The Beatitudes (You Are Blessed)

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3 NIV).

“You are blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule” (The Message, Matthew 5:3).

God, I am at the end of my rope right now. In fact, I am losing my grip. I wouldn’t want to wish this _____________ (you name it) on anyone. But you said that I am blessed.

How can that be? Explain that to me? It is like I am in an endless pit. Teach me the secret of more of you. I want that reality for my life.

But then it hits me. If I put my focus on you instead of my problems I will feel blessed; blessed in such a way that I want to help others. One writer said that when we allow God to translate our problems into a ministry that our pain becomes someone else’s gain.*

We learned that when we are poor in spirit, we have more of God; and, isn’t that what we pray for anyway.

 So as I pray daily, I remain hopeful, even as the grip gets tighter, in the words found in Ecclesiastes 7:8:

The end of a matter is better than its beginning,

 and patience is better than pride.

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*Batterson, M. (2006). In a pit with a lion on a snowy day.Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books

 

 

 

3 thoughts on “The Beatitudes (You Are Blessed)”

  1. Great way of describing this message. I believe that the Beatitudes are the main message of the Gospel. Being Poor in Spirit is exactly what you wrote. Being at the end of the rope forces me to look up to God and not on my own strengths. It makes me acknowledge that I am limited and hopeless without the intervention of God. It helps me to get closer to God, and farther away from my own selfish instincts. Thank you for the reminder.

  2. Being at the end of the rope…this reminds me of when Peter tried to walk on water and would sink when he moved His eyes off Jesus. Thank you for these inspiring words.

  3. Thank you both for your comments. I hope to do a series on the Beatitudes using both the Message and the traditional bible, in my case it’s the NIV. Stay tuned.

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