Matthew 5 is the beginning of what is commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount. It’s one of Jesus’s most famous teachings and is very well known. I’m sure you’ve heard parts of it quoted in multiple sermons and talks.
It’s also been the basis for several books . . . one title calls these principles the Be Happy Attitudes.
When I started reading and meditating on the first several verses, there was one thing that caught my attention.
I typically read the Amplified Version because it gives the expanded meaning of words instead of the typical one word to one word translation. And that really comes into play in this passage of scripture.
The word that is translated “blessed,” “happy,” or “fortunate” in other translations is also translated as “blessed” in the Amplified Version, but with a lot of expanded meanings. Here are a few:
– happy
– to be envied
– spiritually prosperous
– with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions
– enviably happy
– with a happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His matchless grace
– blithesome
– joyous
– fortunate
– in that state in which the born-again child of God enjoys His favor and salvation
– possessing the happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His grace, regardless of their outward conditions
– enjoying enviable happiness
I don’t know about you but that’s the kind of “blessed” life I would like to experience! It goes beyond being happy or feeling “blessed” when things are going your way or when someone says, “Have a blessed day!”
This kind of “blessed” life is knowing way down deep inside your soul that you have something that everybody desperately needs and no one can attain–it’s a “grace” gift. You are loved unconditionally. You are accepted just as you are. You are forgiven. You are a spiritual ka-jillionaire. You lack nothing.
But this kind of “blessed” life isn’t enjoyed by every believer. It’s experienced based on your heart attitudes.
And some of those necessary attitudes seem to be the exact opposite of the “blessed” life you’re trying to attain.
Which is one of the reasons it’s called the “upside-down kingdom!”
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