A Christian devotional on the person of Christ As a Christian, you are called to live like Jesus—a life of courage, joy, passion, and purpose. Forget about the boring stuff—Jesus calls you to new commitment and new strength. In this first volume of Daily Readings from the Life of Christ , highly acclaimed author and speaker John MacArthur focuses primarily on the Gospel of Matthew, which highlights Jesus as the promised Messiah. Your hungry heart will again be fed and focused on God's Word, with insights on the life of Jesus, thoughts to ponder, and wisdom gleaned from years of MacArthur's careful study. Practical and encouraging, these pages are sure to challenge and uplift your heart as you come face-to-face with the infinite wonders of our Savior's life on this earth.
John F. MacArthur, Jr. was a United States Calvinistic evangelical writer and minister, noted for his radio program entitled Grace to You and as the editor of the Gold Medallion Book Award-winning MacArthur Study Bible. MacArthur was a fifth-generation pastor, a popular author and conference speaker, and served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California beginning in 1969, as well as President of The Master’s College (and the related Master’s Seminary) in Santa Clarita, California.
At long last I finished this devotional after being abandoned for years. The content was light but at the same times direct. This is a good materials for morning meditation.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matt.5:4
IF YOU HAVE SPIRITUAL POVERTY and true humility, they will lead you to godly sorrow. That's what Jesus meant by "mourn" here in this second beatitude.Paul told the Corinthians about this kind of sorrow : "For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. "For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you" 2 Cor. 7:10-11
Of the nine different New Testament words that indicate the commonness of human sorrow, the one Matthew used here is the most severe. Usually it was used only to denote the loss of a loved one (cf. Mark 16:10; Rev.18:11,15). It coveys the notion of deep, inner agony that is not necessarily expressed by outward weeping or wailing.
Yet genuine, biblical mourning produces results that are surprisingly wonderful because God does something tangible in response to it - the forgiveness of our sins - a holy infusion of real happiness that breathes into you a sigh of relief.
Therefore, this is not simply a psychological or an emotional experience that makes you feel better. No, this mourning is met by blessedness. Genuine spiritual mourning invites communion with the true God, to which He responds with an objective reality - the reality of forgiveness that David knew : "How blessed is he whose trangressions is forgiven, whose sin is covered ! How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit !" (Ps.32:1-2)