A Blessed Message

A BLESSED MESSAGE

Matthew 5:1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

2 And 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 they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after 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 the children of God.

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

The word blessed is used 9 times in this passage. Blessed means to be well off or happy. When we hear well off, many times we think of worldly things such as money and possessions. But the well off being spoken of here is inwardly, it speaks of one’s senses or inward feelings.

In verse 3 Jesus says the poor in spirit are blessed, even that the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Poor in spirit may mean something other than what you may be thinking. Poor has many definitions in the Greek but the one that applies here, I believe, is distressed or beggarly. Then spirit also has many meanings ie: a current of air, breath (blast) or a breeze. We could say blessed are those that are distressed or begging for a breeze to blow. Another way of saying this might be, well off are those that are begging for the wind to blow. I don’t know about you but I need to feel the breeze to blow and am begging for it to do so. Watching church online is ok but it’s not like being there with other brothers and sisters. Just to put it bluntly, I’m in a dry, desert place right now. I know I’m probably the only one that ever gets in these arid places in life. You may think, how can that be you are a preacher? Well a preacher is just a man, he puts his pants on one leg at a time and he (or should I say I) get down in spirit sometimes. Before those of you with the halos on start saying if you were saved that wouldn’t happen, may I remind you that it has happened to men far more spiritual than you or I. Jesus questioned God on why He had forsaken Him, The Psalmist questioned, in the following passage, if God’s mercy was gone forever, even questioning if God had forgotten to be gracious.

Psalm 77:8 Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?

9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.

I know the time we are in and have been going thru has a lot to do with the dryness that many are feeling right now. As pastors we haven’t been able to the things we are used to doing, visiting the shut ins, those in hospitals facing serious illnesses, even being with families at end of life situations. We can’t be there for the flock the way we want to be, but we are looking for better days ahead. I would ask you to become like me in that we beg God for a fresh wind to blow on us as leaders and our church as a whole. We can be happy or well off (blessed) in doing this.

Have a blessed day