Luke 6:20-23 ESV

The Beatitudes

20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

Main points: 1) When we think about God and the heaven that awaits us up there one day, how could we ever consider ourselves rich down here in comparison?  Thinking we are rich or all taken care of makes us narrow minded and gives the sinful illusion of self sufficiency without God. We are blessed by being poor when we recognize this and do what we can to seek that which is above. We do not know what we do not know at the end of the day and a question I'll have you think about is, is it better to know nothing and recognize your ignorance or is it better to know a great deal and fail to realize that you are ignorant? 2) Recognizing we are little to nothing (poor) before God without His grace and love is the first step. The next step is being willing to take action to change this. Of course no amount of works can fill the gap that Jesus has filled for us, but aligning our ways with Christ's is the primary way we can truly have an impact in this short life. 3) When you live the faith and push ahead on the Lord's path at full steam, it is going to make some people feel uncomfortable. I'm not saying that you're going out of your way to pester people or that your faith is making you holier than thou and having you judge/ condemn other evils/ sin around you. NO! That of course is not our place. What will make people revile you and feel uncomfortable is how hard they see you pushing yourself to serve His purpose and the riches this light coming through you is producing. We all squint or have are eyes forced shut in pain when we've been in the dark for a while and suddenly see a great light. The opposition you face is the sin all around you squinting and screaming to turn out the light. Keep the light on and the prayers coming and no weeping can compare to the endless joy/ laughter you will have into eternity!