I have been thinking again this morning about the beatitudes. You know the ones? Found in Matthew 5.
Matthew 5: 3 (NIV) "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5: 3 (NIV) "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Such fun all of them. All require God's grace and revelation to achieve, with knowing you are poor in spirit, being the key to them all. Don't think that you can be meek in the style of Jesus in your own strength. Firstly you need to know that you are poor in spirit, that is do not have the resources to be meek and are bankrupt of meekness. Then you need to ask for the grace to be meek. However, only do this if you are willing to persevere through trials to attain meekness. I suspect meekness and the other attributes are best formed in the furnace of affliction.
I think these beatitudes represent the kind of mindset a good Jesus girl should have which means I need to have thoughts that reflect being poor in spirit, that mourn over sin, that are meek, merciful, peacemaking and pure. So when I persecuted for righteousness, insulted and lied about I will respond in the Jesus way.
Myself at this present point in time, am more likely to respond with a woe is me, this isn't fair, what about me, kind of reaction. These are of course not in agreement with the beatitudes. If I am truthful I'm not even sure I want to be a living paragon of beatitude excellence. It sounds far too much like death to self to me.
However, somehow I need to get to the point where my mindset does reflect the beatitudes. I need to reach the head and heart space where I love being poor in Spirit, love to mourn, love being meek, hunger and thirst for righteousness, love being merciful, love being pure in heart, love being a peacemaker, love being persecuted because of righteousness, love being insulted and lied about. Why? Because when these things happen Jesus tells
me I am blessed. Jesus says, “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward
in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before
you.”
Happiness believe it or not is being poor in spirit, mourning over sin and the rest. It is not having a handsome husband, well-behaved children, a nice car, overseas trip, holiday home in the sun nor a beautiful house.
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