PURSUING BETTER THINGS (Part 2)

SCRIPTURE:  And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him and opening His mouth He began to teach them.”  Matthew 5:1,2 (NASB)

 Do you remember several years ago when the phrase ‘I’m blessed and highly favored!’ was being uttered all over the place?  Did you ever wonder what they meant exactly by that declaration?  Was it their way of saying that nearly everything in their life was going smoothly, without a problem in sight? It may  well be that these folks were feeling “happy” in most areas of their life—generally speaking.  Then again, if we are maturing in Christ, we come to realize that being blessed [a synonym for “happy”]-- is not always connected with everything being copasetic in our life.  
 It seems evident in the Bible that the beatitudes of Matthew, chapter five, describing what constitutes blessedness, has  so much LESS to do with one’s SELF-involved feelings and MORE to do with being in-sync with Christ’s eternal viewpoint!  “Delight yourself in the LORD, and He shall give   you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)  Meditate on the Spirit’s perspective on blessedness:  “Blessed (happy) are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”  They make it their DAILY AIM to submit to God’s righteous standards of conduct. (Matt. 5:6)!  Jesus calls those blessed who are “poor in spirit,” for  theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  (Matt. 5:3)  Their blessedness stems from a continual dependence upon the God of the Bible!
 
 Our Savior calls those who mourn blessed (happy), for they will be comforted!  If we are not truly saddened by what grieves our Lord, then we should definitely PRAY and ask Him to GIVE us a heart like His—one that mourns the sins in this world—all of which lead to our eventual death! (Ezek. 18:4)  We should vehemently RESIST becoming desensitized to this present world craziness!  If we seek this particular blessing, our Savior PROMISES His divine comfort and encouragement. Blessed are the meek; blessed are the merciful; blessed are the peacemakers.  Blessed are the pure in heart! Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake; theirs is the kingdom of heaven. These are by no means self-absorbed, or necessarily “feel-good” attributes, but rather qualities that attest to our maturing in Christ!  Let’s be in active pursuit, dear family, of these “BETTER things.”

PRAYER:  O, dear Abba, how far removed we can be from Your eternal perspectives on a great many things.  Please renew the sensitivities of Your elect people, especially, that we might indeed embrace Your calling to think and therefore live on a supernatural Spirit-filled plane amidst this present world darkness.  Thank You, in Jesus’ name.  AMEN!

(By Denise Diggs)