Twisted Mentalities

Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.


Mat 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Mat 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Mat 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Mat 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Mat 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Mat 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.


Blessed are they that do his commandments.


And Jesus says--


Blessed are the poor in spirit
Blessed are they that mourn
Blessed are the meek
Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness
Blessed are the merciful
Blessed are the pure in heart
Blessed are the peacemakers
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake
Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you false for my sake.


Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven.


Poor in spirit, mourning, meekness, hunger and thirst for what is good, persecuted, reviled, accused falsely- these are blessed. A total contradiction to how we envision life. We are told to be anything but meek, to have our spirits lifted up and, to leave off mourning, to do what we want as long as we don't hurt anyone- but by all means don't deprive ourselves of any desire. We are taught to detest any sort of persecution and to fight tooth and nail for our right not to be persecuted and to have any persecutors prosecuted by the law. We are raised to HATE the things that Christ says we are blessed by experiencing. We are taught to live for the here and now not for some fictitious, highly unlikely reward that may or may not be in heaven for us.


People want to say that Satan doesn't rule, they want to say that mankind hasn't allowed itself to be corrupted by Satan, they want Satan out of the picture altogether as fictitious as the mythical heaven. It is Satan, the father of lies that has infilterated the hearts and souls of people corrupting them fully until all that is truly blessed and good is made to seem hateful.


Truthfully, Jesus couldn't have LIKED being persecuted, and can't like to have those who love Him and seek His righteousness persecuted. Liking it isn't the issue, realizing that it will exist for as long as the battle between good and evil goes on is important. Understanding the facts of what we face is very important. With our tendencies to fight back and give as good as we are given, to be hateful to those that are hateful to us, with this sort of response praised and exalted it won't be easy at all to love the way Jesus would have us love, to love as He loved.


Christ allowed Himself to be tortured and killed when He could have fought back. He was righteouse, He was sinless, He was innocent of any crime and yet He did not call witnesses to come to His defense, He did not bring out the facts, He did not flaunt the miracles He performed. Jesus had EVERY right to fight- He had innocence on His side- yet He chose not to fight. We call that being a coward and a fool, we call people cowards and fools who allow themselves to be mistreated and walked all over. Christ was not a coward or a fool.


Our mentalities have been twisted and looking at ourselves and demanding we be treated right, with respect due to us, we forget all about Christ.


Love, truth, righteousness, faith these are God, these are Jesus, these are the things we long for and are offered by the Holy Spirit, the comforter sent to us by Christ.


There is a reward in heaven, it is real. You can't believe in God and not believe in Satan. You can't believe in God and not believe in heaven. You can't believe in God and not believe in love.


May God grant us His mercy and His righteousness by the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of God, now and forever in Him.


Amen.