Bible Study - "Blessed Be..."Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12 One day as the crowds were gathering, Jesus went up the hillside with His disciples, and sat down and taught them how to be "blessed." He was giving them a lesson on how to be "happy" despite the difficulties of life. One might ask the question, "How can I be happy when life’s situations are not what they ought to be? I am going through a divorce; I don’t have enough money to pay the bills. How can people be happy living in poverty?" Instead of feeling "happy," most of us cry out, "Why is God putting me through this?" Life offers each of us a mixture of experiences that include the bitter and the sweet, the sunshine and the rain. Sometimes we drink from the bitter cup because it is the only cup we see, even though we are really thirsting after something else. And to make things more confusing, we read that the greatest teacher that ever lived told the crowd on that day: "Blessed are those who are humble…" This teaching seems to goes beyond normal reasoning. Why would Jesus teach such things? There are a couple of lessons that can be learned from these verses. One of these lessons is that when we take a good look at ourselves and our situations, it isn’t a bad thing to be humble, to be meek or to mourn. In fact, Christ was telling the crowd that day that being spiritually helpless was a good thing. He was saying that those who were full of themselves left Him no room to work through them. However, those who realized they were spiritually empty gave Him lots of room to work in their lives. He would be able to use them for His Glory. Sometimes, it is through a painful process that we find out how spiritually empty we really are, but Jesus said to not let it discourage you. Instead, be happy in recognizing the fact that we are helpless without Him. He can work wonders in and through our lives. Although "blessed" means happy or blissful, another lesson to gain from this scripture is that the meaning of "blessed" in these verses is "God’s presence is with..." Christ was telling the crowd to be encouraged when they mourned for God’s presence was with them and they would be comforted. Through these verses, Jesus tells us not to be depressed by the hardships of life because God’s presence is with us. "God’s presence is with those who are gentle. They will inherit the earth." Jesus told the crowd that day to be of good cheer because regardless of what they experience, God would be with them. Likewise, God is also with us daily. He works through the situations in our lives to bring us into a closer relationship with Him. He wants us to have a wonderful life. That is why He gave us the gift of His Son. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 to use God’s Word as our sword. One of the benefits of memorizing scripture is so that when Satan tries to plant seeds of doubts, we can use our “swords” to dispel that doubt. Throughout this week, try to commit The Beatitudes to memory so that you can use them when Satan attacks. Memorize them in a personal format. For instance: "God’s presence is with me when I hunger and thirst for God’s approval. I will be satisfied." Reminder Personal Prayer Let the Word Speak to You Written by: Minnie L. Jackson | ||||
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