68th Post Teachings of Jesus Con't - Beatitudes Con't

Matthew 5: 3 -12; Luke 6: 20 - 23.
1. Poor in Spirit. If you are rich in spirit, you are prideful, and may be conceited. Jesus said "If anyone would come after Me, let him first deny himself; then pick up his cross daily and follow Me."(Luke 9:23). To be a follower of Christ, Jesus should get the glory.
2. They that Mourn. Be crushed with disappointments. God promises to be with you, when you are mourning. This is usually the time your friends and relatives forget about you, but God never will forget you. This is the promise in the poem "FOOTPRINTS" at the lowest times in his life there were one set of footprints and he asked God why He left. God answered, "I never left you, where you see one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."
3. Meek. The world looks at meekness as weakness. Moses and Jesus are said to be the meekest people in the Bible. Jesus could have stood up to the Roman soldiers when they were mocking Him before His crucifixion. If Jesus would have attacked the Romans how would God's Will been fulfilled? In life coming from a weaker position, can keep a misunderstanding from escalating into a full blown argument. Sometimes it is better to be right and silent, than to prove your right and cause hurt feelings. In this study we will be following Jesus' Words and actions; when He shows His meekness I will try to remember to point it out.
4. Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness. These are the ones that get Jesus' Teachings, they hear the message and then start to live their life according to Jesus' commands. They read the Bible on their own, without being pushed. They mold their life after Christ.
5.Mercy. This is another trait the world looks on as weakness. The world teaches "Its a dog eat dog" world. You hurt people first, because they will try to hurt you. Mercy is compassion, this is what was at the base of every angry altercation between Jesus and the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadduccees. The religious leaders only saw the rules and not the times where rules were meant to be broken in order to provide relief. Church should be a place to be built up, not a place to be torn apart. This is why Churches are used as places of sanctuary in old movies.
6. Pure in Heart. When you are Pure in Heart, you only look for the good in things. You revert to having a heart of a child. You approach the world with innocence.
7.Peacemakers. To be a peacemaker, you don't antagonize but build up. You don't start arguments or fights, you don't look for reasons to complain. You look only on the good. When fights break out you look for ways to stop the conflict, instead of making it worse.
8. Persecuted for righteousness sake. These are the people that stand for God. This is the other half of that Bible verse I quoted earlier. "Take up your cross and follow Me."(Luke 9:23). The world hates Jesus and anyone who takes after Him. Those of you who are the only Christians in your family, know this all to well. They watch you waiting for you to stumble in your walk and then they pile on top of you for being weak. You answer them this way. "I am not perfect, just forgiven." Focus on Christ He is your model, not my life.
9. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad. When you have made it your life's work to adopt as many of these traits into your life, you will have found the narrow path, and reached your goal.
We will look at the Beatitudes and the Fruits of the Spiirit in my next post. I ran out of space here.


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