Text: Matthew 5:1-16, 1 Chronicles 16:28-34, John 16:22-24
Blessed are the spiritual zeros—the spiritually bankrupt, deprived and deficient, the spiritual beggars, those without a wisp of ‘religion’—when the kingdom of the heavens comes upon them.
– Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy
As believers in Jesus and His gospel of grace, we stand with one foot in the present and one in the future. In the present, right-here world, life is volatile and uncertain. And yet, we know the saying is true: This world is not our home. Our citizenship is in a greater, coming Kingdom—a Kingdom we will only know in part while we live here on earth (Philippians 3:20).
So how do we do that? How do we live in two worlds at the same time? How do we live in the reality of this present, imperfect world in light of the heavenly life to come?
At the beginning of Jesus’ longest recorded sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, He speaks eight blessings to the crowd. These blessings, known as the Beatitudes, shed light on the tension you and I are living in as women who trust our Savior, yet face actual pain, poverty, emptiness, and all manner of brokenness in our right-now lives.
The temptation is to see this list of blessings as a formula to a better, happier life. But as Dallas Willard puts it, “The Beatitudes simply cannot be ‘good news’ if they are understood as a set of ‘how-tos’ for achieving blessedness. They would then only amount to a new legalism” (Willard, Divine Conspiracy). So if the Beatitudes aren’t how-tos, what are they? Put simply, they are facts. They are truths of the kingdom of God.
Because of the finished work of Jesus on our behalf, the Beatitudes are not a mere wish list or to-do list; they are the blessings that are already ours in Christ. In the vast love, grace, mercy, and goodness of our Savior, the least are given the Kingdom. Those who hunger and mourn, the poor and the meek, the “spiritual zeros”—we are blessed with the riches of Christ. Not just later, but right now, right here.
No matter how comfortable the house, we’ll never feel fully at home in this world; we were made for the coming one. But while we’re here, we have a job to do. Our job is not to earn our blessings; Jesus did that. Our assignment is to be salt and and light to the very world that makes us fidget with discomfort. As those who carry the life of Jesus around in us, we have a message of hope to offer a dying world (2 Corinthians 4:10). We hold out the Word of Life, inviting our neighbors “to taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8).
As we study this short but impactful passage at the beginning of Matthew 5, may our hearts assume a posture of gratitude toward the God who grants us His very Kingdom through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son. And as we give thanks for the blessings that are secured for us in Christ, may we be quick to scatter the knowledge of Jesus to those around us.
The Kingdom is His, and all are welcome.
Good morning sisters! In all my years of reading through the beatitudes, with a little extra study today – it finally makes sense to me! One thing that I learned that stuck out to me is, in order for Matthew 5:5-16 to happen, we must first be spiritually bankrupt (vs 3), recognizing that without Christ we are nothing, and we must have a deep grief before God over our fallen state. (vs 4) Acknowledging our sin and our need for a Savior – first and foremost! After our new life in Christ, the rest follows…I’m excited to learn more each day from this study!
@Lynn from Alabama – so glad that you were able to physically go to church yesterday. I didn’t see your original post, but just hearing from others who posted. You will regularly be in my prayers – I think we are the same age, I can’t imagine having the love of my life suffer with dementia. May God give you the strength each day to take care of Jack with loving-kindness and patience as he (hopefully slowly) progresses with this disease. God bless you for lovingly caring for him.
Continued prayers for all my SRT sisters!
Good morning! Excited to dive into this study with y’all!
So thankful for the provision Christ made for us to approach the Father! We are blessed and we need to be salt and light to our world.
“And as we give thanks for the blessings that are secured for us in Christ, may we be quick to scatter the knowledge of Jesus to those around us.”
My take-away: Don’t let the salt linger in your hands so long that it loses its effectiveness! Usually the most effective praise is the one given immediately upon receiving; likewise the most effective of any testimony is the one that is fresh from a person’s life.
Over the weekend I watched a ‘sermon on the mount’ by Pastor Todd Fink on HolyLandSite (YouTube). Of course, modern day sidewalks, buildings, etc., mar the natural countryside, but it was still awesome to see people sitting in the very location of Christ’s sermon!
At times I have a problem with the way people use the term “blessed”. I’m blessed with good health. I’m blessed with children. I’m blessed with a lovely home. These are examples. What bothers me is that they use the term for the good things. This is true. But it seems to say the opposite is not true. I’m not blessed if I’m in poverty. I’m not blessed if I’m sick. I’m not blessed if I wasn’t given children. This way of thinking is contrary to the beatitudes. Here we see God’s blessing is not a laundry list of all the things we have in this world but rather conditions of the heart. These people aren’t wearing “too blessed to be stressed” tee shirts in today’s world. They aren’t flaunting their blessings. They are living a life close to God, in deep dependence on His strength and mercy.
Good morning, sweet sisters! Thank you for all the shoutouts yesterday about me going to church! It was awesome—lots of much-needed hugs, The Gospel taught and preached, and the name of the Lord lifted high in praise and worship! As several of you mentioned there are plenty of people who want to help me but it is kind of tricky with Jack. He does not think he needs anyone to stay with him (even though he absolutely does) so I have to find people he knows and would enjoy hanging with. Otherwise he is very ornery. Also, people are often apprehensive about staying with someone with dementia because they don’t know what to expect. It’s definitely a challenge. I just praise God when I get to be at church and roll with it the rest of the time!
This is going to be an awesome study! I can already tell! A list of facts of blessings we already have and not a to do list—I love that!
Have a glorious day! I’m praying for each of you!
@Lynne from Alabama – was thankful to see you could go to church yesterday. I pray the Lord gives you more times of rest with Him. <3 Your faithfulness to Jack is a beautiful thing and witness of the true love of Christ.
Hi ladies! I decided to do another study in the remaining 2 weeks, since I’m already doing a book study with a friend on the Beatitudes. I chose “The Miracles of Jesus” two week plan. Definitely a good one! Will be popping in here to check on prayer requests though :) God bless!!
If you are here @Mercy, how are things at work?