Matthew 5:7
"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'carefull,' you find yourselves cared for.“ (The Message)
There’s a bit of a word play here. Care-full becomes cared-for. Full of care for others becomes filled with care from God. Care, as an expression of love, never runs out. Never. Ever.
Matthew 5:6
"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.“ (The Message)
Peterson seems to be equating “hunger and thirst for righteousness “ with “good appetite for God”. God is in the business of setting things right, one person at a time. Starting with me. Starting with you.
Matthew 5:5
"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.“ (The Message)
I will never be this person or that one; or even like this one or that one. But I can learn from them how to be a better, truer me. Do you see the difference?
Matthew 5:3-4
"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.“ (The Message)
The first two Beatitudes are about emptying, preparing. The Kingdom of God will bring a revolution. God will restore God’s people to “...[God’s] image, make them reflecting [God’s] nature...”. But first out image needs to go. Old habits and thought patterns need to go. We must be ‘born again’. Are you ready?
Romans 12:3-5
“Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.“ (The Message)
‘Rugged individualism’ in our country has all but erased the notion of Christ’s Church as a world-wide body. What can you do this week to better understand how “we all belong to each other”? What is your unique, God-given part?
Psalm24 (NLT)
A psalm of David.
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it.
The world and all its people belong to him.
For he laid the earth’s foundation on the seas
and built it on the ocean depths.
Who may climb the mountain of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
Only those whose hands and hearts are pure,
who do not worship idols
and never tell lies.
They will receive the LORD’s blessing
and have a right relationship with God their savior.
Such people may seek you
and worship in your presence, O God of Jacob.
Interlude
Open up, ancient gates!
Open up, ancient doors,
and let the King of glory enter.
Who is the King of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty;
the LORD, invincible in battle.
Open up, ancient gates!
Open up, ancient doors,
and let the King of glory enter.
Who is the King of glory?
The LORD of Heaven’s Armies—
he is the King of glory.
Interlude
This is a Psalm of the resurrection. Jesus, God’s Messiah, takes us with him into God’s holy presence. We are already there. Shalom. Amen.
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.” Matthew 5:1-3 (The Message)
Are you ready to be a climbing companion?
Are you ready to become the you God created you to be?
