Holy Boldness

Beatitude #4: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righ teousness for they shall be satisfied. The desire for righteousness is not a religious pursuit. It is a relational, love-driven pursuit. It is a desire for oneness and complete reconciliation with God. This desire is not about some arbitrary declara tion made in the heavens that one is “righteous” but to “hunger and thirst for righteousness” involves a deeply felt desire to be utterly reconciled to the heart of God both personally and in union with all who love Him. Those who are truly blessed are not mildly content with the way things are. They hunger and thirst for change. That means that even though they are confident of the ultimate victory of good over evil, even within themselves, they still feel hunger pains for the ultimate fulfillment. Those who hunger are those who still believe for something better. Those who don’t hunger are those who have given up on the dream. Do you hunger and thirst for something better or is that process too painful? Blessed are the hungry!!! Blessed are the people who do not dull their hunger with lesser things or resign themselves to a sub-par ex istence. Blessed are they who do not settle for second best but who press on to the high call of God and believe for all of it. This is the product of the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord keeps a person in conscious awareness of the heart and passion of God and therefore must be hungry for the fulfillment of the divine dream. God longs for companionship. God is looking for friends. God seeks worshipers who will worship Him in Spirit and Truth! This means that they are seeking to be in full agree ment with the heart of the Father. They hunger and thirst for oneness with God, complete reconciliation, and agreement. And the promise of Jesus is that they shall be filled! The first four beatitudes are the internal attitudes and reveal the posture of the soul towards God while the second four reveal the way the blessed relate to the world. Beatitude #5: Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy. If a person does not believe in the goodness of God, they will be merciless, hold grudges and seek vengeance. Bankrupt people act bank rupt and that means that they are miserly and hold onto every debt they can collect. Many are rich in debt collection which means that ultimately

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