Monday, November 27, 2006

Blessed

Matthew 5:1-12 (MSG)
When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:

"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are - no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.

"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.

"You're blessed when you get your inside world - your mind and heart - put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.

"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.

"Not only that - count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens - give a cheer, even! - for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.


Seems this passage keeps coming to my mind. There's so many things in this passage which need to be taken to heart...which we need to work towards practicing on a daily basis. It tells how the body of Christ should work together, how we need to have more of Him and less of us, how we need to continue to work towards having things 'right', so that we'll be able to truly see the world through His eyes.

It's also talk about how blessed those times of being at the end of your rope can be. Your heart is totally vulnerable and at the most open point to allow Him to completely take things over. Yesterday at church, we were given a charge that we need to accept that we can't fix everything, can't change things, etc. The thing we can do is to simply walk alongside people, be in prayer for them, praying that their hearts will be open to be filled with the Holy Spirit and everything that comes with that filling up.

This passage talks about being strong through persecution. Persecution takes on different forms and comes from a variety of places. It's experienced at a variety of different levels, but as it says, we need to feel blessed during those times vs. feeling beaten down. That's not always easy, especially depending on where the persecution might come from, but I think that when we are able to get our mindset closer to this, we'll go through difficult situations with a lot more strength and peace.

For me, this passage keeps coming to the forefront because things haven't really been easy and I haven't really looked upon them with a very positive attitude. It's really easy to get beaten down by circumstances, words & actions which are flung at you and the whole issue of imbalance which seems soprevalentvelant in this day and age. This whole mindset change and outlook revision will be an ongoing project for a very long time with me. But I think God looks at each of us with love and because of His grace, He's with us where we are, not expecting anymore than we can give at that time. He does truly walk alongside, allowing us the experience of joys and growth, pain and setbacks, endurance and strength, peace and everlasting love.

That's the beauty and simplicity of His love to us. And the charge I think He wants us to have...building relationships and walking alongside each other doesn't have to be a complicated thing. Simply meeting each other where we are and accepting it with no hidden expectations. Realizing that no one's perfect and we're all at different places, enduring different situations, etc. To type it seems so very simple, but living it is quite another adventure, depending on the day and week...but it's not impossible, as God doesn't require things of us that we can't handle...He doesn't say that it'll happen overnight, but will happen in the timeline that's best for each one of us!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is so true. thank you for sharing this. it's really quite simple to just write things down but not to live the life that we should. but you're right. God doesn't require things from us that we can't handle.

God bless you, cinder.

SocietyVs said...

I think the beatitudes are the greatest piece of literature on earth to live your life by...basically I love what they stand for. It lets us know that being 'blessed' may not always be what it seems (ex: riches, houses, cars, success, etc), but may be the very thing we dread the most - dealing with life from a new lens (which puts us outside the comfort zone). I like what you have to say about them and you focus you have out on them, thanks.

audrey` said...

Thank you so much for your friendship, Cinder =)

Jesus loves you.