I’ve come to the conclusion that life isn’t always easy. Pretty profound, huh? If I could talk with each of you, I’m guessing you have probably already figured that out. We all know from experience that our life can change in an instant, and we can go from feeling content, to feeling overwhelmed, or from feeling blessed to feeling lonely or disappointed.
I was thinking about this recently and the Beatitudes kept coming to my mind and so I got my Bible and re-read them. They are found in Matthew 5 and they read like this:
“Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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.”
Each of these beatitudes tell us how to be blessed. “Blessed” means more than happiness. These beatitudes don’t promise laughter, pleasure or earthly prosperity. To Jesus, “blessed” means having hope and joy, independent of outward circumstances. To find hope and joy, which is the deepest form of happiness, we need to follow Jesus no matter what the cost.
Since we know life isn’t always easy…and our world seems to be rather unhinged these days…I thought it might be a good idea for us to look at each of these beatitudes this summer. Hopefully it will help us to understand how we can experience this hope and joy that Jesus speaks of…regardless of what is happening around us.
We will explore one beatitude each week and we will look at them from the version The Message, which puts it in today’s language. So today’s is:
Matthew 5:3 - "You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.”
Have you ever felt like you were at the end of your rope? I’ve heard people say they were at the end of their rope, and they had to tie a knot in the rope and hang on. It’s that feeling when you’ve done all you can do, and you just don’t know what else to do. This beatitude is telling us that when we get to that point, that’s when God can take over. That’s when we can give up trying to have control and let Him have control. Ouch. I don’t find that to be easy.
James 4:7-10, also in The Message version, tells us what we need to do to get to this place of surrender. “So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he'll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it's the only way you'll get on your feet.”
These verses are telling us that if we really want to be blessed and be near to God and allow Him to take control, we first need to submit to God. Yes, this is often easier said than done…but if we can learn to yield to His authority and His will, committing our life to Him and His control, I think we will begin to realize how blessed we are.
Secondly, we need to resist the devil. We need to be intentional and not allow Satan to entice and tempt us. We know that God and the devil are at war, but we know who will win in the end. But Satan is here now, and he is trying to win us over to his evil cause. With the Holy Spirit’s power, we can resist the devil and he will flee from us.
Third, we need to lead a pure life. We are to ask God to cleanse us from our sin, replacing our desire to sin with our desire to experience God’s purity. It is possible to have our past completely washed away…all we need to do is ask…and He is willing to forgive us so we can lead a pure life.
Fourth, we are supposed to grieve with sincere sorrow for our sins. Don’t be afraid to express deep heartfelt sorrow for what you have done. Do you ever sin and then not really feel too bad about doing it? Gossiping…lying…cheating…etc…can often be seen as just “small” sins and nothing that grieves God. Every sin breaks God’s heart and for us to be truly blessed, we need to grieve over our sins and sincerely vow to quit repeating them.
And last, we need to humble ourselves before the Lord, and He will lift us up. Humbling ourselves means recognizing that our worth comes from God alone. To be humble involves working with His power according to His guidance, not with our own independent effort. Although we do not deserve God’s favor, He reaches out to us in love and gives us worth and dignity, despite our human shortcomings.
So much to comprehend…and that’s just the first beatitude…but I think it is a great place to start. Once we can grasp what it really looks like to let God have complete control…we can begin to experience the hope and joy that He offers us…and we won’t even need that know we tied in our rope
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