Blessed [Matthew 5 v1 - 12 ]

One of the greatest passages in the NT, is the Sermon on the Mount,spoken by Jesus,and what He taught has influenced many people.John Stott describes them as being the principals of Gods Kingdom,we can read about them in Matthew 5-7, we are going to look at parts of it, starting with the blessed'. Spurgeon wrote,/The word blessed is by some translated happy,but we like blessed best/.My study Bible says,/The term blessed means more than happiness.The Beatitudes don't promise laughter,pleasure,or earthly prosperity.Being blessed by God means to experience hope and joy
independent ,of outward circumstances/While that is true,it can involve happiness,recently while watching a DVD,about people and how they came to Christ,on man who had been looking at what it meant to be become a
Christian,was convinced of the truth of Christianity,went to his friends,and
told them that he believed Christianity to be true,and was going to trust Christ,but from that point on he would stop enjoying himself./Becoming a
Christian is a serious business,but to say we never enjoy ourselves,is wrong.
We do not loose the capacity to laugh and enjoy ourselves,the joy of the Lord is real,and we experience great happiness,even though we are not happy all day,after all the gospel is good news.
                                     A  prayer.
Dear God we thank and for the gospel ,that is good news,and when we
believe it,we are truly blessed,in Jesus name, Amen.