The Be-Attitudes

Most of us are familiar with the fifth chapter of Matthew in the Bible. You remember where Jesus gave us the Sermon on the Mount.....Blessed are the poor,those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger, the merciful, the pure of heart,the peacemakers, the persecuted for righteousness sake, the falsley accused and slandered for the name of Jesus". Having been in a few of those positions in my lifetime, it is hard to feel a special bond among the blessed! The big kicker here is at the end of this we are told "Rejoice and be glad, your reward is great in Heaven!"

The reward is in Heaven? But the struggle is here on earth! And you want me to rejoice? How Oh Lord ,can this be accomplished? Years of searching out the scriptures have helped me to learn some of Christs strategies for having a right heart response or as I call it a "Be - Attitude". My favorite reference comes from the fourth chapter of Phillipians as the Apostle Paul writes starting with verse 4,"Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice! Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men, the Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing,but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God , which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true,honorable,right,pure,lovely,of good report,if there is any excellence or anything worthy of praise , let your mind dwell on these things....practice these things and the God of peace shall be with you". Verse 12, " I know how to get along with humble means,and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry,both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who stregthens me.

The beggining of this text reminds us that we will need to position ourselves as forbearers. Others will see the load we carry. Life is messy! You can't sweep the dirt under the carpet! We need to shake it out and sweep it up. We make declaration of God at work in our situation by rejoicing! We allow our spirit to be grateful for the revealing of hidden enemies to the greater and deeper work of God in our lives. We express the intimate partnership of our burdens by speaking the holiness of Gods divinity into each moment of hardship. And we get the broom out and whistle while we work . We relocate our minds to the dwelling places of His excellece in the mysterious ways He works, and we remember it is Christ in us that is strong enough to conquer our fears and anxieties and enable us to do all things.

Once we begin to operate in such a way as to accept that we will have to encounter an unholy world, we will indeed recognize the need to remain in the presence of a Holy God to help us overcome that part of it that wants to cling to us.

May the Spirit of God coat you with a teflon "Be-Attitude", Begin with rejoicing to apply to all surfaces. Nothing the world throws at you will stick!!