One of my favorite Scripture passages is the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-12, where Jesus lists what it means to be blessed. It's certainly not what comes to my mind when I think of being blessed or when I pray for others to be blessed. Remember all those childhood prayers, "Bless Mommy, Daddy, and Auntie Sue"? We had no idea what we were saying! We were actually saying, "Let them be poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, merciful, pure, peacemakers, and persecuted."
So how could such things lead to happiness? It seems like they lead more to the opposite of happiness. But the Beatitudes tell us one thing clearly. We can never be happy when we live self-centered lives. We may be fooled into thinking we're happy for a while, but eventually it will fold in on us because true happiness can be found only in a relationship with our Creator. Only the One who made us knows what will truly make us happy and give us satisfaction in life. We have to get to the end of ourselves and the beginning of God to gain any lasting contentment in life. And that can happen only through divine revelation and transformation through God's Word and the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. It's the "pearl of great value" , worth selling everything to gain it. And ultimately, it's the secret to
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To Be Blessed Means …
One of my favorite Scripture passages is the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-12, where Jesus lists what it means to be blessed. It's certainly not what comes to my mind when I think of being blessed or when I pray for others to be blessed. Remember all those childhood prayers, "Bless Mommy, Daddy, and Auntie Sue"? We had no idea what we were saying! We were actually saying, "Let them be poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, merciful, pure, peacemakers, and persecuted."
So how could such things lead to happiness? It seems like they lead more to the opposite of happiness. But the Beatitudes tell us one thing clearly. We can never be happy when we live self-centered lives. We may be fooled into thinking we're happy for a while, but eventually it will fold in on us because true happiness can be found only in a relationship with our Creator. Only the One who made us knows what will truly make us happy and give us satisfaction in life. We have to get to the end of ourselves and the beginning of God to gain any lasting contentment in life. And that can happen only through divine revelation and transformation through God's Word and the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. It's the "pearl of great value" , worth selling everything to gain it. And ultimately, it's the secret to
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