Blessed Part 3
The Beatitudes give us a spiritual standard. A moral code tells us which lines not to cross, a spiritual standard defines the life we are called to live.
Matthew 5:1-12 (NKJV)
1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.
2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed [are] the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed [are] those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed [are] the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed [are] those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed [are] the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed [are] the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 Blessed [are] the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 Blessed [are] those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.
12 “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great [is] your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. The mournful are the grieving, the broken, literally those who wail in anguish and pain. God has a special blessing reserved for those who look to him in times of grief and pain.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Meekness is not weakness; it is a gentleness of spirit rooted in a confidence in God. The meek trust God therefore they don’t have to play God by controlling people.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. There is a special blessing for those who have a spiritual
Psalms 42:1-6 (NLT)
1 As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.
2 I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?
3 Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, “Where is this God of yours?”
4 My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be: I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house of God, singing for joy, and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration!
5-6 Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again– my Savior and my God…
Jeremiah 2:13 (NKJV)
13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, [And] hewn themselves cisterns–broken cisterns that can hold no water.
This blessing is
Isaiah 64:6 (NKJV)
6 But we are all like an unclean [thing,] And all our righteousness’s [are] like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Encounters allow us to
Luke 15:11-24 (NKJV)
11 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons.
12 “And the younger of them said to [his] father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls [to me.]’ So, he divided to them [his] livelihood.
13 “And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.
14 “But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.
15 “Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16 “And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him [anything.]
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
18 ‘I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,
19 “and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’
20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
21 “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put [it] on him and put a ring on his hand and sandals on [his] feet.
23 ‘And bring the fatted calf here and kill [it,] and let us eat and be merry.
24 ‘for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
Righteousness allows us to
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Mercy is
Lamentations 3:22-23 (NLT)
22 The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease.
23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
This beatitude releases an
Galatians 6:7 (NKJV)
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
This beatitude doesn’t encourage
John 8:3-11 (NLT)
3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.
4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery.
5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”
6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.
7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”
8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.
9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.
10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”
11 “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”