GROWING SEEDS: Beatitudes & Blessings

 

"Oh, how I wish I had wings like a dove; then I would fly away and rest! 
I would fly away to the quiet of the wilderness. 

 

 

How quickly I would escape - far away from this wild storm of hatred." 
Psalm 55:6-8

Amen David.  As Christians, our hearts ache much like David's did when he wrote this Psalm above. 

This past week.....we can't turn on the news without seeing protesters screaming obscenities through hate-filled signs in every major city in this country....we hear racist taunts coming from the mouths of people we once respected.....we have witnessed bizarre and outrageous women wearing bizarre and disgusting hats while holding in one hand the hand of their little child and a sign that says, "Abortion > God" in the other.  Sometimes.......it's just downright hard to love these people, right?

At times like this, one of the hardest lessons a Christian (or Jew or Muslim or Anyone) can cling to is what Matthew 5:43-47a teaches us:

“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’
I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst.
(The Message)

It's interesting to me that on that hillside in Galilee so many years ago, Jesus said these words just 26 verses after teaching the Beatitudes....the Blessings of this Life:

"You're BLESSED when you get your inside world--your mind and heart--put right.
Then you can see God in the outside world." (verse 8)

"You're BLESSED when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight
That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family." (verse 9)

"You're BLESSED when your commitment to God provokes persecution. 
The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom." (verse 10)

We.....that's YOU and ME....are the Light to this wicked world.  We are to take these blessings we were given and go Light up the darkness.

(All Scripture quoted from The Message)