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"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
(Matthew 5:10-12)
I have mixed emotions as I write this last week of devotions on the Beatitudes of Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:1-12. I am grateful to have been able to journey with you through some wonderful and intense teaching of Jesus Christ on how He expects us to live on earth as citizens of the Kingdom of God. But I am saddened as I wrap up this study, because it is in those intense moments of study and application that we draw closer to the Lord. I had an "ah ha" moment while studying our biblical text for today. It dawned on me that Jesus' main emphasis in these Beatitudes is that we are to die to self and live for Christ. It is only in dying to self that we are empowered to live the Spirit-filled life of true peace, contentment, and joy. We are to become so dead to self that even when we are persecuted for righteousness' sake, we will have the spiritual depth and maturity to respond not with retaliation but with rejoicing.
He is still working on me, as the song says, to make me what I ought to be. I have not arrived in this process of sanctification, but I long to be able to live in such a way that these Beatitudes are a genuine description of my life.
I believe this last one is the hardest, and before we can do what Jesus commands (yes, commands), we need to keep on experiencing the first 7 Beatitudes: poor in spirit, mourning over our sins, meek, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, and being peacemakers. Then we will be able to rejoice and be exceedingly glad when we are persecuted. To reach that level of spiritual maturity takes a determination to die to self.
God is preparing His church here on earth to live with Him in heaven. This pruning process is not easy, but it is so necessary. What would happen to Jesus' Church if we were poor in spirit and matured to the point where we were rejoicing in persecution? We would be on fire for Jesus! We would be passionate for the advancement of the gospel to the ends of the earth. We would not have time to focus on the trivial and pedantic, but we would be absorbed with unity and shining outwardly for Christ.
Are you ready this week to be challenged in your spiritual walk with Jesus? Getting to the place where you can rejoice when persecuted is a mark of true humility and maturity in Christ. Pray and ask God to help you to be so sanctified and filled with the Spirit of God that you can rejoice even when you are reviled.
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