural progression of following Christ.  The more of Him you have inside of you, the more peace you will bring.  It is extremely important to realize that it is not more of YOU that people want…it is more of HIM who lives inside of you.  It was 15 years after I got saved before I led someone to Christ.  Why?  Because I spent the majority of those years on the previous beatitudes.  I was learning how to forgive those who have hurt me, learning how to create new habits that would allow me to hunger and thirst for righteousness, learning how to control my sinful desires, and learning how to make sure my heart was clean every morning and begging the Lord to help me keep it that way until the end of the day. 

Also, notice one last thing.  You become a peacemaker after your heart becomes pure.  I have a pure heart right now.  However, the dumbest thing I could do is think it is just going to stay that way on it’s own.  Satan tries to plant seeds in me that will grow into weeds every day.  I have a little flower bed right next to my house.  If I would just take the time to pull those weeds as soon as they get started…I would have a weed free flower bed.  Plus, it would take so little time and effort.  Seriously, I could keep it clean with just 10 to 15 minutes a week.  Unfortunately, I get lazy and end up having to do quite a bit of work for an extended period of time.  I look at my spiritual life the same way.  I need to take a little time every single day to make sure those seeds and those little weeds in my heart do not grow.  Unfortunately, too many times I let them grow too long and it ends up requiring a major spiritual overhaul.

Keep the weeds out of your heart.  It will be so obvious to others that they will know you are a child of the living God.  They will want what you have.  Always be ready to tell them how to receive Him.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Later

Adam