The Divine Delight. A Study of the Beatitudes. by Terry W. Ewing. ... Joining with God in His practice of steadfast love, justice, and righteousness

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1 The Divine Delight

2 The Divine Delight A Study of the Beatitudes... Joining with God in His practice of steadfast love, justice, and righteousness by Terry W. Ewing

3 Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Scripture quotations marked NAS are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, La Habra, California. Note: In some Scripture quotations italics have been added by the author for emphasis. The Divine Delight A Study of the Beatitudes ISBN: Copyright 2012 by Terry W. Ewing Published by Plumbline Ministries 8222 S. 103 rd St. Tulsa, OK Cover by Eddie Turner Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. Contents and/or cover may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any form without the express written consent of the author.

4 DEDICATION This book is the first I ever began to write and yet is the third to be published. As such, these concepts have been with me the longest. They have shaped me as I ve presented them over and over in sermons, newsletters, counseling sessions, and in my personal conversations. I remember so many places and faces as I expound on these verses we call the Beatitudes. I remember my own personal struggles (still continuing) in applying them in my family, churches, and counseling center. Therefore, I dedicate this book to those who have lived it with me over the years; my wife and children, and those glorious people that God has given me the privilege of caring for. I know now that I needed these principles ingrained in my heart so many times that God had to give me people to tell them to so I could think through them, hear myself say them, and give the Holy Spirit another opportunity to apply them to my heart.

5 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION... 7 Fairy Tale Thinking or Embracing the Divine Delight HAPPILY EVER AFTER Abundant Life The Common Good STICKMAN THEOLOGY Humanity's Argument with God Speaking the Truth in Love Defining Spiritual Maturity Post Script For Theirs Is the Kingdom Of Heaven THE COMMUNITY OF MOURNERS One Thing Leads To Another Those Who Mourn Mourners are Movers Mourners are Motivated For They Shall Be Comforted The Freedom to Mourn A Mourner s Life is a Simple One THE KINGDOM BREAKS IN The Meek The Specific Will of God Performance versus Meekness An Added Benefit Inheriting the Earth A Portrait of Meekness: The Joseph Principle The Faith Issue

6 THE MONSTERS ARE DYING Healing Damaged Emotions and Broken Relationships 99 The Components of Emotional, Relational, and Spiritual Healing and Growth Jesus' Temptations THE FEVER S DOWN & I M GETTING HUNGRY Spiritual Disciplines For They Shall Be Satisfied MERCY Thanks, God; That s Enough! Blessed are the Merciful Like God the Father, the Merciful Have High Expectations of Others Like Jesus, the Merciful Have Greater Hopes for Others Than They Have for Themselves Like the Holy Spirit, the Merciful Love Others by Being Genuinely Submissive and Sacrificial For They Shall Receive Mercy THE DIVINE DOUBLE-STANDARD Blessed are the Pure in Heart A Healthy Fear of Cultural Idols Healthy Enough to Be Sick Valuing Sanctification Over Deliverance For They Shall See God FALSE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT PEACEMAKERS The Pragmatics of Peacemaking Blessed are the Peacemakers Idols for Destruction Prepared to Care For They Shall Be Called the Sons of God MIXED EMOTIONS Mixed Emotions Where Vision and Reality Meet

7 Blessed are Those Who are Persecuted for Righteousness Abundant Life and the Common Good INTRODUCTION Day after day, I counsel with people, who are hurting and confused, the large majority of who are professing Christians, referred to me by their pastor(s). After identifying their presenting issues and (hopefully) gaining their trust, often my first job is to determine what their expectations are - of life, of others, of God, and of themselves. These expectations usually fall in one of two categories: 1) A sacrificial Christian life is not supposed to be a happy one, and it would be selfish to pursue one s own happiness, or 2) A Christian should be happy, but I m not & don t think I can be. Note: I can already sense that some readers are jumping ahead and offering the third option - the correct Christian expectation - that we may not be happy, but we can be joyful. We face this problem squarely by retreating from the battle line of happiness and taking refuge in the fortress of joyfulness. We explain to the Christian novice that happiness is circumstantial, whereas joy is a condition of the spirit that carries us through any circumstance. This is the truth, as far as it goes. However, this explanation seems to fall short of what is spelled out for us in 7

8 the Beatitudes. In the Beatitudes, Jesus claims that we are blessed. The expositors of these verses seem to agree that when Jesus says that we are blessed, he means that we are extremely happy, fulfilled, and overwhelmed. My best translation requires us to remember the fairy-tales with which we grew up, within which our hero and heroine (if one was absolutely necessary) conquered every trial and then lived happily ever after. It may appear that Jesus is promising us that we will live happily ever after, except for one thing - there is never an after. We will never kill the villain, win the last battle, overcome all our inhibitions to love (for those of you whose life does involve a heroine), prove ourselves once and for all, win our fortune, or ride off into the sunset. In other words, we never get to the after. So does that mean that our happiness must be downgraded (honestly, that s how we feel about it) to joy? I believe that Jesus would say, no, NO, NO! As we look at each of the Beatitudes individually, we will find that Jesus is proclaiming that his principals are there to guide us into a life that is as happy as anyone may ever be in this lifetime. Our Delighted Deity When we think of God, do we picture Him smiling? I think some would object to such a picture because they know God s heart is broken for the sin that s in the world. How could God smile while watching those He loves suffer the consequences of their sin? What creator smiles at a corrupted creation? It is the contention of this author that God is indeed a happy God (thus the title Divine Delight ). Yes, He also can 8

9 be angry and He is often sad. At the same time, He is also the very essence of Happiness. For instance, in the Beatitudes Jesus is not teaching his disciples how they should be; He is sharing His own nature: telling us how He is! When Jesus stood on the hillside and began to teach, his teaching applied to himself, revealed his nature, shared with us all the blessings he was experiencing at that very moment. Jesus was explaining the happiness he was living and encouraging us to embrace these blessings. " I am the Lord, who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the Lord." (Jeremiah 9:24) In this verse, God is telling us about what He enjoys doing most, what He delights in. The Divine Delight is to practice steadfast love, justice, and righteousness. He delights in His practice. Thus, it is clear, that God is happily employed at accomplishing His own purposes. A key to understanding the implications of this verse lies in the definition of the word translated "to practice". Strong's Concordance states that "to practice" is to "do" or "make" in the broadest sense and widest application as follows: accomplish, advance, appoint... bring forth... have the charge of... fashion... govern... labor... bring to pass... prepare, etc. Throughout these definitions, it is clear that God is doing all that He can to make it possible for steadfast love, justice, and righteousness to be brought about in the earth. It is His joy to make intricate plans for the ultimate good of this sinful world. God has clearly defined how He desires to bless us by inviting us to join in His practice. In the first twelve verses of Matthew, chapter 5 (which we will continue to refer to as "The Beatitudes") we discover that God delights in 9

10 blessing mankind. Each Beatitude, or "blessing", is a natural result of men joining God in His practice. This book will explore the "Divine Delight" by conducting a careful study of the Beatitudes and related scripture. Fairy Tale Thinking or Embracing the Divine Delight I remember parts of a fairy tale I once read. It was a Kingwith-a-beautiful-daughter type of fairy tale. When the time arrived for the princess to marry, the king devised a plan to choose a suitable husband for her. The suitor must be able to steal items from the castle while three exceptionally sighted brothers stood guard at the gate. Each of the brothers had proven their special visual abilities by telling the time on a clock that the king had carefully hidden behind a curtain, a door, and even a wall. One suitor tried to steal a small item by hiding it in his shoe, another swallowed the object, but the brothers were able to discover each attempted theft. Our hero (Joe) was still determined to win the princess, whom he loved dearly. Joe entered the castle carrying a bag of pecan shells. He spread the shells in the bed of a wagon and began to exit the castle. At the gate, the youngest brother was able to see through the shells without even stirring them and allowed our hero to leave. The next day Joe carried in a bag of sand. He spread the sand in a wagon, and, after the second brother gazed through the sand, was allowed to leave. The third day, he hauled a bag of cement into the castle. He mixed the cement with water in the bed of a wagon and waited for it to harden. When confronted by the third brother at the gate, Joe suggested that he break up the concrete with a hammer and search the 10

11 wagon. The guard, confident in his ability to see through even concrete, declined. Joe was allowed to leave. The forth day Joe came to the castle to claim his bride. The three guards protested. They agreed that Joe had not stolen from the castle. "Oh, yes," exclaimed Joe, "I've been stealing wagons." The wagons!! How could the guards have overlooked the wagons?! The wagons were as valuable as the castle and all its belongings because they proved to be the means by which Joe won the princess for his bride and became the next King. There is a moral to the story for us. We have a kingdom to claim. We have an abundant life waiting to be received. Will we recognize the means of our blessings? Will we see God fulfilling His promises to us? Or, will our vision be clouded by the grains of sand which are our carnal expectations of God? Will we be forever searching through the pecan shells of a broken theology or breaking up the concrete of our human efforts to achieve fulfillment in life? God is parading his wagons full of blessings before us. God is delighted to offer us abundant life. Will we recognize it when we see it? The three exceptionally sighted brothers didn t know what to look for, so Joe married the beautiful princess and lived happily ever after. And that is where our fairy tale ends and our real life story must begin. Many Christians have an assurance of their salvation and have faith to confront the enemy, and yet feel cheated because they are not living happily ever after. Often their expectations in regard to Jesus' promises of abundant life are better suited for a fairy tale than to real life. In Second Corinthians 1:20, Paul states, "For no matter how 11

12 many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God." This verse makes it clear that we are not allowed to pick this or that single promise that God has made and then believe for the fulfillment of that single promise. We are not allowed (by the often promoted method of cutting and pasting God s promises as we deem appropriate) to dictate God s ends and means for our life. God exercises his great wisdom and love by weaving together his promises for our life. He weaves the promises that appeal to us together with those that don t. He creates a plan to glorify himself in and through our lives. Then, he asks for us to agree to his plan (to say Amen ). He asks us to trust him to bless our lives. Our temptation is to think that our immediate needs are our most urgent needs. If we are sick, we think our primary need, at the moment is for healing. If we need money, then we tend to pray for God to fulfill His promise to be our Provider. Surely, God desires that we bring all our concerns to Him in prayer. However, His purposes for our lives may be more complicated than the meeting of our immediate needs. God has been working for years in our lives (and, possibly, throughout generations) to create an intricate plan; the details of which we may never understand. We are asked to say 'Amen' or 'so be it' to God's will in our lives as He works all things together for the common good. The purpose of this book is to allow Jesus' teachings to define for us what it means to live happily ever after. We will examine the promise of Abundant life (John 10:9,12) and all the blessings belonging to those who identify with God's practice of steadfast love, righteousness, and justice (the Beatitudes, Mat. 5: 1-12). The fairy tales leave it up to each 12

13 child to decide what "happily ever after" really means. God does not. He knows that we don't always desire what is best. We often avoid those things that challenge and benefit us the most. And, God's blessings are often so contrary to our natural inclinations that they are often perceived, not as a blessing, but, as a curse. We will challenge the fairy-tale thinking that would tempt us to reject God's blessings in favor of our own self-guided pursuit of living happily ever after. We will present an outline of the character, relationships, and lifestyles that God desires to work in believers in order to equip us to participate in the Divine Delight. Conclusion: I found a classic statement of man s powerlessness against sin while watching the made-fortelevision mini-series, Thornbirds, starring Richard Chamberlain. Chamberlain plays the role of a priest (vowed to celibacy) who has fallen in love. At the height of his struggle against temptation toward his beautiful co-star, he claims, "I'll never do what I want; I'll never have what I want; I'll never be what I want; And, I don't know how to stop wanting." But, God did not leave us perpetually trapped between the commitment to our faith and the desires of our flesh. We are not left in a perpetual state of grief over what we have been denied of the desires of our flesh. He has given his Holy Spirit to dwell within us; to create new and holy desires within us. He has declared blessings upon us. He has promised to satisfy our hearts and that we can be exceptionally happy. He hasn t just demanded that we turn from the desires of our flesh. Instead, He offers blessings that surpass the desires of 13

14 our flesh. He has promised us both fullness and purpose. The Beatitudes describe those purposes and the fullness of life that any individual scriptural promise only hints at. Each promise points beyond itself to a God who delights in blessing us. If you and I will trust him, He will indeed abundantly bless us. Our first task is to identify and address two intimate needs that, when met, raise a person s life and spirit from a survival mode to embracing Jesus offered blessings. The first is the promise of Abundant Life; and second is our participation in the Common Good. Obviously, no fairly tales are written about ordinary lives. And, even in the selfserving romantic type fairy tales, its implied that all the kingdom was blessed for generations to come by this magical union. Likewise, in order to be truly happy, we need to know that our lives are exciting and important. This is what God is claiming for Himself in stating His delight in practicing steadfast love, justice, and righteousness. He is telling us how happy He is to have an exciting and important role in our lives. Since we are made in His image it should come as no surprise that what delights God Himself is also delightful to us. Therefore, lets consider the promises God has made us of Abundant and the Common Good. Prepare yourself to be blessed. Prepare yourself for the Divine Delight! 14

15 1 HAPPILY EVER AFTER To understand what it means to live happily ever after we must first understand what exactly abundant life is and what is meant by the common good? Abundant Life I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. John 10:10b Common Good We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose. Rom.8:28 My wife entered through the front door just as the movie I was watching ended. She was supposed to have been staying all night at a Slumber Party for the ladies in our Sunday School class. She had returned home before 10:00 p.m. because she did not at all fit in with the other ladies at the Party. The other ladies were enjoying one another and the events of the night and normally, Shaun would have overcome her tendencies toward shyness and have been in the middle of the activities. Tonight, however, after more than a year of trials and traumas, she just couldn't do it. She simply did not have the emotional energy it would have required to initiate conversations and risk not being well received. When I withdrew from ministry in the denomination I had served for fourteen years, Shaun had been so strong. She had faced the emotional trauma of leaving a church she loved and a lifestyle she excelled in. Over the next four months, as I 15

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