The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth

Matthew 5:5 (NIV)

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

I have thought a lot about this word, meek and have experienced recent events in my life that have allowed me to display meekness. I always thought meekness was a weakness but, according to the Greek New Testament the word meek comes from the Greek term Praus and describes strength brought under control (like a wild horse tamed by the bridle).

 

I would take one step further and define control. In this context I believe control would be defined as, "submission to the Lord".  How do we submit to the Lord and become meek.

According to Grady Scott we must look at the beatitudes. The first is Matthew 5:3 which says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." We have to realize and understand our spiritual poverty. We can do nothing without God. The second beatitude in Matthew 5:4 says, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." We must realize we are sinners and mourn over our sinful state of separation from God. We cannot fool God or ourselves. We must accept God's estimate of our lives. The third beatitude is Matthew 5:5, which says, "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." We are these people if we understand our spiritual poverty, mourn our sinful state and are willing to submit our lives to the will of God.    

What happens when we submit to God? Do we become weak and long-faced? No, we become forgiven, cleansed and justified by the blood of Jesus Christ.  We have access to God the Father and are the apple of His eye. We have a hope that cannot be removed. We have His Holy Spirit to guide us. Romans 5:5 says, "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us".

In Mathew 11:28, 29 (KJV) the Word of God says, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls". Yes, this is our Jesus speaking. There are many examples of meekness throughout the Bible, but I believe Jesus is the example to follow.

This world teaches the exact opposite. The world says, be aggressive to get what you want, compete for money and rewards, be the hero and receive recognition, assert yourselves to get ahead, take out plenty of life insurance so your family will get some inheritance, etc. God says, "The meek shall inherit the earth". Ask God for meekness and His will to be done and it will.

Amen

I've tried Dieting! Blog

I've tried Dieting!

Almost 3 years ago, I put on 50lbs in less than 3 months. I could no longer run up the stairs or even walk uphill without becoming very short of breath. I had been delivered from alcohol for one year and cigarettes for two. I thought maybe that was the problem, so I tried dieting. Atkins, South Beach, Mediterranean, Starvation, but nothing helped. I felt sure I must have some type of medical problem so I saw the doctor and had a battery of tests. Vials of blood for thyroid and others, ultrasounds of stomach, thyroid, echo, pulmonary function tests, abdominal and chest Cat Scan, stress test and more. Nothing was found, thank you God. I also blamed it on steroids. I received several steroid injections for a herniated disc. I then moved on to a holistic practitioner who found that I had a yeast problem, which required three months of the nastiest tasting fish powder and enzymes. I also tried water pills. I spent hundreds of hours and dollars on different remedies. It didn't stop there, I then gave up for a while followed by a no dairy, no red meat, no concentrated sugar and no food additives diet. I may have left several failed attempts out. I tried Alli. There are several funny videos on Youtube! I prayed, I fasted and I ate like a pig, nothing! My weight stayed about the same.

While in Maine I kept praying and felt like God was saying He wanted to deliver me from this. He showed me all the things that were keeping me from success. Please see the November Newsletter for On Mission In America for a in depth discussion about that.

I was thankful that God showed me through His Word that He needed to make some (a lot) of changes in my life. Recently, a friend gave me an book from 1985 titled "Fit for Life". It made a lot of sense. Although it is not a diet, it does have strategies for losing weight. One of the things it talks about is how we are made up of 70% water and how our food should also be made up of 70% water. It also discusses food combining to improve digestion. I haven't finished reading the book yet but have decided to follow the strategies, with prayer, the Word of God and exercise starting on December 1st.

I'm wondering if anyone who struggles with the same issue would like to join me? Not as a competition but as support for each other. We could share recipes, encouraging news and even failures. We could pray for each other. There are over 1,200 copies available at Amazon starting at .01 cent. Even if you cannot start on December 1st you can follow my blog and join anytime.                                                                                                                                                                                             

Shelby's Blog

One person who caught me off guard at youth was a girl named Kali. It was the first time I saw her at youth and we bonded quickly, just by playing some fun games. She asked where I went to school and I said, "I'm home-schooled and I am a missionary". Right when I said that her jaw dropped and she said, "Wow, your a little young to be a missionary" and I laughed and explained the whole situation. Now we are going to stay in contact through text and myspace.

Encouragement

A while back when we first started this outreach we visited a church called Rochelle Community Church. I had met the pastor's wife at my chiropractors office and she invited us to the church. She said they were struggling. Gary, myself and several in our life group had felt the vision to reach out to churches in our community, so we began to pray for God's will and blessing for their church.

About 3 months later several of us visited their church, hoping to offer some kind of encouragement. Little did we know that the pastor (Ken Morton) had a good word for us.

I am going to share some of Pastor Ken's sermon with you as well as things that I have found to be encouraging since we took the show on the road.

Hebrews 3:12-13 says, "See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness."

Why are we to encourage? To keep each other free from the "hardening deceitfulness of SIN".

How can we encourage "one another"?

Romans 1:11 says,  I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—"

So what are these "spiritual gifts" we can impart. Encouragement is one of the gifts of the spirit.


Romans 12:6 -8 says, "We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

When are we to encourage one another? "While it is still Today". In other words today and everyday until the Lord Jesus comes back. I liked what Pastor Ken said here. He said, "If Satan had a favorite word, what would it be? TOMORROW!"

The purpose of OMIA is to make encouraging and edifying others our greatest goal. Our best weapon as warriors for Christ is the full armor of God. If we can help churches to keep their armor on, while reaching out to a lost and dying world with love, our goal has been achieved.

Ephesians 6:10-18 says, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints".

There are so many powerful, encouraging passages in the Bible: John 14:12-14, 1 John 3:16-21, Revelation 21:6, 1 Peter 2:9 and more and more and more.

Discouragement is not an option.

Love,
The Uhlers