Consider all of our criteria for happiness (missing from Jesus’ list of blessed people):<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+success<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+money<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+entertainment<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+commendation<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+no pain<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+health<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+retirement<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+self esteem<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+fitness<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+reputation<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+included<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+tolerant<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+respected<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+connected<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+stuff<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+insured<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+’guaranteed’ income<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+’permanent” income<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+leisure<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+ease<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– – –<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does our list deliver?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does the list deliver happiness, for real, for good, lasting?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– – –<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– – –<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, Jesus’ list:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1-“poor in spirit—happy-blessed”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2-“mourners—happy-blessed”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3-“meek—happy-blessed”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4-“hungry, thirsty for righteousness—happy-blessed”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5-“merciful—happy-blessed”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6-“pure in heart—happy-blessed”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7-“peacemakers—happy-blessed”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8-“persecuted for righteousness—happy-blessed” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
9-“reviled, persecuted, falsely accused of evil for following Me—happy-blessed”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– – –<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Question: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does Jesus’ list deliver? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does the list deliver happiness, for real, for good, lasting?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1-“theirs is the kingdom of heaven”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2-“they will be comforted”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3-“they will inherit the earth”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4-“they will be filled”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5-“they will obtain mercy”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6-“they will see God”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7-“they will be called the children of God”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8-“theirs is the kingdom of heaven”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9-“rejoice, be exceedingly glad, your reward is great in heaven, that is how the prophets before you were persecuted”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– – –<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, choose your list—<\/p>\n\n\n\n
to achieve short-term ‘happiness’<\/p>\n\n\n\n
or<\/p>\n\n\n\n
to receive permanent blessedness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Consider all of our criteria for happiness (missing from Jesus’ list of blessed people): +success +money +entertainment +commendation +no pain +health +retirement +self esteem +fitness +reputation +included +tolerant +respected +connected +stuff +insured +’guaranteed’ income +’permanent” income +leisure +ease – – – Question: Does our list deliver? Does the list deliver happiness, for real, for good, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,2,7,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-educational","category-faith_based","category-inspire_lifter","category-political-cultural"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4335"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4335"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4337,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4335\/revisions\/4337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}