Blessed Are You...!

"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.
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 5:3-11 NKJV) This is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Handicap Awareness Month, Spina Bifida Awareness Month, and probably something else I'm missing. We are just going to group it all under handicaps because all of the above can potentially be handicapping conditions. Everyone has a handicap of some sort, to some degree. If you wear glasses, that is even a handicapping condition. The good new is the Jesus Christ tell us that the least of us are blessed. The meek inherit the earth, the poor in spirit and the persecuted theirs is Heaven, the mournful shall be comforted. Jesus also tells us to be exceedingly glad when others revile you, speak evil of you, and lie about you. Rejoice for great is your Heavenly reward! In this same sermon, Jesus also teaches us how we should be towards others, and how blessed we are by doing so. He say to be merciful, peacemakers, and pure in heart. In return we are called Sons of God, obtain mercy, and will see God! It all goes back to loving others as we love (or should love) ourselves, doing unto others as we would want to be treated, and not judging until we "walk in the others' shoes." And, it can give us peace in difficult times knowing that the kingdom of God is ours. Love, Beau

An Equal Opportunity God

"For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe." (Deuteronomy 10:17 NKJV) Everyone is discriminated against, in one way or another, at some point in time. It can be frustrating, hurtful, and unfair. It certainly doesn't feel good. However, God is god over everything and everyone. There is none greater than God. And, for better or worse, God shows us amazing mercy and grace, but also just as equally God requires consequences of bad behavior and evil doing. God treats everyone the same. No matter who you are or what you have, "you do the crime, you do the time." When we go before God, everyone is equal. AND, God wants us to act the same towards others. He wants us to treat each other equally, with the same grace, compassion, and love God shows us. God does not want us to be influenced by the ways of the world, base our choices on who has the most and or who can benefit us the most...God wants us to follow a more divine way...His way. Love, Beau

Comfort: A Conversation with God

Contrary to popular belief, the following lyrics, officially done by humans Simon and Garfunkel, is a conversation God wants to have with you. This is what He wants you to know: "When you're weary, Feeling small, When tears are in your eyes I will dry them all. I'm on your side. When times get rough, And friends just can't be found, Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down. Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down. When you're down and out, When you're on the street, When evening falls so hard I will comfort you. I'll take your part. When darkness comes And pain is all around, Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down. Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down. Sail on Silver Girl (or boy), Sail on by Your time has come to shine. All your dreams are on their way See how they shine. If you need a friend, I'm sailing right behind. Like a bridge over troubled water I will ease your mind. Like a bridge over troubled water I will ease your mind."* "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort," (2 Corinthians 1:3 NKJV) Love, Beau

*Bridge Over Troubled Water, 1969 lyrics by Paul Simon, sung by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, from the album Bridge Over Troubled Water (released January 26, 1970) Columbia records. Produced by Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, and Roy Halee.

Standing on the Mountain

"As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people From this time forth and forever." (Psalm 125:2 NKJV) From the time God created living beings, He protected and supported them. A mountain is surrounded by rocks, trees, and earth that help support it and keep it standing. God is like that for us. He is our rock and foundation, and we are His branches. But, unlike a physical mountain, that can deteriorate and crumble from age and weathering storms, the spirtual "mountain" we have with God is eternal and everlasting. It will not crumble, deteriorate, and wither away...especially if we take care of it. You can always stand on this mountain and know that it sturday and strong! Love, Beau

Peace

"The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace." (Proverbs 6:25 NKJV) God shines His face upon us, protecting us, guiding us, answering our prayers, meeting all our needs, consoling and comforting us, celebrating with us, and preparing us for eternity. Despite all our faults and shortcomings, God always looks at us favorably. That means, according to Thesaurus.com, He looks at us approvingly, enthusiasticly, fairly, generously, graciously, heartily, helpfully, positively, and with approval and without prejudice. It was a deep spiritual blessing to be given a blessing of peace, and many instances of blessings can be found in The Holy Bible. God REALLY likes and loves us. And, knowing that "His countenance" always shines on you, should give us all a deep sense of peace! "...may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all." (2 Thessalonians 3:16 NKJV) Love, Beau

The First Self-Help Book

It all starts with God, and The Holy Bible. All the answers you need are found in The Holy Bible. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1 NKJV) Some people try to seperate different thinking from the Bible, but the roots can still be found there. For example, psychologists like saying, "You teach others how to treat yourself." This can be found in The Holy Bible as, "And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise." (Luke 6:31 NKJV) No matter what the problem or situation, or what kind of relationship is involved all answers can be found in the very first self-help book: The Holy Bible. So, keep it handy, refer to it often, and like one of mom's shirts says, "When in doubt, read the instructions!" Love, Beau

Gifted

"For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another." (Romans 12:3-6 NKJV) All of us have different talents and gifts God has given us. Some are writers, preachers, teachers, sherriffs, humorous, even kindness, compassion and the ability to listen are talents. One might be able to climb a tower especially quickly, jump really high, curl one's tail into a "Q", or be a good hunter. But here's the cool thing, even though each one of us has special gifts we still need each other to use our gifts jointly, for the good of the whole. For example, take the building of an awesome climbing tower. Most likely one, or a group designed it, then another built it, then another decided what fabric/rope was going to cover it, and in what color. THEN, yet another group/person or two had to make sure it got to us. It took a LOT just so that one tower in our homes got to us. Each had their own special gifts in the processing of that tower, yet it took everyone to create and ship the finished project. One missing group, or link, and it wouldn't happen. We may not always like someone, but we still need to try getting along and all work together We all need each other and all our gifts combined to make all that is in our world, both physical and spiritual, function properly. Love, Beau