30. April 2008 by Bernice Davis.

Good Morning: 

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” 

Did you get a chance to think about all the things that we are refusing to deal with for the sake of “peace?” Again, I want to emphasize that true peace cannot come without conflict.   Think about war.  We often go to war to achieve peace.  So there is a conflict that needs to be resolved before true peace can be achieved.   

Before we closed this beatitude out, I want you to focus on one more scripture. 

Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, “ 

As you can see from above, peace is one of the fruits of the spirit.  This is what should be apart of us.  It is not an option.  This is what we should look like as Christians; peacemakers;  People who not only resolve conflicts but also live our lives so that we don’t purposely stir up conflicts.  The Gospel is offensive by itself, without us causing unneccessary drama. 

Tomorrow, we’ll put everything together and talk about what it means to be called “the children of God.”  

Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

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29. April 2008 by Bernice Davis.

Good Morning: 

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Have you ever scarified dealing with an issue for the sake of “peace?”  We often avoid conflict because we don’t want to stir up any problems.  

While many people think that staying away from or not dealing with situations that could possibly result in arguments, ill will, hard feelings, tension, drama etc, is the right thing to do, it actually does not solve the problems nor does it give us the peace that we desire.    There can not be true peace without conflict.  Avoiding issues does not solve the problem and while you may agree to not discuss them, the problem still exists; we simply ceased from the discussions or decided not to deal with them because of the emotions that it will cause to surface.   

Peace is not to be sought out at the expense of righteousness.  What I mean by this statement is that biblical peace does not come without conflict.   As Christians we do not compromise righteousness or “right doing” just so we can avoid conflict.    

James 3:17 states “ But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.” True peace comes only from doing the right thing and sometimes standing up for what is right will cause major conflicts.   

Today, let’s memorize verse 18:  “Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.” 

Let’s think about all the situations we’ve tabled, avoided for fear of causing arguments, conflict, etc.   We really don’t have peace if we are not dealing with our situations; it’s simply an illusion of peace.  It’s still there and still shows up in our hearts, our emotions, and our mind.  When we can’t deal with something for fear of how the other person will react, then we’re truly not free.   Christ came so that we can experience freedom in every part of our lives and it’s a wonderful thing to be free. 

Tomorrow, we’ll continue our journey.   

 Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.   

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28. April 2008 by Bernice Davis.

Good Morning: 

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” This week we’re going to be talking about peacemakers.  What does it really mean to be a peacemaker?      

Most people define peace as “the absence of conflict.” 

But what does it require to achieve peace in our lives.   Look at what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 10:34 “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” (KJV) Jesus tells us in his “sermon on the mount” for us to be peacemakers and here he tells us that he did not come to send peace.    Jesus is referred to as the “Prince of Peace.”  So what does all this really mean? 

All I want you to do today is visit these scriptures and just think about them.  This is the journey we will be on this week.   I think you will find that being a peacemaker has a lot more to it than we have probably thought about. See ya tomorrow!  God bless!

Make it a great day and don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

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26. April 2008 by Bernice Davis.

Good Morning 

Our memory verse today is: 

Deuteronomy 4:29 “But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy soul.”

Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

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25. April 2008 by Bernice Davis.

Good Morning 

Today, I want to talk about what it means to see God.  In our text that we have been studying,  

“Blessed Are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.  The word see hear means to “behold” or to be made known to.  The word used has both a future and a present tense associated with it.   Yes, we know that we will see God when we get to heaven or the place that He has prepared for us, but a pure heart will begin to see God here on earth in each and every thing that we go though.  We will be able to see God in people that the average person would give up on.  Our compassion level will increase and our ability to discern will heighten beyond measure.  Remember, these are the steps that Jesus taught before he taught purity of heart.  

(1)  Poverty of Spirit

(2)  Meekness

(3)  Mourn

(4)  Hunger and Thirst (5)  Mercy

(6)  Pure In heart 

Out of a pure heart comes the ability to “See God.”  I don’t know about you but that’s what I’m striving for; the ability to clearly see God in all situations and circumstances.    On the weekend, we will do our memory verses, and Monday, we will continue with the beatitudes.   Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily. 

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24. April 2008 by Bernice Davis.

Good Morning: 

The past couple of days we’ve been talking about purity and the heart.  If we put the two lessons together, then we will see that purity of heart comes by a “cutting away” or pruning. 

So the heart, which is the seat of emotions, the will, mind, intellect, is made pure by in essence “going through”    Remember, the reason for pruning is so that the highest yield possible will come forth.  To experience the abundant life that Christ came to provide and to possess this “pure heart, we must go through the following steps: 

(1)  Poverty of Spirit- an emptiness of our own self righteousness and realizing that we cannot do anything without God.  We need him for all things and once we begin giving up our self-righteous we can begin allowing the word of God to transform our heart.

(2)  Meekness- Meekness has to do with accepting the will of God for our lives and knowing that God allows and is in control of all things.  A meek person does not resist or fight against the “will of God” but is one that walks humbly with an attitude of submission.  

(3)  Mourn-  Those who mourn are concerned about offending God.  The mourning is towards the fact that when we sin, we have offended God and we should have a sorrowful and repenting attitude.

(4)  Hunger and Thirst – We should always have a desire to go higher in God. We should crave it as one craves food and water when they are desperately famished.  The object of our hunger and thirst is righteousness.

(5)  Mercy-  As Christians, we should always be in a reconciliation mode and be willing to freely offer mercy and forgiveness as freely as God offers it to us even though we may have been rightfully offended.  The above are a brief summary of the beatitudes we have studied thus far, now after all of these, you can easily see how it would lead to “pure of heart.”   Being in right relationship with God and our brothers and sisters causes singleness or purity of heart.     

Tomorrow, we will look at the last part of this beatitude.  “for they shall see God.”  We will talk about what it means to “SEE GOD.” Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily. 

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23. April 2008 by Bernice Davis.

Matthew 5: 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” Today, we want to talk about the heart.  

Remember, the object of our purity is the heart. 

Let’s take a look at what is meant by heart.  The physical heart of course is the organ in the body which is the center of the circulation of the blood and hence was regarded as the seat of physical life.   It refers to the center of all physical and spiritual life, The soul or mind- as it is the fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions, appetites, affections, purposes, endeavors.  

 It refers to both will and character.   

Jesus often condemned the religious leaders of his day for the things that were truly in their heart. 

Matthew 12: 34 “ O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”  (KJV) 

Have you ever been in a heated argument with someone and you say something and then you can’t believe that came out of you.  You try to tell the person you didn’t mean it, but they say “it was in your heart.”  They’re trying to make a point that if it wasn’t in your heart to begin with, it would not have come out.   The heart is what God is after, our seat of emotions, the intellect, the mind, the will, our character.   

Let’s take a look at Matthew 6:21: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Whatever we focus on the most is where our heart is.  Whatever we spend our most time, finances, energy, thoughts, etc, that is where our heart is.   What’s really in our hearts?  Where do we spend most of our energy, thoughts, time, finances, resources, etc?  Are they really spiritual things we invest in the most or are our treasures tied up in “earthly” things? 

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22. April 2008 by Bernice Davis.

Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”  

Today we are talking about one of my favorite beatitudes.  The pure in heart and seeing God. 

What does it really mean to “see God.” 

Let’s begin with the word pure.  The word pure comes from a word that means to be made clean by pruning.  It means to be free from corrupt desire, sin and guilt, to be blameless, to be innocent.   To be made clean by pruning. 

This is that time of year where if you look around, you will see a lot of landscapers pruning in order that the trees will grow healthy.   

Pruning in landscaping and gardening is the practice of removing diseased, non-productive, or otherwise unwanted portions from a plant.  The purpose of pruning is to shape the plant by controlling or directing plant growth, to maintain the health of the plant, or to increase the yield or quality of flowers and fruits.  (Wikipedia)

As we look at the definition of pruning, we see it is a cutting away in order to produce health and increase quality and growth.  I know we don’t like to go through difficult times, or endure pain or suffering, but I am a firm believer that every experience that we go through, there is a lesson to be learn for growth and for our own physical and mental health. 

Sometimes the situations that we encounter are “pruning” or cutting away some attitudes, mindsets, or emotions that we need to get rid of.  

Sometimes pain and suffering creates greater faith, a stronger will or determination, or it causes us to reflect on our life and pushes us to get on the right track.  The scriptures teach that “all things work together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose.”  We see in this “pure of heart” phrase that it is developed by pruning or by a cutting away.  For our hearts to be totally pure or for us to be “single-minded” in our thoughts towards God, we must go through the pruning that is necessary to create purity. 

Tomorrow, we’ll talk about  what Jesus has to say concerning the  heart.

Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

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21. April 2008 by Bernice Davis.

Today, we’re closing our beatitude on mercy.   

Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” 

All last week, we studied scriptures that showed how our unforgiving nature hinders our relationship with God and how development and growth in God is tied to our relationships with others.   

As Christians, we “must” practice a forgiving nature.  It is not an option, it is required by God.  The only thing hindering us is our pride. 

Many of the stories that we studied on last week showed us how God freely forgives us when we sin against him.  Sin wounds the heart of God. 

I know that we have been wounded by people and for some of us the wounds are deep, but just as we desperately offend and wound the heart of  God when we sin, and God forgives us, we are to show that same compassion.  That’s just it people. 

Jesus does not sugarcoat the gospel.  If we are saved, we should practice a forgiving nature. 

I hope you took inventory on last week of the people that you haven’t forgiven and of all the pain that you’re holding on to from not dealing with issues and from having un- forgiveness in your heart.   I know I did and I can safely say that “all is well.”    Just begin the dialogue and ask God to help you. 

Yeah, pick up that phone, ask for a meeting.  I gave you the steps on last week concerning how to resolve conflict according to the scriptures.  It’s time to grow, live in joy, and experience true peace.   I sure hope you’re taking this journey with me cause I’m experiencing growth beyond what I imagined, and it feels great.  God bless. 

Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily. 

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19. April 2008 by Bernice Davis.

Okay, it’s Saturday.  I choose a memory verse that deals with our subject from the week.  Below is the scripture

Luke 6: 35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.  

37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.Let’s memorize the last part of verse

37.  “Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.  Just that simple.  Have a great weekend.  See ya in the morning with our Sunday memory verse.  Make it  a great day and don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

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