The Wave of Blogs Come and Go...

My 2x4 came to me this week in the form of the beatitudes. These are the 9 teachings that get the heart of what Jesus taught that day on the Mount! I love this passage in the bible, Jesus is specifically speaking to his disciples, however right at the beginning of the passage it talks about how Jesus saw the crowds, which we are led to believe that this teaching was not only meant for the disciples, but rather those who were not yet “followers” of Christ. Coincidence? I think not! But whoever Christ was teaching at that moment is not as important as what he was teaching. As you look over each one of the beatitudes, they stand out on their own, each with something to “be” and the result of becoming it. The more I read them the more it stuck out to me that they might be individual attributes of Christ, but they all work together…because Christ is and breathes all of them. If this who Christ is, then shouldn’t we look at all of them as a whole?

Matthew 5:3-12

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

2.       Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

3.       Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

4.       Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled

5.       Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

6.       Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

7.       Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called Children of God.

8.       Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

9.       Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me, rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Anyway, it’s hard for me to think that we can “be” one of them without the others. How can we be merciful without a pure heart? How can we allow others to persecute us, if we are not meek peacemakers? How can we hunger and thirst for righteousness without being poor in spirit? I think we can strive to be better at each one of these, but we will never fully “be” poor in spirit, if we are not pure in heart or a peacemaker, or merciful. We will never “be” one without the others. I don’t mean this to be discouraging, rather I want to be encouraging as to what we should strive to become in our daily walks with Christ.

Which one do you have to strive after more than others? Being at the end of your rope, yet maintaining an attitude because with less of you, there is more of Him? Losing someone that you loved, so you can be embraced by the one who loves you the most? Being content with no more or no less, so you can be proud of what you have that is priceless? Relying on your nourishment to come from the best source, so you can please Him in all you do? Caring for others, so you can know Christ cares for you? Setting right your inside world, so you can see the outside world through God’s perspective? Agreeing to disagree, rather than taking sides so you can discover the “you” God created you to be? Saying Yes to Him amongst trials, so others can see who they need? Being blessed when others throw you under the bus, because the truth is slowly being shown to them and it brings them discomfort?

Whatever one it may be, it is my prayer that God would reveal to you how to strive towards it with faithfulness.

I leave you with this to ponder… feel free to backfire thoughts or comments to this!!!...to any of it really!

There is only one or two accounts I can recall when Jesus sought someone out personally or arrived at a place with a specific visitor in mind. All the other times, the crowds saw Him and what He was doing and followed Him. Maybe with the intent to learn, maybe to just simply watch what He was doing. But my question is, what made them follow Him in the first place? It must have been His radical way of living, and his actions that caused people to take a step back and observe or take a step forward and follow. One way or the other, it seems to be the way Christ lived that attracted people to Himself. How do you live that makes people take a step back to observe how you live, or take that step forward like you have and follow Christ?