TITLE:  KINGDOM PEOPLE – SURRENDERED & HUNGRY

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

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

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

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

MATTHEW 5:3-10 (NIV) 

Baruch: (Covenantal Favour): a decree bestowing power, fruitfulness, and protection for flourishing.

Ashrei: (Human Alignment): to walk straight, to advance, a map to align your life with God.

Blessed [Ashrei] is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked  … but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night… whatever they do prospers.

PSALM 1:1-3 (NIV)

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

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

MATTHEW 5:5-6 (NIV) 

Meekness is NOT WEAKNESS – it is power brought under the authority of the King.

Hunger for righteousness is not personal piety -  it is longing for the whole world to be set right, including yourself.

Meekness is not a natural temperament, but a cultivated posture – the result of having seen God’s power and VOLUNTARILY placing one’s own power under His authority.  It is the opposite of both aggression and passivity.

(D. A. CARSON)  

Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth. And the Lord said, … My servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face.

NUMBERS 12:3,7-8 (NIV)

The horse had to be broken without losing its strength.

A warhorse learned to respond to the slightest cue from its rider.

Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.

LUKE 22:42 (NLT)

A Warhorse was trained not to panic.

You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.

ISAIAH 26:3 (NKJ) 

A Warhorse learned courage under authority.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

2 TIMOTHY 1:7 (NLT)

I am with you; that is all you need. My power shows up best in weak people. Now I am glad to boast about how weak I am; I am glad to be a living demonstration of Christ’s power, instead of showing off my own power and abilities. Since I know it is all for Christ’s good, I am quite happy about “the thorn,” and about insults and hardships, persecutions and difficulties; for when I am weak, then I am strong—the less I have, the more I depend on him.

2 CORINTHIANS 12:9-10 (LB) 

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 CORINTHIANS 12:9-10 (NIV) 

A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. But the MEEK will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.

PSALM 37: 10-11 (NIV)

Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (MEEK) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.

MATTHEW 11:29 (AMP)

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HUNDER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS, FOR THEY WILL BE FILLED.

The hunger for righteousness in the Beatitudes is not primarily about personal morality, but about justice – the longing for the world to be put right.  Kingdom people ache for God’s shalom to come, and that ache drives everything.

(THE LATE TIM KELLER)

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

PSALM 107:8-9 (NIV)

O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.

PSALM 63:1 (NLT)

I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.

AMOS 5:24 (NLT)