During my bible study, today I came across this verse that connected me with the joy you talked about yesterday.
"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. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:1-10
What I love about this passage is that I don’t see an “if.” When we grow accustomed to the conditions of this world and we constantly look for the strings attached – If your spirit is poor enough, if your mourning has good reason, if you are meek according to these standards, if you hunger and thirst for what the world thinks is righteous.
But that’s not what God says. With God, there is no list of “if’s,” there is only action. We take action to ask for help and become “poor in spirit.” We take action as we accept our wrongs and sorrow and “mourn” (no excuses, no justifications, just tears). We take action with God’s strength when we are “meek” because his strength is made perfect in our weaknesses. And through his strength we become righteous, merciful, pure in heart and peacemakers. And when “a thief comes to steal and kill and destroy…” we can rest in the reality that Jesus “came to give life – life in all its fullness.” John 10:10.
I never imagined a life without fear. Its kind of weird, to not have anything to worry about or be afraid of. I burst laughing or cheesy smiling all the time because I pause and think, “did I forget something? There has to be something I need to worry about.” But nope, there isn’t. I am free. And in those moments, all that’s left is to give praise to the Lord!
Thank you for yesterday’s message. I’m praying for you and for our church to experience God’s joy in every corner of their lives.
I love you!
Rachel Richardson
You can listen to the message Rachel is discussing on soundcloud by clicking this link: https://soundcloud.com/skylinechurchnj/now-what-were-gonna-have-a-blast-doing-this