Matthew5: 3-10
The Beatitudes:
Blessed are the poor in spirit:
For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Poor in spirit means to not be self-satisfied in your spirituality. Realize that the paycheck that you have earned for your sinfulness is only death. We are born with dead spirits, we have no spiritual life until we are born into God's family by His putting His Holy Spirit into our spirit to make it alive. But first we have to realize that we are spiritually dead, unable to help ourselves.
Blessed are they that mourn:
For they shall be comforted.
We are to not just say we're sorry, but actually feel remorse for the lives we have lived in defiance of God and His ways for us. We need to mourn the death of our innocence or our morality from the life we have lived up to now. To mourn the sorrow we caused our Loving Father by our rebellion.
Blessed are the meek:
For they shall inherit the Earth.
Meekness is not weakness, it's great strength under control. The picture is of a massive war horse who obeys its rider through a bit in its mouth. That horse is one of the strongest animals domesticated by Man, yet they are controlled by its rider who is only a fraction of its mass. That's meekness.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:
For they shall be filled.
Hunger and thirst are primal instincts for survival. To hunger and thirst after righteousness is to direct this basic need toward a moral right-ness that will undergird every attitude and purpose.
Blessed are the merciful:
For they shall obtain mercy.
Mercy is not giving or receiving the punishment or negative consequences we deserve. So to give the other a break and not come down hard on them, but being gentle and kind instead would be merciful. When we let it slide and not let it bother us, then God will also treat us that way.
Blessed are the pure in heart:
For they shall see God.
To be pure in heart is to harbor no ill will toward anyone. For any reason. A pure heart is perfect, and God won't let anything less than perfect live with Him in Heaven. So only the pure in heart will be able to see God as He is.
Blessed are the peacemakers:
For they shall be called the children of God.
Jesus as our Lord God paid the price to tear down the wall of separation between Man and God, making peace. He is the Prince of Peace. So all those who promote peace among men are acting like Him. Like father, like son; like the Father, so the sons and daughters.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake:
For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
The enemy, who is a liar, hates everything that smacks of God. When God's people are living good, moral lives, promoting what is good and wholesome in their societies, the enemy bristles with irritation, and must attack and wipe out whatever is uplifting. And that means the people who are promoting this righteousness, who are showing how beautiful and desirable wholesomeness is. So they are being persecuted because they are righteous.
Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake.
Rejoice and be exceeding glad: For great is your reward in Heaven: For so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Many people are following the lies of our enemy, he is very pursuasive in his deceptions. So he uses people to slander and besmirch the people of God. We need to remember that we are not fighting against the people who are attacking us--our battle is with the evil spiritual forces backing them.
I think that most people who are being deceived don't realize how backward and twisted their thinking is. Like Eve, and like Saul of Tarsus, they think they're doing the right thing when they believe the label of hatred and lay it on what is good and loving. And God's people suffer, but the persecutors are the real victims.
We can rejoice in the Lord, knowing that He suffers with us when we hurt, and we're not alone in the abuse we are subjected to. But those who are persecuting and slandering cannot claim any hope without Christ.
They need our mercy and our prayers on their behalf, to ask God to have mercy on them. Just as Jesus asked the Father to forgive those who were crucifying Him.
I wonder who was praying for Saul of Tarsis, instead of praying against him. And I look forward to finding out who was praying for me, to have God come to me as He did, offering His Love so graciously.
These Beatitudes are the basis of the Christian 12-step program called Celebrate Recovery. Their application to our way of thinking show us how to heal the hurts and hangups that have hampered our lives. These eight sayings of Jesus dovetail right into the 12 steps of those secular programs. They work because they're God's principles. Whenever the World finds something that works, it's a Biblical principle. Otherwise it wouldn't work.
So, to enter into the Kingdom, we first must be healed. And cleansed. And have our minds transformed to think God's thoughts for us. That's the only way we'll be able to thrive in the absolute Righteousness of the Kingdom.
Father, help us all to learn to think Your thoughts for us: about ourselves, about You, and about one another. Teach us Your ways, Father. Prepare us to face the times You said are coming, to remain faithful to You regardless what others around us are saying or doing. And prepare us for Your very presence, Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
