Reversal Week 2: Day 4

You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought Matthew 5:3-5

The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, 7) is the most important and powerful teaching of Jesus. If you ever wanted to understand the Christian life, these three chapters are a great place to start. Jesus proclaims from the mountain words of revelation and truth, words we need to hear today.

In the opening verses of this great speech Jesus offers what are called the Beatitudes. These are a series of sayings that describe blessings in life. What makes the Beatitudes so powerful is the people he describes would not normally be understood as blessed in any way. The poor, the hungry, the mourning, the meek, the perscuted would all be people that would be considered less than blessed.

The Beatitudes reveal God's heart those the world overlooks and rejects. While the world may tell us that those who are rich, powerful, good-looking, skinny, and smart are favored, God reverses human expectations. God's love and favor is for the forgotten and forsaken. God's love is for those who have failed or fallen short. God's love is for those who suffer and struggle.

The Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaims offers us not only the promise of eternal life, but also a glimpse of heaven on earth. Through Jesus we see God most clearly, through Jesus we have a model of how to live a Godly life, and to experience eternal life in the present. It may not include wealth, popularity, and a luxurious lifestlye, but it will include an awareness of God's amazing love and grace. And with that we are indeed blessed, no matter what anyone says!