Luke 6:17-26
The Sermon on the Plain
17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
20 Looking at his disciples, he said:
"Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when men hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
23 "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.
24 "But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
25 Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you,
for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.
John 16:33
In This World You Will Have Trouble
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 7:37-39
The Holy Spirit Will Flow from Within Us
37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
John 14:15-21
The Holy Spirit Helps Guide Us
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Romans 8:26-27
The Holy Spirit Helps Us When We are Weak
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
Galatians 5:22-23
Fruit of the Holy Spirit
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, 23 faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Matthew 11:28-30
His Yoke is Easy
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
John 14:27
A Peace Not of this World
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
As I read the Sermon on the plain, Jesus talks about the poor being blessed...He talks about the hungry being blessed, as well as those who are weeping now being blessed...And as we read through this great sermon, we see the elements in life that we will have troubles, we will have pain, and we will have suffering...And yet as we suffer man seems always to be looking for the good in life...For some joy that will take him maybe beyond his troubles and sufferings...
Both suffering and joy are a part of life...But is there a balance?...Do we suffer and have more troubles than we do joy?...Sometimes the personal troubles you have may seem to weigh you down and make us weary and weak...When we are weary, how do take the next step or steps in life?...When we are in distress, how do we make it out of that distressful rut?...I think mankind for the most part thinks we can avoid the pain and the suffering...Troubles do come in our personal life...Maybe we can hide behind those things that give us joy...Are we avoiding and hiding from certain issues, or is there Something else that is going on...Isn't there Someone who can help us?...Is Something flowing within us?...Or at the very least, when a suffering window opens, do we not after some time start looking for a window of joy...Why is that?...Is there Something that dwells within us, that wants to accentuate the positive and find joy in life?...What gives us that hope?...What and why could be guiding us toward that window?...
As we go through life we will have these sorrows, griefs, and troubles that Jesus tells us we are bound to have...Jesus makes that very clear...Life is that way...But we are to take heart in and with our lives...And we are not to let our hearts be troubled...Jesus tells us we are not to be afraid...When we come to Him when we are troubled and wearied, He will give us rest...If we take His yoke upon us, we can learn from Him...He is gentle and tender of heart...We learn that His yoke is easy and His burden is light...We can take heart because He did and has overcome the world...He is our hope in this world...He has sent us the Holy Spirit...