Crossroads Community Blog

YABS! Session 1 – Matthew 5-7 August 19, 2009

What does it mean to be blessed?

Do I cut off my right arm? Do I have to gouge out my right eye too?

Do we mourn only after the death of a loved one?

These were some of the many interesting questions that were brought up and sparked much heated discussions over spiritual bankruptcy, adultery in our society, and how true Christians have to be on our guard 24/7.

Now what does it mean to be spiritually bankrupt?

It is a state where a person humbly and wholeheartedly admit that they are not good enough or righteous enough to be accepted in God’s kingdom.

Last night was the YABS!  Crew’s first session headed by Naomi and Donna.  We talked about Matthew’s book chapter’s 5, 6 and 7.

Matthew 5 (New International Version)

The Beatitudes

¹Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ²and he began to teach them saying:
³“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
⁵Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
⁶Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
⁷Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
⁸Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
⁹Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
¹⁰Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Many people today will say that they are blessed because of their abundant wealth, power, reputation and luck. You might even say those other people in third world countries who are in constant struggle with hunger, AIDS and poverty aren’t blessed.

We’ve concluded that to be truly blessed it required us to be in a certain objective state that only God can see.  Why only God? Because we are created in His image but we do not act or think like Him. So how do we prepare ourselves to reach this certain state of being blessed?

Be humble and pursue the path of righteousness.  We must learn to turn the other cheek and collect the treasures of heaven instead of the things that we value so much here on earth. We must learn to be content of what we have for it is written that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God, book of Matthew Chapter 4:4.

And then we ran out of time! But don’t stop there, join us in our study and in the meantime we encourage you to read and study the books of Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7.

Share us with your own understanding and we encourage you to ask questions as we try to unravel the mystery of our past and understand how should live our lives as God originally intended it before our great fall when Adam and Eve were cast out of paradise.

Until next week…YABS!

For more information on YABS! visit our website at www.wesleyancrossroads.org.