Matthew 5:1-12
The Beatitudes
1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 6:19-24
Treasures in Heaven
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Matthew 10:28
God is Almighty
28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 6:33
Seek God First
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Always the Same
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
John 3:16-17
God LOVES Us and the World He Created
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Years ago when I was young and working I thought that the main reason I was working was for my family and for things that would make us more comfortable...The thoughts on my mind were on things like TVs, a new house, a car -things which I thought were typical to think and dream about -as one worked...And the more of these things I thought I could accumulate the more comfortable I thought our family and I would be...This thought of comfort and why I was working really stuck in my mind, and I thought it was a good goal...What more should I want and ask for, but to be comfortable and to be happy?...After all, and so I thought -wouldn't being comfortable all the time bring on some happiness...
Years later I read the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus specifically mentions the word comfort...That got me thinking...And I had also read where blessed and blessedness was a way to describe a type of happiness in Jesus' time...And since I had my own thoughts on comfort and happiness, I had to reread Jesus' sermon on the mount a few times (actually many times) in trying to understand it...I thought He may have been using a play on words, or maybe I was just misinterpreting what He was saying...His comfort and being happy and blessed and my comfort and being happy were not meshing and connecting...
Later I would read C. S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, and he had some ideas on comfort...In his book He writes: "God is the Only comfort, He is also the supreme terror: the thing we must need and the thing we most want to hide from...He is our Only possible Ally, and we have made ourselves His enemies...Some people talk as if meeting the gaze of Absolute Goodness would be fun...They need to think again...They are still only playing with religion...Goodness is either the great safety or the great danger -according to the way you react to it...And we have reacted the wrong way."...Lewis goes on to write: "Of course, I quite agree that the Christian religion is, in the long run, a thing of unspeakable comfort...But it does not begin in comfort; it begins in the dismay I have been describing, and it is no use at all trying to go on to that comfort without first going through that dismay...In religion, as in war and everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it...If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth-only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair."...
Lewis ideas on comfort were similar to Jesus words, in fact God is a God of comfort, yet Perfect Goodness looks at things different than man does...I had forgot to look for Him first...I was seeking comfort first...Seeking comfort gets you material things, but does not give you those things most treasured...
We often forget about our flaws, in that we have a sinful nature and Perfect Goodness can a great thing for those who are pure in heart...But Perfect Goodness can be a danger when we find something and then sin...In the long run, and in eternity Christianity is a comfort...In the long run is heaven, and that is a great comfort...But the only way to find this Great Comfort is to seek God first...If we do not seek Him at all there is this great danger for our souls...We should be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell...For me as I read Jesus and Lewis ideas on comfort, we want or tend to forget about the Old Testament God, who is Perfect LOVE, and Perfect Goodness, and is Perfectly Holy...And when imperfection meets Perfection something has to change...If something imperfect gets inside something perfect, then that perfect thing is no longer perfection...And we know that He does not change...His Perfection does not change...So when we meet Him and are in His Presence there is this great danger...
But God LOVES the world He created...And He did not send His Son to destroy the world, or even condemn it...He sent Him as a Savior for whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life...And that is a Great Comfort, the Greatest Comfort their is -to be with our Father and His Son in heaven...
Jesus teaches us about these things, these eternal things...He teaches us that the things that live on are mercy, forgiveness, faith, hope, and love...God is THE Only Comfort in this world....In the beginning and in the end, Jesus knows and teaches us that there is Something much greater (out there) than things we think that bring us comfort and ease in this world...