Sunday, August 24, 2008

More Blessed Than You Realize

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. Blesearth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven..." (The Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3-11a., Luke 6:20-23) Some of you think that being poor in spirit, mourning, hungry, thirsty, meekness, and being persecuted are NOT blessings. But, it is in our weaknesses, when we are most vulnerable and open to God's wisdom and help, that we are most blessed. God does His best work on us, within us, and through us, when we are at our weakest, most vulnerable, and suffering. There are also other blessings we do not see. How many times have you said or thought, "I am/was so lucky"? Change the word lucky to blessed and see how your awesomely positive your perspective, and attitude, changes. For example, one might think they were lucky to have won a lottery. Another way of looking at is I am so blessed to have won and come into that money to pay that unexpected bill. Or, "I was lucky that driver didn't hit me" might be changed to I am blessed God was protecting me, I didn't get hit, wasn't delayed, and have no damage to my car and or no one was injured. Perception is EVERYTHING. Jesus teaches us in The Beatitudes to see the glass as half full, not half empty, to see the silver lining in the clouds, and to look for the blessing in everything. So, the next time you start to say you're lucky say you're blessed, and see the blessings in the suffering...and always know Jesus is with you 24/7, 365 days of the year. Love, Beau