The word "Beatitude" means "Blessed". The Beatitudes should guide us, point us in the right direction, teach us and show us the values that Jesus wants us to have and live by.
I, myself, fall way short of this and disappointed in myself for this short coming and for allowing myself to fall into the world of evil and human mistakes!!! We seem to have sort of a wrong thinking of what the Beatitudes really mean, myself included. Hopefully this will help us all to understand them better and help us live by them.
1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
God blesses those who are poor in spirit and realizes their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them. The poor means "poor in spirit", not financially poor. Poor in Spirit means that we realize we fall short of what God wants us to be and that we all are unworthy of God's Grace. Jesus says that only the poor in spirit will enter into the Heaven because they confess, turn from their sins and turn to Jesus. The poor in spirit knows without God we can't be forgiven and made a new person.
2. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
God blesses those who mourn, for He will comfort them. This doesn't mean those who mourn the death of someone, but the person who becomes poor in spirit and repents. It means to realize we are sinners and realizing just how much our sins hurts us, others and God. Until we realize this, repent and receive the Holy Spirit we cannot truly mourn over our sins. When we mourn over our sins, only then can God comfort us and make us a new person.
3. Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth.
God blesses those who are gentle and lowly, for they will inherit the whole earth. Jesus says, who are humble and meek will inherit the earth. These words do NOT mean weak as we think of them. These words mean strong, powerful, trained and disciplined so that we can serve God and be used by God.
4. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied.
God blesses those who hunger and thirst for Him and His justice, for they will be satisfied by God. Those who want justice is to want righteousness and right living for ourselves and others. You will find love, honour and justice in searching for righteousness. God will make sure we are fully satisfied once we do our best to want what is right for ourselves and others
5. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
God blesses those who are merciful. Mercy is love for those who need support and help, especially in forgiveness. God shows us mercy everyday and expects us to show mercy to others everyday. We must forgive and show mercy because if we don't then God cannot forgive us and show us mercy. To show mercy we have to live a life of love. There is no mercy without love.
6. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.
God blesses those whose heart is pure. To have a pure heart is to become holy and the only way to do that is to keep your heart full of God's words. If you keep your heart full of God's words, then there is no room for sin and evil. If you live by God's words/instructions then your heart will be pure. When we are pure in heart we will see God in our everyday life here on earth and when we get to Heaven.
7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
God blesses those who work for peace. Making peace doesn't mean trying to keep everyone happy or saying yes to everyone and everything. A peacemaker builds their character on truth and righteousness, and are at peace with God. Peacemakers plant seeds of peace and God's word, and reaps the harvest of goodness by being known as a child of God.
8. Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
God blesses those who are persecuted because they live for Him. If we live for God, we will suffer because today's society is all for evil and will persecute you for serving God. They will laugh at you, ridicule you, mock you, make nasty comments and sometimes physically abuse you, just as they did Jesus. The world and Satan hates Jesus and will hate you for following Him. If you are persecuted, then be happy because that is proof you are following Jesus and you will be received into Heaven, where there is no more suffering.
"the road map of life from Jesus to all of us"
Matthew 18:3 "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 18:4 "Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child, will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 18:4 "Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child, will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
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