Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them. He said:

⁵ Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Do you know your limitations?  Recently, I was looking at a project that would cost a lot of money.  I priced the parts, did the research and thought “I can do this.” 

Now, honestly, this was three different events in the past few weeks.  One of them was fixing our clothes dryer – and I ordered the parts, replaced them and, once again, the dryer is working. 

Another was someone’s heater – I thought about it and decided it was not something I know enough about, even with videos on the internet.

The third was a brake job.  It looked easy enough, but that assumes I have a garage with a lift and all the proper tools.  While doing this myself would save tons of money, I decided it was not in my best interest.

This is meekness – to honestly discern what I can do and what I cannot do.  Meekness is not about being timid or afraid, it is about recognizing what I can do, and what is beyond my gifts.

Another part of meekness is recognizing that I cannot do much without God – I need to turn to the Lord daily with all the things on my “to do list”.  Only through God can I do anything, for it is God who has gifted me in many ways.  And, only through God can I recognize where I cannot do something, and must depend on the one God has gifted.

As you journey through this week, pay attention to your gifts, and those areas where you need to rely upon another.

Peace,

Pastor Bill

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them. He said:

⁴ Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Mourning.  It is something we all do, and we do it in different ways.  When we lose a loved one, we are sad, we might get angry and we might get confused.  Mourning hits us all in a variety of ways.

One of the great things about mourning is that it reminds us of our humanity.  To feel the loss of another person, even if we do not know them, reminds us that we are all created in the image of God.  To feel loss reminds us that we are human.

In today’s word, many downplay feelings as being weak but Jesus says otherwise.  If you mourn, you are blessed and will be comforted.

Whether your mourning is about a lost loved one, or you mourn for the state of our nation, or for the loss of someone you never met, God is blessing you – with feelings, with humanity.  Take this as the gift it is

Peace,

Pastor Bill

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them. He said:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:1-3

Besides being physical, emotional and intellectual, we are spiritual people.  There is a spirit within us no matter what our religious beliefs.  The poor in spirit are those who recognize that our spirituality is not dependent upon us, rather upon God.

Wealth, power and control do nothing for our spiritual lives, rather we must be “beggars before God”, knowing our own spirit is not sufficient.

But when we rely upon God, when we turn ourselves towards the Lord, our spirit is refreshed, renewed and strengthened.

As you journey through this week, recognize that you do not walk alone, for God is with you.

Peace

Pastor Bill