Blessed Are the Merciful, for They Will Be Shown Mercy
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Here we reach the fifth of the eight blessings Jesus offers in the Beatitudes.
Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness, for They Will Be Filled
After having mourned over our sins, we are, as a natural consequence, humbled into being meek, a term few people use these days especially since being humble and gentle towards others is perceived as more of a weakness than a virtue. However, perhaps ‘meek’ could be better translated as ‘disciplined’.
Blessed Are the Meek, for They Will Inherit the Earth
After having mourned over our sins, we are, as a natural consequence, humbled into being meek, a term few people use these days especially since being humble and gentle towards others is perceived as more of a weakness than a virtue. However, perhaps ‘meek’ could be better translated as ‘disciplined’.
Let Us Reflect the Hope of the Resurrection
The news these days seems like a doom report. At times I feel so overwhelmed by the weight of the devastation and grief that many must be experiencing around the world. According to the WHO, at the time of this writing, over 1.6M people have been infected with the virus and more than 96,000 have succumbed to it.
Blessed Are Those Who Mourn, for They Shall Be Comforted
In a time when the corona virus is wreaking havoc on our healthcare and economic systems, we all need to hear good news, to be comforted and reassured. On the surface, this beatitude fits the job description of a blanket blessing. However, when we look a bit closer, Jesus is literally saying, “Happy are those who are sad”.
Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit, For Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven
We continue our journey through the beatitudes by reflecting on what it means to be poor in spirit.
The spiritual dimension of poverty is a humble dependence on God. It is knowing deep down that we are so spiritually poor that we have nothing to bargain with to gain God’s favor and love.
A Journey Through the Beatitudes
Even 2000 years after it was first taught by Jesus, the “Sermon on the Mount” is still revolutionary; it is a revolution not against the powers that be, but a revolution of the heart and mind. It represents what John Stott calls a manifesto, albeit a condensed one, for a “Christian counter-culture” that illustrates the way of life in the Kingdom of God. The same Kingdom Jesus was proclaiming in chapter 4 saying: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” v.17.
The “Upside-Down” Kingdom
After having meditated on and journeyed through the Lord’s prayer for the past seven months, the concluding words of the Lord’s Prayer remind us that it all starts and ends with God’s glory and His Sovereignty. And it is when God stops being the center of our lives that things start to fall apart.
Lead Us Not Into Temptation, But Deliver Us From Evil
Every moment in life, whether a hardship or a blessing, can bring temptation. Hardship may tempt us to fear, lose hope, doubt the love of God, or be estranged from Him, while a time of blessing may tempt us to become boastful, conceited and self-sufficient.