One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him, and he began to teach them.
— Matthew 5:1-2 (NLT)
Jesus is teaching his disciples the beatitudes. These statements seem to say that I must do something to attain them. I think, “Sure, I can do this some of the time but to do all of them consistently? How?”
Everyone of the beatitudes starts with the word “Blessed”. If you take out the word blessed in these statements, they become a religious duty, an obligation, something to try and attain. However, when you add the word blessed, it brings in a whole new perspective and way of living. It is joy, exuberance – the invitation to live life in the midst of the Trinity! It is dynamic union!
Jesus is explaining how to live as He lived. He is the example “as us”, not “for us”. He lived being fully human in our world and shows us it is possible to live life according to the Kingdom of God. It is God life living through you and me in this present moment.
Blessed is not when you get blessed because something has happened. No, rather it is a state of being, a lifestyle, an attitude. It is the quality and state of your existence.
There is a lot of meaning rooted in the word blessed – to name a few: prosperity of heart life, dynamic union, exuberant joy, contentment, fulfillment, abundance, fullness, delight and bliss.
This quality of your existence has nothing to do with what is going on around you. Come hell or high water, God is with you. His presence is not based on feeling, circumstances, or things going your way. HE IS WITH YOU in the midst of life and that brings this state of being, blessedness.
It is a perpetual prosperity of heart life. What does that mean? One example is Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They were “in” the firery furnace, but —- Jesus was “in” the fire with them. (Daniel 3).
When we understand and begin to live with an awareness of His presence, then the effects of this is dynamic union, exuberant joy and the things mentioned above! It is a quality of existence, a state of blessedness as we see in the lives of the three men.
Do you think they were not afraid when told they would be thrown into the furnace? I’m sure they dealt with feelings as we do. But feelings did not rule them. They didn’t know the outcome but trusted in God’s deliverance no matter what it looked or felt like. The Lord was WITH them and that was the deliverance.
How do we get this blessedness? Through the Holy Spirit, His presence. Blessing is the promise of God Himself filling your life. It is the call to live life with Him, by Him and through HIm. In the beatitudes, Jesus is giving us the invitation to a superior state of existence. No matter what comes, we can live in joy and bliss because He is with us.
“BLESSED ~ a perpetual state of bliss”
January 2024 Wallpaper