THE CHRISTIAN PROFILE

1- "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Whenever we hear this expression the first thing that comes to mind is the suffering and sadness we endure in life, but when we look closely into this expression, what Jesus is talking about is an introspection of ourselves and the realization of our true spiritual condition.

Sin has brought to us a disconnection with our Creator. We are living spiritually dead (poor of spirit) and we have to remember that God connects with us in a spiritual level. Realizing this is crucial because it brings the conviction of our guilt to us, it is the moment we understand our spiritual condition which brings us humbly and lowly before our God. We see our want and need of Jesus, we recognize our thirst after the Redeemer and His salvation.

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners," Isaiah 61:1.

This is the first step in our spiritual growth. To recognize that we need salvation, we need Jesus in our lives, that we are spiritually dead. Our sins have separated us from our creator. Those who recognize Him as the only way of salvation, for them Jesus promise the kingdom of grace, the kingdom of glory, the kingdom of heaven.

2- "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."

Once we have realized our spiritual condition, which took us far from God, the godly sorrow that worked true repentance in our life brings us to a watchful and humble mind. We see our true condition and mourn, we understand how unworthy and unclean we are, we plead God in our continuous dependance of Him. We realize we do not deserve such mercy.

Now we are accepted by the mercy of God in Jesus christ. This is the point of true repentance when we seek the Holy Spirit to cleanse us from the remaining evil in us. This is the start of our lifelong sanctification process. We will never achieve a pure and perfect life, we still live in a fallen body, which is prone to sin, but the Holy Spirit is now in us and will live Jesus life through us, forgiving all our past, present and future sins.

Heaven is the joy of our Lord, is a mountain that we all have to walk to, but to get there we must walk through the valley of tears and total dependance in Jesus.

Jesus promise here is that He will comfort us, He will walk with us, He will bring His peace, His joy.

"to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;" Isaiah 61:2.

This is the second step in our spiritual growth. Mourning, recognizing constantly that was only the grace of God that saves us and thus will bring the comfort of Jesus. His company and His strength will keep us going day by day. This comfort translate to an inexplicable happiness, the knowledge that there is no chasm, no hindrances between God and us. We are free to get close to the throne of grace any time we need to.

3- "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

Meekness is sometimes confused with weakness, it is very important to clarify this beforehand. A weak person is someone who is controlled by others and do not have the strength to stand his or her ground. Is someone very submissive and hence takes insults and mistreatment without doing anything about it.

In the other hand the meek is someone with a humble attitude that can take insults and stay under control. The meek differs from the weak in the following way; the weak will take any insult and do nothing, the meek can take insults and even though he or she can do something about it, chooses not to. Meekness is power under control. As the writer of Proverbs says;

"He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city" (Proverbs 16:32).

We are called to be slow to anger and always return a soft answer, to be in control of ourselves and keep our souls. Meekness promotes wealth, comfort and safety even in this fallen world. We are called to behave differently, to standout in our society, to be examples to others. The meek has the promise that will inherit the earth, which means, that power and control will never accomplish what a peaceful man or woman could achieve.

The happiness and peace of God are signs of meekness in any good christian. Is a person that has renounced his or her right to control their lives. They have deposited all their rights in Jesus hands and have let Him dictate their future, they don't have to struggle anymore, Jesus will provide everything they need because they have trusted Him and He will see that they have all they need because of their obedience. Jesus will do anything He needs to do to provide them, because is His promise, that even the land will be theirs because of their humble attitude and trust in Him.

But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. Psalm 37:11.

This is the third step in our spiritual growth, to reach control of ourselves by allowing the Spirit to be in charge and control of our life and not be derailed by the world standards or the peer pressure.

4- "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."

Another characteristic that Jesus wants in His followers has to do with a great desire to do what is right to God. God is a faithful god that provided a way of salvation even though we were not even thinking about Him. Christ purchased our redemption, Christ is the rightful one, He is the example we must follow. There is no rightfulness outside of Jesus. Humanity is driven by passion and desires which are never aligned with Gods ways.

"So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart". 2 Timothy 2:22.

Jesus provided the framework by which every christian shall be shaped and formed. He was very clear that we cannot do it in our own, and for that reason He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us. When He says "for they shall be satisfied" He was talking about the Holy Spirit. The power to live the way He wants us to live do not reside in our strength, in our determination, but in the Spirit of God that empowers us to do the impossible for the human being.

We must hunger and thirst for that transformation, we must desire to be like Jesus. He wants to have a personal relationship with us, He wants us to know Him, to desire Him. The closer we get to Him, greater the satisfaction. The more we know Him, the more we want of Him, because His love, His kindness will be poured in our lives and the more we get the more we want of Him.

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David."

Isaiah 55:1-3.

This is the fourth step in our spiritual growth, to know Jesus and His righteousness, to desire Him, to thirst Him and imitate Him in the power of His Holy Spirit. Gods heart desires that we love Him unconditionally and allow Him to instill His ways in us, to let Him live His live through us every day of our lives. He will be our steadfast and everlasting companionship because He will never forsake the work of His own hands.

5- "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy".

Once we have start to develop a close relationship with Jesus we start to understand that the salvation that was given to us is free but at the same time undeserved. We did nothing to earn it and will never could. God is the one that moved towards us to restore our relationship with Him. We were saved by mercy and we must show mercy in return.

As said before, once all the hindrances between God and us are taken away by Jesus, our souls are filled with an inexplicable peace that surpasses our own understanding. We are free of guilt and hence delivered and that liberty must be turned into compassion. Compassion to others that like us before conversion, are lost. Also, our hearts must turn sensitive to others needs.

"Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed." Proverbs 19:17

Our heart and soul must be moved to compassion. We need to remember where Jesus found us. We were lost and in need. God is now working His ways in our souls and His love must be expressed to others. The Holy Spirit will start prompting us to do good to others, He will point us to where and what to do in others favor. The statement “to the poor” not only means the ones without wealth but poor of spirit.

But, there is something that needs to be understood, I can decide to do it or not. It is a choice we must make. If we follow Gods prompting there is the promise that’s He will be generous to us. Whatever we do to one of His servants is like doing it to Jesus himself, and He will repay the deed.

God want us to be sensitive to His voice and not be attached to anything. When something hold us from obeying Him towards compassion, we need to find why and what is causing it. Those are the remnants of our fallen nature still alive in our hearts. God uses those moments of realization to teach us about our hearts and help us to discover what needs to be handed over to him to be polished, pruned and replaced with love and understanding.

The fifth characteristic is one that shows our change of heart, is one that shows how God uses us as instruments to show His love towards us. We become His physical presence in this world, and He is so loving that by helping others He takes care of us too. Compassion is a must in any Christian and one that will bring so much satisfaction for both the giver and the receiver that once we start enjoying, it becomes a natural part of our personality.

6- “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

This is the most simple and easy to understand characteristic and one where holiness and happiness are put together. For God, both of them are required. One is the product of the other. A pure heart is one that is clean of anything that keep us away from God, undefiled. That is the essence of our relationship, a pure heart that shows themselves to be under the power of the Holy Spirit. A heart washed of any wickedness:

“O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you?” Jeremiah 4:14 ESV

In our service and worship to Him we must lift up not only clean hands but most importantly a pure heart:

“He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”

Psalm 24:4-5 ESV

The heart must be kept clean from any lust, unclean thoughts and desires, from anything that comes from our flesh that only corrupt our souls. The heart must be purified by our faith and dedicated completely to God, it must be like a child, innocent and pure, with no ill desires or intentions. This is sanctification, it is a gradual process where God start to transform us into the likeness of Jesus. We must be very diligent to keep it clean and always present ourselves pure before our Lord.

“As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.” Psalm 17:15 ESV

Those who decide to stay clean will receive the blessing of seeing God. A pure heart desires to be with Him, to see Him. See Him working in our behalf here on earth, see Him transforming our life’s and bringing happiness and joy. That transformation will makes us desire to be with Him and see Him face to face, to be with Him forever. Non but the pure of heart will see God, that is God’s promise. God’s grace will never leave a soul that desires Him.

The sixth characteristic is one that shows our love to Jesus, our dedication and faithfulness to Him and His gospel. A soul that is so clear on who we serve, and who we are, based on what Jesus did on the cross. He made us holy and we must be obedient and stay clean, we must desire to know and be close to Him, to be like Him.

7- “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

Peacemakers are happy. They have wisdom that comes from above and their hearts are pure. They are peaceable towards others because they like to keep their mind free of offense.

“I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!” Psalm 120:7 ESV

Their desire is to love and delight in peace and quiet. They like peaceful conversation and stay away from anything that will bring brokenness. They work to keep peace and when is broken they work to recover it. Sometimes making peace is a thankless endeavor because in the process we will receive blows from both sides, but it is very rewarding to see reconciliation and we must work towards it.

The peacemakers will be blessed because they have the satisfaction of enjoying themselves by keeping their mind free and be of service to others.

The peacemakers work together with Christ to remove all enemies and bring peace to earth. We will resemble, we will be proof of His presence by the way we behave and manage. God is the God of peace and promised to bless those who seek peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace and he brings reconciliation, He never intended to bring His gospel by fire or sword, to use bigotry or any violence by any of His disciples. The world loves to deal with troubled waters but the children of God are the quiet ones, the peace makers.

The seventh characteristic is that peaceful demeanor and quiet spirit. One that makes others come close to him or her because there is something different in the way we manage ourselves in troubled times. That behavior that stays calm and brings peace to everyone.

8- “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Matthew 5:10-12 ESV

When we read these verses we find ourselves in a very interesting paradox, how will persecution will bring happiness to us? This is a very peculiar distinction of Christianity. This is the effect of the enmity of evil against God and thus His church. The world considers us as vermin, as something that must be eradicated, something that must be excluded from all things. We must be fined, banished, racked, tortured, always accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

“Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.” Hebrews 11:35 ESV

Christ told us that it will happen to us too.

“Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.” 1 John 3:13 ESV

The world will hate us, call us by names of reproach to render us as outcasts to be odious. The world will try to stripped us from everything in order to stop us from talking about Jesus and to make themselves formidable:

“And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” Acts 17:6-7 ESV

They will say all manners of evil falsely in order to stop you from witnessing. Sometimes they will take us to court, they are hypocrites and drunkards. The enemy will use any means necessary to makes us quit or renounce from our faith. They hate righteousness and enemies to righteousness are enemies of Christ. Whatever they do against you they are doing it against Jesus, because that is what they hate, Jesus himself, his godliness. For them Jesus is maligned and for that reason must be persecuted:

“As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” Romans 8:36 ESV

We are blessed because we have endured all that in our lifetimes:

“But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.” Luke 16:25 ESV

We are blessed because is an honor, it is a way of glorifying Christ:

“Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.” Acts 5:41 ESV

We are going to be recompensed, ours is the kingdom of heaven. That is the transcendence of our service to Him. We have a title, a foretaste of it and soon will take possession of it. It is out of sight and in the future but so well secure. The abundance of rewards will outweigh the suffering and hardships.

The eight characteristic is showing resilience and faithfulness in the midst of hardship and persecution. This persecution could come from anyone around us, most of the time from family and friends that cannot accept or understand our faith. Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. He has promised to take us with Him to His kingdom to be with Him forever.

The Christian profile includes these 8 characteristics:

1- To be a Jesus follower.

2- To be constantly growing spiritually

3- To be guided by the Holy Spirit

4- To desire Jesus and His righteousness

5- To be compassionate

6- To be dedicated to Jesus

7- To be peaceful and with a quiet spirit

8- To be resilient and faithful

Let’s us see ourselves against these characteristics that Jesus himself gave us. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help us grow in our weakest areas. Jesus is calling for a faithful church, a body He could use for His Kingdom. He is the owner of everything and came to us, seeking to restore our relationship with Him and the Father. His Holy Spirit is within us to enable us to fulfill His purpose and will for our life’s. He has promised to take us with Him and not forsake us. What more could we ask from a loving God? He has given everything for our sake and has shown an unsurpassable love, lets us trust Him and grant Him his great desire of having us back with Him as He intended from the beginning of creation.