The following verses are from Matthew 5 and they inspire us in that Jesus had a message for us no matter how difficult our situation is. He begins the 3 chapters of the Sermon on the Mount with these sayings which give us hope.
“Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:”
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
I had a letter from a friend of mine who is in prison and he is sorry for his choices and his predicament but he still has a faith in God and many fond memories of lots of good people who have spoken into his life. He knows he is loved and prayed for. All of us are aware of our humanity and are blessed to have a forgiving and loving Saviour.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
We had 2 widows in our Church at their respective husband’s funeral in recent days. There are many others of you who are also mourning. May you be drawn closer to Jesus through this tough time. May you experience His peace and comfort.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
I have just visited Gavan who comes to our Church on Tuesdays and he is in hospital again. He amazed me with his acceptance of his situation. He is content knowing that he is in the best place. Many of us are aware of our frail situation and our need for an eternal home.
From Zondervan Academic. “The Beatitudes are a radically bold statement of Jesus’ intent to establish the kingdom of heaven on earth, which will bring true peace and freedom for all who dare to follow him as his disciples. It is through those disciples that his kingdom will bring blessing to all of the peoples of the earth. The Beatitudes serve as a sort of preamble to the Sermon on the Mount, but they are an even more memorable treasure for humanity. The Beatitudes give a succinct statement of the ethos of the kingdom of heaven that Jesus has announced and summarize the principles of kingdom life that he will articulate in the Sermon that follows. We find in them an abstract of Jesus’ history-altering intention for establishing the kingdom of heaven as well as a clue to Matthew’s organization of his Gospel.”