JOHN SHIRK – In the Year to Shine, today’s Vital Step to a Radiant Faith is meekness.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said in Matthew 5:5.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
One definition of meekness is “enduring injury with patience and without resentment.”
In the devotional book “For Every Season” Greg Laurie describes meekness as “power under constraint” or “strength under control.” It’s a picture of a stallion that has been broken. The horse has not lost its will or strength, but has surrendered its will to the rider. That is a good picture to inspire us to surrender our will to God.
Psalm 37 contains a good description of meekness and how God works through that quality in our lives. Verse 5 says, “Commit your way to the LORD, trust in him, and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”
Meekness is a vital step to a radiant faith that makes a difference in our world.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
September 17th, 2021
john
JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Endurance, today’s Daily Challenge motivates us to grow in meekness.
In Matthew 5:5, Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
The idea of meekness has to do with “strength through restraint”. It is a quality that combines humility with a gentle spirit. The perfect example of this was Jesus. Though he was rich, yet for our sake he became poor. Even though He had 72,000 angels at his disposal for protection, Jesus chose the way of the cross. For a period of time, He emptied Himself of His Heavenly glory and stepped into a human body to take the nature of a servant.
When we see the evidence of injustice, meekness is the quality that will help us to confront it the right way. Look to the example of Jesus. We are challenged to use our influence to shine the light of the Gospel with the attitude of Christ, who demonstrated gentleness, humility and patience to a world in need of His grace.
Take the daily challenge to experience the blessing of growing in meekness on the journey of faith.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
