February 7, 2011 The Beatitudes 1

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, it is Monday and the day we pray for our leaders in Washington DC also those in our State Houses and local governments. It is also the day we pray for our veterans and for our current military. We also pray today for our police, firefighters, those who work in the health related fields and any and all who work to keep us safe and healthy... It is also a good day to pray for all those who have the "crud" which is what I call what is going around in our area. Flu, or the Bug, or what every it is, it is really bad in Central Pennsylvania. Everyone I talk to is sounding like "Willie Nelson". Please pray for Sterling, Luella, Edgar, William, Doris, Dolores, Sharon, Danny, and a whole lot more with this "junk".

Praise report... Yesterday after church, Blanch got out of her wheel chair, got behind it and walked it back to her apartment... PRAISE GOD, PRAISE GOD.

The Big Trip week 9-1 The Beatitudes: Luke 5:1 - Now when He saw the crowds He went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him, 3 and He began to teach them, saying:
3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (NIV)

Jesus, who had just finished going throughout Galilee, teaching in synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people, went up on the mountainside there to be joined by His disciples. And right away, He sat down and started to teach them. The Bible tells us that in Luke 4: verses 23/25 tells of how Jesus healed the severe pain, the demon possessed, the one having seizures and the paralyzed. The beauty of reading about the healing, the real beauty is not knowing it happened back then, but that it still happens because Jesus is still the same today. Brothers and sisters, brothers and sisters, listen to me, if you are in pain, if you are sick, if you have cancer, DO NOT GIVE UP, JESUS STILL HEALS. Yes, it is according to His will and in His time, but He is with us, HE IS WITH YOU, daily in all you do, please, please keep on asking in faith. JESUS WILL HEAL YOU. The truth is none of us is worthy of what Jesus does for us each day, we are just not worthy, but He went to the cross and He died to save us from our sins. All of the other things, like healing us from pain, and cancer or a heart problem are a BONUS. Think of it, folks, I am getting excited about this... The first healing we will receive from Jesus for just asking and believing is we are healed from our sickness of sin, and trust me when I say sinning is a sickness. Let me tell you this, that the more you hurt, the more you should just keep falling deeper and deeper in love with Jesus. All the pain you have in your body today, I want you to think about and then ask yourself this... Does it hurt as much as if a spike were driven through your feet, crushing your feet? And ask your doctor how many bones are in your feet. Then how about being beaten on the back with a strap... how does that compare to your pain today? I hurt today, but as I think about this pain that Jesus went through for me, it makes my pain mild. THANK YOU JESUS, THANK YOU JESUS. And folks, Jesus did all this, He took on all that pain for you and for me, for all of us. We caused it and I think this... When we sin, and I say we because I know I still mess up, and it is like, when I sin, I am driving another nail into my Lord Jesus... LORD FORGIVE ME, LORD FORGIVE US. Thank You Jesus... I love You, Jesus. I am fired up today for You Jesus... I really love You.

Oh, my gosh, I wanted to get started on the Beatitudes today and I really took off on Jesus... So let me just take a minute and look at those first two of the Beatitudes...

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Why in the world would Jesus say that blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven? First I want to say that we who are blessed by Jesus have the very best of the blessings you will ever get. All, let me say that again, ALL blessings come from God, even if they come through the hands of others. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven... But what about us who are high in the spirit? Let me try and explain this... The Kingdom of Heaven is a gift. Some folks who are high in spirit might not be HIGH ON THE SPIRIT OF GOD. I mean we have school spirit, we have team spirit. Just look at last night, how many were high on the team spirits of the Steelers or the Packers, or the spirits that come from the bottle. I think God wants us to be poor in those spirits, not meaning you cannot cheer for a team, but that you don't put them above loving the Lord. Again I say the Kingdom of Heaven is a gift, you cannot buy your way in, you cannot work your way in, you just need to ask Jesus to let you in and then walk with Him daily. He knows where the spirit of your heart really is.

Maybe I could explain this better by taking the "be" from in front of atitudes, and add another t, making it attitudes. How is your attitude toward Jesus? How is your attitude toward others?
Let's look at one more, folks.

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

Folks, this might me one of the easy ones to explain. How often have you really "mourned"? Maybe you have mourned for the loss of a loved one, your heart just hurt from the pain of it all. Where did you go for the comfort? If you are like me, you just went to Jesus and to friends who all love the Lord. I have said so often, how do folks who do not know Jesus, get through those low points in life? Then on the other hand, so many folks, including me, came fully to Jesus at one of the lowest points in my life. But the death of a loved one is not just the only time we have "mourned". I know that Dolores and I have "mourned" more when something happens in the life of our children, someone who is messing up, maybe doing the bottle or drugs. Or when one is out of work, we hurt for the kids, we mourn for them and we pray for them. Some days we have mourned for our own pain, and really pled with Jesus to help us. Again, it all comes back to our Lord who will comfort us. He is the great comforter, and not one person can do better. God is good, God will be there for you. DO NOT BE AFRAID TO CALL ON HIM... And please do not be afraid to call on one of His workers. I do not know of many pastors who would turn you away in the time when you need them most, I do know of some, but not many. And while I mention it, if you have trouble and you need that comfort, and you are talking to Jesus and you still need help... this phone number, while not to heaven, is to my cell phone: 717 991 0754, and yes, you may call it if you need help... Day or night, you may call. Now, folks, I went long today... So let me go to prayer now.

Lord, Father of us all, Father who resides in Heaven... Hear our prayers today for those on our lists, and comfort us in our times we mourn and times when You hear our cries of pain and suffering. We know how Jesus suffered and died for us, to heal us from our own destruction, and Lord, please clean us from our sins today and help us to walk with You. We know that You are walking with us, but we want to walk with You... In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Now go forth sharing your blessings, for we really are blessed and we are "Blessed to be a Blessing" (Pastor Rick Denison). Have a great day in the name of the Lord. I love ya, Pastor Dan.