I have just finished a wonderful book titled "The Secret of Happiness," written by Billy Graham, published in 1956 by Doubleday & Company. Doctor Graham dissects each verse in Matthew 5:1-12, as expressed in the 8 Beatitudes.
What spiritual enlightenment gleaned from Jesus's famous teaching, now known as the "Sermon On the Mountain." This season of Lent, my heart turns to the cross, and the Holy Spirit reminds me to see these teachings are just as relevant today as they were 2000 years ago. I want to draw close to Christ, closer than to a friend, to sit at his feet and learn from the Master. I am spending time away from some popular distractions-social entertainments- and instead putting my heart into these devotions.
As I reflect on the last days of the life of Christ, and now symbolically walk through them with him in my study, I feel Jesus is in need of me- as I of He- and though vainly my perspective seems, Christ says otherwise. My feeling is validated and revealed in my study of his predawn prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. In John 17:10 while praying to the Father for the disciples sake, Jesus prays-
" All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them."
Yes, he needs me, and all his followers now, just as much as he needed the disciples to stay awake, and watch and pray that fateful night he was arrested. When I am spiritually sharp I reveal his glory- the glory of the Son passed down from the Father, and now my glorious inheritance.
No doubt my lamp is dingy and in need of a good cleaning, and so today I ask my God to help me to restore and renew my passion for sharing the words written in red, and in return I give all the glory to Christ- the man who saved me- and the God who sustains me. He deserves it all.
I need the help of the Holy Spirit to stay vigilant, on guard, to offer assistance in awakening a world still suffering from spiritual stupor. I hear in my spirit the duty of this call is..
.."Be the salt, be the light- to the lost and hungry people who are still looking, walking, and hiding in the dark-. illuminate, shine. Dawn draws near, and soon all will see the true light of the world revealed, great will be the reward for the good and faithful servant."
Read the Beatitudes
