Faith Blog Hop Beattitudes

Welcome to the Be-Attitudes Faith Blog Hop! Every month we choose a theme with which to honor Christ and become closer to Him. We then create a project to reflect that theme and boldly post it on our blogs so that the whole world sees that even our talents belong to Him! This month we have chosen the Beatitudes found on Mathew 5:3:12 and we invite you to hop through our blogs to see the Lord’s Glory manifested through the work of our hands and the stories He has written in our lives. If you arrived from Vicki's  blog, you are in the right place. If you just happened to land here, make sure that you hop on over to www.mypapertreehouse.blogspot.com to begin the journey. Know that we have been praying for you and hope that the Lord would bring you just a bit closer to Himself…
In Matthew 5:3-12 we find the well known Beatitudes. This portion of Scripture is very peculiar because every statement begins with “Blessed are those…” and yet the attribute that is mentioned right after is NOT something desirable before the eyes of the world.
Look at the list of attributes along with the blessed reward:
Poor in spirit: Kingdom of Heaven
Mourn: comfort
Meek: inherit the earth
Hunger and thirst for righteousness: will be filled
Merciful: will be shown mercy to
Pure in heart: will see God
Peacemakers: called children of God
Persecuted because of righteousness: kingdom of heaven
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you

If we were to be honest, we would all say that none of us would like to be considered poor in spirit, or be caught in the midst of mourning. Meekness is considered a sign of weakness and in America Hunger and Thirst for righteousness is replaced by hunger and thirst for worldly acceptance. It is very difficult to be merciful and pure in heart for our hearts are always seeking to satisfy our own needs; and we are not willing to make peace if that peace requires that we would submit to someone else’s authority. We do not want to be made fun of, or persecuted, or bad mouthed… Yet all of these things the LORD calls blessed!

The reason why they are Blessed is because only when we have these attitudes can we truly see ourselves for who we are and God for who He is. Only when we see the depravity of our being and the sin that enslaves us, can we be set free by the only ONE that is Pure and Holy! May He grant us the privilege of being called BLESSED by Him because in us are found the Be-Attitudes.
Nana

 Here is what I (Marjolaine) got from this study,

1-To be poor in spirit means that I know that I am nothing apart from Christ, I can't do anything on my own. ( I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing John 15:5) So...I need to let go of the need to be in control. I can't be poor in spirit if I'm convinced that I can hold it all together on my own. I need to understand how badly I need a savior.

2-When I mourn, God will comfort me. When I am devastated and grieving deeply  over my sin he is there holding me. I don't have to try and hide in shame. (not that I could ever succeed in hiding from him anyways...Psalm 139) I don't have to break communication with him because I feel so bad. He is waiting with open arms. (Luke 15:11-32 the prodigal son)

3-God wants me to be humble.When I let pride get in the way I miss out on some of God's promises and/or blessings (Psalm 37:11, 147:61, 149:4, Proverbs 3:34, Isaiah 66:2, Matthew 18:3-4, 33:12, Luke 1:52 etc...etc...) My problem with anger is based on fear and pride. I have nothing to prove to anyone, all I need to be concerned with is what God wants me to do and be. When I fight for what I believe to be my rights I allow pride to control me.

4-When my greatest desire is to please God and do what he has required me to do it is then that God will satisfy me fully. My greatest fulfilment will be when I surrender everything to God. When I fully desire to please God with all that I am I will no longer have discontent in my life.

5-I need to show mercy to others, and then God will show mercy to me. Showing mercy is not only being kind to the poor and needy. I need to show mercy when people hurt me, annoy me or just don't conform the way I think they should. I need to show mercy by extending forgiveness over and over and over and over!

6-I will see God when I am pure in heart. I need to get rid of anything that affects my heart being pure. I need to be pure in heart in everything I do. ( Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8)

7- Work for peace and you will be called children of God. I must live at peace with others as well as help others live at peace with each other.  I need to be a peace maker and doer in all areas of my life. (even at home)

8-The kingdom of God belongs to those who are persecuted for doing what God requires. According to this, it's good to be insulted for the sake of Jesus Christ, an honor really!  So it's OK to be ridiculed here on earth because of my faith. It will all be worth it in the end!

Wow, I just talked A LOT!!!


And now back to Nana,

There is no greater gift than that of finding Christ, but we would like to bless someone  with  a blog banner and button design that have been donated to us by The Shabby Vanity.
To qualify, like Paper Tree House Studio in Facebook, become a follower of their blog, and leave a comment. Those that choose to participate by creating a project that follows the theme will have a greater chance of winning, so make sure that you create something or share your own story in your blog to then come back and share with us your creation and thoughts.

Hop on over Tammy’s blog to continue in this journey… May you be filled with the “Be-Attitudes” this week.

Love in Christ,