³ “God blesses those who are poor [in spirit] and realize their need for him,
    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
⁴ God blesses those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
⁵ God blesses those who are humble,
    for they will inherit the whole earth.
⁶ God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice [righteousness],
    for they will be satisfied.
⁷ God blesses those who are merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
    for they will see God.
⁹ God blesses those who work for peace,
    for they will be called the children of God.
¹⁰ God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,
    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

¹¹ “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. ¹² Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.

Matthew 5:3-12

Dear God, I’ve been doing this series on the parables Jesus told because a lot of them describe you and your character. They are your autobiography. But I was just at a meeting with other couples from our church group, and one of the women made this beautiful description of how the beatitudes from the “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew 5 take everything we would strive for and turns them on their head. For example, she talked about someone she loves who is mourning the loss of her mother. My friend was thinking that she really should be over this by now. But then she said someone mentioned this concept of the beatitudes to her and she thought, “Yeah. It doesn’t say, ‘Blessed are those who grieve quickly and efficiently.'” She went on to describe other things and I was completely taken aback by it. So I decided to spend a little time with these things this afternoon and see if you have anything for me.

Here is the list of the things Jesus said you are wanting to help me with:

• Being poor in spirit
• Mourning
• Hungering for justice/righteousness
• Mercy
• Pure heart
• Working for peace
• Experiencing persecution for doing what is right
• Suffering for your sake

So what is the opposite of these things? If I am the opposite of these things, does it bring out your indifference towards me? If I am the opposite, can you not help me because I don’t have an opening in my heart for you? Here is a list of things that I think will put a barrier between you and me.

• Having a spirit of completion in myself. I have it all together. I’ve got this.
• Making myself numb to mourning because I don’t have time for something that will bring me down, and I don’t want to expose myself to pain.
• Being arrogant about who I am and what the world and those around me owe me. I am never wrong. I’ve never found a need to ask you or anyone else for forgiveness.
• Hiding injustice and unrighteousness for the times when it suits my agenda. If there is an injustice that will benefit me, then I will look the other way.
• Withholding mercy because I have been wronged and that wrong must be punished.
• Keeping parts of my heart away from you and just for me. Just to satisfy my selfishness.
• Working to create disturbance between people so that I can have power in those relationships and manipulate them for my purposes.
• Bowing to the path of least resistance, even if it compromises your values living through me in order to avoid persecution.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I do NOT want to be that second person. I don’t want to be any of those things, but I know my heart will sink into that very quickly if I allow it. I’ve done it before. I’ve done it today. But now, as I sit here, there is a song in my heart from Psalm 103: “Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Bless His holy name, all the earth. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. You are worthy, you are worthy.” So bless my heart, soul, mind, and body. Help me to be the type of person you are anxious to bless, comfort, strengthen, and hold close. Help me to absorb you so that the fruits of your Spirit might grow in my heart.

I pray all of this through the amazing mercy given to me through your son, my God, Jesus,

Amen