Matthew 5:3 Now when
Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples
came to him, and he began to teach them. He said:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.”
Yesterday, I went with my
father to his Bass Lake’s Little Church in the Pines for the Sunday Worship
Service. Pastor Herk is currently going through a Sermon series on the
“Beatitudes” for m the Lord Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. HE pointed out that it
is counter-culture for being poor in spirit to cause our happiness to increase.
But, this must be viewed through the lenses of us being the privileged
recipients of Divine favor. The Greek word for “blessed” here is “makarios” and
means supremely blest, blessed or happy. The Strong’s Concordance states that in the Beatitudes, the Lord indicates not
only the characters that are “blessed”, but the nature of that which is the
highest good. The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary defines the word :blessed” as: Happy; enjoying spiritual happiness and the
favor of God; enjoying heavenly felicity. This is further explained when we
read that the word “happy” is defined as: The
pleasurable sensations derived from the gratification of sensual appetites
render a person temporarily happy; but he only can be esteemed really and
permanently happy, who enjoys peace of mind in the favor of God. The
Christian experiences true spiritual joy and life satisfaction regardless of their
circumstances.
Psalm 1:1-2 “Blessed is the
man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of
sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the
law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.
Conventional wisdom tells us
that in this world real joy and happiness comes from being rich and famous,
self-confidence and a position of power. But, our thoughts tend to be
egocentrically skewed. God tells us in Isaiah 55:8: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your
ways my ways,” declares the Lord. The Apostle Paul explains in 1
Corinthians 3:19 “For the
wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He
catches the wise in their craftiness”. In the end, pride gets us nowhere. In reality, the source of true
happiness is revealed in that blessed is the men and women who keep God’s
commandments; not in what they have, but in who they are because of whose they
are. We have to be willing to let Jesus’ teachings change our lives.
Ecclesiastes 1:12-14 “I,
the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. I applied my mind to
study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy
burden God has laid on mankind! I have seen all the things that are done
under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
On the mount, the Lord Jesus
gave nine beatitudes which all began with “Blessed are”. Why “happiness”?
Because, everyone desires true happiness in life (which is hard to find in the
world). We try to find happiness in the externals of “when and then”. When I
get _________, then I’ll be happy. Everything that the world says will make you
happy will not create true happiness. Wise King Solomon tested success, power,
possessions and pleasures, yet found them all meaningless and purposeless in
producing true, lasting happiness; just a waste of time, like chasing the wind.
The secret to happiness is not having the “right” circumstances, but having the
“right” attitude aligned with the Lord perfect Word, Will and Way, so you can
be blessed. It’s not about what’s happening around us, but about what is
happening in us.
Let's continue Pastor Herk's message on true happiness in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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