Tag Archives: Heaven

November 12, 2020 · 7:15 am

MATTHEW 5:3

The Beatitudes – Poor In Spirit

A Five Minute Devotional

The video shown below is the devotional from November 12th, 2020. The full text of the devotional follows the video.

Calvary Chapel Rosarito – English Devotional by Ruth Wiram

WELCOME

Hello!  My name is Ruth and I would like to share with you today The Good News… Ladies Edition!

INTRODUCTION

Let’s read Matthew, chapter 5 verse 3 together.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

This reminds me of a funny story about heaven.

A woman dies and goes to heaven.  Of course, St. Peter meets her at the pearly gates.  St. Peter says, “Here’s how this works.  You need 100 points to make it into heaven.  You tell me all the good things you’ve done, and I give you a certain number of points for each one, depending on how good it was.  When you reach 100 points, you get in.”

“Okay,” the woman says, “I was married to the same man for 50 years and never cheated on him.”

“That wonderful,” says St. Peter, “that’s worth 3 points!”

“Three points?” she says.  “Well I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service.”

“Terrific!” says St. Peter, “ that’s certainly worth a point.”

“One point?  Golly.  How about this.  I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for battered women.”

Fantastic, that’s good for two more points,” he says.

“Two points!” the woman cries, “At this rate the only way I get into heaven is by the grace of God!”

“Come on in!”

BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT

What truth there is in that humorous story?

The main focus of this verse in Matthew is, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

Let’s get into a little background of this verse.  This is a fantastic portion of Scripture called the Sermon on the Mount.

The first thing we notice about the Sermon on the Mount is that it is not for everyone.   

In Matthew 5, Jesus gets aways from the crowds and teaches His disciples.  And even though this message was preached 2000 years ago, it is for our ears and hearts today, Ladies.

Matthew 5:1-12 is known as the Beatitudes or pronounced blessings.  The word literally means, “O, how happy!”

Our verse today says that the poor in spirit are blessed.  How can that be? 

We don’t usually think of the poor in spirit as being happy people.

Jesus is not talking about financially poor.  He is talking about being spiritually bankrupt.

It is the opposite of being proud.  And it is the glorious consequence of our coming into a real personal recognition of who God is.  And immediately when we compare ourselves to the Holy Perfect Savior of our souls, we must admit our true position.  We say with the Apostle Paul, “O wretched man that I am!  Who shall deliver me from this body of death?”

TREASURE IN HEAVEN

And because we have had a true encounter with God, and have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the kingdom of heaven belongs to us.

We no longer live in just this physical material world.  We are transported into the kingdom as a child of God and a citizen of the eternal kingdom. 

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells the following story about someone who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else.  Two women went to the temple to pray.  One was a famous Bible teacher, a world wide celebrity, and the other one was a mere mother and housewife.  The famous teacher stood by herself and prayed this prayer, “I thank You, God, that I am not like other people – cheaters, sinners, adulterers.  I’m certainly not like this meager housewife.  I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my sizable income.”

But the housewife stood at a distance and dared not even lift her eyes to heaven as she prayed.  Instead, she lowered her head in sorrow, saying, “O God, be merciful to me for I am such a sinner.”

Jesus tells us that this sinner, not the famous teacher would return home justified before God.  

Because those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Those who humble themselves and realize that only God can fill them and bring lasting fulfillment are truly blessed. 

Ladies, which one of these 2 women are you?

We see our ultimate reward in trusting and obeying God in humbleness of mind and actions in 1 Corinthians 2:9.

 “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor has entered into the heart of woman the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

And that, Ladies, is today’s Good News.

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April 8, 2014 · 2:10 pm

Easter, The Ultimate Answer To, “What Would Jesus Do?”

Golgotha

With this year’s Resurrection Sunday celebration approaching, I’ve been reflecting on a really good related discussion I had with a friend, around this time of year, about five years ago. What was then a new relationship seemed to be one where we quickly recognized that we liked each other regardless of our differing views on some pretty important topics. I say “really good discussion” because it was an open exchange with both of us genuinely interested in hearing the other’s points of view and wanting to learn from that. Candidly, I have to give my friend more credit than I can take myself, in that regard. Although this “really good discussion” mostly involved the two forbidden topics typically warned against for peaceful relationships … Politics and Religion … as I strongly suspected, this was just our first “really good discussion” of many to come.

One of the results of that conversation was for me to be reminded that, while I was clear in my understanding of my positions on the issues we discussed, I wanted to be able to clearly express my views to others. The question that was raised that confronted me with this most significantly was the question, “Do you believe there’s only one way to Heaven?” Although I think my response to this was adequate, it seemed to me that I should be prepared to offer more than an answer that’s just OK to such an important question. In fact, in 1 Peter 3:15, the Bible compels Christians to do this, saying, “[be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you”.

Expressing the “reason of the hope that is in (me)” is what I wanted to be better prepared to do but, before I delve into that, I should give you my initial answer to that question. My answer is:

I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I, also, believe that every person can have salvation through accepting Christ’s sacrifice for their sin. And, I believe that salvation, through accepting Christ’s sacrifice, is the one and only path to Heaven.

Since my friend didn’t state his position on this question, I won’t presume to give you his answer. I will say his question was accompanied with several related questions and comments that I took into account as I considered how to best express the “reason of the hope that is in (me)”. One related question was, “Do you think Mother Teresa went to Heaven?” and one related comment was, “I make it a daily habit, when considering certain choices, to ask myself, ‘What would Jesus do?'” I’m paraphrasing rather than quoting here but, to me, this combination of questions and comments had certain implications. One was that while my friend had some high regard for Jesus, he didn’t necessarily accept Him as being the only way to Heaven. Another was that “good works”/”being a good person” should get you to Heaven.

So, in order to respond to this and more adequately express the “reason of the hope that is in (me)”, the two questions to answer are:

  1. Who is Jesus
  2. Can “good works” alone be a path to Heaven?

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October 21, 2013 · 12:19 pm

My Welcoming Committee

Grandpa & Grandma Ray

…….

What happens when a Christian passes from life on Earth to life in eternity? Surely, this is a question each of us considers, at some time, regardless of age or other life circumstances. I think it seems obvious, though, that as you recognize it’s likely you’re closer to the end than the beginning, you begin to give this more thought. I can’t pinpoint the moment this began with me but, some time after I had this realization, I began to consider a related hope that I defined as My Welcoming Committee.

First, let me state clearly that the hope I have in My Welcoming Committee is not supported by Scripture. By the same token, there’s nothing in the Bible that teaches against it. So, I continue to cling to that hope as something that God, quite possibly, may have in mind, as a reward.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” – Jeremiah 29:11

My Welcoming Committee is, simply, this: A gathering of those who arrived in Heaven before me, who played a role in pointing me to God’s gracious gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. Although I see them as being there for me, to greet me as I arrive, the reward that I see God having in mind with this is for them. Their reward, for the role they played in leading me to salvation, is that they get to usher me into the presence of Jesus, to introduce us face-to-face.

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